Increase Book Sales with In-house Promotions
By: Erin Wright | Posted on August 14, 2020
One of the things that sets wide storefronts apart from Amazon is the hand-curated element to their sales. Unlike Amazon, where your placement in the store depends on how much you’re willing to spend on AMS ads, the promotion of books on all the other online storefronts is handled in a completely different way. Author and going-wide expert Erin Wright explains how to increase your book sales by getting featured in these in-house promotions. Here’s a run down of what you need to know for each of the major wide storefronts. GooglePlay GooglePlay is the easiest storefront to cover: They don’t do in-house promos, period. The books that are shown to a customer are 100% driven by algorithms. If I pull up https://play.google.com, I’ll see a very different storefront than when you pull up the same URL. This means that more than any other wide storefront, it’s very important that… Read More >
One Method to Beat Writer’s Block
By: Edita A. Petrick | Posted on August 7, 2020
Last week, Ginger wrote about some of the things that prevent an author from writing, and how to fix them. But sometimes, even the most disciplined of us find that we just can’t put words to paper, even with those tips. Often it can be due to some sort of stress or change in your life, but no matter how hard you stare at that blank sheet and want to write, you just can’t force it to happen. In severe cases of writer’s block like that, when you seem to have temporarily lost your voice – your ability to come up with your own words and lay them out coherently – you may need to start right back at square one. It’s almost as if you’ve forgotten how, and need to be re-trained. Well, today’s guest blogger, Edita Anne Petrick, may have just the way to do that. To be… Read More >
The Secret to Daily Word Counts – The Path of Least Resistance
By: Ginger | Posted on July 31, 2020
If the old saying that “a writer writes” is true, why do so many authors find it difficult to keep the words flowing? Ginger has some thoughts on that, and shares some tips for authors who are serious about turning self-publishing into a career – or who already are, but just want to become more productive. The points below all ring true to me, particularly the second one as that was what led me to a corporate job and away from writing for many years (although in my case, it was more my own logical mind that talked me out of writing rather than anyone else – but the solution was the same.) So if you’re looking for a few tips on increasing your daily word count and finishing your books, read on! During all my blog posts about marketing, advertising, and promoting your books, I hope one thing has… Read More >
Does genre matter? Writing something different may teach you something new.
By: J.E. Rowney | Posted on July 24, 2020
If you’re like most authors, you’ve likely picked a genre that you know or like the best and embraced it, rarely (if ever) writing outside of it for a variety of reasons. Perhaps it’s because nothing else interests you, or because you’re afraid that your fans are only interested in reading that type of story from you. But as guest post author J.E. Rowney points out, there is a lot to be learned from stepping outside your comfort zone. Even if it’s just as a small writing experiment instead of a full blown novel, spending time in an unfamiliar genre can make you a stronger writer even when you return back to the familiar. As my readers will know, I write in the chick-lit or women’s fiction genre. My books focus on friendships and relationships. These are the things that interest me. They are what I want to read about,… Read More >
Mailing Lists: Covering Your Caboose and Protecting Your Privacy
By: Nate | Posted on July 17, 2020
For an independent author, there is nothing more important than building your fanbase. There are lots of reasons for this, but the most important is that there is no one more likely to buy your next book than someone that already read and loved your last one. That’s why you want to make sure you have a list of as many of those fans as possible so that you can contact them to let them know about your upcoming releases – something you should be doing as part of a regular marketing strategy via your newsletter. But setting up a newsletter means first setting up a list that your readers can join, and while there are plenty of companies that provide mailing list services, there are some important things you need to consider first before you get started. Not only are there legal rules around what you can send and… Read More >
Helping You Decide – Go Wide or Go KU?
