KDP Select and Indie Publishing

(This is a repost from My Inner Muse Blog by indie author Lakisha Spletzer)

---

I've been contemplating this for several days now as I tried to weigh all angles of this rather interesting program being offered by Amazon.

Here's what the Kindle Digital Publishing newsletter had to say about the program:

"KDP Select is a new option dedicated to KDP authors and publishers worldwide, featuring a fund of $500,000 in December 2011 and at least $6 million in total for 2012, giving you a new way to earn royalties, reach a broader audience, and use a new set of promotional tools.

Here’s how it works: When you make any of your titles exclusive to the Kindle Store for at least 90 days, those with US rights will automatically be included in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library and can earn a share of a monthly fund. The monthly fund for December 2011 is $500,000 and will total at least $6 million in 2012. You’ll also have access to a new set of promotional tools, starting with the option to promote your KDP Select-enrolled titles for FREE for up to 5 days every 90 days.

You can immediately enroll books in KDP Select by visiting the KDP website, where you can also access detailed reporting on the number of borrows for each enrolled title. KDP Select is available for titles participating in both the 70% and 35% royalty programs."

At first, this seems like a good thing, right? I mean, who doesn't want a piece of that pie. However, when you visit the KDP site and read through the FAQ section, you learn that it's not as easy as all that. I decided to break it down for my fellow indie authors and unpublished authors who are considering using the program.

#1) You have to enroll into the program. It is not an automatic thing. If you are a current KDP member, you have to go through your dashboard and select ENROLL. However, there is a catch which leads us to...

#2) If you have your title(s) selling anywhere else (PubIt, Google Books, Smashwords, I-store, etc), you have to remove them for the 90 days that you are enrolled with KDP Select. Why? Simply put, KDP Select has an "exclusivity" clause that mandates your title remain for 90 days and not be sold anywhere else, INCLUDING your website/blog. This is for DIGITAL(EBOOK) format only. If you have your title(s) in paperback or audiobook format, you can still sell that way.

#3) While your title(s) is/are enrolled, readers can still buy via Amazon's websites. That means you are still making royalty on your Kindle sales.

#4) The most eye catching part of the above KDP Select offer is your chance to get a piece of the rather large monthly fund. Now,  if you visit the website, this is the example they use to show you how much you might make in one month:

"Your share of the Kindle Owners' Lending Library Fund is calculated based on a share of the total number of qualified borrows of all participating KDP titles. For example, if the monthly fund amount is $500,000 and the total qualified borrows of all participating KDP titles is 100,000 in December and if your book was borrowed 1,500 times, you will earn 1.5% (1,500/100,000 = 1.5%), or $7,500 in December."

What does that mean? Simply put, unless your book is borrowed a lot, you won't see such a high return during a month. The other downside is the more titles enrolled in the program that month that are borrowed, the less percentage you'll earn.

As an indie author you have to weigh this against what you could potentially make having your title(s) in all the other ebook retailer stores.

I'm personally still debating about whether to enroll some of my future works. I'm not going to do it for any that I have published and available right now. Only time will tell if this idea is a good one or not.

Read More

$2.99, Higher or Lower, That Is The Question

(THIS IS A REPOST from a guest blog post I did for Adopt An Indie month)


When I debuted on the indie scene back in 2010, I was brimming with hope, joy and tons of ideas. I wanted to promote my work and get it out there to the readers who would enjoy it. I never imagined that there would be so much to consider. Everything–from formatting and designing my book cover, to marketing, to what to price my ebooks, all of those tasks seemed a bit daunting.

When I asked other indie authors what they were pricing their ebooks, the answers were varied and vague. No one could or was willing to give me a concrete answer. Finally, one author told me to experiment until I found pricing that worked for me.

Confused and a little bit perturbed by the whole situation, I stumbled across what would become my best guide for pricing my ebooks. The blog, “A Newbie’s Guide to Self-publishing” (http://jakonrath.blogspot.com), written and maintained by traditionally and indie published author, JA Konrath, opened my eyes to ebook pricing. So I decided to take a chance. I lowered my two novels down to $2.99 (Jewels was $4.99; Werelove Dusk Conspiracy was $5.99) and waited for the results.

