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Showing posts with label Keeper of Reign. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Keeper of Reign. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

What is the Second Thing You Want on an Amazon Book Launch After Hitting #1


 
 
Once you hit #1 in a subcategory on Amazon, what is the next thing you want to achieve?
 
While many authors gave good answers to this question on the private forum, no one came up with what I was looking for. Once you hit #1 or rank very high in a subcategory, assuming you also have that subcategory as one of your search words (and you better if you don’t), you want your book to appear on the first page of Amazon’s search results for your book’s subcategory. That’s how buyers find your book when they have never heard of you or your book!

For example, in three years, I have never been able to get Children of Dreams to come up in Amazon’s search engine for “adoption” books—I gave up because it was so far down in the pile, I got tired of going to the next page looking for it.

I am now on the fifth page of Amazon’s “adoption” search. My goal is to get to the first page. Who will make it to the fifth page looking for a good book to read? I still have a ways to go to reach that goal. That’s out of almost 3,000 books. If I search for “adoption books,” another one of my search words, I come up on the second page of about 600 books.

Even though I hit #1 in “adoption” and “mother” books, because Children of Dreams didn’t rank for a LONG TIME in any subcategories, I need it to rank higher for a little longer to get Amazon to list it on the first or second page of a search for “adoption” books.

Children of Dreams has been out three years and after the first year, I didn’t do anything with it. I was working on my Master of Arts in Creative Writing and building the network and writing other books. A few months ago I decided to do a more professional book cover. This was a “test” to see if I could bring back an old book. When Children of Dreams was originally published, there was no Kindle market because few people owned Kindles. There was no KDP Select – there really wasn’t anything except the print version of books. All the original book launches launched printed books.

So I decided to launch Children of Dreams – a three-year-old book. I got to #1 in “adoption” books and “mothering” books, which translated into about 350 book sales in about four days. 

That’s better than I did with print books. I have never been able to sell many print books on Amazon.

So, to summarize, what you really want after a launch is for your book to be found in Amazon’s search engines by people looking for books in your genre. Because I haven’t quite achieved that yet, I am going to market Children of Dreams heavily for one more month. It’s the time element that plays into it—how long it’s ranked high in a subcategory.

For example Seventh Dimension – The Door  has remained consistently in the top 100 books for Christian fantasy ever since my launch in April. There are over 5,000 books in Christian fantasy, For a while it was the number one listing for Christian fantasy book searches, and it wasn’t just on my computer. A friend of mine who is an I.T. specialist did a Christian fantasy search of my book on his iPhone and The Door came up #1. Now it’s #4 because the ranking has dropped a bit. I need to do some advertising to pump it back up. Of course, then you need to know where to advertise. I have some good advice I will share about that if you do a book launch.

The day Emma advertised on one particular site that I recommended, Keeper of Reign hit #2 in Christian fantasy. I would imagine she hit #1 this week because of the blog tours she is doing.

I am not talking about big bucks to have a successful launch. I spent a total of about $300 on my launch. Emma, I think, spent a bit more, but it’s not like the thousands I spent when Children of Dreams first came out and I hired a publicist, did some traveling out of state for TV appearances, and was hosted on several radio shows. With all of that time and expense, I sold practically no books. That soured me on spending a lot of money on book launches. The social networking works with Twitter, Facebook, blog tours, and Google Plus, and then placing your book on some smaller, less expensive advertising sites can really pay off. Some of those web niches have very dedicated followers.

I am hoping BookBub will feature my book next month. It’s on the pricy side, $280 for a listing – but they only take a few books and they have statistics to justify their prices. They turned Children of Dreams down for August for adoption books but told me to resubmit for September in the inspirational category. I just did that tonight. They would not accept my Seventh Dimension – The Door book with all the good reviews and awards – so it is HARD to get BookBub to list your book.

If they accept Children of Dreams for September, I expect my ranking to be high on Amazon. I also have a few other things I am doing that I didn’t have time to do in August—mainly because I still hope to get on the first page of the Amazon search engines for "adoption" books. That is the best advertising there is– people searching for books similar to what you write, and then Amazon sends buyers to your book. Amazon wants to make money, so they won’t send customers your way if you haven’t sold many books in the last few months.

