Buy Books for Gifts

As you do your holiday shopping, consider supporting authors and booksellers by buying books for gifts. You can find something for everyone’s taste. Even your friends who don’t own an e-reader device can download free apps to their cell phones or tablets. So you can still gift them an ebook. If you have an indie bookstore in your area, stop by and make a purchase. We need to show our support for these stores that still exist. And now for the commercial. Here are some of my titles for you to consider:

For Your Hairdresser, Nail Tech, Beautician and/or Readers Who Love Mysteries

Give them a Bad Hair Day Mystery. The adventures of hairstylist and salon owner Marla Shore will thrill them with murder, mayhem, humor and romance. If you want a brand new hardcover, start them off with the latest title, HANGING BY A HAIR.

If you want a brand new paperback, order SHEAR MURDER from HQ Worldwide Mystery Library.

Most of the Bad Hair Day Mysteries are available in digital copies. Look for them here:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
iBooks
Kobo

For the Armchair Traveler, History Buff, True-Life Memoirs or Adventure Travel Fan

Try my father’s 1929 cross-country hitchhiking adventure, THUMBS UP.

For the Writer

Whatever genre they write, they can use a copy of WRITING THE COZY MYSTERY. This instructional guidebook will take them step-by-step through the process of writing a winning whodunit.

For the Romance Fan

For friends who like a hot, sexy read, give them a book from my Drift Lords series. These romantic adventure tales will sweep them away to a modern world mixed with myth and magic. WARRIOR PRINCE, WARRIOR ROGUE and WARRIOR LORD are available in print and digital formats.

Contest Alert!
Win a $25 Amazon/BN gift card or 1/6 free ebooks from Booklover’s Bench authors, including a copy of my cruise ship mystery Killer Knots, in our December contest: http://bookloversbench.com/contest/

HAPPY SHOPPING!

Flamingo Gardens

Yesterday, we revisited Flamingo Gardens where we’d been members years ago. It’s the only botanical gardens in the Fort Lauderdale area. For an $18 admission fee, you can enter the lush grounds through the gift shop. In the back is the entry through an impressive arch of holiday lights.

Along winding paths, you can admire the tropical greenery and enormous trees like the live oaks that have grown here for 200 years. Who said south Florida didn’t have tall trees? Colorful flowers abound amid trickling waterfalls and spreading plants.

Next comes the Aviary where birds run free, then a caged section holding owls, eagles and hawks. These birds of prey are all injured and can’t be released into the wild. So they are, in effect, rescue animals.

We skipped the snakes behind glass cases and the guide-led wildlife encounter to head toward the historic Wray home. I love seeing how people lived in 1930’s Florida.

After eating hot dogs at the outdoor café, we viewed the zoo area with a bobcat, turtles, alligators, a black bear, and more. We passed on the tram ride, annoyed at the extra cost and that they don’t allow visitors to stroll the expanded acreage because you have to take the ride there. That’s one reason why we dropped our membership. The place isn’t as well maintained as Fairchild in Miami or Leu Gardens in Winter Park. It’s pleasant for visitors but limited for locals due to these reasons.

See the iguana in the picture below on the right? And you do know that flamingo get their color from eating shrimp?

I am not sure, but I think that might be a breadfruit tree above. The path ends again at the gift shop which always has an appealing array of Florida knickknacks, books, souvenirs, snazzy umbrellas and more. The gardens are certainly worthwhile for visitors who wish to experience our ecological environment. I suggest you go in the cooler months when it isn’t buggy. Yesterday was perfect, in the seventies and sunny.

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Contest Alert!

Win a $25 Amazon/BN gift card or free ebooks from Booklover’s Bench authors, including a copy of my cruise ship mystery Killer Knots, in our December contest: http://bookloversbench.com/contest/. Unfortunately, if you entered before, you’ll need to enter again. Rafflecopter screwed up and lost all our entries.

