Anyone written a novel for Kindle?

20 replies
Hi all,

I was just wondering if anyone had written a book for Kindle and had any success with it?

I'm not talking about ebooks, these just aren't for me, but either a novel or short stories?

I ask as I have tried the IM route and it is just not working for me. I think this is because I am just not internet 'savvy' enough. So, rather than waste my efforts, I thought I may try writing a book for Kindle as writing is something I am good at.

I was just curious to see if anyone had done this and what their experiences were of it.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Kerry
#kindle #short story #written
  • Profile picture of the author WriterWahm
    I am also curious about this. Has anyone tried it with fiction? I have heard of people who have and they've been successful. But have you, personally? And what was the success rate like e.g. how much did you price and how many copies did you sell in a month?

    Sorry I hijacked your thread Kerry; I just felt it's better than starting another thread when this one serves the same purpose. Hope you don't mind?
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    • Profile picture of the author kerry3280
      Originally Posted by WriterWahm View Post

      I am also curious about this. Has anyone tried it with fiction? I have heard of people who have and they've been successful. But have you, personally? And what was the success rate like e.g. how much did you price and how many copies did you sell in a month?

      Sorry I hijacked your thread Kerry; I just felt it's better than starting another thread when this one serves the same purpose. Hope you don't mind?
      Don't mind at all! I'm writing a fiction book at the moment, first 10,000 words down and I'm just hoping it's not all wasted effort! Yes I am enjoying it but at the end of the day it's money I need not a warm fuzzy feeling!
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      • Profile picture of the author NicheMayhem
        I didn't write the novels personally but my mother has written three now. They have sold at a steady rate but we found Amazon to be just too saturated to really get any exposure. We started at .99 and sold like 1 a day, upped it to 1.99 and saw little change, they are now priced at 2.99 and there has been a slight increase.

        This is actually a result of a discussion her and I got into about prices. My opinion is that as far as fiction goes, what sells a book is it's synopsis and cover art. The price doesn't matter much if the prospective reader decides it is a story they want to read. Pricing too low could possibly give the impression there is not much value there. Her argument was how bargain piles of paperbacks sell really well at consignment shops and wherever they are found. I do see her point there but as these novels are only available through the channels her and I have setup, bargain pricing is a bad move for now I think.

        I am currently developing a website to showcase her novels and likely will be looking for other authors too once it is built. Feel free to PM me with some details on the niche your writing in and perhaps we can work out a spot for your novel on the site.

        If you plan to go it alone though, I would strongly suggest you plan on self promoting because even with every review on Amazon being positive, you have to consider how there are tons and tons of books for yours to get lost in.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kierkegaard
    Before going down the Kindle route you can try your luck with literary agents or direct to a publishing house. Something like the Writers and Artists Yearbook will tell you which agents accept submissions and for what genres.

    Once you have three chapters, a synopsis, character profile and a good idea of how the book will be marketed (who the target audience are, how you'll promote it, etc.) you can send it out and see what happens.
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  • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
    I haven't but my dad wrote a novel a few years ago and self-published it, nothing happened obviously, and a few weeks ago I thought about it and got it in Word format from him and put it on the Kindle store. I did some different promotion stuff and did a free day, and it got downloaded around 300 times- that's not sales, it was free that day. A couple reviews have trickled in, and it's priced at $0.99 and is selling a couple copies a day.

    So... if you were wanting to hear that making money with Kindle is ridiculously easy like you've been hearing in the WSO section, it's not. Whether it's websites, books, movies, whatever, you need to create something valuable and then market it to the right people to get anything done.

    On the other hand, if this IM thing hasn't been working out for you, you can't lose anything by spending the next few months writing a novel if it's something you've always wanted to do...
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    • Profile picture of the author netcowboy
      I am a fiction writer and uploaded my first fiction novel to kindle a few weeks ago. I published it with CreateSpace a couple of years ago but the sales were not great. But kindle changed everything and now my sales have been steady every day. My best day so far is 14 copies sold and my worst days are 5 copies.

      I've done 2 free promotions so far with KDP select and had over 2300 downloads. Free promotions don't pay anything but really move your title up in the rankings quickly so it's worth it. It's priced at $8.97 and I'm thrilled with how many sales I'm getting. I have about 10 short stories I'm putting together now that will also be on kindle. I'm also writing a second fiction novel but novels take awhile.