Within one month of the price drop, my sales doubled. I was astounded. Could a lower price really be better? Then I decided to lower them to $1.99. Again, I saw immediate results as sales once again doubled. Finally, after being out a year, I dropped both books to $0.99 and watched my sales double.

Now, here I am, almost two years and four books later, and I have to say that for me, at least, the model is working. However, just when I thought I’d gotten into a groove, JA Konrath is throwing out another challenge in regards to pricing. Will I take it? Don’t know. Maybe if I can get my courage up. For the time being, I’m going to stick with what’s working.

I encourage you to try it for yourself. Don’t be afraid to go for it. You might be surprised with the results.

Read More

NaNoWriMo: Why Do It?

NaNo, who? NaNoWriMo, what? Why?

Who and what is NaNoWriMo can be summed up as:

"National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and, when the thing is done, the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children." --Taken from the NaNoWriMo Official Website

The why do it, is a different for everyone. Some do it for fun. Others do it to get their projects completed. Still others like the opportunity to get that idea from their brain to the page. Regardless of the reason, NaNoWriMo is a great chance to network, get support from fellow writers and let your creativity flow.

So turn off your inner editor and let your ready and willing writer out.

Read More

Guest Blogger: Ami Blackwelder

 What route I chose and why?

I began writing fiction novels at the start of 2009. I wrote short stories, poetry and non-fiction before that time. After completing my first novel The Gate of Lake Forest I pursued epublishing and found an epublisher, www.ireadiwrite.com, with Michelle. She accepted me and took my sequel novel Prisoners of Pride as well. I then wrote my first historical
romance title The Day the Flowers Died and submitted it to Whiskey Press. They accepted it. But at that time, I was really looking into self-publishing and noticed a trend in that direction with many writers, good writers, successful writers. After learning a lot from Michelle, I decided to go my own route and said no to Whiskey Press. 

I discovered something all writers should know! 

Eepublishers, small publishers, indie publishers cannot do anything for your brand and your novel that you cannot do better. With minimal promos, they will take at least 50% of your profits. 

I don't sign with publishers now unless they offer non-exclusive rights, so that I may publish/distribute with whomever and wherever I wish. The only exception to this rule is if you are accepted by a BIG-House-Publisher who is also willing to put Money behind the Promos for your book. Which usually means you need an agent. 

If you can get an agent-great! Make sure they get you a good deal with a big publisher who has the vision you have so they see the potential and are willing to money where their mouth is.

Otherwise, do it yourself! You can learn!! You will have total creative freedom, get to work intimately with an editor you chose, chose the cover design you want, distribute to where you want, and get all the profits while having the ability to distribute the book as soon as you want as well as stop distribution and make changes whenever you want. No such luck with a publisher. 

So, make sure you pay attention to how much you are giving up in exchange to how much you are getting before you sign the dotted line.

That is What and Why. Perhaps many of you are asking...HOW?

Tips:

*Find a good editor or two! Find an illustrator or graphic artist! 

Createspace.com - Self publish paperback

Lulu.com (ipad)

http://kdp.amazon.com - Kindle Publishing

pubit.com - Barnes and Noble Ebook Publishing

*Promote on a few sites you've researched and like and build your loyal base of fans from there

*Get a website on blogger, or wordpress or weebly (all for free)

*Have a presence online on twitter, facebook, kindle and nook forums and pick a few more forums you like related to your book genres.

*Build a fan base in your local area with distribution of your books to schools, universities, libraries, and book events everywhere! Ask and you'll be surprised how many say "yes" ! 

Learn more on my website: http://amiblackwelder.blogspot.com every Sunday!

Read More

Working on a Series

The thought of writing a novel can be a scary thought. Attempting to write a series, can be downright frightening. To me, anything over three books is a series and in the beginning I had no desire to write more than three.

Then came my first YA novel, Werelove: Dusk Conspiracy. When I completed the first draft, I had a cliffhanger and a lot of dangling plots. I took my editors advice and wrote down all the items that needed to be resolved and/or raised questions. By the time I was finished, I had outlined enough for four more books.

Indecision struck. Did I want to change the outcome of the book and make it a standalone or did I dare take the plunge and attempt to write a series? After much contemplation and encouragement from my friends and editor, I decided to try.

