Brad Callen's AK Elite software. Any good?

73 replies
AK Elite

Hey Guys, what do you think of Brad Callen's new AK Elite?

I got it, but so busy just need to figure out where to focus my energy.

I have been in the seo space for years and now Kindle too. Brad has always been one of the very best. I just am not up to date on his latest stuff and wanted to see what others think.

Thank You

Andrew Z
Kindle Wealth Formula
#brad #callen #elite #good #software
  • Profile picture of the author Allustrious
    I just finished watching his video presentation of the software. Sounds very interesting. I have been considering diving into to creating Kindle books. I may purchase this as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Doiron
    AK Elite looks interesting, and Brad is a good guy, but I already bought KD Suite. I'm trying to determine if there are significant differences between the two.
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    • Profile picture of the author KingArthur
      Originally Posted by Doiron View Post

      AK Elite looks interesting, and Brad is a good guy, but I already bought KD Suite. I'm trying to determine if there are significant differences between the two.
      I am glad you posted this because I looked up KD Suite and found out that it may be an older version of AK Elite or am I wrong? I could be wrong so do not let my questioning affect your decision to buy it or not.

      KD Suite (old) > AK Elite (new) ?????

      What are the differences between the two?
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Lenney
    I've got ak elite and all upsells. Highly recommended. Sorry for the short post, iPhone and the Simpsons are on tv so my attention is scattered :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author ihelfman
      Originally Posted by eljeffe77 View Post

      I've got ak elite and all upsells. Highly recommended. Sorry for the short post, iPhone and the Simpsons are on tv so my attention is scattered :-)
      If you have free time, please elaborate.
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      • Profile picture of the author chop
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        • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
          Originally Posted by chop View Post

          Want to buy this but a little concerned that the example 'weight loss for woman book' is now on page 5 for his keywords. (?)

          Might try anyway however...
          I knew someone would mention this :-P

          I published that book for the sole purpose of showing I know what I'm doing. I wanted to record myself ranking #1 for weight loss in a week. After that, I completely ignored that book because I knew that the second I announced this book to the IM world, I'd instantly have more competition etc. That is a niche that you can't ignore or you'll drop. I didn't mind, because it wasn't one of my "real" books. Amazon's rankings change very quickly, unlike Google. (not because they're changing their algorithm, but because book purchases and reviews are rapidly changing for each book) Which is actually a great thing, because you can tweak your page and see almost immediate results. But... well, if you ignore a listing for "weight loss", you'll obviously drop :-)

          Rule #1 is once you're ranked for a book you care about, don't tell anyone.

          I've been preparing for the AK Elite launch, and working on all of the other books that I care about. Ones that nobody knows I author, which is how you should keep it, unless you want more competition :-)

          Hopefully that all makes sense.

          Thanks a lot for your interest in AK Elite. I really appreciate it.

          Brad
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          • Profile picture of the author shakil754
            Hello Brad,

            Just wondering why there isnt any software demo. You do a great sales page but I cant see the software demo

            thanks
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          • Profile picture of the author Unexpected Error
            Originally Posted by Brad Callen View Post

            After that, I completely ignored that book because I knew that the second I announced this book to the IM world, I'd instantly have more competition etc. That is a niche that you can't ignore or you'll drop. ... But... well, if you ignore a listing for "weight loss", you'll obviously drop :-)
            What would you need to do to keep it at the top? If you've used AK Elite to do the keyword research etc, then what???

            Thanks.
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            • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
              Originally Posted by Unexpected Error View Post

              What would you need to do to keep it at the top? If you've used AK Elite to do the keyword research etc, then what???

              Thanks.
              Lots of things :-)

              - adjust on page ranking factors based on competition
              - get both verified and non-verified reviews
              - contact potential promotion partners
              - monitor traffic types
              - analyze other potential keyword variations
              - etc...

              Kindle is "set it and forget it" in most niches, but the "weight loss" niche is not one of them.

              Brad
              P.S. Your username automatically makes me nervous, being a software developer. lol...
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              • Profile picture of the author Unexpected Error
                Originally Posted by Brad Callen View Post

                Lots of things :-)

                - adjust on page ranking factors based on competition
                - get both verified and non-verified reviews
                - contact potential promotion partners
                - monitor traffic types
                - analyze other potential keyword variations
                - etc...

                Kindle is "set it and forget it" in most niches, but the "weight loss" niche is not one of them.

                Brad
                P.S. Your username automatically makes me nervous, being a software developer. lol...
                Haha!

                Thanks, Brad. I see what you mean now.
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              • Profile picture of the author Jason Stovall
                Brad,

                Would this software help me dominate the local market for local business owners that wants to write a book on their business or their autobiography?

