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JRance
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Hi,
After completing my third novel, This Thirtysomething Life: A Diary, I decided to tackle the adventure that is Kindle publishing.
I read lots about it and heard some hard luck tales and that it was difficult to format etc, but I decided it was time that everyone read my work (at least my family and friends anyway).
After finishing, I uploaded to Amazon and at first the formatting was awful. So I went on YouTube and watched a few videos about formatting and I think now it looks pretty good. It isn't perfect, but it's actually better than some "real" books I have downloaded to my Kindle.
Anyway, if anyone is thinking of doing it, trust me, it's fun, exciting and not that hard. Plus, the way I see it, we write so people can read what we've written. So jump in, have fun and who knows where it might lead.
Here's the link to one of the videos I watched if you're interested. They're really simple to follow. This is number 1 of 7 short videos about formatting. Really useful for both uploading to the Kindle and submitting to agents.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boP5po6aMDk
If you want to take a peek at my book on Amazon go here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Thirtysomething-Life-A-Diary/dp/B004RWI4X2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1300238720&sr=8-1
Jon
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Sammy
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Thanks for the post and good luck with your book. I have been going this way and that on the great Kindle 'adventure' recently. I've decided, much as I would like to get some work out there and read, I'm going to hold fire. I'm currently working on a new book, which I'm going to give one last shot the traditional way. If it's still a no-go, then I'll try the Kindle. I also want to be sure, if I do launch on Kindle, it's with my very best work. Tempting though it is to put one of my older, completed books out there, I think it's better sometimes not to be impatient. If you stick a book up on Kindle that isn't ready, or isn't the best example of your writing, you'll only hurt your reputation long-term (I'm not suggesting this is the case with you, Jon. It's just a general observation). I think a lot of people may be rushing into this too soon. Frustrated as I am with the 'long road', I still believe that if you're going to do something, do it properly. Not just for the sake of it. x
This post was last edited by Sammy, 16 Mar 2011, 08:58
'Stay away from your potential. It's like your bank balance. There's never as much of it as you think.'
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mkrobinson12
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I've also tried it. For me, it's more of a trial basis; I plan to leave the work on Amazon for a few months and see what happens with low level (read lazy) promotion. Personally, I don't have time to go around plugging my work; there are far better ways to make money. Few sales and the stigma (if it is) of e-publishing might follow me around and harm my reputation, but then again I don't really have a reputation to begin with. I know I've heard and read it elsewhere: don't do this, sales are important, if your first book flops then you won't get a second chance. I have a sneaky feeling that if the work is strong, you will get a second chance. The industry is in a state of change; I'm dipping my toe in the water to see how it feels. PS: I bought stock in Amazon back in 1995 when one of my troops took a part-time job doing data-logging/cataloguing for them. Upon speaking to him, he convinced me that one day they would take over the book market. He was something of a techno-zealot (both of us did satellite engineering in the army). I bought shares and for the first few years I heard this constant mantra: Amazon will never replace brick and mortar bookstores (from friends, from my broker, from family). Ebay, the same. My oh my, how wrong they were. The next few years are going to be interesting. That doesn't mean I'm anti-paperbook; I'm not.
This post was last edited by mkrobinson12, 16 Mar 2011, 09:57
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visinker
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I've just recently put two works up for Kindle - one my husband's comedy crime novel The Bumble's End, originally published by YouWriteOn and the other my own erotic short stories, some of which have already appeared in magazines and anthologies. At the moment the sales are coming in dribs and drabs but it's fun seeing another one sell now and again. I do think it's important to edit and rewrite and spruce the work up as much as possible before sending it out into the world though.
Barbara Scott-Emmett The Bumble's End by Jimmy Bain - Comedy Crime EbookThe Stiletto Heel and other stories - erotica ebook MadCow
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JRance
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Hello, Agreed. This was my third novel and I spent a long time editing this and getting other people to edit it for grammer and so forth. I'm really proud of this book and I think it's worth putting out there to see what sort of reaction it gets. It is, in many ways, an experiment just to see what happens, but I do think that the world of reading is changing and we can change too. Since I bought my Kindle, I have completed changed how I read and it's great, I love it. At the moment I'm getting some flurry of sales, just because it's new and I don't have the time to spend marketing myself, so I'm sure I won't sell thousands of copies, but just having my work available is pretty cool. I also don't think it will harm my career (if I ever have one) because only a handful of people will read it and that's fine. Plus, I'm proud of this book. This is the best work I can do at the moment and I'll always be proud of that regardless of what happens in the future. Jon Quote: visinker, Wednesday, 16 Mar 2011 12:00I've just recently put two works up for Kindle - one my husband's comedy crime novel The Bumble's End, originally published by YouWriteOn and the other my own erotic short stories, some of which have already appeared in magazines and anthologies. At the moment the sales are coming in dribs and drabs but it's fun seeing another one sell now and again. I do think it's important to edit and rewrite and spruce the work up as much as possible before sending it out into the world though.
