Archive for category Promotion
A Free Writing Course and Other Things
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Events, Non-fiction, Promotion, Resources, Self-publishing on January 26, 2014
I’ve got a few bits and pieces to share this week.
Do you fancy a free ‘Start Writing Fiction’ course?
The Open University are running an eight week course, three hours per week starting on the 28th April. It’s all on-line and the blurb says, “This practical, hands-on course aims to help you to get started with your own fiction writing, focusing on the central skill of creating characters.”
The full details are here. The course is part of the FutureLearn programme which offers lots more free on-line courses in all sorts of subjects.
And talking of courses, a fellow member of Lichfield and District Writers, David Gough, is running a ‘Photography for Writers’ course at Weetwood Hall in Leeds from April 11th to 13th, as part of the ‘Relax and Write’ 2014 programme. We all know how important it is to offer photographs as part of an article submission package and this is the course to help you take those photographs and thus, hopefully, sell more articles (by the way, I stayed at Weetwood Hall last October and the accommodation is lovely).
If you like filling your Kindle with free and discounted e-books, take a look at Debbie Young‘s Facebook group, Debbie Young’s Kindle-loving Friends. If you like what you see, drop her a message to join the group and be notified of the latest offers – or maybe even promote your own Free Days or Countdown Deals.
Finally, has anybody else read ‘The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul’ by Deborah Rodriguez?
Kirkus Reviews said, “As if Maeve Binchy had written The Kite Runner.” I totally agree with that description. The book is about Sunny, an American woman, who runs a coffee shop in Kabul and the women who come into her life. The story touches on the difficulties and atrocities facing Afghan women today but I felt it glossed over them, rather than allowing the reader to fully appreciate how terrible life can be for females in that country today.
The book is very readable but definitely more Maeve Binchy than The Kite Runner.
Kindle Countdown Deals 2 & ‘A Place to Call Home’
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Computers & Technical, Promotion, Self-publishing on December 29, 2013
You may remember that a couple of weeks ago I promoted my non-fiction e-book A Writer on Writing – Advice to Make You a Success using the new KDP Select sales tool – Kindle Countdown Deals. 
It was reduced from £1.99 to 99p for 7 days.
I thought I’d let you know how I got on.
During the promotion period I sold 20 copies in the UK but 1 was later refunded (Kindle books can be refunded if the request is made within 7 days of the original purchase – Amazon then automatically remove the book from your device). I sold 3 copies in the US where the discount was also running and 1 copy in Australia at full price (Kindle Countdown Deals only apply to the US and the UK).
In the week after the promotion period I sold 2 copies in the UK at full price and received 1 new review. I sold none anywhere else.
So I won’t be booking that Caribbean cruise just yet but I might manage to treat myself to a Salted Caramel Latte in Costa (I’m rather partial to them when they appear on the Christmas menu!).
But, all things considered, I’m fairly happy with the result because I didn’t spend much time promoting the Deal apart from here and on a couple of forums and a lot of the people I reached in this way would probably already have the book from earlier, free, promotions. Also, thanks to those people that gave me a shout-out!
It’s definitely a tool I’d consider using again sometime in the future. Psychologically, it feels better than giving books away for free but I think the free promo still has it’s place for cheaper books and as a method of giving a new book an initial ‘lift’.
On another subject, I’ve just finished reading my advance copy of Carole Matthews new book – ‘A Place to Call Home’. The story brings together 4 injured souls who are all hurting in different ways. Over the course of a summer they bond together and help each other to heal. It’s an easy to read, ‘feel good’ novel – just the thing if you’re fed up of these long dark days of winter. It will be published on Jan 9th 2014 but is available for Amazon pre-order now in hardback and e-book format.
Kindle Countdown Deals
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Promotion, Self-publishing on December 8, 2013
Those of you with e-books available on Amazon will be aware of the new promotional tool that has been made available to authors.
Kindle Countdown Deals allow a book to be sold at a discounted price for up to seven days in a ninety day period. Customers see the usual price and the offer price on the book’s detail page as well as a countdown clock indicating how long the discounted price is available.
Obviously this sales tool is much more attractive to writers than simply offering books for free but it’s not as simple as organising a free promotion. In a nutshell:
- Books must be enrolled in KDP Select and have had a minimum regular price of £1.99 or $2.99 for at least 30 days.
- When discounted, the book continues to earn royalties at its usual rate e.g. dropping the price to 99p doesn’t drop the book into the 35% royalty bucket.