Now speaking of flamingos, Freddie the Flamingo is the official mascot of Florida’s MWA chapter. Come join us for SleuthFest 2015 in Deerfield Beach on Feb. 26. Guest speakers include bestselling author James Patterson and humorist Dave Barry. For more info, go to http://www.sleuthfest.com

Pitching your Book to Hollywood

How to Attract Hollywood to your Book
Novelists, Inc. Conference St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014

Why does Hollywood keep doing sequels and remakes? The simple answer is fear. Studios are filled with people who have legitimate fears about their jobs.

China is a huge market right now. A movie might not do as well in the United States as it does in the international market. Character dramas and romantic comedies do not travel globally. The failure rate for romantic comedies in the United States is high. They are under-performing in theaters, so they’ve migrated to television. Romance is alive on the big screen but in melodrama, not comedy. These films do well in English-speaking, Western European countries but not in Asia. Character driven stories do not perform as well as dialogue driven ones. Hollywood honchos have to consider the P&A Cost or Print and Advertising budget. A $100 million movie costs $200 million to market. Smaller movies do not work as well because of this factor, and they do not attract as much attention.

Television has a bigger audience, so character driven stories can work better here. Authors should point to their sales to convince filmmakers there is an audience for their work. Pitching in Hollywood is for seasoned writers-producers. These people create TV shows. The speaker said she does a preliminary pitch first and then a more formal pitch. Then they “clear the arena” to see who else is doing similar projects.

Tips for Authors

Understand Hollywood is looking for something different.
Boil your novel down to one sentence.
Don’t say “this meets that” to describe your work comparing movies.
Be open about casting.

Trends

Hollywood is making more features for the international markets.
African-American romantic comedy ensembles are finding audiences.
Low-budget Christian films are finding audiences.
There is a market for romantic melodramas in feature films.
TV is great for character driven stories. They can deliver bigger audiences than features.
Traditional romantic comedy has migrated to TV.

How to Approach a Writer-Producer

Have your agent submit your published novel. The writer-producer may request a “shopping agreement” which gives them one year to pitch your story with no payment. If interested, the studio or network will pay the author and the writer-producer separately.

Note: Any errors in this article are due to my interpretation.

Contest Alert!

Win a $25 Amazon/BN gift card or free ebooks from Booklover’s Bench authors, including a copy of my cruise ship mystery, Killer Knots, in our December contest: http://bookloversbench.com/contest/

Free Ebook Warrior Prince

Warrior Prince, book one in my Drift Lords series, is free today at The Wild Rose Press and through the weekend until December 3rd. Order for FREE Here

Set in a contemporary world woven with magic, intrigue, romance, and suspense, Warrior Prince is based on Norse mythology. Nira Larsen is having a bad day when she gets attacked at a seedy employment office in Orlando, FL. Rushing to her defense is a team of men clad in black and carrying futuristic weapons. Their leader offers her a proposal. He and his men are strangers in town, and they need a local guide. Would Nira be interested in taking the job? Eager to earn extra money, she accepts. Thus begins her descent into a nightmare of ancient prophesies, legendary myths, and danger.

Drift Lord leader Zohar Thorald recognizes Nira as one of the prophesied women destined to prevent a coming apocalypse, and he determines to keep her safe. But can he keep himself safe from her charms? Not only does she have the power to defeat the enemy but she could easily enslave his soul.

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“With a mix of humor and action, this exciting intergalactic romance is based on an Old Norse legends brought up to date for a new generation…Warrior Prince is not only a great romance but it’s about two strong people. This journey is fast paced and exciting as our characters fight the bad guys and find true love.”—Night Owl Reviews

“For a funny bone tingling non-stop action and adventure sci-fi thriller with a swirl of romance, Nancy J. Cohen’s Drift Lords series is one you won’t want to pass up.”—Oh, for the HOOK of a BOOK!