                Thanks
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          • Profile picture of the author uomolibero
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            • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
              Originally Posted by uomolibero View Post

              Brad i am totally new to this kind of market but i am very very interested.
              But before i purchase it,i would like to have an idea of how much more or less would cost me to outsource a book.If i need to spend 500 dollars every time,then i don't think it's worth.
              Thank you anyway
              Hey, thanks so much for your interest. The nice thing about Kindle books are that they can be much shorter than a typical "ebook" because they usually sell for only $2.99. Most of my Kindle books are between 30-50 pages in length, and you can get a 35 page eBook written on iwriter.com for $275.

              Honestly, though, if you didn't have the money yet, I would write your own Kindle book, until you generate some money from that book and can use it to have another book written.

              Brad
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  • Profile picture of the author Royalking
    A short and concise review:
    Ak elite is a desktop software.
    1. Researches kindle market.
    2. Analyzes competition.
    3. Check your kindle books ranking. (if published)
    4. Find reviewers.

    The upsells are great to promote your book on amazon kindle. They are worth every penny.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Klein
    Hi Brad

    I am a long time customer of yours. AK Elite looks great but I am not clear on what exactly the software does to increase Amazon rankings.

    I understand it analyzes the top ranking books for a keyword and identifies what factors are important but then what? Is the software doing anything to increase your rankings (such as build links), or does it just tell you what factors are important and then you have to go out and do the work to increase those factors for your listing? Like I said, I am just not clear about what the software does.

    Any additional info you can offer is appreciated.

    Jeff Klein
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Hi Jeff, thanks for your interest. To make it as short and concise as I can.

    AK Elite:

    1. Helps you find niche topics to write on. Topics with high demand and low competition. Topics that have a higher payout, to make your time as worthwhile as it can.

    2. Analyzes the top ranked books and shows you what ranking criteria each book excels in, so you'll know what you need to do (i.e. the minimum) to outrank them. Think of it like the SEO Elite of Amazon.

    3. Monitors where your books are ranked in Amazon and the Kindle store.

    4. Helps you find the BEST people to buy and more importantly review your books.

    Along with the software itself is a big book I wrote, detailing strategies etc. As well as 6 books written by fellow Warriors who are doing very well with Kindle publishing.

    On top of AK Elite and the books, after you buy, you'll be presented with 3 more products that the majority of users are using.

    1. The AK Book Maker which allows you to quickly create Kindle ready books
    that you can upload to Amazon. Super straightforward, insert your content and press a button. Any other book maker I've seen is complicated to install or has way too much "stuff" that gets in the way and slows down the process of just creating a Kindle ready book.

    2. AK Elite Analytics which allows you to actually see how visitors are visiting your Kindle listing page, so you'll know which keywords they searched on. Which other book listings you're listed in their "readers who bought this, also bought this" section and so on. You'll also be able to see if there are any websites referring people to your book
    listing. It's a really good analytics tool that does something no other tool anywhere has been able to do.

    3. And lastly the AK Elite Book Club which allows you to purchase other member's book and leave "honest" reviews. And in return, other members will do the same for you. Reviews are critical to ranking highly. Think of reviews/purchases like backlinks when it comes to Google.

    I've developed all of this, not just to sell, but mainly to help me with my own Kindle business, so everything is highly thought out and created for a VERY specific purpose. Not just to "have something to sell", like a lot of internet marketers are doing these days.

    Hope that helps explain things a bit. Thanks for your interest and good luck with your Kindle publishing!

    Brad
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    • Profile picture of the author WorkitSmart
      Originally Posted by Brad Callen View Post

      1. The AK Book Maker which allows you to quickly create Kindle ready books that you can upload to Amazon. Super straightforward, insert your content and press a button. Any other book maker I've seen is complicated to install or has way too much "stuff" that gets in the way and slows down the process of just creating a Kindle ready book.
      Brad
      Hi Brad!

      Purchased your products (love the keyword part) and went to create the book today but have one issue.

      I have several pages before the TOC but each page in the software requires a title. I don't want a title for these pages and they also won't be in the TOC..

      So how do I do that?

      The video shows a guy go thru process. He just shows first part with cover, etc and then jumps into chapters...Then later on you can see he has a copyright page but doesn't show how he got it in there.

      One more thing: I guess we can't insert an optin? I just tried using aWeber script but I can't see that it'll work.

      Please help
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      • Profile picture of the author WorkitSmart
        Hmmmm..

        Well as much as I like the Keyword software, I'll be returning the book maker.

        It's been two days and I still haven't received response about my issues so I'm hiring someone to format for me.
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      • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
        Originally Posted by WorkitSmart View Post

        Hi Brad!

        Purchased your products (love the keyword part) and went to create the book today but have one issue.

