Has anyone self-published an ebook on Amazon?
Discussion
Hi Andy, sorry to slightly hijack this thread but can I cross post to a similar thread from a few months ago: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Could I ask you to answer a few questions I placed on the thread for nyxster:
1)How far do you think pirating hurts you and other author's sales? I've heard a lot of writers saying they are giving up because of pirating. I could get virtually any book downloaded from Pirate Bay, then transferred over to my iBook app in approx 10 minutes of downloading an ePub file if I wanted to.
2) Do you have to write a series of books to make any decent money? I've got 2 genres that interest me, crime fiction and science fiction. I like the idea of alternating between the 2 , but not sure if writing a series about the same character might not bore me. What do you think?
3) Is it possible to publish and get paid under a pseudonym?
Thanks
Could I ask you to answer a few questions I placed on the thread for nyxster:
1)How far do you think pirating hurts you and other author's sales? I've heard a lot of writers saying they are giving up because of pirating. I could get virtually any book downloaded from Pirate Bay, then transferred over to my iBook app in approx 10 minutes of downloading an ePub file if I wanted to.
2) Do you have to write a series of books to make any decent money? I've got 2 genres that interest me, crime fiction and science fiction. I like the idea of alternating between the 2 , but not sure if writing a series about the same character might not bore me. What do you think?
3) Is it possible to publish and get paid under a pseudonym?
Thanks
ATV said:
Hi Andy, sorry to slightly hijack this thread but can I cross post to a similar thread from a few months ago: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Could I ask you to answer a few questions I placed on the thread for nyxster:
1)How far do you think pirating hurts you and other author's sales? I've heard a lot of writers saying they are giving up because of pirating. I could get virtually any book downloaded from Pirate Bay, then transferred over to my iBook app in approx 10 minutes of downloading an ePub file if I wanted to.
2) Do you have to write a series of books to make any decent money? I've got 2 genres that interest me, crime fiction and science fiction. I like the idea of alternating between the 2 , but not sure if writing a series about the same character might not bore me. What do you think?
3) Is it possible to publish and get paid under a pseudonym?
Thanks
Hi ATV,Could I ask you to answer a few questions I placed on the thread for nyxster:
1)How far do you think pirating hurts you and other author's sales? I've heard a lot of writers saying they are giving up because of pirating. I could get virtually any book downloaded from Pirate Bay, then transferred over to my iBook app in approx 10 minutes of downloading an ePub file if I wanted to.
2) Do you have to write a series of books to make any decent money? I've got 2 genres that interest me, crime fiction and science fiction. I like the idea of alternating between the 2 , but not sure if writing a series about the same character might not bore me. What do you think?
3) Is it possible to publish and get paid under a pseudonym?
Thanks
Sorry I missed this before. I'll answer as best as I can!
1) Through google alerts, I know there are pirated copies of my books available online, and I know people are downloading them. How many, I don't know, but I think the vast majority of people recognise that if they like an author's work and want there to be more, they need to pay (a very paltry sum I might add) for it. To say it's not worth doing because of pirating seems silly to me; there are plenty of people willing to pay for the legality and convenience of a book on Amazon, especially at the prices most self published authors set their books at. Maybe these people aren't selling any books and are placing the blame on pirating rather than poor marketing or a poor product? Just a thought.
2) A series has some distinct advantages over standalone books. I personally haven't got to the point where I like a character enough to write more books about them, but for those who do, the benefits are plenty. It allows you to suck a reader in for multiple purchases, which, although is still possible with multiple standalone books, has a higher draw for a series. Price book one low, price books two and three higher, suck a reader in with number one and their hands are tied—books two and three will be almost definite purchases (assuming good books, of course). I would also at this point recommend that you stick to one genre, or try to blend the genres together, because multiple genres across an author is likely to prevent additional purchases. People like familiarity.
To add, you can still make decent money with just one book, if you play everything right. You need a good cover, a good blurb, good reviews early on, the book itself needs to be good, the promo needs to be good and you need a dab of good fortune in there as well. The more books you add, however, and the more money you will make. If you're only really interested in writing one book then you probably need to ask yourself if this is something worth bothering with at all, because creating a book is a long slog, particularly if you already work full time. If you love writing, you've got no problem!