Emma’s book Keeper of Reign is listed as #9 in Christian fantasy on an Amazon search. If she stays in the top 100 for a while, Amazon will send buyers to her book. Eventually you want the advertising to carry itself – without you propping it up or spending more money. It has happened with other books in the network, like Bob Saffrin’s books and The Glimpse. We have had many successful launches. 

Hopefully these ramblings on my launch this last month will be helpful. Comments and revelations on what has worked for you are welcome.

 

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Friday, August 16, 2013

A Taste of Friday: Emma Right, Keeper of Reign




Emma, is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I want to empower young readers with the message, that if they seek the truth (the Ancient Books in Keeper of Reign) they will find wisdom and answers to life's problems. It doesn't mean the answers are going to come easy, but persistence will pay off. So seek wisdom and it will help each person to live triumphantly; in essence, to reign in life.

Watch the trailer:

Here are three short excerpts from Keeper of Reign:
Excerpt 1:

Jules said, “We need a plan. Let’s check what’s missing.” He rushed to the hearth and pried the loose brick to the side. He reached his arm deep and thought he felt the soft nap of the pouch but then he jerked his hand back out and sucked on his finger.” Ouch!” 


Ralston said, “We can’t afford to lose your pouch—maybe the only way to buy things if we have to look for Mom or Dad.” 


Jules glared at him. 


Ralston said, “What’s wrong?” 


Jules reached back into the hole, this time less enthusiastically. “Something sharp.” When he pulled it out he stared at the shard of glass in his hand. “Hold this, Rals.” 


Ralston held the sharp edge gingerly. “Is it yours?” 


“Would I put something sharp like that to cut myself up?” Jules then brought out his pouch, and sighed. He gave its contents a quick peek and slipped the soft pouch into his cloak pocket. 


“It’s a good thing the burglars missed that,” Ralston said. “Should we toss this?” He passed the shard to Jules who turned it over. 


“Some words here.” He read, “‘—ook within.’ What’s that mean?”


Excerpt 2

A blood-curdling scream pierced through the cold evening air and all five children jerked and stared at each other. The scream appeared to have come from the dark forest. Was someone in trouble? Or was it just some- one trying to scare them?


“Wh-–at was that?” Bitha grabbed Tippy’s hand and tugged at her, but the little girl, her face indignant, squirmed and pulled away.


“No–o!” A series of ear splitting protests came from Tippy and she shook her head vigorously. Her eyes, the rims red, locked with Jules. “I want the gem! It’s mine!”


Arms on her hips, Tst Tst said, in a sinister whisper, “If we don’t leave now, Gehzurolle will kill us!”


Tippy slumped her shoulders, let out a sob and opened her mouth as if wanting to protest but at the last minute she only stepped aside. “All wight!”


“We’ll give the stone another try. Ralston, you wedge it with that stick and I’ll pull.” Jules glanced at the sky and thought he saw a dark blob in the blue far away. Must get away quickly. The meadow is too bare for a good hiding spot.


Nausea swelled up from the pit of his stomach and a shiver crept up his back. The last time he had such a feeling was right before his grandpa left on that trip. “Rals, hurry! Pull!”


Excerpt 3:

In the yonder forest, perched on a cypress, Whisperer watched the group with what could qualify as disappointment on his crooked face with his crooked lips. His efforts had failed. This sort of fowl tactics worked umpteen times before when his master ordered him on some mission.


Now he considered other prongs of attacks. The ifs and what-ifs, the whisperings, he could float in the wind. Whisperings that wafted down and instilled fear to all who heard him. This was one assignment he could not afford to blunder. Too much was at stake.


He debated over his options, his heavily lidded eyes darting from tree to tree. For a second he determined to strike the bumbling boy again, but he decided against this. He would wait for Beta and re-evaluate the problem with the latest update.