“This is a most enjoyable tale, with suspense in more than ample supply, leavened with romance, mystery, and mythology. Cohen excels, too, in creating memorable and quirky characters, both ‘real’ world and mythic. There’s something here for everyone to enjoy!” —Murder on the Beach Mystery Bookstore

“Cohen’s Drift Lord series weaves science fiction, fantasy, and ancient Norse mythology into a sexy tapestry of action, adventure, and love.”—Muddy Rose Reviews

Order for FREE Here

Please tell your friends!

ACX and Audible

ACX and Audible
Novelists, Inc. Conference St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014

What Sells in Audio? Teen and YA Fiction, Romance, Scifi/Fantasy, Mysteries/Thrillers, Business and History.

What do you need to get started? You need a published book on Amazon, audio rights, a manuscript, cover art and rights to the cover. There is no particular length requirement. Figure that 9300 words equals one finished hour of audio. In your profile when you apply to ACX, mention the main characters in your book, your awards and track record.

Options include paying the narrator upfront based on book length or sharing the earnings 50-50 and paying nothing up front. This latter term lasts seven years. Thereafter, you can renew each year or remove the audio book from distribution. A third option is to upload your own audio file.

Royalties are 40% for exclusive distribution and 25% if you go nonexclusive. For the former, you and the narrator split the royalty, meaning you’d each earn 20%. Distribution is to Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. Make sure you grant world rights for global reach.

You can earn a $50.00 bounty when someone joins Audible and purchases your book first. The person must stay in Audible for 30 days after the trial period.

The author gets 25 download codes for promotion but these don’t count toward your bounty. You can request more. How can you use these? Use them to generate reviews. Check out these sites: Audiofile, AudioGals, Books for Ears. Offer giveaways to your newsletter subscribers and social media fans. You can use Audible’s gift center to send a book to a fan.

If you already have an audio file, make sure it meets the requirements. It takes about three weeks after uploading to become active. Royalties are paid monthly via check or direct deposit.

Selecting your Narrator

Is she too fast? Too slow? Too cartoonish? Just right? Keep in mind that the listener can speed the audio with a tool in the app. You’ll want to give your narrator about three pages to read. These can be different paragraphs along with the context. In a series, continuity of narrator is important. A single voice is more popular than a multi-cast. Any additional material should come after the credits at the end.

One tip: use fewer dialogue tags. Various checkpoints occur in the process: the initial audition, and then a 15 minute sample which does not have to be the first pages of your work. You can request two rounds of revisions. Listen for the quality of sound during the longer samples. You can terminate the contract if you do not like the results. If approved, you can request three chapters at a time from your narrator.

Check the performance rating with each narrator, visit their website and note how many books they’ve done. You can click Like or Dislike to organize your selections. Narrators do not see this. You can send sample clips to friends for their opinions. Ask the narrator about her editing. Will she allow you to review the audio chapter by chapter, or at least three chapters at a time? You want somebody who’s easy to work with. If you are not happy with the narrator and reviews reflect your views, you can ask the narrator to re-record and upload. Do the first book slowly and thoughtfully. Do not rush the process.

The speaker from ACX at Ninc who nominates audio books for promotion said she looks at the book cover first. Next she’ll check out the number of reviews and what they say. She will check out your social media sites to see if you are promoting your audios. If you have a series, getting a promo boost for book one is important. Branding and packaging should carry over from other series titles.

How to Stand Out

Consider adding teasers for sequels after the credits. Coordinate promo efforts with your narrator. Leverage SoundCloud for audio clips. Make a dedicated space on your website for audio books. You can distribute up to 10% of your audio on a clip. This can be embedded on your website.

Note: Any errors in this article are due to my interpretation.

If Something Can Go Wrong, It Will

Our kids don’t often get time off from work to come home for Thanksgiving. This year, we are looking forward to having them here for a home cooked meal. Eagerly awaiting their visit, we decided to get a new Samsung stainless steel, French door refrigerator. Our beige one was years old and didn’t even have a water filter. A new one would be healthier with filtered water and would match the other appliances we have already replaced.