      I create more than fiction on kindle because it's quicker to produce books and that pays the bills. If you produce good content with a great cover, you can make decent money creating kindle books. It's work but I'm a writer so it's perfect for me. I agree with what NateRivers says, it's not as easy as some would want you to believe. But if you don't mind doing the work, the payoff is nice.
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      • Profile picture of the author J Bold
        Originally Posted by NateRivers View Post

        I haven't but my dad wrote a novel a few years ago and self-published it, nothing happened obviously, and a few weeks ago I thought about it and got it in Word format from him and put it on the Kindle store. I did some different promotion stuff and did a free day, and it got downloaded around 300 times- that's not sales, it was free that day. A couple reviews have trickled in, and it's priced at $0.99 and is selling a couple copies a day.

        So... if you were wanting to hear that making money with Kindle is ridiculously easy like you've been hearing in the WSO section, it's not. Whether it's websites, books, movies, whatever, you need to create something valuable and then market it to the right people to get anything done.

        On the other hand, if this IM thing hasn't been working out for you, you can't lose anything by spending the next few months writing a novel if it's something you've always wanted to do...
        Point


        Originally Posted by netcowboy View Post

        I am a fiction writer and uploaded my first fiction novel to kindle a few weeks ago. I published it with CreateSpace a couple of years ago but the sales were not great. But kindle changed everything and now my sales have been steady every day. My best day so far is 14 copies sold and my worst days are 5 copies.

        I've done 2 free promotions so far with KDP select and had over 2300 downloads. Free promotions don't pay anything but really move your title up in the rankings quickly so it's worth it. It's priced at $8.97 and I'm thrilled with how many sales I'm getting. I have about 10 short stories I'm putting together now that will also be on kindle. I'm also writing a second fiction novel but novels take awhile.

        I create more than fiction on kindle because it's quicker to produce books and that pays the bills. If you produce good content with a great cover, you can make decent money creating kindle books. It's work but I'm a writer so it's perfect for me. I agree with what NateRivers says, it's not as easy as some would want you to believe. But if you don't mind doing the work, the payoff is nice.

        Counterpoint.



        Sorry, I just found the dichotomy of your two statements pretty funny.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sophia M
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    • Profile picture of the author bloomingrose
      Kudos to everybody for even being on this thread. Making money creating fiction sounds like my idea of heaven.
      Haven't done it yet - spank me.:rolleyes:
      Random thoughts - most of what sells on Amazon is fiction (supposedly.)
      Short stories are supposed to be selling well.
      Series of novels sometimes sell better than one at a time.
      The 8.97 is supposed to be a good price point.
      There is something about the part of Kindle where you can put your books out to loan - and then every one shares the revenue. Does anyone know what I am talking about? Then especially the higher price point ( over .99 ) is good.
      Some things are good on Create Space, and physical books will be around for a long time. I mean would you give an ebook as a birthday present to someone?
      This may be inappropriate, but I came across a cool sounding Warrior who seems to know what she is talking about with this Kindle stuff.
      A Good Read » Helping Authors Self Publish ebooks on the Kindle, Nook and other eReaders.

      Judith Tramayne. She has a membership site with lots of info - I am really going to check it out big time as she does not offer a guarantee. But she has some articles - as well as some pertinent blog posting about fiction writing.
      The suggestion to submit your stuff to regular publishers is good too.
      Writing approaches real art and that makes us naked. Here's to all the naked people!
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  • Profile picture of the author drmani
    Originally Posted by kerry3280 View Post

    Hi all,

    I was just wondering if anyone had written a book for Kindle and had any success with it?

    I'm not talking about ebooks, these just aren't for me, but either a novel or short stories?

    Kerry
    My first novel, written under a pen name, has been on the Kindle
    store for over a year now.

    Sales have been very slow, just 15 or so despite some modest
    promotion. KDP did create a flurry of interest, with close to
    600 downloads (not sure how many read the story, though!) - and
    it led to around 4 or 5 sales in the days after.

    Regardless of whether you write fiction or non-fiction, your
    sales will parallel your marketing savvy. Given that non-fiction
    is less crowded and cluttered, if you pick your niche well and/or
    are an expert in your field, and pricing is more in line with value,
    I will continue putting out non-fiction titles but not many novels
    (at least not with the idea of making them financial hits!)

