Learning as I go: lizo27's self-publishing thread

Daffyjkl said:

Hi lizo27,
This is a great thread. I am seeing very similar results after my first six weeks of self-publishing online with Amazon. I have read the entire thread and really enjoyed the read. Getting reviews has been my greatest battle, only two so far, despite the promise of many more (maybe 20 promised). Is there something that stands out as the key to more sales and getting those reviews? I only have one book online with Amazon Kindle Unlimited, but I am considering advertising. Is there a minimum number of reviews that you should have before promoting using Amazon advertising? I'm thinking that a potential reader is far more likely to risk their £2.99 on a book that has five, or ten or more reviews than just two. I do have a couple of other books that I'm working on, but they are six months away from being ready to publish. Thanks in advance.
Good luck with your work,
Jason

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I am also newly published and in a similar situation to yours. My philosophy at the moment is watch and learn. I don't know if my strategy will work, but I am letting my book (which is broken up into a series) just sit there on Amazon with not much promotion. I sometimes do pushes to build my mailing list by giving it away in Instafreebie promotions or other promotions. This allows me to see what works and what doesn't. I also keep a spreadsheet of promotional opportunities and advertising techniques. Meanwhile, I am almost finished with my second book and have started a third (I hope they will be ready by the summer). I am hoping that by experimenting with inexpensive promotions and advertising, I will have a better start with the next two. I will have a mailing list and several things lined up so that I can come out strong with re-releasing book one as a bundle, and following it up with the two new titles in a short time-span. I don't see the point of throwing a lot of money at advertising at this point. My first book has generated six reviews without much effort on my part. I have decided that getting reviews should be low on my priority list. Is there really that much difference between a book with ten reviews or fifty? Considering the time you have to invest to chase down those reviews, it's not worth it. It would be great if you could get your 20 reviews though especially since some promotional sites have number of reviews requirements.

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That's great to hear, Liz! Looking forward to reading Book 3 when it comes out.

Your totals are looking like some pretty solid numbers. Way to go. I hope you have a big celebration planned for when you break 500 ebooks sold.

Congrats on the progress with book three!

Paperbacks tend to do very well in December. Ebooks, not so much. Then it surges back in January, as the people who got kindles and e-readers for Christmas go looking for content.That's what I learned on Kboards, and from my limited observation (Just a year, mind), it seems to be generally true.

Woohoo!

Milestone by milestone, we climb! And every book pushes us up a little faster. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how quickly you add another zero, once that audiobook drops.

lizo:

Congrats on the new book, and on your continuing sales. They look like good numbers to me.

NDG

Good launch! General consensus is that anything ending up within the top 100K is a solid showing.

Congrats on your new book. May it be the most successful yet.

And thank you for the monthly updates too.

lizo27 said:

Book three out now!

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Yaaaay! My weekend reading should be set!

Just picked up the first book since it's free right now. It may be a while before I get around to it, but I'll be sure to write a review if I like it.

Well done on reaching 500 sales! I've just downloaded the first book to my kindle

Congrats on the sales!

I just downloaded the free one too. Looking forward to reading it soon.

Congrats on the new release and the ever-climbing sales! 500 is a huge milestone.

Congrats on the new book release! You're really cranking along.

Congratulations on getting book three out in the world! You really seem to be powering through the series. Are you finding the books are getting easier or faster to write?