Obsessing Over Numbers by Jannine Gallant

I've been wondering what to write about for a few days now as the 18th drew closer and closer. While I stared at the blank page, my nimble fingers opened other tabs to check numbers. Yes numbers! I'm obsessed, so I thought I'd share. Maybe you can become addicted, too!

First of all, I should be writing. Instead, I'm constantly checking statistics to see if there's an actual reason for me to put words on the page. These are the sites I use to feed my addiction. If you're an author, they're pretty darn useful for a number junkie like me...

Amazon Sales: Did you know you don't actually have to go to the Amazon site to see how well you're selling. Sales Rank Express has all those fun facts and figures for every one of your books on a single page. Just pop in your name under author, and you can get your ranking for not only the good old USA, but for all the other countries, too. Info included is a graph with blips for each sale. If the graph isn't there, click on the rank tracker by NovelRank to start tracking. It also tells you how many customer reviews you have. With this handy-dandy feature, I can obsess over not just my sales rank but also my reviews, all on the same site!

Before we leave the subject of sales, I discovered another incredibly fascinating feature on Author Central to gobble up my time. Just when I thought there was no way to know if my print books in stores were actually selling, I discovered Nielsen BookScan under the Sales Info tab. This tells me how many copies of BURIED TRUTH I sold each week in physical stores. It also has a handy geography feature to tell me where I sold them. I was pretty darn worried I'd sold about 10. I was actually kind of freaking out over this. Turns out, I did sell a few. The current count stands at 832, but my graph formed a pyramid point at week three and is currently on the downhill slide. I'm afraid there isn't a long shelf-life for newbie authors in print. But, the geographic map gave me another boost. I sold books in 95 out of the 100 regions! The largest was "combined areas," an amorphous blob made up of all rural/smaller town areas. Coming in at the top of the pack of cities was New York. Go, me! So, while I'm not exactly selling in the millions, it's a start. My editor actually said I did pretty well in Barnes & Noble before he ruined my glow by adding that was only a small part of the overall picture. He said I definitely had room for growth. I'd laugh at that if it wasn't so damn depressing!

Also on Author Central, try clicking on Author Rank under the Sales Info tab. This will give you a graph of how you rank compared to other authors. Talk about a wake-up call. I have a feeling my growth potential in that category is also unlimited.

Moving right along... Sales, rankings, and reviews aren't the only numbers I obsess over. I also check the posts on my Facebook Author Page to see if anyone besides me is looking at them. Then I compare posts that do well to ones that don't. Somehow, I should be able to use this info to reach a broader audience. Unfortunately, I have yet to crack the secret code. I'll let you know if I do.

And since I don't seem to have enough numbers to make me crazy, I finally got my act together and put one of my old, self-published books, WE'LL NEVER TELL, on an Amazon Sponsored Products Ad Campaign. I tried this before and failed. This time I put in way more key words, added a catchier tagline, reduced the price to .99 cents, and am using the awesome new cover Alison made. We'll see if any of that helps. In the meantime, I have all those beautiful impressions and click numbers to feed my addiction. If you're interested in trying Amazon Ads, get started at the Amazon Marketing Dashboard.

Since I'm sure your head is spinning by now, I'll leave you with pictures of my dog in the snow. March came in like a lion and is still roaring! We've had our entire winter in one month. Happy reading! I think I'll go shovel the deck... Ginger likes to help.

The Mysteries of Book Sales... by Jannine Gallant

So, Sunday was Easter, a great day to spend time with family and relax. No one buys books on holidays, right? Or do they... Enter the Twilight Zone where WILDE THING started selling like crazy and was ranked in the 6,000 range by late afternoon when people should have been carving their dinner ham. I was stumped.

Let's back up a bit. WILDE THING released in late February. It's been on sale for .99 cents for a couple of weeks now. Sales have been slow but steady on Amazon at one or two per day. Almost no action on Barnes & Noble, but suddenly WT is ranked at #292 overall? So why in the world would it suddenly go on a terrific sales streak? No reason I could imagine. Of course I checked BookBub just in case my pub forgot to tell me it was up there. It wasn't. I did a google search and came up with nothing new that I could find. Mind you, my other books in the series also were doing pretty well, but WT seemed to be the leader of the pack. And the books in my older series were also selling better than normal. Go figure.

Monday morning rolled around, and the ranking had gone up some but was still under 10,000. I immediately emailed my editor's assistant to ask what fabulous promo they used over the weekend to get these terrific results. My plan was to share it with you. What a great, helpful post as a side note to all Alison's wonderful info on Amazon ads, right?

His answer...nothing. Are you kidding me? There went the post I'd planned... But I decided to write about my experience anyway. I have no idea what prompted this boost in sales. According to Kensington, it just happened. I'll take it. Maybe some old promo got it moving, and a domino effect occurred. I guess the moral here is to keep trying to get the word out. Sometimes when you least expect it, something works. Oh, and if I hear back that they actually did DO something, I'll let you know. In the meantime, nearly all my books are on sale right now for either .99 cents or $1.99. Who knows for how long. I'm obviously out of the info loop! LOL Here's the link to my page at Amazon if you're interested in a rocking deal.

