Category: Staff Articles

Writing advice and insights from the staff of Indies Unlimited.

But You Promised to Review My Book

sad author baby-cougar-1065101_960_720At 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”

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”

Self-Publishing Questions and Answers, Round Two

self publishing question-1500086_960_720I wrote a post back in March answering some of the questions I most often see asked in writing groups and discussion forums. It seemed to be helpful, so after coming across more questions with iffy answers, I thought I should go for round two.

The first question is one I actually addressed in a post about book formatting back in May of 2016, but I’ve seen it asked so much lately, I thought it couldn’t hurt to repeat it.

Q.  No matter how many times I accept track changes in Word (or remove my header/footer), everything is still there when I upload to KDP. Do I have to retype the whole thing? Continue reading “Self-Publishing Questions and Answers, Round Two”

From the Mail Room: How Do I Know Which Book Promo Sites Are Legit?

mail-room-author-emails-office-899351_960_720A reader sent in this question:

I was wondering if you could please help me. My 5 free days with Amazon KDP Select is up, so I’m still way within the 90 enrollment period.

There seems to be many ‘book promotion’ sites, where the bought Kindle can be advertised through their website, tweets, etc. However, most of these do not specify that it is a one-off fee. My hesitation is submitting my book details to lots of them which are affordable, but having extra taken out of my account on a monthly basis, when as far as I’m concerned, it has only been a one-off payment.

Are such book promotion places generally legitimate? I have used the Facebook campaign ads, but so far with no real success. I’m trying to decide what my next step should be.

Many thanks.

Here’s the answer from our awesome team of authors: Continue reading “From the Mail Room: How Do I Know Which Book Promo Sites Are Legit?”