3) Yes absolutely. Amazon's KDP service allows you to choose whatever author name you like, independent of your account name.
I've been scribbling away for the last few weeks, and I've now updated the ebook - the updated should now be available free of charge to current owners.
I've produced a better-looking cover and re-written the introduction, which I was never completely happy with.
I've also added ten new chapters to the book:
An additional chapter on motorways, which describe how to leave the motorway correctly.
A couple of extra chapters on cornering, where I explore cornering lines and how to drive through the corner.
A few chapters where I describe police driver training and the different courses available to officers.
A chapter on horn use.
A chapter on the zone of relative safety.
Now, the updated version of the book has been available in the Kindle store for the last week, but I've been having a battle with Amazon about making the new content available to people who have already bought the book.
Amazon have taken a week to review the updates and emailed me this morning to let me know that the content will be available to current owners free of charge, so, if you've already bought a copy, all you need to do is log into your account on the Amazon.co.uk website, click on the "Your Account" button next to the search box, and then click on "Manage Your Content and Devices" in the drop-down box.
You should then be presented with a list of all the kindle ebooks you've purchased, and there should be an option to update your copy of my book.
Amazon have been pretty unhelpful so far - they should email all current owners to inform them of the update, but they told me this morning that the updates were "quality corrections" and they would not be emailing current owners about the update. I'm in the process of challenging this decision.
I've also been busy using Createspace to edit the content into a print version - a much harder and time consuming piece of work than I'd ever have imagined.
The edit is now complete and uploaded and I just need to make a few small amendments to the cover. It should be completed and uploaded to Amazon this evening.
There is a review process to go through, but I'm hoping to have the print version selling through Amazon within the next week. It'll be £9.99, so I managed to get it completed for under a tenner.
I'll keep you updated.
I've produced a better-looking cover and re-written the introduction, which I was never completely happy with.
I've also added ten new chapters to the book:
An additional chapter on motorways, which describe how to leave the motorway correctly.
A couple of extra chapters on cornering, where I explore cornering lines and how to drive through the corner.
A few chapters where I describe police driver training and the different courses available to officers.
A chapter on horn use.
A chapter on the zone of relative safety.
Now, the updated version of the book has been available in the Kindle store for the last week, but I've been having a battle with Amazon about making the new content available to people who have already bought the book.
Amazon have taken a week to review the updates and emailed me this morning to let me know that the content will be available to current owners free of charge, so, if you've already bought a copy, all you need to do is log into your account on the Amazon.co.uk website, click on the "Your Account" button next to the search box, and then click on "Manage Your Content and Devices" in the drop-down box.
You should then be presented with a list of all the kindle ebooks you've purchased, and there should be an option to update your copy of my book.
Amazon have been pretty unhelpful so far - they should email all current owners to inform them of the update, but they told me this morning that the updates were "quality corrections" and they would not be emailing current owners about the update. I'm in the process of challenging this decision.
I've also been busy using Createspace to edit the content into a print version - a much harder and time consuming piece of work than I'd ever have imagined.
The edit is now complete and uploaded and I just need to make a few small amendments to the cover. It should be completed and uploaded to Amazon this evening.
There is a review process to go through, but I'm hoping to have the print version selling through Amazon within the next week. It'll be £9.99, so I managed to get it completed for under a tenner.
I'll keep you updated.
Nice job so far.
The services of a professional proof reader and editor are vital though if the book is going to be a long term success IMO.
A few quid spent at the beginning will keep the grammar Nazis at bay, and you will kick yourself if errors slip through the net.
Lots out there to choose from, but here's one I use.
http://www.the-proof-angel.co.uk/
The services of a professional proof reader and editor are vital though if the book is going to be a long term success IMO.
A few quid spent at the beginning will keep the grammar Nazis at bay, and you will kick yourself if errors slip through the net.
Lots out there to choose from, but here's one I use.
http://www.the-proof-angel.co.uk/
The paperback version is now live on Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/mt4zrb7
I was very happy with the proof editions they sent me - they only required some minor tweaking and a few minor corrections. The quality seems excellent and just as good as anything you'd buy in a bookshop:
http://tinyurl.com/mt4zrb7
I was very happy with the proof editions they sent me - they only required some minor tweaking and a few minor corrections. The quality seems excellent and just as good as anything you'd buy in a bookshop:
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