I've been a professional writer for many years now, but a self-published indie author for only one. It’s hard to believe, but a whole year has passed since I took my future into my own hands and self-published an e-book. That book was crime fiction collection Gone Bad and it was the start of an exciting adventure.
Next up was debut novel Convictions in May, then second novel Heartbreaker and weird/horror fiction collection The Writing on the Wall in October. A second crime fiction collection, Show No Mercy, rounded the year off in December.
Next up was debut novel Convictions in May, then second novel Heartbreaker and weird/horror fiction collection The Writing on the Wall in October. A second crime fiction collection, Show No Mercy, rounded the year off in December.
One year, five books. And while they’ve all had their successes, it was last weekend’s Amazon KDP Select promotion with Convictions that really got the ball rolling. As I said last Monday, when the free promotion ended, the sales kicked in, and the book has kept on selling steadily. By Wednesday evening, it was selling a copy a minute in the UK.
On Tuesday, Convictions climbed into Amazon UK’s bestsellers chart and it has stayed there ever since.
Would this have happened without the option KDP Select offers, to make a book free for a period of time? Frankly, I doubt it. And while it’s possible to force a book to be free on Amazon, that’s not something I’ve ever done.
The only other book I’ve had in KDP Select so far is Show No Mercy, and while I think it did pretty well, it wasn’t nearly as successful as Convictions. I wonder if that’s the difference between a short story collection and a novel?
What is perhaps odd is that while Convictions has gone great guns in the UK, it hasn’t fared so well on Amazon.com. Maybe it is too British a book and doesn’t travel well.
On Tuesday, Convictions climbed into Amazon UK’s bestsellers chart and it has stayed there ever since.
Would this have happened without the option KDP Select offers, to make a book free for a period of time? Frankly, I doubt it. And while it’s possible to force a book to be free on Amazon, that’s not something I’ve ever done.
The only other book I’ve had in KDP Select so far is Show No Mercy, and while I think it did pretty well, it wasn’t nearly as successful as Convictions. I wonder if that’s the difference between a short story collection and a novel?
What is perhaps odd is that while Convictions has gone great guns in the UK, it hasn’t fared so well on Amazon.com. Maybe it is too British a book and doesn’t travel well.
That aside, Convictions’ UK success has had the added benefit of attracting enough sales for the other books to get each one of them into a chart. Current ratings are:
Gone Bad:
#10 in Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Anthologies
Heartbreaker:
#23 in Books > Fiction > Biographical Fiction
The Writing on the Wall:
#28 in Books > Fiction > Horror > Anthologies
Show No Mercy:
#1 in Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Anthologies
And Show No Mercy, which was Blasted Heathens daily #broth the other day, is free on Amazon today in the UK and the US.
One thing I do wonder is whether it is possible to repeat the success of Convictions in the UK with another book on KDP Select. Right now, I don’t know, but I’m tempted to find out. I’ll keep you posted …
Gone Bad:
#10 in Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Anthologies
Heartbreaker:
#23 in Books > Fiction > Biographical Fiction
The Writing on the Wall:
#28 in Books > Fiction > Horror > Anthologies
Show No Mercy:
#1 in Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Anthologies
And Show No Mercy, which was Blasted Heathens daily #broth the other day, is free on Amazon today in the UK and the US.
One thing I do wonder is whether it is possible to repeat the success of Convictions in the UK with another book on KDP Select. Right now, I don’t know, but I’m tempted to find out. I’ll keep you posted …
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