My Silent Partner in Crime - Amazon.com/Kindle Store

When I was a younger man during those BK days (Before Kindle) I could seldom find a bookstore, be it a major giant brick and mortar place like B&N or a cozy independent bookstore that I truly felt a partnership with; I was never truly ever made to feel like anything other than a BOTHER in 99 percent of the bookstores I did signings in or dropped in on for a driveby signing.  Now during these days of AK (After Kindle), I am in a true, strong partnership with a bookstore--the Kindle store which has expanded now beyond the UK and into Germany.

The great thing about this partnership is that Amazon is a silent partner and yet they provide such excellent services. Reporting of sales top-notch, book returns no sweat--hardly know they exists, no one boxing up your book while you are still in the store signing!  Distribution is worldwide. I can't enumerate all the wonderful pluses working with the Kindle Store. So I won't . Instead, I will draw your attention to the Kindle Community Forums, one of which I began called: What Mioves Kindle books off the shelf? (misspell and all - think iMoves).  Here is a recent post I placed on the forum which you will likely find of interest if you are at all interested in ebooks sales or as an eReader, eReviewer, eFan, eAuthor, or ePublisher.  The thread here has grown to 18,333 views, 550 posts, 38 pages.

Posted: Apr 20, 2011 3:22 PM:

. . . I can't tell you how many new readers, people who have never read any of my books before have discovered me--my sense of humor, my political rants, my self on facebook and twitter and have become readers of R.W. Walker's books due to getting t'know me through my tweets and remarks on facebook. In Bayou Wulf, for example, I have placed maybe ten or eleven facebook friends' names in the book after posting that I needed some extras on the "set" and to expect to be killed in a gruesome manner. I got all kinds of takers and all of them have family and friends, and all are anxious to see themselves in the book, and they will share their demise with friends and family. Hopefully, this translates into purchasing of more books, gifting to others, etc.

I belong to like ten chat groups, and many of the people on these groups, due to what I had to say, decided to check out my books. In other words, it is not entirely a "crap shoot" but more a good faith effort to convince eReaders that one's work--one's book--is worth anyone's time and money.

As to tagging book titles - what the hey -- it certainly can affiliate you with another author. First time I noticed this all of a sudden William Miekle and I were being treated like blood brothers. Checked out his work and sure enough...and Miekle is on fire, so I am associated with him, great. Associated with JA Konrath, what can it hurt? I've known Joe for years; he was best man at my wedding. But when his book pops up on my book page, and mine on his, I have to figure that does have an affect--my readers find him, his readers find me. We have also exchanged opening chapters of our books at the end of one another's kindle titles. (Now Kindle is posting at end of a book other titles by the same author!  Smart marketing!)

I pretty much concentrate on my own book pages - how can I improve this, tweak that, click here, there, where?  But since using the LIKE button on the book's page, I have highlighted more books of others on my facebook and twitter pages as an effortless thing to do. This means my 5000 friends on facebook and however many I have on Twitter sees the cover art of someone I hit LIKE on. This can't hurt.

I think everything has a cummulative effect and even if I am wrong, please, guys, I need that illusion to keep on keeping on. I know that growing sales truly takes more time and patience more than anything else, that sales grow with word of mouth - reviews, interviews, blogs, articles.

Just today I made a crack about Bayou Wulf not being just about werewulves but "gator tail" is served up in the book as well. The comment caused at least one FB friend to throw his hands up and purchase the novel. I still say a great description, or even a one-liner can zap a potential reader in just the right way as to move him or her to purchase.

I don't believe that the only thing I can do is get into listmania business and/or do any one thing. I can understand the frustration of going from thread to thread, site to site and getting nowhere. I feel you have to pick your battles and use your wits and imagination (often the wild-hair idea is the best!). For example, point out the fact your book is cheaper than a MacDonald's burger, and if it is 99c now, this means it is less than any item in the Dollar General Store. On Facebook get folks putting in items they can buy if they do NOT buy your book - a toothbrush, a liter of pop, etc. Get people to laugh and you win them over. At book conferences and conventions, I always, always get em laughing while on a panel or giving a talk on creating monsters and serial killers and villians you can't take home to mother.

Yes you want to lower your prices if need be, experiment with it, and you want to work toward ranking in the top 100 in any of the wildly scattered categories Amazon "recognizes" -- I showed up like #3 in Religious historical fiction or some such category for Children of Salem once, and I showed up also as beating out just about every author whose last name began with a W....how proud I was but it's a bogus category and who can't beat Stuart Woods, eh?

I just do not buy it that all my two years now of working ALL they methods of getting attention I have done amount to a "crap shoot" -- and but sure, I can understand why someone would say and believe this. It is the hardest thing in the world to make money from writing fiction or poetry (the old saying, "There is no money in poety, but there is no poetry in money" holds true for short stories and novels as well unless you strike the literary lottery or the commercial lottery which is far more rare than people realize -- even in Legacy or traditional publishing as no one in the paper world of books knows what works either except when the CEO of a publishing firm makes a book his/her top priority which means an author is going to be crowned with money and hype.

I kinda sorta pride myself on having come as far as I have spending not a dime; remember all of this is FREE advertising, free publicity, this online world. When I finally discovered FACEBOOK, I really found a home for my personality and desire to have every man, woman, and child read my books!

Anyhow....my long-winded two cents on the "crap shoot" thing. Not angry or upset or nothing of the sort; I just think it sends the wrong message. Even dropping price is a "gamble" or an "experiment" just as using listmania is a gamble so it is all a casino royale but they let you in for free; you get to select the slots.

Rob Walker
http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/ - bk. trailer, free chapters, advice!
Bayou Wulf - Cajun-Creole baking, cooking, golf-playing, gator-tail chasing werewulves - whoo-Rah!