The delivery was scheduled for last Saturday, while I was at a bridal shower with my cousins.

We had a great time, and I drove home anticipating seeing our beautiful new Samsung refrigerator, assuming all had gone well with my husband in charge.

And here’s where things went afoul. He said the freezer temperature, set at 0 degrees, wasn’t dropping. It was staying steady around 68. Bad news.

By now it was dark out. I snatched the phone and called customer service for the Best Buy extended warranty. After ascertaining the appliance wasn’t in demo mode (where it lights up for store display but the cooling apparatus doesn’t work), the agent scheduled service for Tuesday morning.

Tuesday! This was an emergency. A brand new appliance wasn’t working properly, and it’s before a holiday. I have not bought a turkey for Thanksgiving yet. I dare not buy one until this problem is diagnosed. I have to tell you that we were disappointed in this delayed response.

The green beans that were in the freezer defrosted and I tossed them out. Regarding all the appetizers I’d planned to serve our kids, we have cooked them and are eating them as we go–mini quiches, spinach and cheese stuffed mushrooms, parmesan potatoes and more. Thankfully, I hadn’t kept any large meat packages in the freezer.

As for Thanksgiving, I’m afraid to get a turkey until the serviceman gives his verdict. I also want him to check the refrigeration unit to make sure that part is adequately cooling. I stuck a couple of wine bottles in there and they got cold, so hopefully that section is okay. Still, if we need a replacement, who knows when they’ll schedule it to arrive. After installation, it takes 24 hours for the appliance to get up to speed. I think I’d wait until after Thanksgiving so we don’t lose the stuff in the top section.

So after he tells me what’s what on Tuesday, I will either buy a fresh turkey, if any are left, or an already cooked turkey breast. We are fortunate to have one of those mini refrigerators in our laundry room, crammed with all our perishables from the old fridge. I could possibly make room for the poultry but not much else. As for the green bean casserole, I’ll get the beans from Winn Dixie on Thursday morning if available. I have the sweet potato ingredients and can make that from scratch on Thursday too. But then, where to put the leftovers?

We are unsettled by this disruption to our routine, not like after a hurricane when you might expect a power failure. You don’t expect a new machine to have a major failure. The Best Buy warranty service should have sent someone out immediately this morning instead of making us wait. Keep watch here, and I’ll let you know the outcome in the Comments section.

Hey, I can count this as one of my holiday disasters. The only other time something bad happened was when the dog ate my broccoli cheese casserole prior to a family gathering.

We’ll eat out if we have to for the rest of the weekend. Being together is what matters.

I hope YOUR Thanksgiving is a joyous one! And I thank each and every one of you for following my blog and supporting my work.

Author Collaborations

Author Collaborations
Novelists, Inc. Conference St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014

A collaboration might consist of a single book containing a bundle of novels or novellas by different authors. The main benefit is that more experienced authors will draw attention to newer authors. It’s a cost-effective way to produce a print version of shorter works. Promotional duties will be shared among the authors. And you can learn the indie publishing process along the way.

Consider the following in drawing up an agreeement:

