N0te: This blog charts my progress from unknown aspiring author to international publishing phenomenon in 3 years (1095 days)
On Tuesday ‘The Guest Who Stayed’ was featured on The Fussy Librarian. I came across this site when reading one of Joanna Penn’s very informative blogs.
The Fussy librarian describes itself as ‘Your Personal Librarian - emails you with the ebooks matching your unique interests and content preferences’
It sets quality thresholds in terms of the number of reviews a book must have received
‘In order to be considered, your ebook should have:•10 reviews and a 4.0 rating on Amazon or Barnes and Noble or 20 reviews and a 3.5 rating. If you have 10 reviews split between Amazon's various stores -- like US and UK -- your book is eligible. •A price of $5.99 or less.’
So I was delighted when The Guest Who Stayed was accepted for the promotion about a week after I had submitted it. Here at last was a site where readers would actually purchase my book rather than gorge themselves on free downloads. I prepared myself for being wealthy.
I was e mailed the day before the promotion with some blurb to paste into my Facebook and twitter accounts. It all seemed very professional.
On the day of the promotion, I sat by my computer waiting for the e mail with the promotion to arrive. It was a long wait. It eventually appeared about lunchtime – getting out of bed time in North America.
I was impressed with the look and impact of the promotion. There were eight books being promoted that day in different genres. Mine was 6th on the list. Each book had its cover image displayed, a description, and the option to purchase from different sources (Amazon, Smash words etc.)
Then within minutes of the promotion appearing, I had 2 sales on Amazon UK. This was amazing. I ran to make a cup of tea so that I could calm my nerves as I saw the sales come tumbling in. When I got back – there were still 2 sales. An hour later there were still two sales. I comforted myself with the thought that the US market was still half asleep. There would be a frenzy of buying in the late afternoon when our American cousins turn to literary pursuits.
I walked the dog. Still only two sales. I got a very nice message via Goodreads from a lady in Canada who had seen the book promoted on Fussy Librarian and had made a mental note to read it later. (buy it now for God’s sake).
It slowly dawned on me that 2 sales plus a nice note from a lady in Canada was going to be my sum total. Am I disappointed? Not really. Two sales is better than no sales and may be better than 98 free downloads (My last KDP Select day). The Fussy Librarian will continue to promote my book for a year so I will continue to follow the site avidly and bring you news. I believe it is still a young site and is still developing its reader base.
Tomorrow is my second free day on Kindle KDP Select linked to a ‘book of the day’ on Kindle Users Forum (UK) Let’s see how many books I can give away then.
Best Wishes
Roger Penfound
On Tuesday ‘The Guest Who Stayed’ was featured on The Fussy Librarian. I came across this site when reading one of Joanna Penn’s very informative blogs.
The Fussy librarian describes itself as ‘Your Personal Librarian - emails you with the ebooks matching your unique interests and content preferences’
It sets quality thresholds in terms of the number of reviews a book must have received
‘In order to be considered, your ebook should have:•10 reviews and a 4.0 rating on Amazon or Barnes and Noble or 20 reviews and a 3.5 rating. If you have 10 reviews split between Amazon's various stores -- like US and UK -- your book is eligible. •A price of $5.99 or less.’
So I was delighted when The Guest Who Stayed was accepted for the promotion about a week after I had submitted it. Here at last was a site where readers would actually purchase my book rather than gorge themselves on free downloads. I prepared myself for being wealthy.
I was e mailed the day before the promotion with some blurb to paste into my Facebook and twitter accounts. It all seemed very professional.
On the day of the promotion, I sat by my computer waiting for the e mail with the promotion to arrive. It was a long wait. It eventually appeared about lunchtime – getting out of bed time in North America.
I was impressed with the look and impact of the promotion. There were eight books being promoted that day in different genres. Mine was 6th on the list. Each book had its cover image displayed, a description, and the option to purchase from different sources (Amazon, Smash words etc.)
Then within minutes of the promotion appearing, I had 2 sales on Amazon UK. This was amazing. I ran to make a cup of tea so that I could calm my nerves as I saw the sales come tumbling in. When I got back – there were still 2 sales. An hour later there were still two sales. I comforted myself with the thought that the US market was still half asleep. There would be a frenzy of buying in the late afternoon when our American cousins turn to literary pursuits.
I walked the dog. Still only two sales. I got a very nice message via Goodreads from a lady in Canada who had seen the book promoted on Fussy Librarian and had made a mental note to read it later. (buy it now for God’s sake).
It slowly dawned on me that 2 sales plus a nice note from a lady in Canada was going to be my sum total. Am I disappointed? Not really. Two sales is better than no sales and may be better than 98 free downloads (My last KDP Select day). The Fussy Librarian will continue to promote my book for a year so I will continue to follow the site avidly and bring you news. I believe it is still a young site and is still developing its reader base.
Tomorrow is my second free day on Kindle KDP Select linked to a ‘book of the day’ on Kindle Users Forum (UK) Let’s see how many books I can give away then.
Best Wishes
Roger Penfound
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