Category: Staff Articles

Writing advice and insights from the staff of Indies Unlimited.

Tutorial: Enabling X-Ray for Your eBooks on Amazon

kindle ereaderSome of you may have seen discussion board and/or Facebook posts flying around recently about X-Ray for authors.  What is it? Well, in KDP’s words it’s “ … a unique Kindle eBook feature that allows readers to learn more about a character, topic, event, place, or any other term, simply by pressing and holding on the word or phrase that interests them.”

In plain terms, it’s a feature that, when turned on, allows Kindle readers to tap on a highlighted word or phrase in an eBook in order to learn more information about it.

It can be a fun option for readers and authors alike, and is easy to set up through the KDP dashboard. Navigate to the book you want Continue reading “Tutorial: Enabling X-Ray for Your eBooks on Amazon”

The Social Media Scheduling Free Ride is Over

scheduling social media posts for authors mobile-phone-1917737_1280Companies like Hootsuite, Buffer, and Dlvr.It are done letting you schedule a ton of social media posts without paying up. I was scheduling promotional tweets this month when I suddenly got a message saying I’d reach my limit of ten scheduled tweets.

I’d never seen this before. I tended to schedule a daily tweet that promoted at least one book, and I tended to, around the first weekend of each month, schedule tweets for the entire month (roughly thirty). I’d also schedule a few tweets for the week of interesting articles or quotes. I don’t like the idea of someone checking out my Facebook or Twitter accounts to find I haven’t posted anything in months, so scheduling allowed me to look active, even if it didn’t include high levels of engagement. (And don’t get me started on the importance of engagement. That’s for another article.) Continue reading “The Social Media Scheduling Free Ride is Over”

How to Link Book Editions on Amazon’s Author Central

Author Central LikefestIn case you’re not aware, Amazon’s Author Central is a FREE service. If you missed our very first tutorial on setting it up, see that HERE. If you haven’t already, read it. Do it. Then come right back here and I’ll show you how to merge your books. I heard that grumble. Yes, you need to merge your books. Here’s why. Continue reading “How to Link Book Editions on Amazon’s Author Central”

The Case for Legible Titles: Book Covers in Thumbnail

illegible titlesAs you are aware, the most common issue we see with books during the vetting process is an unclear or confusing book description. The second most common issue: unreadable titles on book covers in thumbnail size.

Who cares? Right? It’s just a tiny book cover. No one expects to read it in that size.

Um, wrong.

Just last week, our Lynne Cantwell wrote about the Marketing Rule of 7 – that it takes at least seven instances of someone seeing your book before they actually purchase it. Well – what if those seven instances are in thumbnail size? Do you think they will remember to purchase a book when they can’t read the title? Moreover, will they even notice it to begin with? Probably not. Don’t waste a chance to get in front of someone and make an impression.

Here at Indies Unlimited, thumbnails are generally 120×177 pixels, which on my laptop ends up being around 1.75 inches high by just under 1.25 wide. There is no specific industry standard for thumbnails, (on WordPress it’s 150×150) and the size varies from site to site. Then, add to it people viewing sites on their tablets and cell phones – and you can end up with some mighty small thumbnails. Can you read your title under those circumstances? You may want to check. Continue reading “The Case for Legible Titles: Book Covers in Thumbnail”