Distribution of royalty: How will the money be split and on what basis?
Production costs: What will each author chip in?
Format: E-book? Print? Who decides?
Distribution channels: Who decides which book retailers/outlets?
Exit strategy: How can an author withdraw?
Termination date for bundle: When will it be taken off the market?
Who administers each vendor account? Ideally, each writer should have password access.
Will you set up an LLC or Corporation? This could protect against lawsuits.
Can a single author sell her book outside of the bundle, or does the bundle have exclusive rights?
Who coordinates promo efforts?
Who spends how much on publicity?
Who controls the bank account?
Who issues 1099’s or payroll expenses? Who keeps and distributes these records?
Will the group hire an accountant?
Who is the backup for the prime member?
Is the bank account accessible to other members? It should be.
Do members wish to see copies of receipts?
Who gets the vendor reports? Every author should get one.
Will each author forgo publishing new works within a certain period of time to avoid competition? Or will new works outside of the bundle be allowed without restriction?
Will the bundle be copyrighted? If so, who will register or own this copyright? The LLC or Corporation can own it if you have one. If a book bundle is copyrighted under a Corporation, you’ll want to mention that, upon dissolution, the copyright for each respective title is assigned to the individual authors.
Who owns the cover art? Who can use the cover art?
How will disputes be handled– through mediation, arbitration, or lawsuit? And in which state?
If your book is pirated, will it be dealt with or ignored? Who will be responsible?
Will you get media or publisher peril insurance? If you don’t have an LLC or Corporation, you can get this but it can be difficult to obtain.
Consider that if a bunch of books is written by different authors under one pseudonym, all the authors could be sued under that name.

An author spoke about her box set. She had a one-page letter of agreement with her partners. She advises you to determine your goals. Is it to hit a bestseller list? Or do you wish to raise publicity for your book? What is the term limit for your box set? How much will it be priced for? What are the consequences if one member wishes to withdraw? In her case, the person withdrawing would pay for reformatting unless more than half of the members wanted out. They decided who would report sales and when, who would collect money and pay them their portion. They decided that all members would make decisions together. They agreed on a price to pay for ads. Disbandment was set for 45 days after the book went on the market. One concern she mentioned is that if the person who manages the money puts funds into her personal account, who else has access?

Publishing each other’s work in a co-op is another type of collaboration. Book View Café was cited as an example.

Regarding box sets, you need to determine the order involved. The first and last titles are premium. Should they be listed alphabetically, or should the bestselling author get the top spot? Are you allowed to sell your books individually if they’re in a box set with other authors? Are they going to be backlist titles or new titles?

Thinking these things through and discussing them with your partners ahead of time will avoid conflict down the road.

Do you have any considerations to add?

Literary Estate Planning

Literary Estate Planning
Novelists, Inc. Conference St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014

Copyright is for life of the author plus 70 years. You have physical assets as well as digital assets. Be aware that it can be a violation of federal or criminal laws for friends or family members to take over your online accounts. Think about what happens not only when you die, but also if you become disabled.

If you’ve done nothing and you die, the state will have an intestate succession. The statute says who inherits your assets. Your options are to gift your intellectual property, copyrights, and physical assets in your will.

Your literary attorney can work as a consultant with your family estate lawyer. If you grant items to people in your will, the recipient gets everything. Who can step into your shoes when the time comes?

An alternative is to set up a legal or corporate entity. An LLC, S or C Corporation are the options. The corporate entity could have perpetual existence. If the Corporation owns the copyright, it can affect the term of copyright.You could make your children the shareholders. But then they would run the company. Can they manage it all in agreement with each other? A third choice, and the best one, is to create a trust. You can separate the management from the revenue. The trust would be managed for the benefit of your beneficiaries. You can assign one person as trustee to manage the following, which are examples only:

Published books
Unpublished manuscripts
Rights to hire editors and other ancillary help
Management of digital assets
Rights to negotiate contracts and subsidiary rights (as well as the right to refuse offers)

This allows your identity, as the author, to continue. The trustee does not have to be the beneficiary but then he should be compensated. There are tax consequences if the trustees are the beneficiaries. It’s also important for you to have an inventory. List your book titles, contracts, termination dates, agent information, revenue sources, and location of assets. Joint works need to be explained, and you should have a written agreement with collaborators. Consider contracts with cover designers. Do you own the covers to reuse as desired?

In a trust or will, it shouldn’t be so detailed as to list individual titles. It should be broader and more encompassing to cover intellectual property. Authorize the trustee to hire an agent, formatter, publicity person, cover designer, etc. Set up a procedure for beneficiaries to select new trustees so the trust can continue.

