completeconfusion

I think we all know that what Amazon were able (willing?) to do just months ago for Indies, and what their algorithms and KDP do now, are two different things. As I understand it, there's a huge contrast there. For my part, I don't assume that's Amazon's "fault", and it may be just the market developing and changing without Amazon's intervention. But some of us do wish we hadn't missed out on the best of that party! Yep, it's bad form to grumble about this, but it's pretty human too, and I wouldn't be shocked if that's part of what's happened in this thread. Amazon doesn't owe us publicity. By definition few books are superior to almost every other similar work and therefore richly deserve to be highlighted. 'Tis true. We all think our works are deserving or we wouldn't bother, but we all know that most of us - or at least a very large number of us - are wrong in thinking so. I'm still looking for good wrinkles, re marketing, and trying out new things. I don't expect a direct path, or for anybody to just tell me the magic way or hand me some magic beans. The way marketing works, what got someone attention last year, probably won't get you nearly as much this year, if only cause now everybody does that. The best course is to find a new wrinkle yourself. If you do, you may well keep that secret to yourself if you intend to publish more ebooks. I agree with Pj that the quality of the book itself is the primary way in which any author can control, and boost, the later process of marketing. I think he would agree with me that you can't ever stop there, of course, and that many great books have been late, even posthumous discoveries. That's just history. My guess is that one hundred people have to read your book through (not download it to their unread pile) just to give you even a real chance of building word of mouth; and that a thousand is a much better lottery ticket. Getting that done is not a trivial task, especially not for first-timers, and until somebody reads the book, the quality of the book can't possibly influence its marketing. Even the quality of the blurb can't help until you can drag a pair of eyes to the book page. PS - I'm amazed how many authors, and I don't mean those in this forum, misunderstand the main use of the blurb, for the Indie. I stand to be corrected, but my view (based on other marketing experience) is that the primary purpose of the blurb isn't just to tell what's in the book, that others like the book, to praise it... the main thing you can do with a blurb is to convince a prospective reader that you are sane, that you can write entertainingly and sincerely, and that you know how not to waste your readers' time. Not to mention that you've mastered grammar and spelling, at a minimum. (I think I've probably neglected this myself in blurbs, come to think of it.) My jaw drops every time I see a very terse, short blurb or one that could entertain better, or flow better, than it does. Yeah, the browsing reader can sample your work. I almost never do, though, and that seems to be normal. If you don't understand what a blurb is for, and serve your readers' interest by creating a good blurb, I'm going to assume you may also not understand what a book is for, either, and that you might not serve your readers' interest more often than your own when you are writing. We've all read that kind of book. I probably won't even sample.