        I have several pages before the TOC but each page in the software requires a title. I don't want a title for these pages and they also won't be in the TOC..

        So how do I do that?

        The video shows a guy go thru process. He just shows first part with cover, etc and then jumps into chapters...Then later on you can see he has a copyright page but doesn't show how he got it in there.

        One more thing: I guess we can't insert an optin? I just tried using aWeber script but I can't see that it'll work.

        Please help
        Hi, we received a support ticket about this about a month ago. Maybe it was you? Anyway, just letting you know that we've integrated your suggestions into the book maker.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Klein
    Thanks Brad. Can you elaborate a bit more on the AK Elite Book Club? When I add my book do I also specify the keywords I am targeting so reviewers will use them in their reviews? I understand the idea of exchanging reviews but what if I don't have time to read other people's books? Is there any way to purchase credits or do they have to be "earned"?

    Jeff
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Hi Jeff, you get credits for purchasing someone else's book. You also get credits for reviewing. It's up to you how you want to earn those credits. If you have other specific questions, shoot me a PM, as I don't think the mods like review threads turning into Q&A. Thanks!

    Brad
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    • Profile picture of the author papuanac1971
      I buy it and already create and publish my first book on Amazon Kindle store. The software works perfectly and was so amazed about Kindle book creator. So easy as 1,2,3.
      All you have to do is start software, check for keywords and possible daily earnings, analyze competition, write article or outsource it, copy-paste into book creator and voila!
      From start to the end I spend 2-3 hours. Another 7-8 hours to get approved by Amazon stuff.
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    • Profile picture of the author naturefull
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      • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
        Originally Posted by naturefull View Post

        Hi Brad,

        I'm interested in the AK Analytics and AK Book club only. I have KD Suite so I don't need AK Elite. Can I sign up for the analytics and book club only? I don't see where I can do this. Please clarify. Thanks!
        Hi, I replied to your PM also :-)

        Currently there isn't a way to get any of the upsells without owning AK Elite. Eventually I plan on allowing/doing that, but it likely won't be for awhile. I'm sorry.

        Brad
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  • Profile picture of the author cypherslock
    All I can say is that even though this isn't yet an income stream for me, I can recommend anything Brad puts out. I've been using his niche finder, and beyond how easy and fast the software is, the support is stellar. And he's a down to earth guy as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Valerio
    Hi.
    Question: is AK Elite good only for the US market? I'm interested in the other countries / languages where competition is really low!

    Thanks
    Valerio
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    • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
      Originally Posted by Valerio View Post

      Hi.
      Question: is AK Elite good only for the US market? I'm interested in the other countries / languages where competition is really low!

      Thanks
      Valerio
      Hi, we're adding other versions of Amazon as they're requested in the help desk.

      Thanks.

      Brad
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  • Profile picture of the author Joshster
    Hey Brad,

    I grabbed AK Elite along with Analytics & Book Club.

    One big question I have is there a community or group somewhere to discuss strategies etc?
    I am already in Bryan Kumar's private Warrior Book Club forum on here.

    I should add that I initially am not your typical customer as I have already published 12 of my fathers books, he is an established author (although most of his work published 20+ years ago).

    So I plan initially see if I can boost sales of my dads slower sellers via category and keyword manipulation. Probably not going to be using Book Club for my dads books but may for my own down the road...

    Thanks,
    Josh
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Hey Josh, thanks for joining! As for a "community", probably the Warrior forum is the best place to go for that. I think Bryan's Warrior Book Club is your best bet for community. Bryan's awesome and does a great job.

    Thanks again for grabbing a copy. Version 1.2 will be released pretty soon, which contains some nice feature requests from some very smart users, so be on the lookout.

    Brad
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Hey Jason, it'll help you dominate the world. Total domination of everything possible everywhere forever in and of itself, entirely.

    In all seriousness though, to make Kindle sales, you need to rank highly. To rank highly, you need to optimize your listing with both on page stuff, and off page stuff. AK Elite helps you do that. I don't know how well an autobiography from a random local business owner would sell though... but AK Elite would help get him ranked highly for whatever you try to rank for :-)

    Good luck.

    Brad
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Stovall
    Brad,

    Would this software help me dominate the local market for local business owners that wants to write a book on their business or their autobiography?

    Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Hi Jason, you posted the same message twice :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author pokerdawg
      Brad,

      I'm interested in going through CreateSpace so I can have both the print and Kindle version.

      Is there any difference in what you would do in this situation? Do the tools & research still apply?

      Also, on Amazon, I seem to see different "SERP's" when going through the Kindle Store vs. the regular store and filtering by Kindle format. Are they different results, or am I just missing something? I would think most users go through the regular store, correct? Does your software distinguish between the two approaches?