Whisperer pursed his crooked lips, his breath a gray tube of smoke that swirled toward its goal: the clouds. First softly, then more intensely, he blew. But his gaze never wavered from the struggling, lanky lad with his sister on his back.


Beta had better find that Book, or he would find a suitable punishment for the servant.


About the Author:


Emma Right is a happy wife and homeschool mother of five living in the Pacific West Coast of the USA. Besides running a busy home, and looking after their five pets, which includes two cats, two bunnies and a Long-haired dachshund, she also writes stories for her children. She loves the Lord and His Word deeply, and when she doesn't have her nose in a book, she is telling her kids to get theirs in one.

Emma worked as a copywriter for two major advertising agencies and won several awards, including the prestigious Clio Award for her ads, before she settled down to have children.

Visit Emma Right at her home site and sign for her blog feed and newsletter and blog for tips and ideas about books, homeschooling, bible devotions, and author helps from self-publishing to book marketing. For the latest events. Follow Google Plus  and Twitter. She'd love to hear from her readers.

Buy the book:
 Amazon Link


Connect with Emma:








Friday, May 24, 2013

Meet Emma Right

Emma Right

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Follow me on https://twitter.com/emmbeliever
I am also on Goodreads and Librarything. Be my friend there--it gets lonely.

About: Emma is a happy wife and homeschool mother of five living in the Pacific West Coast of the USA. Besides running a busy home, and looking after their five pets, which includes two cats, two bunnies and a long-haired dachshund, she also writes stories for her children. Emma loves the Lord and His Word deeply, and when she doesn't have her nose in a book, she is telling her kids to get theirs in one.



Keeper of Reign by Emma RightShort Summary:

Books written in blood. Most are lost, their Keepers with them. A curse that befell a people. A Kingdom with no King. Life couldn’t get more harrowing for the Elfies, a blend of Elves and Fairies. Or for sixteen-year-old Jules Blaze. Or could it? When the hand of evil seeks him out and one by one his family members disappear, Jules adventures into enemy land to seek answers to save his family from annihilation, and his Kingdom from destruction.



ASIN: B00CVK128Q
$2.99
ISBN 978-1-939337-69-6 (paperback)
Library of Congress: 2013936697

Available now on Amazon at http://amzn.to/10W9ZHO. Soon to be at Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iBooks.

The Interview:

Your unique talent: I think I have perfected the art of scolding. I've had too much practice.

Share something not many people know about you:

I can't sleep if there is the slightest light. I probably couldn't live in Alaska during the summer since I can only sleep when it's dark and the slightest pinpoint of light would wake me up.

Are you a “pet person” or prefer no pets? A pet sort of person…except maybe insect pets. I've even petted a cobra--it was alive, too!

Would you rather travel or stay at home? Home, please. I could probably survive in a cave with just a computer.

Do you read more or write more? Not enough of both.

Prefer cake or pie? And ice cream, too. And chocolates.

Would you or do you ride a motorcycle or do you prefer to ride/drive a car? My second home is my SUV. I spend about 4-6 hours a day driving my kids somewhere or other.

Bus or taxi or walk? Probably taxi. but I'd rather be home.

Are you part of a big church congregation or a small church?
I used to go to New Creation Church in Singapore with about 25K people. We had to line up for 2-3 hours to get to church and people jostled to get in. Some even cheated to get into the line. I used to sing in the choir. Sometimes we practiced until 1am and I had to be at church the next day for the service by 6am. It was very tiring. But I enjoyed singing for Jesus, so it was worth it. Now I am very happy to belong to a church of only 200-300 people preaching the message of grace.

Do you like to telephone people or prefer to use e-mail?

I prefer e-mail. I get very distracted on the phone. I probably have ADD or something like that.

Are you happy or joyful? Joyful, joyful, we adore thee, Jesus.

Do you eat at home or eat out? Both. But I prefer to eat standing up.

Listen to music or prefer quiet? Praise music. Quiet is good too. Depends.

Prefer sunrises or sunsets? Sunrise. Sunsets look too sad--it reminds me another day has ended and I haven't done all I needed and wanted to do!