- The minimum discount is £1 or $1 and this discount can be stepped e.g. a regular price of £2.99 could be reduced to 99p for the first 3 days of the 7 day period followed by an increased (but still discounted) price of £1.99 for the remainder of the promotion.
- A Countdown Deal and a free promotion can’t be run in the same 90 day period – it’s one or the other.
- Promotions only apply to the UK and the US
For full details click on ‘Manage Benefits’ in your KDP Bookshelf. Or have a look at this post on Nick Daws’ blog where he’s gone into a lot more detail than I have.
Now I here’s my very own Kindle Countdown Deal for you:
A Writer on Writing – Advice to Make You A Success is available in the UK for only 99p (half price) for the next seven days (until 11pm Saturday 14th December).
It is available in the US for 99c from 7am today until 3pm on 11th December and then at $1.99 until 11pm 14th December (times are PST).
Danita Dyess reviewed A Writer on Writing for Readers’ Favourite. She said, “I was impressed by A Writer on Writing. As a freelance writer, I have read numerous books on the do’s and don’ts of writing. But Sally Jenkins’ down-to-earth advice acknowledged the day-to-day obstacles, e.g. juggling family and work, getting distracted and overcoming intimidation when submitting letters to editors by providing realistic solutions. Her style was personable but authoritative.”
The full review is available here.
So why not bag yourself a Kindle Countdown Deal today (it’s an offer that won’t be repeated for at least another three months)!
Write a Review and Win a Book Journal
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Competitions, Promotion, Self-publishing on October 12, 2013
Karen’s Story, the second in the Museum of Fractured Lives series is available free from all Amazon sites until Wednesday 16th October.
Karen’s Story is contemporary women’s fiction (although some men may enjoy it too). It is the tale of a single woman’s quest to find a man to father her baby. She tempts a work colleague to commit adultery. But he has a secret and their affair has devastating consequences. At approximately 8,500 words the book can be described as a long short story or a ‘flash’ novella.
To celebrate I am running a competition to win a Book Journal (pictured). It is full of pages on which to keep a record of all the books you’ve read – great if, like me, you tend to forget what you’ve read or which author you particularly enjoyed. There’s also a section to keep a list of ‘Books to Read’ – useful if an interesting book is mentioned on the radio or TV or a friend recommends a novel they like.
All you have to do to enter is:
- Download a free copy of Karen’s Story – The Museum of Fractured Lives to your Kindle, tablet or PC. If you use Amazon.com the link is here or search for ASIN: B00F3FMHSK.
- Write an HONEST review on Amazon.
- Email me at sallysjenkins@btinternet.com and let me know which review is yours.
All the emails will go into a ‘hat’ and I will draw one at random after the closing date, which is midnight Saturday 26th October 2013.
If you would like more than one entry into the draw, simply leave another review for any of my other books (you may have them sitting unread on your Kindle after previous free promotions, or you can buy them) and send me another email.
I have thought about the ethics of this competition i.e. people gaining entry to a prize draw in return for writing a review. I have decided it is acceptable (and hope you do too) because:
- there is no guaranteed prize
- winning is not dependent on the content of the review or the star rating
- the practice is well-established, for example Story Cartel offer prizes of Amazon vouchers, Kindles and books to readers leaving reviews (scroll down the page on this Story Cartel link to see the details).
I hope you enjoy Karen’s Story!
Amazon Reviews – Is This Ethical?
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Promotion, Self-publishing on August 18, 2013
I’ve gone on before about how important Amazon reviews are to authors. They help to ‘sell’ the book to potential readers and they may also help to push a book up the Amazon rankings and make it more visible to the buying public.
But getting reviews is a battle. It just doesn’t occur to many of us to bother writing one – even if we’ve really enjoyed the book. And to be honest, until I got into Kindle publishing it wouldn’t have occurred to me either.
Bearing all this in mind you’ll understand why an email I received this week got my immediate interest. The sender was suggesting that we do a ‘review swap’ and they included a link to their book on Amazon. I assumed that we would each read and then independently review the other’s book. That seemed acceptable – like ‘proper’ publishers sending out review copies in the hope of getting a positive response.
But further correspondence with the other author made it clear that I’d got it wrong. The idea was that we each write the other’s review ‘to speed the process up’ – meaning that I write a review of my own book for my contact to post under their name and vice versa.
I had a look at this person’s book on Amazon – they had many more reviews than me and their book appeared to be doing much better than mine. It seemed this author knew the secret of garnering reviews and thus growing sales!