Any publisher will freeze your account upon your death. The executor needs to provide court documentation that he is authorized to collect money. But for digital property, this might not work. Federal laws make it difficult for a third party to take over your digital accounts. Only nine states have statutes to deal with this issue. So appoint a person in your will or trust to access and manage your digital accounts. You’ll also want a power of attorney in case you are disabled.

Put the bank account where your royalties go into your trust, and put the trust name on the bank account. For a DBA, put this in your will or trust as an asset to be passed on.

If you donate your materials to a library or school, talk to them to make sure they have adequate resources to preserve your collection.

Note: Any errors in this article are due to my interpretation. This post does not constitute legal advice. Please consult your own literary attorney for your personal situation.

Contest Alert

Last Day! Win a $25 Amazon/BN gift card or free ebooks from Booklover’s Bench authors in our November contest: http://bookloversbench.com/contest/

1000 Thriller Giveaway: Enter to win a new book every week for a year: http://www.thebigthrill.org/1000-thrillers/

HANGING BY A HAIR is up for a Readers Choice BTS Red Carpet Book Award in the Mystery category. Check it out and vote here: http://btsemag.com/redcarpet/2014_ReadersChoice_Mystery.html

SleuthFest 2015 Crime Lab

News From SleuthFest 2015
February 26 – March 1, 2015, Deerfield Beach, FL
James Patterson, Dave Barry, James W. Hall, & Ric Gillespie
www.sleuthfest.com

Lab & Lock Up Tour Special Pre-Conference Event
Wednesday February 25, 2015
Palm Beach County Detention Center & Crime Lab

Full tour and transportation $45
Sign up Now! Limit 25 People

***An insider’s look at a 2,156 bed high-security correctional facility housing high-risk, federal, & special medical/mental inmates.
***Then visit the Crime Lab, including the Forensic Toxicology, Chemistry, & Biology (DNA) Units, the Firearms & Forensic ID Units (Latent Prints), and the Evidence & Crime Scene support units.
***A chartered bus will take a group of 25 people from the DoubleTree by Hilton in Deerfield Beach
at 1 pm on Wednesday February 25, to the Palm Beach County Detention Center & Crime Lab in West Palm Beach, and return to the DoubleTree by 6 pm.

Available only to registered and paid SleuthFest attendees.
Sign up NOW!
At [email protected]

Space is limited to 25 people only.
Email us at [email protected] by November 15 to put your name in the hat.
Lucky participants will be notified by November 30.

Not registered for SleuthFest yet? Go to www.SleuthFest.com

And if you haven’t made your hotel reservations yet, you’d better get moving!
The DoubleTree is filling up fast, and we are already making arrangements for an overflow hotel.

Amazon Independent Publishing at Ninc

Empowering Authors with Amazon Independent Publishing
Novelists, Inc. Conference Day 2, St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014

Several representatives from Amazon Independent Publishing spoke at the Novelists, Inc. Conference. They said they’ve seen consistent growth in print and Kindle books over the past few years. The Kindle growth curve exceeds print. This is a global trend as well. The adaptation to digital, when it occurs, happens fast across the world. The percentage of books sold online compared to brick-and-mortar stores is rising steadily.

Digital creates discovery through dedicated e-book readers. Kindle owners buy four times more books than before they owned one. “What’s old is new again.” Digital creates incremental demand. We release older titles, and Kindle sales of all our books increase along with print editions. In 2013, there was 90% device ownership in the U.S. with 32% of these being e-readers and 42% being tablets.

At a bookstore, you have to worry about how your book is placed and where customers can find it on the shelf. Online, you’re concerned with how customers hear about and find your books. How can your book stand out against other content? Books have to compete against all other entertainment products and pricing. So how can we grow the mind-share of people who read books?