      Thanks

      Chris
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      Ask me any questions, and I'll do what I can to help with search engine optimization, pay per click bid management and lead generation. Your Long Island advertising agency in New York.

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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Hey Chris, I'm not sure, if I'm being totally honest. I use KDP and Author Central for my own stuff. When optimizing for print books the same optimization methods apply, but AK Elite will analyze the Kindle store, not the physical book store. When AK Elite tracks your book rankings, it well check all of Amazon, as well as just the Kindle store. So, 2 different graphs.

    Thanks

    Brad
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  • Profile picture of the author pokerdawg
    Picked it up and am giving it a run-through. PM'ing you a specific question.

    Thanks!

    Chris
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    Ask me any questions, and I'll do what I can to help with search engine optimization, pay per click bid management and lead generation. Your Long Island advertising agency in New York.

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  • Profile picture of the author mangarola
    Hey Brad,

    Thanks for hanging out here and taking a few questions. I currently have three eBooks in the Food niche all part of a series. Sales were good the first month or so, but lately they have dropped to almost nothing. In my last KDF Free Book offer in May, nearly 10,000 books were moved, so I know the product is good.

    My question is How would your product work on eBooks that have been on the market since the beginning of the year?
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Hey, no problem. I check my email about 900 times a day, so figured might as well pop into the forum too :-)

    Ok, so regarding your question. It would work the same way as it would for a brand new product. AK Elite is all about analyzing competition and seeing what they're doing to rank highly. Google treats every keyword different. They adjust their algorithm based on the keyword. And I would assume that while Amazon is nowhere near as sophisticated as Google, they likely adjust a bit based on keyword. So, with that adjustment, you can see what currently ranked books are doing and then can model your listing and a lot of other things around theirs. In your case, I would recommend editing your listing based on what you find out.

    Good luck!

    Brad
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    • Profile picture of the author mangarola
      OK, I picked up the product and spent a little time yesterday testing out keywords on an earlier book. Made some changes and this morning picked up a two sales. I have a few promotions going on now with with book (and others) but to be honest sales are low. In fact for this book I only sold two in July and then two yesterday.

      I will continue to monitor the results but so far I'm liking what I see.
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  • Profile picture of the author Allustrious
    If anyone is on the fence about this software, or Brad as a marketer, take a trip back in your memory to his revolutionary SE Elite software. This software was the key to me making thousands with my clients. I am quite sure AK Elite is no exception. I am just getting started in the Kindle publishing arena, and I am sure this software will make a major difference in my success.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Great! Thanks for sharing Mangarola. Sales will depend entirely on the keywords you rank for, but if you follow everything I teach and use the tools, ranking at the top is pretty much a given. The key is the niche research to make sure you're spending your time on something that, if ranked highly, will make a decent number of sales :-)

    Brad
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  • Profile picture of the author kilago
    Hey Brad,

    What's your opinion on the long-term outlook of doing this? Do you think there will be Amazon slaps in future, once they see us over-optimising for ranking?

    Ryan
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Hey Ryan, you should definitely never "over optimize" anything. I don't teach that, so if you own any of my stuff, you'll be in good shape :-) The idea here is to just analyze what's already ranking and do the same thing slightly better. With Amazon, you can change your listing at any point in time and the rankings change in about a day, so there really isn't such a thing as a "slap" when it comes to Amazon. While it's similar to Google, it's also very different.

    Brad
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  • Profile picture of the author ameenmk
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    • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
      Originally Posted by ameenmk View Post

      Have not used the upsell to track your rankings. You have to add the tracking code to your amazon author page which i have not created yet.

      The last upsell - the book club is a good idea. I have bought a few books to earn "credits" but I have not reviewed any of the books i paid for. I figured if I posted reviews minutes after buying them amazon would pick up on that. But i doubt others using this will wait. So eventually amazon will pick up on this and find a way to shut down fake reviews.

      Overall, it is a nice tool. Probably overpriced as I believe most of Brad Callen's stuff is. (personal opinion). But if you are serious about Kindle this will help.

      I have some books on Kindle and have had printed book on Amazon for years but am just starting to pay attention to kindle.

      read the free report he gives away on the site. there is no other training besides that given (except for some how to use the software videos) so you are on your own.
      Hi, thanks for ordering. Wanted to hop in real quick to point you in the right direction, as I think you might be a little confused :-)

      - AK analytics doesn't track your rankings. It shows you what keywords and websites people are searching for or coming from to purchase your book. It keeps track of analytics. If you want to monitor your rankings, use project #3 in AK Elite titled "Find where your book is ranked".