By: Tracy Cooper-Posey | Posted on July 10, 2020
The debate about whether or not to self-publish exclusively to Amazon or go wide to other online distributors is a lively one, but the fact that the question is so controversial in the first place tells us one thing for sure: That there is no right answer that works for everyone. Unfortunately, this leaves many independent authors wondering how to make that very important decision. That’s why we turned to author Tracy Cooper-Posey for advice. Not only is she a successful author and blogger, but she has experience on both sides of the debate. She’s not here to tell you which way is better, but rather to provide you with the criteria you need to consider in order to make the best decision for you and your career. Wide V Kindle Unlimited: Is there a more contentious issue out there these days? We’ve resolved, more or less, that advertising is… Read More >
True or False? 3 New Updates about Advertising on Amazon YOU Need to Consider
By: Ginger | Posted on July 3, 2020
Amazon is alive! Not in a literal sense, unless you’re a proponent of science fiction scenarios, but in the sense that the algorithms, interfaces, and strategies that help authors perform best on the world’s largest bookstore are constantly evolving, changing, and pivoting. In this article, we’ll ask “true or false” about the effectiveness of three previously tried-and-tested advertising strategies – and look into whether you might want to rethink your approach to them. A couple of weeks ago, we posted a blog entitled 3 Ways to Turn Your Advertising on Amazon into a High Performing Machine – and received a comment from a reader named Lee Gabel that read: Tip #2 is no longer accepted practice for Amazon Ads. Instead they recommend no more than 100 keywords per ad and advocate using ad groups instead of copying campaigns. In addition, Amazon Ads now frowns upon more than three ads per… Read More >
Top 10 Tips to Going Wide
By: Erin Wright | Posted on June 26, 2020
We’ve been hearing from more and more authors lately that are cutting the cord, so to speak – stepping away from KU exclusivity for one reason or another in order to test the waters by “going wide”, which simply means selling their book across all (or most) of the digital storefronts instead of just Amazon. Erin Wright went wide back in 2016 and has never looked back, which is why she’s perfectly suited to provide you with the tips for how to change your way of Amazon-centric thinking and prepare to bring your work to a much wider audience. Howdy, y’all! *waving* I’m Erin Wright, a USA Today bestselling author. I write contemporary western romance, and am a dedicated wide author. Although I didn’t start out as a wide author, I quickly became one as Amazon went through one upheaval after another, stripping page reads from authors, shutting down accounts… Read More >
Is Mark Dawson’s Ads for Authors worth the price?
By: Ginger | Posted on June 19, 2020
Recently, the famous Ads for Authors class from Self Publishing Formula opened up. With access available until June 24, this course promises to teach aspiring authors what they need to know to amplify the impact of their books on Facebook, Advertising for Amazon, Instagram, and more. But is it worth the money? With less than a week left to sign up before it disappears again for months, we wanted to give you the answers you need ASAP. Mark Dawson’s course is generally regarded as the essential advertising resource – but it’s not cheap. With $849 to lay out for lifetime access, one question I get from many authors considering the program is – is it worth the money? Well, based on my experience – my answer is a “qualified” yes. That’s probably not exactly the straight-forward answer you were looking for, but at Hidden Gems we’re all about transparency, and… Read More >
“Why can’t I make money advertising?” – A Common Question from our Mailbox
By: Ginger | Posted on June 12, 2020
Each Friday, we try to post blogs aimed at helping authors get their heads around self-publishing, marketing, and advertising their books. Often, these posts will spark a lot of discussion and debate, and we’ll often receive questions from writers needing a bit of clarification. Here’s a question we’ve received recently – and we hope you find the answer helpful! Dear, Hidden Gems, Whatever happens, I can’t seem to make my advertising profitable. What am I doing wrong? It’s so frustrating to spend more money on advertising than I get in book sales, but otherwise I don’t seem to be getting any traction at all. I’m using Facebook and Advertising on Amazon, but I can’t keep throwing money at it like this. Help! Okay, so if you’re in this boat – you’re not alone! Making any form of advertising profitable is tough, and when you’re marketing ebooks it’s even… Read More >