Writing the second book turned out to be easier than the first because I had set the world and the characters and they welcomed me back like old friends.

There were still challenges though. Keeping it interesting for both me and the storyline. Adding in a few new characters while fleshing out others. Making sure the main character experienced growth. So many things to remember and keep tabs with.

Other things to help when writing a series is to create your series "bible", "encyclopedia" or "guidebook". In mine I have character sheets that contain information like date of birth, eye color, hair color, etc. Mine also contains a list of places that are mentioned in the book as well as hand-drawn maps to help me keep things straight.

For any that have thought about it, I would suggest you give it a try. You never know what you can accomplish unless you go for it.

Read More

What's Your Journey?

I want to welcome you to the first inaugural post for the Indie Author How-to Blog. I'm your host L.S. and I hope to bring you authors you haven't discovered yet as well as guidance and advice from those of us who have been there.

I chose my first victim *gentle cough*, blogger, Elissa Malcohn, because she taught me the ropes and always, always had great advice and patience when dealing with my endless barrage of questions.

She is both a writer and a poet with a style that captivates. Let's welcome her to the hot seat. Take it away, Elissa.

On January 19 I gave a talk to the Crystal River Women's Club in central Florida. The attendees generally didn't read science fiction/fantasy, the genre of most of my fiction. Most were not writers, but readers.

Instead of my usual topics dealing with issues of the writing craft and the rapidly-changing publishing industry, I got personal -- because no matter what genre or form one's writing takes, the human condition is something we all share. By acknowledging where we've come from as individuals, we inform both our writing and the ways we and our characters relate to others.

Here's a shortened version of the first part of my talk.

I'm going to start with a disclaimer: Every writer undertakes her own or his own journey. Pick any ten writers and chances are you'll find differences in what they write, how they get organized or whether they are organized at all, what if any writing rituals they have, what their inspirations are, and many other variables.

On the one hand, my journey as a writer is unique to me. On the other hand, I think it's safe to say that for writers, writing is like breathing. We have to do it, the way a musician has to play music or an artist has to create art. It's a passion. It's a driving force in our lives.

So, why writing for me?

At least in part, it has to do with the fact that my mother had been an English teacher. I was exposed to books at an early age, especially those supplied by the Scholastic Book Club. I particularly liked biographies -- some of the earliest books I read were biographies of Thomas Edison, Althea Gibson, and Helen Keller.

I also loved mythology. Among my favorite books were The Greek Gods and other books by Bernard Evslin, Dorothy Evslin, and Ned Hoopes, which contained fantastic psychedelic illustrations by William Hunter. Around this time I also watched movies like Jason and the Argonauts, along with Biblical epics like The Ten Commandments. Their special effects and fantastic imagery held me spellbound.

My mother taught while I grew up during the 1960s and 70s. During that time I served as her assistant and confidante, both of which made a big impression on me. When I was in kindergarten I alphabetized papers for her. Then I graduated to grading multiple-choice tests against an answer sheet. By the time I was eight years old, I was helping my mother correct and grade her students' essays.

As my mother's confidante I listened to her stories from school while my father was out of the house giving piano lessons. My mother came home from her inner-city job with stories about breaking up knife fights, finding used syringes in the stairwell, and watching prostitutes turn tricks in the school's parking lot. Several of her students were frequently in and out of mental and correctional institutions.

For every horror, she also told me a story of triumph -- like the troubled student who returned to school after having her baby, to take her exams and make sure she got her diploma. Or like the three girls -- Muslim, Jewish, and African-American -- who were best friends. During the Six-Day Arab-Israeli war in 1967 those girls said, in effect, "We get along. Why can't the rest of the world?"

The essays I read, submitted by my mother's students, were heartfelt. Most of them talked about peace at a time when the Vietnam War was in full swing. Most of them talked about love. As I corrected grammar, syntax, and spelling -- skills that later transferred to my work as a writer and editor -- I couldn't help but be moved by writing that was as powerful as it was, at times, simple and basic.

So why science fiction?

I've already mentioned the influence that mythology and movie epics had on me. I couldn't get enough of special effects like Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion animation of flying harpies and sword-wielding skeletons. And with all the troubles in the world, something in me responded very strongly to all the fantastic imagery those movies offered.