I was sorely tempted to go ahead with the swap – perhaps lots of people are operating and making money like this? Why should I miss out?
But then I thought how would I feel if anyone discovered that I had written some of my own reviews?
I would be ashamed and unable to look them in the eye.
So I didn’t go ahead with the swap.
What would you have done?
Related articles
- First do no harm? (in book reviews…) (kevinbrennanbooks.wordpress.com)
- Can And Should You Ask For Reviews? (selfpubauthors.com)
Maxine’s Story – The Museum of Fractured Lives
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Promotion, Self-publishing, Successes on July 16, 2013
Maxine’s Story is the first in The Museum of Fractured Lives series.
The café in the Museum of Fractured Lives is a place for sharing secrets and exploring painful memories.
Several years ago, Maxine and Kaspar experienced the turbo-charged emotions of teenage romance. But the consequences of their relationship cast a long shadow into Maxine’s adulthood and now she is about to reveal something that she has never told a soul …
The Museum of Fractured Lives displays objects donated by people who have suffered a trauma in their lives. The objects are a symbol of that trauma. When accepting a donation, the museum employees try to obtain the full story behind the object. This is difficult because many of the donors are very emotional.
Each book in The Museum of Fractured Lives series tells the story of one donated object and the person who has given it.
This is a ‘flash’ novella of approximately 8,500 words and it is FREE today and tomorrow (16th and 17th July).
Click HERE for Amazon UK or HERE for Amazon.com. Or search for ASIN: B00DO0USNM
The first 3,000 words of Maxine’s Story were professionally critiqued as part of my annual subscription to Freelance Market News. Here are is an extract:
“A thoroughly compelling read, which flows effectively from start to finish. I don’t see how you could improve it.”
Please take advantage of the free offer and, if you enjoy it, as always, I’d be extremely grateful for an Amazon review – these reviews are like gold dust to authors.
Also, if there’s anyone out there who hasn’t read One Day For Me yet – that’s free at the moment too.
One Day For Me – Eight Award Winning Stories by Sally Jenkins
A selection of 8 short stories that have all won or been shortlisted in UK writing competitions.
Click HERE to obtain through Amazon.UK and HERE to obtain through Amazon.COM. Or search for ASIN: B00B4XCYJC on other Amazon sites.
Happy Reading (and reviewing)!
‘A Writer on Writing’ – Free E-book and a Call for Submissions
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Markets, Promotion, Resources, Short Story on June 18, 2013
My non-fiction Kindle e-book ‘A Writer on Writing – Advice to Make You a Success’ is free on Amazon for the next five days (18th to 22nd June 2013).
Using my feature articles that have appeared in the UK writing press, I look at topics such as:
The self-discipline needed to write and stay focussed
A method of getting ideas
Tips on writing flash fiction
How to choose an educational course to help with your writing
Tips on writing anniversary articles
Tips on creating a backup of your work
How to decide on pseudonym
How to create a good first impression with an editor
Tips on starting a blog
The benefits of a writing buddy
How to write a novel in a month!
And remember, you don’t need a Kindle to read Kindle books. Amazon supply free software for your PC, laptop or other device here.
To get the book, click here for Amazon UK and here for Amazon.com. On other Amazon sites search for ASIN: B00C0GBRS6
Enjoy! (and if you do please leave a review on Amazon!)
Ride – Short Fiction About Bicycles is looking for submissions for its next short story anthology.
RIDE 3 will be published in print, as well as digital format.
The only requirement is that a bicycle or bicycle subculture must feature prominently in the story. Any genre, any gender, any length up to about 12,000 words, any setting, any country, any time period, any kind of cycling. The more diversity—of locations, cycling cultures, story genres—the better.
Payment ranges from $20 to $75 depending on the length of the story. Deadline is 31st August 2013.
The full details are here.
With thanks to Nick Daws for bringing this market to my attention via his newsletter.
Jordanna East and Blood Read Press
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Authors, Books, Promotion, Self-publishing on May 14, 2013
Today I’d like to introduce you to psychological thriller writer, Jordanna East. 
Her first book, Blood in the Past, is scheduled for release on June 19, 2013. Blood in the Past is the prelude novella to her debut Blood for Blood Series, which follows three lives entwined by deaths and consequences, revenge and obsession.