Happy reading!

Adventures in Advertising by Alison Henderson

Like many indie authors, I keep a running monthly spreadsheet of the sales results for my independently published titles. The royalty statements from the publisher of my first three books come out quarterly and are not particularly useful, but I can learn quite a bit from the detailed reports Amazon provides.

This year, after entering the sales for December of 2016 and totaling up the year, I turned an analytical eye to each month's individual figures. Guess what I discovered. I made zero sales and zero dollars last February. That's right--ZERO. Not shocking, but disheartening. I also noticed my sales for the first half of February of 2017 were lagging sadly. What is it about February? This year, I determined to do something to try to alter that trend.

As authors, even indie authors, there aren't many things we can do to boost sales in the short run. We can amp up our activity on social media, do a blog tour, or reduce the price of our books. I decided to put both my bodyguard books on an Amazon Countdown Deal for $.99 for the last week of February to see if I could stir up any interest. I also decided it was the perfect opportunity to run an experiment with advertising, pitting Facebook against Amazon to see if I could draw any conclusions about the effectiveness of each.

I chose to do a $20 boosted Facebook post advertising the sale for the first two days, targeting an audience of women over thirty who live in the U.S. and are interested in books. That post reached 1,024 people, garnered 43 likes--mostly from strangers--and one new "like" for my page. 

The Amazon ad was a different animal. I had to choose between a Sponsored Product ad and a Product Display ad. Sponsored Product ads are the ones across the bottom of a product (individual book) page that says Sponsored Products Related to This Item. Product Display ads are larger and appear higher on the right side of the page. I chose a Sponsored Product ad because they allow you to customize a huge list of search keywords specific to your book. For example, I chose phrases like "humorous romantic mystery books" and "light mystery and suspense." You can also name other authors or books that you think are similar in some way to yours, whose readers you want to attract. I chose Janet Evanovich and "Stephanie Plum series" because those books are humorous and heavier on the suspense plots than the romance.

The Amazon ad was also my first experience with click-charge advertising. You select an amount you're willing to pay for each time someone clicks on your ad and is taken to your book's page. I chose $.25 per click because it was what showed up as a default in the selection box. Amazon has excellent metrics, although it takes 2-3 days for the information to appear. They give you a running total of how much you've spent and how many sales resulted from those clicks.

I chose to advertise both books. My results were as follows:
Boiling Point-- 1,453 impressions (# of customers exposed to the ad), 2 clicks, $0 sales
Unwritten Rules-- 1,319 impressions, 8 clicks, $0 sales
Total spent--$2.09
I'm not sure what conclusions to draw from this information. I might have needed to increase my bid per click, or my covers or blurbs are not attracting readers, or I need to refine my keywords. Since this is a very cheap experiment, I plan to make adjustments and try again.

The total sales for the week, along with my explanation of the results, were:
2/21 - 7 sales, FB ad
2/22 - 3 sales, FB ad
2/23 - 0 sales
2/24 - 1 sale, probably a friend or leftover from FB ad
2/25 - 11 sales, possibly due to Amazon directed email advertising "deals" for specific genres (I got one for $.99 romance books that day. They probably also sent them out to mystery and suspense readers.)
2/26 - 4 sales, probably leftover from whatever happened the day before
2/27 - 3 sales, possibly due to activity from 2/25. I also put a "last day" reminder post on FB but didn't boost it.

So what conclusion can I draw from this experiment? Financially, I just about broke even. Hopefully, I'll get a new review or two as a result. The Facebook boost did not pay for itself, and the Amazon ad produced nothing (possibly my fault), but Amazon may have done something for the book because I'm a KDP author and used their Countdown Deal. They're always an enigma, but sometimes they surprise you. The main takeaway, however, is that neither of these methods produced as many sales as buying a one-day ad on Just Kindle Books' website and email newsletter. 

What experiences have you had with advertising? What would you recommend?
Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com

What I Like About Kindle Unlimited by Alison Henderson

If you self-publish, or even if you don't, you've probably heard the moaning and wailing that Amazon's subscription service Kindle Unlimited is killing book sales. Readers pay $9.99 a month and can "borrow" up to 10 books at a time. Books are only eligible for KU if they are Amazon-exclusive through the KDP program--indie published or through one of Amazon's own imprints. At the moment, that constitutes around one million titles. 

Obviously, this program is directed at regular readers. It wouldn't make much sense to pay the fee unless you read at least two books every month. The more you read, the better the deal. And you have to be prepared for the fact that none of the traditionally published bestsellers will be available.

I have one book in the program, my romantic suspense Unwritten Rules. Because this book has been out for two years, it would be unfair--and undoubtedly inaccurate--to attribute slow sales to the introduction of Kindle Unlimited. The program has, however, injected a new element of fun into the experience of being an indie author. I can now connect with my readers in a direct, real-time way.

