Dana Michelle Burnett's Books on Amazon.com

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

How Not to React to a Review

As an Indie author, reviews are the key to your success.  Since none of us have the marketing budget of the large publishing firms (neither do they anymore), we rely on book bloggers to help spread the word about our books.  What we have to remember is that these bloggers are not obligated to give us glowing reviews.


We slave for months, sometimes years, crafting the perfect story into the perfect novel.  We want the world to fall in love with the characters that we have spent so much time creating.  This novel is an expression in some way of how we see the world.  This makes it art.

The hard part for some of us to remember is that while we see our novel as art, the truth is, our novel is a product.  It is a product to be sold and we ourselves are a brand to represent that product.  Nothing will destroy a career faster than you, the brand, behaving unprofessional to those that have done you the kindness of reviewing your work.

For an example of how not to react, check out Big Al's Books and Pals.  The reviewer was fair and professional in his review, but the author....Well judge for yourself....

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

An Interesting Note About NYT

I was just reading one of my favorite publishing blogs, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing.  This is a great blog from author JA Konrath and it should be required reading for every writer.  Anyway, he notes that one of his books is outselling the New York Times, but yet he never hits the New York Bestseller List.  You won't find Amanda Hocking on there either.  Why?  The New York Times doesn't list Indie authors on their bestseller list.

Now if that is their policy, fine, but it is still amusing that Indie authors are outselling the paper itself.  Take a few moments to read the blog.




Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Kindle Success? Take Advantage of Your Backlist

I think anyone that is self-publishing their books on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords is 1)Very wise considering the atmosphere in publishing today, and 2)Looking for the success denied us by traditional publishers.  So we, in our optimistic states, upload our books and wait for success.  Then it happens....Nothing.

Our first thought is that there must be something wrong and start the crazy process of checking our sales every hour.  Then we go into the crazy state of telling ourselves what bad writers we are.  Then we go even more crazy by coming up with crazy promotional ideas that rarely sustain long tern results (i.e. Amazon Bestseller Campaigns).

So what is the problem?  Who knows!  Some can break in and find their audience with one novel while others are not so lucky.  One thing to consider is virtual shelf space and how to make your backlist work for you.

Now, you may be thinking, if my first novel isn't selling, why would I add more?  Well, because you can use your unpublished back list to promote other books.  How hard is it to add an excert of another of your books at the end?  Then you are not only taking up more virtual shelf space, but also using your books to advertise your other books.

So what are the keys to success on Kindle?

1.  Write a great book
2.  Have a great cover
3.  Write a great description
4.  Price it right
5.  Promote it on your blog or website
6.  Promote it using social media
7.  Promote it using excerpts in your other books

Just remember that by taking advantage of your backlist, not only are your spreading your work out across Amazon and other outlets, but you can use your work to introduce people to your work.  So not only should you get to writing, but also get to uploading!