37 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
37 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Wow, That Was Easy - #4 Bestseller In Kindle Niche!

by Martin Luxton
28 replies
OK, it's a very small niche for Kindle (Christmas) but my book went live 3 days ago.

I got just a few sales in the first day, then put it on free promotion and now it's in the top ten.

Many people on this forum know that if you hit the right (small) niche at the right time with a free promotion it is not difficult to do well, but the general public don't know this. My wife is telling her friends and family - "Check out Amazon - Martin's book is a bestseller!"

I'm off to get a screenshot of that page before it shoots back down to #10,201,595

Martin
#bestseller #easy #kindle #niche #wow
  • Profile picture of the author TycoonRob
    Awesome! If/when it hits #1 you can then say it was a #1 book. Maybe not in the paid category, but whatever...details....
    Signature

    Doubt everything you believe.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7522983].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author DustinD117
    Congrats! That's awesome.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7523177].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author agmccall
      One of the things that helps me the most on the Warrior Forum is "Inspiration"

      And I am inspired by your post

      al
      Signature

      "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas Edison

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7523185].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Shining JS
    Congrats I want to ask you how much time and money to get to that level? Thanks
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7523336].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Marhelper
    I agree with the previous poster ... advertise #1 bestseller!
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7523462].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author dragtastic
    congrats! Can't wait to see the screen shot!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7524060].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    Martin,
    Is it actually a best seller in the "paid" category or the "free" category? If it's in the "paid" category, that is AWESOME!
    Signature
    Click Here For My Exclusive WSO
    Kindle Self Publishing Supersite - Kindle Templates, Book Covers & Trailers, Marketing Tips, & More
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7524102].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Martin Luxton
      Originally Posted by Paul Gram View Post

      Martin,
      Is it actually a best seller in the "paid" category or the "free" category? If it's in the "paid" category, that is AWESOME!
      Paul,

      It's in the "free" category but I don't care

      Actually, I've been wondering if it's harder to rank in the free category because there is so much competition from internet marketers.

      Martin
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7525357].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author GoodFE
        Small bit of advice, don't get carried away with free promotions. I did it with my first book also and it got into the top 100 of all free books, every category, and has not seen many sales yet.

        Another book has never been free (and never will) but it is in the top 10,000 paid. It earns 400usd a month all by itself and took me a day to write.

        No prizes for guessing which means more.

        Free promotion is okay in my opinion but it can also give a false hope. When it's free it goes to the top of all search results for your keyword. Plus, lots of people will download free books and never even read them, merely downloading for the sake of it.

        My advice would be to use free promotions to promote and get a rating but don't get overly excited. You should be glad you are publishing on the Kindle but you need to think why you are doing it.

        If you do it for fun, then congrats! If you do it for profit then don't get overly excited my friend, worry about cash money!
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7526616].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Martin Luxton
          WillR & GoodFE,

          Don't worry, I've got my feet firmly on the ground

          A couple of other books I've got in development I have detailed plans to make sure they make money.

          I've been trying to write a decent piece of fiction for years and this Christmas project was more for personal satisfaction than for profit. On the other hand, there's more than one way to skin a cat - if a free Kindle book leads to paid work () then, in a sense it's made you money.

          Plus, during the whole process, I learnt a hell of a lot about writing, about how Kindle works and about promoting a book

          Martin
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7527072].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author GoodFE
            Originally Posted by Martin Luxton View Post

            WillR & GoodFE,

            Don't worry, I've got my feet firmly on the ground

            A couple of other books I've got in development I have detailed plans to make sure they make money.

            I've been trying to write a decent piece of fiction for years and this Christmas project was more for personal satisfaction than for profit. On the other hand, there's more than one way to skin a cat - if a free Kindle book leads to paid work () then, in a sense it's made you money.

            Plus, during the whole process, I learnt a hell of a lot about writing, about how Kindle works and about promoting a book

            Martin
            Like I said Martin, if it was for personal satisfaction then well done.

            If you are going to write multiple books under that pen name then all free promotions work. I use several different pen names but when one has a free promotion, all the others see a bump in sales. I think it might be because the downloads act as a boost to the author and therefor all of that authors books get moved up in the rankings.

            I never make a successful one free but the ones with low sales are always good for a free promotion. I sometimes even write short 3k 4k books and use them just for free promotion. Only takes 2 hours to write and is well worth it.

            Anywho, best of luck with your future projects!
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7530504].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by Paul Gram View Post

      Martin,
      Is it actually a best seller in the "paid" category or the "free" category? If it's in the "paid" category, that is AWESOME!
      Well, actually, rankings and stuff are great but if you are publishing books to make money then all that really matters is how much money you made from it. Unfortunately Kindle don't write you checks for first or second place.

      It's kind of like those people that concentrate on getting WSO of the Day awards. Although they might be nice for social proof it is no guarantee of sales. I would be much happier with a bunch of sales rather than an award. I have had several WSO's make more money without those awards than with them.

      Just saying. Your ranking is proof you are heading in the right direction but make sure you concentrate on SALES rather than AWARDS -- if you are in it for the money that is
      Signature

      .


      .

