Amazon's new policy likely to affect sales for Indies

Please note, I'm offering a FREE book at the end of this article.

Amazon has a program that most Indies take advantage of to help boost sales. If an author enrolls their book in the kdp select program, the book becomes available to prime members to borrow for free. In turn, the author will make a small amount from money Amazon has set aside. Alas, the author splits this money with all the other authors signed up and it all depends on how many books are borrowed.

But - by doing this, the author has 5 days they can use to offer their book free to the rest of the reading public. Before March 1, there were websites that listed these free books and made it easy for readers to find these new authors. I believe websites that offered this service made money when readers also bought products using product links on their sites. Offering the book for free and having it listed for folks to find really helped readers connect with an Indie or self-pubbed author. It helped get Texas Forged out there for folks to find.

However, as of March 1, Amazon no longer allows these websites to list the free books. If you do a search for "free" books through Amazon's search engine, you get the books that have never been offered at a price other than free. And there is no way to search for books by the date they were offered for free. You have to click through each page until you get to the end of 68+ pages worth of free and not all of these are free.

Granted, an author who wants to make writing a career should find creative ways to promote in order to let the reading public know the book is out there. But let's get real, there are way too many self-published authors to count. And then there are the smaller publishing houses. Most of those have been able to make their "mark" on the reading public and are in a better position to compete with what used to be known as the Big Six (though it's now twindled down to the Big Five).

So - there are two rules of thumb. Either give away work in hopes of snagging a new fan or never give away your work as it has the potential to diminish its worth. Me, I write because I have to and I publish because I might as well. I want folks to get the same enjoyment out of reading my stories as I get from writing them. With that in mind, I want my work to matter. I want it in the hands of as many readers as possible.

That said, today, tomorrow and Friday, I'm offering Eliza's Copper Penny for free through Amazon. I'm hopeful folks will be able to find it as Amazon isn't making it easy to find.

And because they have made it hard for folks to find my books, once my term is up with the select program, I won't be participating any longer in the program. On a brighter note, I'll be able to place my five self pubbed westerns at other places and that's a good thing.

Distant Obsession

I'm joining the ranks into uncharted territory for me. I've got a freebie up on Amazon for a book that my writing buddie, Micheal W. Davis and I co-authored. It's our first self publishing adventure. This is also new territory because it's in a genre I don't normally write - romantic suspense.

Here's the blurb for Distant Obsession:

After years struggling to succeed as an artist, Lilah Randal accomplishes her dream, only to return from her first sold-out exhibition to find her husband and his mistress in bed, murdered. For a year she’s persecuted by the cops and media, accused of killing the Senator, her husband. Reluctantly, Lilah stalls her career, assumes a different identify to avoid the media and begins anew in a small town far away from the attention of DC. Her days are filled with new vigor as the serenity of the Cherokee Valley surrounding Watauga Lake fed her creative muse under a fake alias, Carmen. Yet her nights remain hollow, like her marriage to the Senator, until she becomes obsessed by the allure of a stranger that glides by her cabin in his sailboat. Both his male form and solemn expression bleed into every painting, every midnight fantasy, until her new dream becomes reality. Lilah’s future will remain corrupted by the past until she solves the secret behind her husband’s murder and explores her attraction to the mysterious sailor.

 

This book is free through Amazon from now until Friday, Aug 10.

 

So, lot's of new adventure for me with this one. First, this is my first time to work with another author. The experience was fun - interesting but I don't think I'll do it again. If I get time, I'll do another with Michael as he was great to work with, but I really do have control issues when it comes to writing and he gave in more than I did. My bad.

 

Secondly, this is the first time I did the cover layout and formatting for a book to be self published. That in itself was an experience. I plan to self-publish my historical westerns, but I plan to send my publisher any work that's in the fantasy and sci-fi realm. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind later.

 

And third, the genre is not one I've attempted before. I tend to try and add suspense elements to my other works but not to the point where the suspense is almost as important as the romance. Will I do it again? Maybe. Just not sure at this point. Anyway, just thought I'd jot down my thoughts on the matter.

 

 

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