    For contrast, my novel is priced at $0.99 to $2.99 for close to
    250 pages. One non-fiction title that sells regularly on the
    Kindle store is priced at $29.95 to $49.95.

    Just my 2 cents, fwiw

    All success
    Dr.Mani

    P.S. - John Locke has an EXCELLENT Kindle book about writing
    fiction for the Kindle. You can't help but benefit from a read.
    He's an author who has sold over 1 million copies, btw.

    The title is "How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months!"
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    • Profile picture of the author kerry3280
      Thanks all for your comments.

      I've gone off and read John Locke's ebook and it is inspiring.

      I just can't do ebooks. I've tried but nothing I have produced I would, in all good conscience, be willing to sell for people's hard earned money!

      I will continue to write my novel, implement the strategies picked up from a couple of outstanding WSO's on here (particularly Mr Geoff Shaw's), and try my best.

      At least I will be able to say I tried eh?


      Kerry
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  • Profile picture of the author WriterWahm
    Thanks everyone who contributed; I really got more than I was expecting and I think publishing on Kindle is doable (even in the saturated fiction field).

    Thanks Kerry, for starting this thread. And you can DO ebooks too...
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    • Profile picture of the author GAVROCHE
      The most popular eBooks genre sold by Amazon are Thrillers and Mystery, counting for more than half of the total sales (over 60%), next Contemporary Fiction (around 15%), next Romance, Historical fiction/War, etc.

      Before Kindle should publish on Amazon CreateSpace and get a free ISBN.

      MARKETING and PROMOTION are vital for selling, it takes time, but doing it the right way, the sales are good for a decent book.

      It is helpful to have a web page.

      Posting a title on Amazon is only one step and is not enough.
      Go to authorcentral.amazon.com and create your profile. Going to Author Central you will see Home, Books, Profile, Blog, Videos, Events.
      Add as much information as you can. The Blog and Videos are a good help to promote your book.
      Amazon is partnering with booktour.com, you can use it with Events.

      Use social networking sites.

      Use reviews. There are 3 types of reviews: Prepublication reviews, Early reviews and Post publication reviews.
      For reviewers (from top names like Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews - which will not accept to review self published books - to smaller reviewers), see
      newpages.com/npguides/reviews

      A good software to use for writing and publishing is KINDLE WRITER, I see some other people are mentioning it somewhere in WF.

      I hope it helps.

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  • Profile picture of the author Joshua Rigley
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    A couple of resources you might want to look at:

    A Newbie's Guide to Publishing <-- Joe Konrath makes a very good living from selling fiction on the kindle. He shares tips and ideas on his blog.

    Writers' Cafe <-- A good place to discuss writing fiction for the kindle.
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  • Profile picture of the author ratracegrad
    I am a real estate investor and I wrote a book on real estate investing. In the 20 days this month of March I have sold 24 print copies on createspace and 51 copies on kindle. In 20 days this book has made $510.27. It is on track to make over $700 this month alone. I have done nothing to advertise it.
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  • I agree with a previous poster. You have to have a really good synopsis and catchy cover art. Pick a niche that is popular too. I am an avid ebook reader and that is how I choose which books I want and am willing to pay for.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tonylee93
    When reading about this! It reminds me of when I wanted to write a short story, its important to remember that some books people are just not interested in, so they won`t sell. Thinking of that is scary because lets say you spend all this time, months , weeks writing maybe but its all gone to waste if you aren`t getting a lot of sales, but it seems like a great thing to do on the side!
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  • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
    I also have a couple of books I'm writing: one is non-fiction, the other is in the fantasy genre. I hope to have both completed by June. I've just set up my kindle account in preparation.

    I'm looking forward to an exciting summer publishing for Kindle!
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  • Profile picture of the author specialized
    Does anyone else have a difficult time believing the people who claim to be making like $5000+ per month on just a couple/few Kindle books? I'm not calling anyone a liar, but my inner skeptic simply will not let me believe that is anything but a claim cooked up to help sell WSOs (and I'm not talking about established authors, like Kindle versions of Stephen King's books or something like that... I'm sure big authors like that are making that kind of money.)

    It's the same thing for claims I see people making about membership sites making them $4,000 a day. I expressed skepticism on a thread about that and the thread starter told me I needed to "look internally at why I doubt myself." I was like (in my head) "Um, right... nice try... it's not my own potential I'm doubting---it's the truth of what you're telling me I'm doubting."
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