      - There is much more training than the free book that I wrote. There are 6 full books on how to make money with Kindle marketing. Inside the software itself, you can click the big help button and see lengthy tutorial videos created by me, on how to best use the software. There are training videos for each "upsell" showing you how to use each tool. Plus, I plan on sending out regular tips and strategies via email once things calm down a bit. With that said, I believe in teaching straightforward and not watering information down just so I can throw together 100 videos and 100 eBooks. I teach you exactly what's necessary to actually make money with your Kindle books, and nothing more. I know that's what I appreciate and prefer when I buy stuff, so that's what I try to do when I sell stuff.

      Anyway, hope that helps.

      Brad
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      • Profile picture of the author mrchips225
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        • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
          Originally Posted by mrchips225 View Post

          Hi

          How many upsells or OTO's are there?

          mrchips225
          Hi, please see my previous reply above with everything listed out :-)

          2013-07-30_2308 - callenb's library

          Brad
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  • Profile picture of the author mangarola
    Update - So since the first day sales have slowed, but my rankings for the keywords I used has improved. There is a lot more to this than just click and go and I'm starting to get the feel for some things.

    I only purchased the one upsell and that was the book club. Must not have a lot of members yet as I don't get very much in the way of books to purchase and earn credits for. I already have a software to create my eBooks but I'm considering the analytics tool.
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  • Profile picture of the author Azlan.MY
    BTW, If you are in Dave Guindon or Bobby Walker list, you should get an email promoting AK Elite Book Club. No need to purchase the front-end AK Elite software.
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    • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
      Originally Posted by Azlan.MY View Post

      BTW, If you are in Dave Guindon or Bobby Walker list, you should get an email promoting AK Elite Book Club. No need to purchase the front-end AK Elite software.
      Just a heads up. Book club offer given by Dave and Bobby ends Friday at midnight.

      Brad
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      • Profile picture of the author antion
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        • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
          Originally Posted by antion View Post

          Brad I purchased into the book club, but I'm not too thrilled that the skip button doesn't work and forces me to buy what appears to be your book. I was at least expecting to have a wide variety of books to pick from. What's the deal?
          Hi there. The only way for members with a high number of earned credits to get purchases/reviews that they've earned is to display their book a high percentage of time, otherwise those with lots of credits but a book nobody wants to read who ever get what they paid for. This way, you are ensured to get purchases/reviews that you paid for. Hope that makes more sense.

          Thanks for your interest.

          Brad
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          • Profile picture of the author antion
            Originally Posted by Brad Callen View Post

            Hi there. The only way for members with a high number of earned credits to get purchases/reviews that they've earned is to display their book a high percentage of time, otherwise those with lots of credits but a book nobody wants to read who ever get what they paid for. This way, you are ensured to get purchases/reviews that you paid for. Hope that makes more sense.

            Thanks for your interest.

            Brad
            Actually Brad, no it doesn't make sense. It does seem like a good ploy to force your books to the top. I don't really know you, but it seems that you could set your own credits to whatever you want which would show your books all the time with everyone else pushed to the bottom of the list with their books showing once every millenium.

            What doesn't make sense to me is that a good book on an interesting topic will get purchases and reviews. Are you saying your system is set up so that any piece of crap book can get purchases and reviews. Aren't these the kind of books Amazon has been trying to eliminate from their system?

            Why not let me scroll through all available books so I can pick ones that I'd at least like to read? I would buy many more books that way. When a book doesn't have credits it disappears from the list. If he wanted to, Dave could program this with his eyes closed.

            Also, for any book, how can purchases/reviews be "ensured" if no one ever gets a chance to see your book because others have more credits? What's the use of having a "skip" button if the same book is there forever?

            Another thing, if a person did buy the book they are stuck looking at, does it disappear so they aren't forced to see it over and over again when they already purchased it?
            TA
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            • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
              Originally Posted by antion View Post

              Actually Brad, no it doesn't make sense. It does seem like a good ploy to force your books to the top. I don't really know you, but it seems that you could set your own credits to whatever you want which would show your books all the time with everyone else pushed to the bottom of the list with their books showing once every millenium.

              What doesn't make sense to me is that a good book on an interesting topic will get purchases and reviews. Are you saying your system is set up so that any piece of crap book can get purchases and reviews. Aren't these the kind of books Amazon has been trying to eliminate from their system?

              Why not let me scroll through all available books so I can pick ones that I'd at least like to read? I would buy many more books that way. When a book doesn't have credits it disappears from the list. If he wanted to, Dave could program this with his eyes closed.

              Also, for any book, how can purchases/reviews be "ensured" if no one ever gets a chance to see your book because others have more credits? What's the use of having a "skip" button if the same book is there forever?

              Another thing, if a person did buy the book they are stuck looking at, does it disappear so they aren't forced to see it over and over again when they already purchased it?
              TA
              lol... seriously? I would never in a million years do that. You're right, you don't know me, at all :-)

              I'm saying that if a customer earns credits by purchasing and reviewing another customer's books, they will in turn get purchases and reviews. That's what we promise and that is what we deliver. If you're not happy with the book club, no one is forcing you to continue using it...