What’s next? Global marketplaces are another focus. So are opening Kindle stores based on local experience. Reading experiences such as Kindle Voyager and Kindle reading apps. To drive discovery, we have Amazon Author Central, Goodreads, Kindle Daily Deal, and Kindle Countdown Deal.

The Author Experience
Ease-of-use with KDP, Createspace, and Audible
Better tools with a pricing tool and now a Kids Book Creator
Reimagined content through Kindle Worlds and Kindle First Day One
Author lifestyle support with Kindle Scout, WriteOn, APub, indie platforms

The Customer Experience
New models such as Kindle Unlimited
Wider functionality such as #AmazonCart
Global and Local

KDP
Benefits are that it’s easy to enroll, fast to market, global reach. Author maintains control, retains full rights, keeps up to 70% royalty. You can use KDP to publish in territories where you have the rights. The new reporting dashboard launched in February. An order is different from a sale that has cleared the bank. You can retrieve up to 90 days of data. The pricing tool suggests how much you should price your book based on various data.

Pre-order means you can promote your book up to 90 days before the launch. This helps to build sales rank. You should put a link to the next book in your series at the back of the book if possible. 10 days before, you must present the final file. There is a three day block out period prior to launch where you can’t make any further changes.

Series Promotion
Improved search and browse feature.
Be sure to put your info in the metadata.
New series landing pages for the whole series so you can see your books in order.
The next in series will appear as a buy button on devices at the book’s end.

KDP Select means you can attain higher royalties, reach new audiences, participate in special promotions. This includes the Kindle Lending Library, Kindle Countdown Deal, Kindle Unlimited. KDP books do hit the bestseller lists. Authors get paid from a global fund and can earn All-Star bonuses.

Kindle Daily Deal leads to 3000 times more sales. There’s a lasting effect. One day later, there is 110 times sales. At seven days, it’s 18 times sales. At fourteen days, it’s 5 times more sales, and at thirty days, it is 4 times more sales.

On the Kindle Countdown Deal, you get up to seven promo days. The book must be at least one dollar off the list price. There’s a countdown clock on your Amazon book page. Your book is also listed on the KCD landing page and it’s based on ranking where your book appears.

Kindle Unlimited costs consumers $9.99 per month, and this includes audio books. The Kindle Matchbook program means if you buy the new print book, you can buy the Kindle book for $2.99 or less.

Createspace offers global reach, 24/7 customer service, Kindle conversion, industry-leading royalties, free Cover Creator tool, forums, blogs, articles and videos as publishing resources. Professional services of editors and designers are available if needed. Your share of the list price: Createspace 80%; Amazon 60%; Expanded Distribution 40%–all minus a manufacturing fee.

How to Maximize your Success: Use Metadata. This can consist of keywords in terms of genres and categories that are visible at the bottom of the Kindle detail page. This metadata should be consistent across all locales.

Your Amazon Author Central page includes a book list with cover images, author photo, bio, Twitter and blog feed, videos that you upload. Readers will also see recommendations for similar authors. You can get your sales data and ranking on Author Central. Make sure your books are on Goodreads and you have an active presence there.

How to Get Reviews? Offer promotions such as permafree, KCD, etc. Publish in multiple formats, i.e. print, e-book, audio.

Author Platform: Keep up with Goodreads, Amazon Author Central, social media, email lists. Consult with other authors on ways to attract readers.

Note: Any errors in this article are due to my interpretation.

CONTEST ALERT

Win a $25 Amazon/BN gift card or free ebooks from Booklover’s Bench authors in our November contest: http://bookloversbench.com/contest/

1000 Thriller Giveaway: Enter to win a new book every week for a year: http://www.thebigthrill.org/1000-thrillers/

HANGING BY A HAIR is up for a Readers Choice BTS Red Carpet Book Award in the Mystery category. Check it out and vote here: http://btsemag.com/redcarpet/2014_ReadersChoice_Mystery.html

Category: Blog