Also at a young age, my powers of attention were very well trained, and that ability to pay close attention often helped me pick up snatches of dialogue and other details that helped in my writing. My father was a pianist who spent long hours practicing his craft. I remember sitting very still on our living room couch, mesmerized as he repeated musical phrases over and over until he had mastered them. Music is a strong creative influence in my life.

But what truly started me on the path to writing science fiction was the combination of Star Trek and my almost dying in a car accident when I was seven.

On June 6, 1966, I was hit by a car in front of my house. I was in Coney Island Hospital for ten weeks, the first two weeks in critical condition. Both my legs were broken, my left leg sustaining a compound fracture. My intestines were ruptured. I almost died from peritonitis.

I was discharged from the hospital on August 17, and would spend the next four months on crutches and doing home exercises to continue healing my left leg. My parents had purchased a color TV while I had been in the hospital. We'd had only black and white before then, so the color TV was a wonderful surprise.

In September my friend Carole came to the house and introduced me to Star Trek. I had missed the first two episodes aired. The third episode, called "Where No Man Has Gone Before," introduced a character named Gary Mitchell, who had acquired supernatural powers and was much like a mythological god. In an early scene, Mitchell showed off his new skills by causing himself to die and then to come back to life -- something that, in many respects, had just happened to me. I was hooked.

I was also upset to learn that Mitchell was the villain of the episode, abusing his powers until he was finally defeated. But from then on, I watched Star Trek religiously. For one thing, its state-of-the-art special effects wowed me, especially coming from our new color TV. Even more important, its themes were socially relevant, dealing with issues of war, racism, class divisions, and much of what I saw in the world around me. But on Star Trek, the planet Earth was a utopia, where scourges like hunger and poverty no longer existed.

My mother's work with her students had sensitized me to those scourges. Star Trek, with its mix of social relevance and science fiction mythos, provided me with the perfect counterpoint.

So I'd been thoroughly captured by science fiction as a television viewer, but not yet as a writer. Two events in 1969 changed that.

First, Star Trek was taken off the air. Second, my mother suffered a major heart attack that almost killed her, and that would leave her in very poor health until her death 13 years later. In-between those two events, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon.

The loss of Trek took away a television show that in many respects had helped me deal with the world. The near-death of my mother, three years after my own near-death, made me even more self-reliant as an only child. I missed Star Trek so much that I started writing my own episodes, with a character who was my fictional alter-ego. Through that character, the crew of the Enterprise became my extended family, and my essays in grade school took on a science-fictional tone. When I got an assignment to write about what the world would be like "five years from now," I wrote from the perspective of someone in orbit.

There's a saying by Peter Graham that goes, "The golden age of science fiction is twelve." It literally applies to me. I turned twelve in 1970, at a time when the New Wave movement in science fiction was at its height. New Wave focuses on social issues, taboos, and "inner" versus "outer" space. It's why my writing doesn't really deal with spaceships or other planets. It deals much more with psychology and sociology and mythology. It falls into the realm of "soft" science fiction mixed with fantasy.

I went on to describe the role that writing and submitting work has played in my life, along with all the detours I've faced. Those detours often resulted in new opportunities, including creative opportunities. Not only is my writing eclectic -- fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and more, spanning different genres -- but my creative output also includes photography, physical and digital art, and music. Just as important are the "non-creative" avenues in my life that challenged me and developed me as a person. My bottom line: Nothing is wasted. Everything in life is valuable material, including -- and often especially -- the detours.

This, then, is the deeper level of the adage, "Write what you know." It has to do with more than what you've studied or what jobs you've held. It goes beyond the research you've done for a story.

"What you know" includes everything that has made you the person you are and that continues to move you forward. It is your own unique corner of the human condition, and it also joins you to the rest of the universe. Ultimately, it creates the common ground shared by you, your characters, and your readers.

How did you get to this day, this blog, your passion? What is your journey?

Official Website

Purchase Her Works:

INDIE WORKS
Download Books 1 - 5 of her Deviations series (FREE DOWNLOADS)

OTHER WORKS

She Nailed a Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror

Vampyr Verse

Read More