              You're right, Dave's awesome. He's been a friend of mine for a very long time.

              Have a nice evening.

              Brad
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              • Profile picture of the author antion
                Originally Posted by Brad Callen View Post

                lol... seriously? I would never in a million years do that. You're right, you don't know me, at all :-)

                I'm saying that if a customer earns credits by purchasing and reviewing another customer's books, they will in turn get purchases and reviews. That's what we promise and that is what we deliver. If you're not happy with the book club, no one is forcing you to continue using it...

                You're right, Dave's awesome. He's been a friend of mine for a very long time.

                Have a nice evening.

                Brad
                Yes, Brad and you don't know me either. I'm a guy that was making 100K a month when most of the people on this forum were in diapers. I also have 90,000 subscribers I could recommend this service to or not. I'm also a guy who has a TV show and documentary in development on anti scams. I'm certainly not accusing you or especially dave of scamming, but I have an eagle eye for things that "just aren't right about a business model". How about just addressing the specific questions in my last post?

                Why does the skip button not work and what's the ridiculous use of having one if it isn't going to work. How do you explain that it just happens to be your book I must purchase before I can move forward? Also, there were other questions you conveniently didn't answer. I'd love to spend a lot of money participating, but forcing books on people that don't know any better will not fly with more advanced people.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    I didn't say I knew you. I'm glad you have 90,000 subscribers and a TV show. I'm also glad you were "making $100k/month when many Warriors were in diapers."

    To answer your question, the book that isn't skipped has a lot of credits to make up. I agree with you in that it appears to not function at times, but please know it is functioning. I have mentioned that to my developers many times. We may end up just removing the button to avoid confusion. It is currently there because it will skip books when a surplus isn't present. Better than nothing. But in order for customers to receive the reviews they've earned, we can't allow people to skip books if there is a surplus of credits a customer needs to use. There just isn't a way around that.

    That is how our service works. If you don't like it, I'm very sorry, but it may not be suited to your needs.

    Brad
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    • Profile picture of the author antion
      Originally Posted by Brad Callen View Post

      I didn't say I knew you. I'm glad you have 90,000 subscribers and a TV show. I'm also glad you were "making $100k/month when many Warriors were in diapers."

      To answer your question, the book that isn't skipped has a lot of credits to make up. I agree with you in that it appears to not function at times, but please know it is functioning. I have mentioned that to my developers many times. We may end up just removing the button to avoid confusion. It is currently there because it will skip books when a surplus isn't present. Better than nothing. But in order for customers to receive the reviews they've earned, we can't allow people to skip books if there is a surplus of credits a customer needs to use. There just isn't a way around that.

      That is how our service works. If you don't like it, I'm very sorry, but it may not be suited to your needs.

      Brad
      First let me say Brad, that I'm not trying to give you personally a hard time. As you can see under my name I hardly say anything ever on this forum. However, in my role as a consumer advocate I come down like a ton of bricks when I have personal experience of something that "just doesn't seem right". I'm not at that point with your program, and you are attempting to answer my questions. I understand the difference between something that is just screwed up and something that is a scam.

      FYI. From my experience every scammer on earth uses the phraseology of "Maybe this service isn't right for you" when they want to avoid careful scrutiny from someone who knows what they're doing. So, I really wouldn't use that statement if I were you. I'll ask for a refund if after all this I determine the service isn't right for me.

      Actually I like your basic idea ....at least until Amazon picks up patterns of reviews and shitcans the entire deal.

      So for one last try here are some more questions that still haven't been answered:

      1. Is that your book that I'm forced to buy or not?

      2. If so, don't you agree that looks a little fishy, or at the very least self serving that I'm forced to buy the owner of the system's book when your marketing implies I will have other members books to choose from?

      3. If I do buy that book, you still have not answered if that book will never be shown to me again so I can move forward with the skip button. If that book is stuck there after I buy it until enough other members buy it before my skip button starts to work, .....well that's just ridiculous, shortsighted and poorly thought out and will alienate and frustrate everyone.

      4. The way you have explained it to me is that a gung ho person(s) who grabs a lot of credits can pretty much bring the system to a screeching halt causing everyone else's book to never or virtually never be seen so it could be purchased. Tell me as of today, approximately how many times my book would be viewed if I had a minimum amount of credits. What would be the estimated amount of times viewed if you had 100 / 500 / 1000 members?

      In my anti scam work, I have no trouble with anyone selling something (no matter how crappy it is) if it is described honestly. Had you said in your promotion that you "must buy the book we tell you" or even had you said "because of the nature of the system, there may be times you must buy a book you don't even want i.e. take one for the team", ethically that would be fine and we would not be wasting electrons and time hashing this out. You, however, never mentioned the things I'm complaining about.

