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Post by garyweston on Dec 30, 2015 11:49:45 GMT -8
My K U blue line has stalled after a good start which is what prompted the promo. Standing at 300 freebie hits so far. I stopped asking for reviews years ago and rely on the readers to review or not. I would certainly NEVER pay for a service to provide reviews and I thought Zon stamped hard on things like that. The red paid line has jumped up nicely so this exposure has obviously paid off so far. Also, the sales rankings are up quickly for Craggy 1 and several other books. The real trick will be to sustain the impetus after the promo. I know Julie is considering a similar move but to use D B S on fiverr.com as a further push. We all have to do what is right for us as individuals and I make no recommendations for others to follow what I do. Each to their own. I just share my results so others can maybe get ideas from them.
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Post by garyweston on Dec 30, 2015 14:34:17 GMT -8
10.30 pm and I'm off to bed. Still getting over my operation and I've a little way to go, so plenty of resting up. As things stand my freebies have hit 424 in total and so far an impressive 210 for Craggy 1 just on Zon.com. From experience in my time zone, there will be another 3 or 4 hours to go for this first day of the promo. Of course it could all backfire with some scathing reviews on my "sleepers" as yet a mostly unknown entity. Also, people will be busy partying etc to bother with books for a couple of the promo days but if a few people living alone like I do, get comfort and lose themselves in a couple of my little stories, that pleases me. I'll update in the morning.
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Post by garyweston on Dec 30, 2015 23:34:52 GMT -8
Good morning world on the last day of the year. Latest stats. Day one of the Zon free promo has ended with 725 total free hits.348 were Craggy 1 on Amazon.com Craggy #1 ended up at ranking number 828 in the free books on Amazon.com at #2 in the space fleet category (one Zon added not me) and #4 in space opera. I also had 12 paid sales and 529 K U page reads. Day two already has a paid sale and 12 freebie hits. Will Craggy hit the #1 slot in space opera??? It did that about 18 months ago and stayed there for about 6 weeks. Being #4 in space opera puts it on the all important first "page" of 20 books, the first page readers see. Not bad for an 85 year old spaceman. Will it hit number 1? Watch this space and I'll let you know!!!!! (Still early, so back to bed)
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serbanvcenache
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Post by serbanvcenache on Dec 31, 2015 3:58:33 GMT -8
My K U blue line has stalled after a good start which is what prompted the promo. Standing at 300 freebie hits so far. I stopped asking for reviews years ago and rely on the readers to review or not. I would certainly NEVER pay for a service to provide reviews and I thought Zon stamped hard on things like that. Not likely. Car manufacturers, Video game companies, Music & Movie companies do it all the time.
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Post by garyweston on Dec 31, 2015 4:47:26 GMT -8
www.cnet.com/news/amazon-sues-alleged-reviews-for-pay-sites/Not sure if this applies to the sites you mentioned earlier. Either way I wouldn't go near them. I think reviews have only a moderate influence on readers purchases. There is evidence that readers are also suspicious of heaps of 5 star reviews for books. My advice is to let the readers decide if a writers books warrants a review, good bad or otherwise.
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serbanvcenache
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Post by serbanvcenache on Dec 31, 2015 5:56:32 GMT -8
www.cnet.com/news/amazon-sues-alleged-reviews-for-pay-sites/Not sure if this applies to the sites you mentioned earlier. Either way I wouldn't go near them. I think reviews have only a moderate influence on readers purchases. There is evidence that readers are also suspicious of heaps of 5 star reviews for books. My advice is to let the readers decide if a writers books warrants a review, good bad or otherwise. That door swings both ways. People can be suspicious of fake & legit ones. I know I am every time I see ratings for movies. As for Zon cracking down on fake reviews. I've seen plenty of ebooks with many 5-star reviews, only to discover that the users who posted them had only 1 review in their history, and they were all 1 liners too. Some "cracking" down... while other reviews get deleted, simply because author & reader have ties on social media.
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Post by garyweston on Dec 31, 2015 6:36:12 GMT -8
For me, genuine reviews are a part of the writers development. Having 'mates' review the books is pointless. If a dozen reviewers say "This book stinks" etc, then the writer should take it on board and improve the book. Had it not been for one encouraging review on Craggy 1, the series may not have been written. A scathing 2 star review, if constructive, can be much more useful than a "I loved this book" 5 star review. They are a part of the learning curve. I can understand newbies trying the mates route but I would advise against it. They can either write an entertaining story or not. Even now I sometimes doubt myself. That's healthy. If you can write a good story and have a dash of luck, it will happen.
