And I feel good. In the last seven days, I contacted the following sites for review requests.
http://www.simegen.com/reviews/columns/midnight/
And even got replies back from some. Reviews take a while though, and there are a lot of people looking to get them out there. And these folks who read the books, well, I don’t think it’s their day job, and I don’t think they get paid for it. So they’re doing it in their own spare time, for a copy of your ebook (or Dead Tree Book—I like that–DTB!). What this means is… it’ll be a while for any reviews to pop up on any of my books. Keep this in mind, indie wannabes. If you want reviews from any of these sites, do it early, be respectful, and then hunker down and wait for them.
Also, on www.authonomy.com I discovered a thread where a writer by the name of Ruth Francisco (thank you very much, Ruth)has posted a comprehensive check list (many thank you’s to for doing so) for the beginners such as myself. Check out the thread here www.authonomy.com/forums/threads/63294/the-kindle-option/ and read read read if you are considering doing this. As another writer pointed out, don’t expect to post your book and immediately have readers flock to it. I think there are exceptions (there always are) but I’m not one of them.
And that’s why I feel good. I was a little fearful heading into week four of sales, since I still haven’t sold anything. My price is 2.99 for my fiction, and 4.99 for my non-fiction (my EFL book is a bargain). For a newbie indie, that might be too high, I’ve learned. I’ve been doing some reading, and I’ve found out that the pricing is a complicated, if not delicate thing to balance. The strategy is, essentially, if you are an unknown, price your first ebooks low. Build a readership. Each successive book after the first, raise your price. My price may very well be too low right now. My site has received a nice amount of attention in the last week, but that attention hasn’t manifested itself into sales. And I believe my books are good.
Thus, I might have identified my problem.
By the way… I sold my first book, “No Experience Necessary–Teach English Overseas” on Monday, Oct. 18th, 2010.
And “The Missing Boatman,” my horror book about immortality, is now live.