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Question for Kindle publishers

by nursewriter
10 replies
These questions are for Kindle publishers who are actually making some sales.

How long did it take before you saw a steady stream of sales from your eBooks?
Did you have to put up a certain number of books before you started seeing sales?
What was the one game changer in your kindle sales? (tags, keywords, customer reviews, etc?)


Does anyone know what happened to the tag feature? I can't seem to find it now.

I have 6 ebooks live right now with a couple more in publishing status. I have revamped all my covers to make them stand out more. I have re-written titles to make them more interesting and to include searchable keywords.

Prior to my changes I had sold a total of 4 of the same book in the months of April and May. Now with more books up and with (I think) better looking books I have nothing.

The revised books have only be live for about a week or so but I was hoping I would see some activity before this.

I am not going to give up but a little guidance/encouragement would be helpful.

Thanks
#kindle #publishers #question
  • Profile picture of the author BryanC
    The tags feature was removed by Amazon. It's still early, but with the change it looks like small publishers will now have to focus on marketing outside of Amazon a little more.
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  • Profile picture of the author nursewriter
    So now Kindle is not upload and forget it. It is not as easy as everybody claims it is. I am working on getting reviews for my books now but what else do I need to do?

    Am I going to have to set up websites for each book and write a ton of content for the site? Am I going to have to join a dozen forums and post for hours to make a .99 sale?

    I did make the 4 sales while the tags were still active so maybe the tags did help a bit.

    I have noticed books by indie fiction authors dropping in sales ranks lately. This is a real shame because I have purchased several indie books lately and found them to be better and more enticing than some of the books I have purchased that had a traditional publisher.
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  • Profile picture of the author BryanC
    It just means that you will now have to utilize your reviews, likes, keywords and actual sales to build your salesrank and search position up now.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Coleman
    What was the one game changer in your kindle sales?
    Reviews on medium to large blogs:

    Reviewer List - Step-By-Step Self-Publishing

    Paul
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    Bookpumper.com - The Kindle Revolution
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    • Profile picture of the author nursewriter
      Paul

      Thanks for the information on the review sites...I never knew these types of sites existed. I guess I still have a lot to learn.

      So it looks as if I need to get reviews for my ebooks to start making sales.
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      • Profile picture of the author edlewis
        It really does depend on what you are publishing...

        I think covers make a BIG difference.

        In my experience, when someone who is publishing on Kindle tells me that their covers are "professional"-looking....98% of the time....they aren't.

        I've had some success on Kindle...but there is still a little "luck" involved at times.

        I have ebooks that have taken off and sold well....and I have ebooks that have been disappointing, if not complete failures.

        As for if it's as easy as it's made out to be....is it ever that easy?

        Sorry, but there are people getting RICH "selling the dream"...even though some of them have a brand-NEW "dream" to sell every month....or week...

        They are selling Kindle infoproducts because Kindle is "HOT" right now....

        That's all I have to say...before I get myself into trouble.
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        • Profile picture of the author nursewriter
          Originally Posted by edlewis View Post

          It really does depend on what you are publishing...

          I think covers make a BIG difference.

          In my experience, when someone who is publishing on Kindle tells me that their covers are "professional"-looking....98% of the time....they aren't.

          I've had some success on Kindle...but there is still a little "luck" involved at times.

          I have ebooks that have taken off and sold well....and I have ebooks that have been disappointing, if not complete failures.

          As for if it's as easy as it's made out to be....is it ever that easy?

          Sorry, but there are people getting RICH "selling the dream"...even though some of them have a brand-NEW "dream" to sell every month....or week...

          They are selling Kindle infoproducts because Kindle is "HOT" right now....

          That's all I have to say...before I get myself into trouble.
          ED

          Thank you and I will admit I am one of those people who buy into the "dream" once in awhile so maybe I am in error thinking the Kindle thing is easy. Right now I have only informational ebooks loaded but am in the process of working on a fiction novel.

          However, I need to raise some money to pay for editing of my novel once it's complete. So I was hoping to get some money coming in from Kindle to help with these costs.

          BTW I did buy your Kindle clone course and really enjoyed it.
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          • Profile picture of the author edlewis
            Originally Posted by nursewriter View Post

            ED

            Thank you and I will admit I am one of those people who buy into the "dream" once in awhile so maybe I am in error thinking the Kindle thing is easy. Right now I have only informational ebooks loaded but am in the process of working on a fiction novel.

            However, I need to raise some money to pay for editing of my novel once it's complete. So I was hoping to get some money coming in from Kindle to help with these costs.

            BTW I did buy your Kindle clone course and really enjoyed it.
            We all buy into the "dream" in some way or another.

            Marketing plays a big part in that...but even the simplest methods involve some work.

            While I have had some moderate success on Kindle...I put in a ton of WORK that I guess alot of people just take for granted.

            I was obsessed with Kindle...I had a few days where I was either researching/studying Kindle or working on a Kindle project for more than 12 hours...

            I know some people don't have the ability to put that amount of time into it...they need to realize it will take them longer to see results.

            As more and more people flock to Kindle publishing....with 90% of it being CRAP....it will mean that those who stand out from the pack will have success.

            I have to be honest, it sometimes amazes me when I read some people talk about making money on Kindle like it is as easy as just uploading any old thing to Kindle. They seem to think that Kindle is this magical place where all someone needs to do is post a TON of junk ebooks....and the money starts rolling in....LOL.

            It's an employee way of looking at things - "If I publish 100 ebooks, how much will I make?"


            The only answer is...no one knows.
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  • Profile picture of the author GuruGazette
    Easy is relative

    My first sales report from Amazon Kindle is dated December 2008. I made 4 sales that month. I don't remember the exact details but I'm pretty sure it took 3-4 months for a steady flow to start. Throughout 2009 I believe I only had maybe 5 books published there and it was a nice, steady trickle of fun money that I didn't have to lift a finger to get after I published the books.

    In 2010 I started focusing on Kindle publishing more because I liked having that money come in month after month without doing a thing. So I started publishing new books and going back through the old ones to fix misc formatting problems. Kindle hit the mainstream consumer market really nicely in the Christmas season of 2010 and sales really skyrocketed. They've steadied out and/or slowed in some cases but at a higher level than they were before.

    I now have 21 books published on Kindle and 12 on Nook. Kindle US alone sells several hundred copies each month like clockwork. One book sells the most while all the rest contribute a trickle. I currently have roughly one dozen that make at least one sale a day on Kindle and Nook is starting to contribute daily now too.

    If you expect to make hundreds or thousands of sales on Kindle in the next six months to a year then absolutely, you are in for a heck of a lot of work.

    If on the other hand, you're looking for another revenue stream that can be created quickly, another way to leverage existing content you've already paid for in time or money, or a long-term relatively passive form of income that can keep growing then you might want to look into Kindle publishing
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  • Profile picture of the author nursewriter
    It is nice to see a realistic point of view posted about Kindle publishing. I hope it doesn't become so saturated with crap products that it forces Amazon to get rid of the self publishing option.
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