If I offered you a raise of between 5% and 6% for spending a trivial amount of extra time (we’re talking only seconds) you wouldn’t turn it down, would you? I didn’t think so. Yet that’s exactly what an author who isn’t setup as an Amazon Associate and using proper links when linking to their books on Amazon from their websites, Facebook pages, and elsewhere is doing. Amazon has made a few changes in the associates program over the years. Some of those changes haven’t been so good (they’ve dropped the percentage commission an associate gets) but some have been good (it’s easier than ever to get and use associate links). This post will walk you through the absolute basics, but it will increase the amount you make for every copy of your book you personally sell from your website through Amazon. If you’re going to bother putting links to your books on your website, why not grab a few percent more when they get clicked on? Continue reading “I’ll Show You the Money: Monetizing with Amazon”
Author: Big Al
Big Al (who insists he only has one name, like Cher, Sting, and Madonna) spends his days writing computer programs that are full of typos, homonym errors, and incorrect verb usage.
During his evenings, he writes reviews of indie books for BigAl’s Books and Pals and has recently taken over The IndieView, a website founded by indie author Simon Royle as a resource for indie authors, indie reviewers, and those who read either.
But You Promised to Review My Book
At first glance, my assignment seems straightforward. Write a post about what authors can do to not get taken advantage of by reviewers who ask for a print version of your book and then don’t come through with the promised review. The short answer is probably “not much.” But Ms. Brooks says one paragraph of seventy words won’t cut it as a “real post.” So, I’ll ramble on.
The reality is that once this has happened, there isn’t a whole lot you can do. It doesn’t matter whether the “reviewer” is a scam artist looking for inventory to sell at his or her local used bookstore, or a well-meaning reviewer who didn’t follow through. Continue reading “But You Promised to Review My Book”
Take Aim at the Market with Your Writing
I was coming up empty on post ideas. Those on my idea list I’d either already done or wasn’t feeling inspired. So I asked a couple friends. One, half in jest, said I could “write about our new dystopian future” and about what it might do to the “future of publishing.” That sent my mind off, thinking about a bunch of disparate things that somehow ended up tied together in my view. We’ll see what you think. Continue reading “Take Aim at the Market with Your Writing”
Vanity, Predatory, Indie, Trad: What Does that Mean Again?
The assignment I volunteered for seemed simple at first. Take four terms to describe different publishing entities and explain the differences.
1) Vanity Press
2) Predatory Publisher
3) Small Indie Press
4) Traditional (or Trad) Publisher
Let’s strike the Small from Small Indie Press. It’s kind of redundant. Indie Press is good enough.
The reason for the article is primarily to have something to point to when someone asks certain kinds of questions to at least establish a foundation for further discussion. Five or six years ago, this conversation would have gone something like this: Continue reading “Vanity, Predatory, Indie, Trad: What Does that Mean Again?”