Thanks to you, dear Cartelistas, friends, and family, launch is going amazingly.
I mean, look at these numbers. Ranked #1,836 in free Kindle books? There are, at a minimum, hundreds of thousands of free Kindle books. I am really, really grateful to you all.
And we made #3 in an admittedly somewhat niche, but still important market.
Thank you, all of you. This wouldn’t have been possible without you.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0|0px|27px|0px|false|false” _builder_version=”3.19.12″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.15″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_image src=”https://kaseyandersonscifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Rankings.jpg” _builder_version=”3.19.12″][/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”https://kaseyandersonscifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Visual.jpg” _builder_version=”3.19.12″][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.12″ text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”19px” text_line_height=”1.4em” header_font=”||||||||”]To maintain this momentum, however, I’m going to need more reviews. I’ve got five so far, but for the book to properly gain momentum, it’s going to need more like twenty-five. Fifty if it really wants to take off. Every review counts.
I’ve reviewed six writers’ books so far online (including all of the writers who provided endorsements for my book, minus Nick, who is launching later). If you review my book, I’m more than happy to return the favor.
I also wanted to share some of the techniques that I think have helped my book take off, for you all to use now and in the future.
Tip #1: Using Facebook Messenger/Direct Messages
In some ways, Facebook is dying. People are tired of endlessly scrolling through feeds. But you can still use
I went to my 200+ friends list and individually messaged every one of my friends who I thought I had a strong enough connection with, copy-pasting this message:
“Hey, so I never know who checks their feeds, but I just published a short story. It’s currently free on Amazon here:
The response was overwhelmingly positive. People hadn’t seen my posts. They had no idea I had published a short story, and they were glad that I had messaged them.
There are a few caveats I would add to this. First, don’t copy-paste things like a robot. Message 4-5 friends, then take a break. Otherwise, you might get kicked out of your account for suspicious activity and have to reset your password (like me—oops). Second, it really helps to shorten the Amazon link with Bitly, as Amazon links are stupidly long. Third, don’t try to add multiple friends to the message group, as for some ungodly reason, that creates a group.
I don’t know a lot about Twitter, but I assume you can DM people there as well.
Tip #2: Message people who aren’t on Facebook
My next step is going to be going through my cell phone contacts and texting/calling/emailing people I know aren’t on Facebook, like old professors who knew my work and might be interested in reading my story. I’m also texting/emailing older people who might not know how to use Facebook, or who aren’t on it much.
Tip #3: Use KDP Select
At least in my country (USA), KDP Select allows you to run 5-day free promotions every 90 days. I know Selma in Japan wasn’t able to run the promotion for some reason, but I know for sure it works here.
The deal with KDP Select is that you can’t publish your story anywhere else (even on your own website). Here’s the thing, though. Nook doesn’t sell very well. Kobo doesn’t sell very well. I don’t even remember the others. When people want books, they go to Amazon. I think it might be a reasonable idea to offer a separate short story on your website as a reward, but for the most part, I’m going to go with KDP Select.
See, the thing is that when you tell people your book is free, but only for the next five days, it gives them a deadline. This implies that your work has
Tip #4: Asking for Reviews
Tell people that in order to keep the momentum going, you need reviews. Keep asking people. Tell them that you need at least 25 to even get momentum going. Otherwise, your book will peak when you run out of people that you know. It does you no good to get in the top 2000 if you steadily drop.
Especially if people message you telling you how great your book is, ask them to post that to Amazon. Ask, and keep asking. The worst Amazon will do to a suspicious review is remove it, so ask everyone for a review.
Tip #5: Promote Other People
I’m planning on making a blurb post of all of the stories in the future, but for
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What about you guys? Have you come up with any sales strategies that have worked really well for you? And if you want to trade reviews, email me at kaseylinanderson@gmail.com or leave a comment wherever you saw this post.
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