      Also, another reason this method of forcing books on people is short sighted. What if someone gets a bunch of credits for a book that no one would want to be associated with....let's say "How to Get Rid of Herpes"? Are you expecting me to purchase that through my Amazon account? Maybe it's a damn good book, but would you want this on your account?

      TA
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      • Profile picture of the author RedRover123
        I agree with Antion. I gave my thoughts of the book club in another thread but felt the need to chime in on this one since the other thread seems to have died.

        But in order for customers to receive the reviews they've earned, we can't allow people to skip books if there is a surplus of credits a customer needs to use. There just isn't a way around that.
        It seems your focus is on the wrong thing. By force feeding a couple of books with a lot of credits to customers and not allowing the books of other users with less credits to show up you are going to end up killing your system because people will have no incentive to keep participating.

        I really like the software's potential but I am not using it anymore or buying more credits or reviewing other people's books as the reviews I'm getting are just too few and far between to encourage me to participate and leave more reviews.

        Your system only works if you have people participate in it. The way the system is set up to force feed one book with a lot of credits is turning people off. Not only are they being forced to purchase a book they have no desire to read in order to get to a book they may be interested in, because their own books aren't appearing because they are blocked by those with more credits their books are not being reviewed frequently enough to encourage users to continue buying/reviewing books. If there isn't an incentive for us to participate, we won't. The way the system is now you are removing our incentive.

        Instead of being so concerned people with a lot of credits get to use up their credits it seems to me you should be concerned about everyone using up their credits as that will encourage more people to buy and review more books.

        Instead of force feeding one book that people may not be interested in if you rotate all of the books then you will naturally get more purchases for all of the books as people see their books being bought and reviewed. The books with more credits could show up in every rotation a specific number of times (say 2) and they will naturally get used up over time.

        I have seen several threads where different people have brought up the fact that being forced to choose a book they aren't interested in is something they really dislike. Chances are there are a lot more people out there who aren't making their feelings known. You can be stubborn and keep insisting your way is the best way or you can listen to what your customers are telling you and make the product better and have it benefit everyone.

        As I said in the other thread, I really like this product and want to use it more which is why I'm even writing this post, but right now the benefit just isn't there. Instead of worrying about what is best for the few people who buy tons of credits it seems like it would be much better to concentrate on what's best for all of your customers. Otherwise you will end up with a few people with a lot of credits and not enough people willing to write reviews for them.

        Thank you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll talk with my developer tomorrow and see if he can figure out a way to do what you're suggesting. Ultimately I want to do what's best for everyone. Thanks for the input!

    One other thing, just to make sure others know, is this is a review thread for AK Elite, not AK Book Club, which it seems it's turned into.

    You could open an AK Book Club thread to discuss the Book club :-)

    Brad
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    • Profile picture of the author mangarola
      There is a thread on AK Book Club and I posted my concerns there last week. I really like the concept, I like the AK Elite product, but I cannot find a book I'm interested in.

      I made a few purchases and earned over 20 credits and would like to earn more, but I am not seeing anything of late but one book being offered.

      Brad, see if your developer can offer up a library of books and once credits run out the book is taken out of the library.

      BTW, is there any way of transferring credits to another book?
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      • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
        Originally Posted by mangarola View Post

        There is a thread on AK Book Club and I posted my concerns there last week. I really like the concept, I like the AK Elite product, but I cannot find a book I'm interested in.

        I made a few purchases and earned over 20 credits and would like to earn more, but I am not seeing anything of late but one book being offered.

        Brad, see if your developer can offer up a library of books and once credits run out the book is taken out of the library.

        BTW, is there any way of transferring credits to another book?
        Ok, thanks. I'll also mention to him about transferring credits. That's a great idea. If you wouldn't mind, in the future (if you didn't already) please use the support desk for feature requests. I have Amanda compiling them into a Google shared doc for us, so we can get new features/suggestions added.

        Thanks!
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        • Profile picture of the author mangarola
          Yeah, I already sent up a ticket, but made it low priority. Figured I would just mention it here.

          Thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author Relic32
    Thanks I am interested in learning about Kindle also, I will look into this!
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Update: The skip button should allow you to actually skip a book now :-)

    Brad
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  • Profile picture of the author mangarola
    Not to change the subject here but I can't seem to understand how Amazon is ranking books in my niche. Some books with very few reviews are highly ranked and it seems that most of the fields the AK Elite zones in on don't seem to give any type of pattern.

    I'm not saying this as a negative to AKE, as I do find it useful, just Amazon Kindle and their system for ranking doesn't make sense to me.