Like so many of us, Jordanna is publishing independently and I’ve invited her to guest on my blog because I like her marketing strategy. It started way before she had a book ready for sale. I’ll let Jordanna explain in her own words:
As an Indie Author, it’s kind of hard not to want to climb to the top of the tallest building in your city and scream “Take me seriously!” until your throat is raw. Self-published works are rapidly gaining ground, don’t get me wrong, but there are still some stubbornly ignorant people out there. These same people are the ones who will turn their noses up at your books. They won’t oblige you when you approach them for a review. And they’ll damn near laugh you out on your ass when you ask them to carry your book in their little bookstore. So what’s an author to do? Obviously, you want to write the best story you can. Of course, you want to hire a professional freelancer to create your cover art. And you most definitely—and I can’t stress this enough—want to hire a PROFESSIONAL EDITOR.
But these bullet points are pretty well known now, aren’t they? What if I told you there was something else you could do? There is. You can create your own publishing label. I did. I came up with Blood Read Press (pronounced Blood Red Press) last October. And it was so simple. I registered the name of the business with my county and state. I got myself a business checking account. And now, when a reader peruses Amazon, or some other retailer, they’ll see that Blood in the Past, the prelude novella to my upcoming series, has been released by Blood Read Press. It looks worlds better than the publisher being listed as Amazon. Or CreateSpace. It looks PROFESSIONAL. When I offer the book to a reviewer, they’ll take me seriously as well. So will bookstore owners. And that’s what this is about. Appearing (and actually being) professional so that the people out there with your career in their hands take you seriously.
Take a look at Jordanna’s website (scroll down her pages to see everything) and see how she’s branding both herself and her books in the build up to the launch date. In this way she is already creating an audience curious to buy and read her books.
Her website has a facility for interested people to sign up to her mailing list, in order to receive advance notification of book release dates. I’ve just joined it so that I don’t forget to have a look at her book on Amazon on launch day.
And, just to wet your appetite, here’s Jordanna’s book blurb:
The Blood in the Past.
Jillian Atford falls for an older man, a handsome Philadelphia cop, he’s married, a reality Jillian refuses to accept.
Lyla Kyle finds her mother dead on the floor from an apparent suicide. She blames her philandering father and wastes no time taking her revenge.
Detective Jason Brighthouse Sr. is in the wrong place at the right time to attempt to save a colleague from his burning home. When neither of them make it out alive, his teenage son can only harp on their last argument. He shoots himself in the head…with his father’s gun.
Three lives. Three deaths. One story. To understand the future, you must visit the past.
The Blood in the Past.
Publishing an E-Anthology – Is It Worth It?
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Computers & Technical, Promotion, Self-publishing on March 10, 2013
This question appears in Della Galton’s column in the current Writers’ Forum magazine. I thought I’d try to answer it using my own experience, with two anthologies published over the last six weeks or so.
I published One Day For Me on 23rd January and, as of 6th March, I have sold 63 copies, 3 on Amazon.com and the rest in the UK. Of the UK sales, 58 were at 77p each (giving me a 26p royalty each) and 2 were at £1.53 (giving me £1.03 royalty each). This has given me total UK royalties of £17.14.
I published Old Friends on 22nd February and, as of 6th March, I have sold 20 copies, all in the UK at 77p each. This has given me total UK royalties of £5.20.
So, financially, I say it has not been worthwhile. BUT I still have a lot to learn about e-book marketing and the inner workings of the great Amazon machine. So I’m hoping that once I get my head around that and also publish a couple more books that I have ideas for, sales will improve. In the meantime, if anyone knows how to get a foothold in the US market – please let me know!
Forgetting the financial side of it, there have been many other benefits from dipping my toe into e-publishing.
I’ve had lots of positive feedback from people who’ve read the books, particularly One Day For Me, in the form of Amazon reviews, emails and face to face. Also, I’ve learnt that those outside the ‘writing industry’ often don’t appreciate the importance of leaving reviews for books they’ve enjoyed – and many simply don’t know how to do it.
But the best thing to come out of this experience is the new respect that family, friends and work colleagues have for my writing. It is no longer just ‘a little hobby’. Instead it is something that has a tangible product which is on sale worldwide and which they can buy. This has made me feel more professional and less guilty about claiming to be a writer.
So, in summary – YES, the anthologies have definitely been worthwhile.
And if you buy one, I think you’ll find they’re a worthwhile read as well!
One Day For Me: 8 Award-Winning Stories – these stories have all either won or been shortlisted in UK national writing competitions.
Old Friends: 13 Coffee Break Stories – these stories have all previously appeared in UK magazines
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