I've never been much of a techie, but with Kindle Unlimited I've gleefully surrendered to the seduction of real-time data. In July, Amazon started calculating KU borrows in a different way. They assign a number of pages to each book based on adjusted length--the Kindle Edition Normalized Pages. Unwritten Rules has 501 KENP. The sales dashboard shows the number of KENP read each day, so I can see if someone is actually reading my book, right then and there, and it adjusts periodically during the day. I feel like I'm reading along with them!

For example, today, someone(s) has read 145 pages. That may change by tonight. Yesterday, the total was 351 pages. I can see when a reader begins the book, when they really get caught up in the story or have more time to read, and when they finish. If I had bigger numbers, this wouldn't be possible, but for now, it's a lot of fun. Last month, I had a 448-page day, then a couple of quiet days, then a 498-page day. This likely represented two readers who finished the book around the same time. I checked my book page on Amazon a couple of days later and found a new five star review. Now that's instant feedback!

For Labor Day weekend and in honor of Unwritten Rules' second book birthday, I'm running my first sale. The book will be priced at $.99 from now through Monday night. If you haven't read it, here's your chance to pick it up at a bargain price! And I'd be thrilled if you'd help me spread the word. I don't expect this sale to have any effect on my KU numbers, but I'm looking forward to watching them on Small Town Christmas Tales when it releases October first.

Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com

It’s Official – I’ve Disappeared by Alison Henderson

Have you seen the ad with Mindy Kaling where she wanders around, wondering if she’s become invisible because no one seems to notice her? Finally, she interrupts a pick-up basketball game, only to discover she isn’t invisible—it just feels that way. I’m feeling a bit like Mindy these days.

For the first time in the five years I’ve been published, as far as I can determine, I haven’t sold a single book during the past thirty days. Two KU readers finished reading UNWRITTEN RULES, so I will receive a (tiny) royalty check from Amazon for July, but my KDP sales line is flat as yesterday’s lefse (a pancake to you non-Norwegians). According to Novelrank, no one worldwide has bought a copy of any of my three small-press published books in the past month, either. It’s possible I’ve sold something through another outlet, but I won’t know until figures become available from my publisher in a couple of months. Since the vast majority of my sales have always come through Amazon, I don’t spend much time worrying about other retailers.

Since I’m a writer and inclined to dissect feelings, I have to ask myself how I feel about this. Not too bad, as it happens. It’s odd, weird in fact, but not bad. Especially since I know the causes.

1.    I haven’t had a book out in almost two years. This is the primary reason I’ve dropped off readers’ radar screens.
2.   As a result of #1, I haven’t done any real promo in ages. I’m still active on social media just being me, but it doesn’t feel right to continue promoting an old title.
3.   Many writers, especially indies, have proclaimed that the debut of Amazon’s new subscription service Kindle Unlimited has sounded a death knell for their sales. I’m not sure that’s true for me. For a long time, I had a 50/50 balance between sales and KLL borrows. My sales slump coincided with the arrival of KU, but I think #1 is more to blame.

Some writers are quick to ascribe declining sales to any convenient outside force. I’ve read that sales are slow in the summer because people are on vacation. (Wouldn’t they want to buy a book or two to take along to the beach?) Others say sales drop in November and December because of the holidays. (What about books given as gifts?) Now Kindle Unlimited is the bogeyman. It’s always the fault of someone or something else.

I blame no one for my sales situation but myself. You read a lot of baloney on the Internet, but some of the marketing advice is actually sound. In order stay in readers’ minds, you need to publish frequently. Two books a year is good; three is better. Stay active on social media. Market yourself and your platform (though not necessarily your books) regularly. Collect email addresses. Send out newsletters. Yada, yada, yada. We’ve heard it over and over—probably because it’s true.

I’ve failed on nearly every count and take full responsibility for the result. I’m the poster child for Anti-Marketing. I have valid reasons for not publishing a book last year, but even at my most productive, I’ll probably never write more than one book a year. Again, a matter of personal choice and life balance. I hate marketing with a passion and, as a result, will never be any good at it. I’ll never do a Facebook launch party because I can’t imagine spending several hours online posting pictures of fancy dresses and nearly-naked male models and giving out prizes. I know it works, but it’s not me.

There was a time I would have embraced the stress of tight deadlines for the potential rewards of a successful writing career. That time has passed. I’ve come to accept that I’ll never be a best-selling author. I’m simply unwilling and/or unable to do what it takes. I still love the creative process of writing and have stories I want to tell. Hopefully, people will enjoy reading them—maybe not as many people as I’d like, but I’m grateful for each one.

That being said, I’m thrilled to have a new book coming out later this year. I’m close enough to finishing to say that with certainty. I love the stories in SMALL TOWN CHRISTMAS TALES and will do my best to get the word out so others can enjoy them. I plan to dedicate this book to my sister writers at The Roses of Prose, who inspired it. Thank you for your support along the way!

Alison

www.alisonhenderson.com