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serbanvcenache
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Post by serbanvcenache on Dec 31, 2015 10:43:46 GMT -8
For me, genuine reviews are a part of the writers development. Having 'mates' review the books is pointless. If a dozen reviewers say "This book stinks" etc, then the writer should take it on board and improve the book. Had it not been for one encouraging review on Craggy 1, the series may not have been written. A scathing 2 star review, if constructive, can be much more useful than a "I loved this book" 5 star review. They are a part of the learning curve. I can understand newbies trying the mates route but I would advise against it. They can either write an entertaining story or not. Even now I sometimes doubt myself. That's healthy. If you can write a good story and have a dash of luck, it will happen. It is not pointless. Many ebook promo services require at least 8 or 10 reviews, before they expose you to their audience. Getting in front of actual readers is the hard part for indies. From that point onwards, the readers decide if they wish to read what they've downloaded and leave reviews (be they positive or negative). Unlucky for me, majority of my mates don't read novels in English, nor do they own Kindles or accounts on Goodreads. Really tipping the scales in one's favor would be doing what the big players do. Give hefty financial stimulus to prominent youtubers & other media outlets so they will endorse their (usually half-assed & overpriced) products. I don't possess access to such financial resources, and even if I did, I would offer all of my ebooks for free. I would be a foolish businessman that way, but that's just me.
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Post by garyweston on Dec 31, 2015 11:52:20 GMT -8
Then we must agree to disagree about reviews. I have given away many thousands of stories over the years. Nice to think that somewhere on the planet somebody is reading me right now. Happy new year my friend. Go out and party hard
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serbanvcenache
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Post by serbanvcenache on Dec 31, 2015 13:05:19 GMT -8
Then we must agree to disagree about reviews. I have given away many thousands of stories over the years. Nice to think that somewhere on the planet somebody is reading me right now. Happy new year my friend. Go out and party hard My stance was that it makes sense to obtain enough reviews in order to meet the basic requirements for most ebook promo services. Spend enough money on advertising & marketing, rather than on actual content production, and you're still guaranteed to make $$$. The market is strange that way, Rational Expectations Theory is bunk & it's all about Animal Spirits. Even if your product is quality, but it doesn't have access to the promotional machine which exposes stuff to consumers, you'll remain an obscure writer. And if you're lucky, you get recognition just before you die of old age, or soon before the copyright lapses. Either way, it's a sad story, and that's what happens in most cases. The saying, it takes money to make money is true - for spending is income by accounting definition. Mayhaps things will be easier for authors when our governments will implement an unconditional basic income ^_^. In the meantime, I'm saving up money to get a wisdom tooth extracted. Happy New Year to all!
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Post by garyweston on Dec 31, 2015 13:37:42 GMT -8
Oh, Serbs. I'm a lefty, too. Hate our UK tory gov't with a passion. But the idea of a set wage for writers is nuts. I'm all for equal pay for equal work, but how does that equate to talent? I am a better writer than some and there are better writers than me. I have worked very damn hard for every $ but should I be rewarded the same for a lazy slob churning out inferior work? Not gonna happen. One good thing about the global village with us Indies is that we are usually rewarded for our abilities and effort. It couldn't work any other way. I lay my soul open every time I self publish a book. My work will be appreciated or it will not. As of this moment my book sits at #3 in its category because I took the trouble to help it get there. I paid nobody to do that. That long list of books didn't write themselves (not even when I was really drunk). I have done the hard yards. You know my three rules of writing as an Indie. Follow those and let the world decide. Sorry about the tooth. I know what that's like.
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Post by Ted on Dec 31, 2015 18:56:56 GMT -8
Canada may have the same programs for low-income residents as other countries, as we have a guarranteed income per month for people 65 and over whose income is less than around $38,000/year. It's not much income, I beleive it works out to a tad more than $1,100/month, but it is some help to low-income residents.
Canada toyed with the concept of a guarranteed annual income for residents a few years back -50, 60, 70;s(?). Nowadays it would be around $38-40,000/year. More for families, etc. However, some economists have argued for a lower amount of around $20,000/year.
The prime arguments for a guarranteed income were lower medical costs, lower policing costs, lower crime rate, higher employment (more money people spending money means more employment to supply the services), and lower mental health issues like depression, suicide, and/or anxiety.
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serbanvcenache
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Post by serbanvcenache on Jan 1, 2016 3:06:59 GMT -8
garyI didn't say I support a guaranteed income for authors only, but a BIG for everyone.
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Post by garyweston on Jan 1, 2016 3:19:04 GMT -8
The five freebie days promo on Amazon seems to be working well so far. I have tried to use it tactically to my circumstances, by being selective about which books have been in the promo and those not made free. This has been a worthwhile exercise on several levels. By making the first Craggy free and the first two Dusty books free, has brought new readers in from several countries, including Italy (a first for me) Germany and Japan, as well as the usual U S A / UK / Australia. Sales have been made on the rest of the series. Craggy 1 is at the moment at #4 in the free space opera category on Zon. com so that helps. Even a few K U reads going on but if those are for the free books I will not get any $ for that, but it still counts as promotion. Also, a healthy take up of my "sleepers" is satisfying. Enough taking the free Craggy should, in my past experience, lead to healthy sales of the rest of the series and the boxes. The possible downside to this exercise could be the loss in rankings when they go paid again. Basically they will be starting all over again. That of course could be risky and something anyone going this way should consider carefully. Some may be more comfortable doing this with "sleepers" not selling anyway. Don't do this without a lot of thought for what you are aiming to achieve from it.
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serbanvcenache
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Post by serbanvcenache on Jan 1, 2016 4:40:56 GMT -8
Your paid rankings will see improvement after the freebie period's over. At least, that was my experience.
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