Self-publishing on Kindle

JennyP

rosie383 wrote: »

As others have said already, please make sure you get your books proof-read. I download maybe 5-10 books per day, and the biggest bug-bear I have is poor grammar and spelling. It will put me off a book quicker than anything else and seems to be one of the reasons for negative reviews. If I have read any even half-decent books I always leave a positive review but have only ever left negative for a couple of books that had horrendous writing.

Someone is proof-reading for me now! Sensible advice.

lynn2

Some tips here may help

JennyP

Those tips are by John Locke. I've read his Kindle book on marketing ebooks actually. Got a few tips but it was heavily based on Twitter.

Kerrypolka

Those are useful! I liked the tips about the cover image - I agree nothing is a turn-off like a patchy (clearly self-made) cover on Amazon. The suggestion about having lots of books lined up for release is a bit intimidating but probably true!

I found this post (from 2011, but still) on affordable cover art designers: http://www.lindsayburoker.com/e-publishing/affordable-ebook-cover-art-designers/

JennyP

I made my own cover using Photoshop. The first one looked ropey. I am quite pleased with the second one - wish I could post a link as I'd like opinions but don't want to break rules.
I got a professional photographers photo free off flickr and used that under the creative commons license. I emailed for his permission but I think I could have used it anyway because of the type of license he had.

JennyP

An update:
3 sales this week even though I put the price up to get 70% royalties on Amazon. Been proof-reading like mad - found loads of errors!
Designed a new cover.
Changed the title.
Asked a celeb friend to write a foreword. She said yes!

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Lurkilicousness checking in.

mineallmine

JennyP wrote: »

An update:
3 sales this week even though I put the price up to get 70% royalties on Amazon. Been proof-reading like mad - found loads of errors!
Designed a new cover.
Changed the title.
Asked a celeb friend to write a foreword. She said yes!

I think I found your book on Amazon after searching Kindle titles using the keyword "loneliness" :A

Was wondering how you're doing? In particular if you would go the self publish route again versus a "proper"(!) publisher IYSWIM

:j

JennyP

It is doing really well - thank you for asking. A lot better than I ever, ever expected. I think I sell around 60 Kindle copies a month plus a few print ones so it does make money.

I don't mind admitting that my previous book - conventionally published on a royalties version - earned me less in the years it was published than this book has. Having said that, all the money from my book currently goes straight to charity in both the UK and the US so I personally get nothing from it.

I had the discussion about "real" publishers versus "self-publishing" over the weekend with a prospective author. Personally, I would opt for self-publishing every time now. It's not just that it's made me more money - the control is fantastic. I choose the price, the cover, the title and so on. My second book had a title that the publisher chose that I never liked ("Easy Wedding Planner" if you're interested - published under my married name which was Hopkin) and a cover that I didn't like either.

I'm just proof-reading the fourth book which is also self-published and hope to have another few out in 2013.

The only thing I would say is that my ego sometimes wishes someone had published my book properly. There's still a little stigma of admitting that actually, it is self-published! But it's a small price to pay for the sheer fun and creativity and CONTROL of doing it on your own!

mineallmine

That's brilliant, many congratulations :j

And thanks for the insight on what worked best for you. I stumbled across this thread (from a discussion thread that linked from MSE's Boost Your Income). And thought mmm I wonder how this worked out. Very well clearly :A