    As for not seeing my book come up after hitting the skip button, I found that as a positive in that I figured the software recognized the searcher and connected me only to books that were not mind. Wishful thinking, maybe.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Thanks Antion. I'm talking with my developers today about #1 and #2 you listed. Will hopefully have both added today. About #3, Mangarola is correct, you won't see your own books. We could show them, but I assumed you didn't want to buy your own book?

    Thanks

    Brad
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    • Profile picture of the author antion
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      • Profile picture of the author mangarola
        Originally Posted by antion View Post

        Good job. I'm glad to see you're taking care of business.
        Hey, just stopped by the book club and things are certainly picking up. Having the larger image is a big help to these tired eyes, and the skip button is awesome.

        Nice job, thanks for listening!
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    • Profile picture of the author antion
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      • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
        Originally Posted by antion View Post

        Hahaha. I'm not sure if you went big enough on the book covers Great job! Just bought a bunch of books.
        One other thing I just noticed. I'm in google chrome. Can't get to page 2 of my purchased books. Clicking on page 2 just refreshes the page.
        TA
        Great! So, about the "page 2" thing, could you submit a support ticket: Support Desk and let Amanda know your username so we can look into it?

        Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author ToryBorysewicz
    Banned
    Yes I've used his software, products and even iwriter and he provides only top notch quality and service. Unlike other 'gurus' he is down to earth and a very approachable guy with no airs too so I recommend if anyone wants to invest in his products, just go for it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
      Originally Posted by ToryBorysewicz View Post

      Yes I've used his software, products and even iwriter and he provides only top notch quality and service. Unlike other 'gurus' he is down to earth and a very approachable guy with no airs too so I recommend if anyone wants to invest in his products, just go for it.
      Thanks a lot Tory!

      Brad
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  • Profile picture of the author mangarola
    Maybe this is case of being careful what you ask for. Since the changes made that were discussed here I haven't had one credit redeemed for either a sale or a review. Kind of disappointing.

    I would be interested in hearing how others are making out.
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  • Profile picture of the author zakizarifah
    Hi Brad

    I understand that there will be upsell if I buy Ak elite now.

    Can I buy Ak elite book book Club some other time?
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  • Profile picture of the author itlnet
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    • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
      Originally Posted by itlnet View Post

      Hi Brad,

      I'd be interested to learn your thoughts on marketing fiction with AK Elite. Any of your customers had any good results.

      thanks,

      Robin
      Hey Robin, it would be the same as with non-fiction. People search for keywords on Amazon to find good fiction books, so you should expect similar results.
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      • Profile picture of the author Paleruby
        I find the best thing about AK Elite is it stops me from using keywords no one is even searching for. And shows me the one they are searching for. Among other cool things.

        Paleruby

        It probably is overpriced, but hey it works beyond expectations

        .
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  • Profile picture of the author jex1
    Hi Can I ask a question as I am a bit confused.

    I purchased Book Maker and it is brilliant. So I skipped analytics as I didn't want to put code on my page or track my books. What I would like is a keyword tool, I bought Kindle Samurai for this but it just crashes when I launch it. The one you are marketing sounds excellent. But if I go and buy "Ak Elite" for $150, aren't I re-purchasing book maker, or is it seperate? It is not clear.

    Also, no mention of having to give you my amazon user/pass to verify BEFORE I purchased the book club feature - had I known that I would not have purchased, in your own words you don't know these forum members - I don't know you so I am not giving you access to my amazon buyer account!

    I can't figure out how to create a new amazon.com account as I live in the UK and they dont appear to let you use a pre paid credit card either.

    Is there any way I can get a refund on book club? I paid via paypal through my business account, I have not used it for the aforementioned reason.
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  • Profile picture of the author jex1
    BTW, NOD32 won't let me view your disclaimer or TOS page, it says there is a trojan embedded in it. Not a good sign either!
    [img]
    http://specialgamers.com/stuff/nod321.png
    [/img]
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarah Operman
    I bought the book making software and I find when I create a book and then export it all the spacing is messed up. Some paragraphs have larger spaces between them than others and some paragraphs line spacing is larger than others.

    I am not sure what is faster, building the book with the ak elite book builder then opening it up with my html software and fixing all the issues or just building it in my own html software from the start.
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  • Profile picture of the author jex1
    Do you write your own books or get them created for you? I find if text is not the same size etc in MS Word that happens in book maker. I format all my text very quickly in Word - same size, font, etc and when I put it into book maker it all formats properly!
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  • Profile picture of the author DigiMechanics
    Anyone who uses this having any problems with results from amazon.com? Emailed support 3 and half days ago and not a word.

    Update

    After nearly 6 days of sending 3 support messages and PM on here, I requested a refund.
    My review:

    AVOID!
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