Author: RJ Crayton

RJ Crayton is a former journalist turned novelist. By day, she writes thrillers with a touch of romance. By night, she practices the art of ninja mom. To learn more about her or her books, visit her website or her Author Central page.

How to Use Perma-Free eBooks to Bolster Paid Sales

permafree books roe-deer-2540087_960_720So, you’ve heard that making books perma-free (permanently or long-term free) is a great way to spur sales of your other books. You read an IU article on how to make your book perma-free, you did it, and now, six months later, your book has a ranking of 80,000 in free books and you’re barely getting one free download a week. Where did things go wrong?

Well, what I’ve described is not unusual. Free can be an effective strategy, but it’s not one that is effortless. If you don’t promote free, it can go badly. Today, I’m going to discuss some ways you can get the most out of a free book. Before I get started, Continue reading “How to Use Perma-Free eBooks to Bolster Paid Sales”

Amazon Author Central: A Primer

Author Central LikefestIf you’re an author publishing on Amazon.com, Author Central is an essential tool to help you easily make changes to book data and improve readers’ ability to learn more about you.

If you’ve never used it, Author Central is where you create your Amazon Author Page. This is a profile page that includes a picture, a biography, and lists all the books you’ve published on Amazon. Amazon Author Central AC1_ProfileHow can a reader see your profile page? Usually readers find it when they’re looking at a book you’ve written and they click your hyperlinked author name. If you don’t have an Amazon Author Page, Amazon will give the reader search results for your name. If you do have an Amazon Author Page, Amazon will take the reader to it. The Author Page is a great chance to connect with the reader by showing them all the books you’ve written and a little bit of personality in your biography. Continue reading “Amazon Author Central: A Primer”

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Multi-Author Boxed Set

MultiAuthor_FromPixabaybooks-441866_1920One piece of indie author advice that gets passed around a lot is, “Join a multi-author boxed set.” According to some, joining a set can increase your visibility and get you in front of new readers and possibly earn some cash.

If a newbie writer is interested in boxed sets, what do you need to know? Here, we’ll go through everything a would-be boxed set author needs to know.

What is a multi-author boxed set? Continue reading “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Multi-Author Boxed Set”

Tips to Help Authors Make their Festival/Events a Success

RJ Crayton author bookfairmewithbooksThe warm-weather months are upon us, and this often means book festivals, book fairs, conferences, and other events. So, this seemed like as good a time as any to offer some tips on what authors need when selling their books at events. While events vary, the basic needs tend to be pretty similar.

First, before you go to the event, find out what you’ll be getting. Different events have different standards. Some events just provide space and a chair, and the author needs to bring a table. Many events provide a table. Sometimes you’ll have a table to yourself, and other times you’ll share a table. Presuming you have a table and a chair to sit in, what else are you going to need? I’ve broken the list into Must Haves, and Good to Haves. Continue reading “Tips to Help Authors Make their Festival/Events a Success”