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Sammy
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I'm interested though, Jon - did you try to go down the agent/publisher route before deciding to publish to the Kindle, or did you just think this was a better way for you? x
'Stay away from your potential. It's like your bank balance. There's never as much of it as you think.'
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JRance
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Hi, I tried with my first two books to get an agent with no luck. I am still going to approach agents with this book later in the year I think, but I thought I would try something different first. The thing is that my first two books were written, sent to agents rejected and then just sat on my laptop, only read by maybe four people. This time I decided that I wanted people to read what I had done. It seems almost silly to spend over a year writing a book (two years for my first book) and then no-one gets to read it. I don't know if publishing on Amazon will help or hinder finding an agent, but at least it's exciting and so many people have already bought it, read it and told me how much they enjoyed it. It definitely makes me feel like the last year has been worth it. And who knows, maybe an agent might stumble across it on Amazon and love it! I can dream. Jon Quote: Sammy, Wednesday, 16 Mar 2011 16:34I'm interested though, Jon - did you try to go down the agent/publisher route before deciding to publish to the Kindle, or did you just think this was a better way for you? x
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timellis
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After many rejections I decided to publish all my books through Amazon, and people are buying them. The money isn't important, being read is. I didn't want the 9 novels and 1 short story collection to languish unloved on my memory stick so decided to publish and be damned (I even withdrew one of my books from a publisher that had accepted it because she was taking far too long to do anything). Here's a couple of 5* reviews from Amazon: USA - A Life for a Life: I just finished reading "A Life for A Life" on my kindle and really enjoyed it! I was riveted and enjoyed the partnership of Of Richards & Jed. I'm looking forward to the next book featuring these two (first chapter teaser was at the end). UK - A Life for a Life: Bought it for new Kindle as it was cheap ... but would happily have paid full price for this one. Really liked the main characters, and the repartee between them was great. Will definitely buy more from this author!! My point is, why wait probably over 2+ years (if you get an agent) to be published when you can put it on Kindle in 24 hours and people could be buying it and loving it tomorrow. The fact that people are reading and liking my books all over the English-speaking world is good enough for me. Take a look at my website, which will give you a link to all my books on Amazon and provide samples. http://tim-ellis.yolasite.com/Tim 
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perrybond
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Another kindle question We know that a lot of books are being sold for kindle, but is there any breakdown on the age ranges being sold. I know people are buying kindle readers, but has anyone ever seen a schoolchild reading one? My gut feeling is that teenagers are more likely to be reading on their phones, but that then throws up the problem of multiple formats and formatting problems for different screens
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rinkytink
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I've given this a lot of thought recently and I'm not convinced the book is dead. All new technology applications have shown that the market place expands to accomodate the new tech and although this means there's less of a market share for the more traditional outlets, their market share does not die, but it may shrink. This has been found to be true in newspaper & magazine publishing & also for travel & tourism where the death of the travel agent never happened. I don't want to decry anybody's efforts but I think it all comes down to motive again-if you want to write your memoirs or whatever & stick them out there for your nearest & dearest to read, go for it. But I would say don't be overawed or carried away by the fact of seeing your name in kindleprint. Some of my N/F stuff is published online and there is still too much too-ing and fro-one over rights & royalties at the moment for me to be convinced that it's desirable. The quality control issue is a big deal for me-look at the difference between YWO re-writes that have been through the mill & most newbies-no disrespect there. Books - or fiction books - haven't made money for a long time-true you probably get the same percentage from Kindle but it's a bit like one of those Tupperware things, after you've finished selling to your relatives you risk being left with a lemon which could spoilt your literaray reputation.
Only an "s" stands between laughter and slaughter.
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The great Kindle adventure
16 Mar 2011, 02:39