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7526186].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Moneymaker2012
    Thats nice to hear about your success
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7524117].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Fun to Write
    Congratulations, Martin

    Yes, make a screenshot so you can enjoy this feeling and be inspired as you continue creating more books.
    Signature

    Focus+Smart Work+Persistence=Success

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7524171].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Gengis
    Martin thanks for this post, it really inspires me to do a kindle book!
    Signature
    My Craigslist Arbitrage Method Of Making Money On Demand -->

    http://www.warriorplus.com/w/v/f2fwlp
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7525360].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Awesome! Congrats Martin. You deserve that and more.
    Signature

    Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7525458].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mervp
    The great thing about this success story is that it shows that profiting with Kindle is still in its infancy stage, and is in no way a saturated market. If you can easily rank for such a basic topic as Christmas, the field is wide open!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7525474].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author srolly85
    Always great to hear success stories such as this, keep up the hard work
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7525515].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author VirtuallyCapable
    Originally Posted by Martin Luxton View Post

    OK, it's a very small niche for Kindle (Christmas) but my book went live 3 days ago.

    I got just a few sales in the first day, then put it on free promotion and now it's in the top ten.

    Many people on this forum know that if you hit the right (small) niche at the right time with a free promotion it is not difficult to do well, but the general public don't know this. My wife is telling her friends and family - "Check out Amazon - Martin's book is a bestseller!"

    I'm off to get a screenshot of that page before it shoots back down to #10,201,595

    Martin

    This is awesome and gives me hope! My first book was published a few weeks ago on Amazon, too....and this helps I just downloaded your book and I will be sure to post a review for you.
    Signature
    Social Media Management, High Quality Content, SEO, Website Creation|
    Boost Business Branding: Online Marketing and Professional Writing| denise.gabbard@gmail.com
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7525530].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author tac88
    Congrats Martin . How long did it take you to create the book and how many have you done so far ? Ya a screen shot would be cool !
    Great job Martin keep it up ..
    Signature
    A Simple Formula For Online Success
    This is what's putting money in my pocket Right Now!

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7525532].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Martin Luxton
      OK, screenshot attached.

      As to how long it took - about 2 - 3 hours a day spread over a month (how-to books are much easier!!!). I went through about 15 drafts.

      Martin
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7525988].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Icanwrite
    Its a great feeling to have your work read and be appreciated. I have a couple of books on Kindle myself but they are doing just average - 1 sale in 2-3 days or so !
    Signature
    Adventure travel blogger & outreach expert - WanderWithJo.com
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7526348].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author WordpressManiac
    Hey Martin, congratulations on that one! I'm still not sure which niche I should Target and wether it should be fiction or non-fiction. I am afraid Fiction Books have to have a lot more content.

    What do you think?
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7527096].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author GeorgR.
    How do you monetize a free ebook?
    Signature
    *** Affiliate Site Quick --> The Fastest & Easiest Way to Make Affiliate Sites!<--
    -> VISIT www.1UP-SEO.com *** <- Internet Marketing, SEO Tips, Reviews & More!! ***
    *** HIGH QUALITY CONTENT CREATION +++ Manual Article Spinning (Thread Here) ***
    Content Creation, Blogging, Articles, Converting Sales Copy, Reviews, Ebooks, Rewrites
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7527100].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Martin Luxton
      Originally Posted by WordpressManiac View Post

      Hey Martin, congratulations on that one! I'm still not sure which niche I should Target and wether it should be fiction or non-fiction. I am afraid Fiction Books have to have a lot more content.

      What do you think?
      WPManiac,

      Re: niche I'm not qualified to answer that one.

      Re: Fiction vs. Non-fiction/Length. What I can say is that my story is only 2,000 words long. The main difference I have found between fiction and non-fiction is that non-fiction is easier to structure (for me).

      As I said, I wouldn't want to select a niche for you but let's look at the niche your Username suggests.

      For example, if you are doing a how-to book about setting up a Wordpress site there is a very logical structure Buy domain name > Get hosting > Point nameservers to hosting > Install Wordpress via Cpanel etc

      But there is also a problem with that simplicity. Some people might get hung up on something unimportant like "Should I buy the domain name or the hosting first?" Or you write the book and then someone complains that their hosting company doesn't have a C Panel. Or the day after you publish Wordpress changes the layout of the Dashboard.

      On the other hand, the good thing about Kindle is that you can update your book regularly to reflect changes. This could be a selling point "Recently Updated to Include December 2012 Changes to WP Dashboard!!"

      Originally Posted by GeorgR. View Post

      How do you monetize a free ebook?
      This one I haven't (though it does include a link to my slightly monetised website). On the other hand, it has improved my standing in the eyes of someone I am ghostwriting a book for.

      For info on that kind of stuff there are people better qualified than me such as Geoff Shaw (Kindling membership) or Paul Coleman (Bookpumper.com).

      Martin
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7527501].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author SunilTanna
    I just hit 12 in weight Loss and weight maintenance diets.

    Merry Xmas!
    Signature
    ClickBank Vendor?
    - Protect Your Thank You Pages & Downloads
    - Give Your Affiliates Multiple Landing Pages (Video Demo)
    - Killer Graphics for Your Site
    SPECIAL WSO PRICES FOR WARRIORS + GET THE "CLICKBANK DISCOUNT" TOO!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7527857].message }}

Trending Topics