Five Killer Tips Every Kindle Author Should Be Using

Please note: there is now an updated and superior version of this article over on my new author website, The Outdoors Author. 

It's been a while since I posted here, what with all the many developments in the Armadaverse lately. By way of apology, this post is for my author colleagues — primarily those who publish through KDP and perhaps Createspace.

In this post we will look at five strategies every Kindle author should be using to maximise return on investment, increase market penetration for their series, provide best value to fans, cooperate with other authors, and make the most of their sales data.

Why am I giving away such useful information? Pretty simple really: as I have said before, I don't consider other indie authors to be 'the competition'. You are colleagues.

Use SumoMe to Drive Sales from your Book Site

It's every author's nightmare.

Your new site is looking awesome. You are about to hit "go" on some well-tuned Facebook advertising, and you hope this will give sales a bump, since most of your books' rankings have started to drop off on Amazon.

The advert goes live. Impressions start coming in, and soon you are racking up the conversions. Yes, people are going to your site through the ad! Money well spent.

But then the book sales don't really move. At all. They stay stubbornly on trend, and that trend is "meh".

What to do?

Well, as luck would have it, this exact scenario happened to me shortly after I created the shiny new ArmadaWars.com web site. Because I don't believe in holding back strategies that would help other authors (you're my colleagues, not my competition!) I'm going to share my solution with you now.

There are Many Ways to Read

Just as a little follow-up to my previous post about the Kindle App, this post is about the various ways there are to read the Armada Wars books.

First things first: all the books released so far have not one but two paperback versions. Each one has a standard paperback, and a cheaper 'compressed' paperback, which has a smaller text size and therefore a lower page count.

To find the paperback version of the book you want, just look on the Kindle version's Amazon product page for the link to alternate versions. Or search for the title in books only.

Newcomers to Kindle might not realise it, but depending on where you live there is more to the Kindle store than simply "buying" an eBook and downloading it to your device. Amazon have put a couple of different methods in place for customers to get access to the books they want to read without having to make a one-off purchase.

• Kindle Unlimited,
• Kindle Owner's Lending Library / Amazon Prime.

Kindle Unlimited

Kindle Unlimited could be viewed as the eBook equivalent of Amazon Instant Video. You just pay a monthly fee, and you have unlimited access to eligible Kindle eBook titles.

What makes an eBook eligible? It's a choice made by the author/publisher. They have to flick a switch at the back-end to decide if the eBook will be included in the Unlimited library.

Eligible eBooks have a second button next to the "Buy Now" button, which says "Read for $0.00 with Kindle Unlimited".

Kindle Owner's Lending Library

The Lending Library is for Amazon Prime customers. If you have a current Prime membership, you can borrow eligible eBooks as frequently as once a month. As with Kindle Unlimited, it's up to the author/publisher to enable their eBooks to be borrowed.

Eligible eBooks will have the Prime logo displayed on the product page.

Don't worry about authors missing out on royalties if you borrow instead of buy. Both Kindle Unlimited and KOLL remunerate authors on a "per page read" basis.

All the Armada Wars books published on the Amazon Kindle platform are (and will be) eligible for both Kindle Unlimited, and KOLL.

"I Don't Have a Kindle"

It still surprises me that many people think they need to own a Kindle to read books published on the Amazon Kindle store.

That is simply not so!

For one thing, many books on the Kindle store have paperback versions, and both the Amazon web site and the Amazon shopping app provide links to alternative versions (including audiobooks) wherever they apply on book product pages.

But perhaps more importantly, Amazon also provides a free cross-platform Kindle app which can be downloaded by a range of supported devices.

The app is supported on the following platforms:

"The Ravening Deep" — Cover Art Revealed!

Feast your eyes upon it: the front cover of the upcoming Armadaverse instalment, The Ravening Deep...

Donation Made: Save the Children campaign for the Nepal Quake

You might remember that back at the start of May, in the wake of the disastrous Nepal earthquake, I pledged all of the May/June author profits from the Armadaverse to the Save the Children relief campaign.

That donation has now been made.

It's sod's law of course that May and June were the slowest sales months so far this year for the Armada Wars books on the Kindle store. The paperback sales were surprisingly healthy by comparison to previous months (although still in single digits most months; I don't think my target audience likes paper very much.)

Towards the end of June I went to the length of promoting List of the Dead with a double-pronged attack: a Kindle Countdown discount on that book, with a giveaway of Steal from the Devil to get people interested.

Obviously many, many more people downloaded a free copy of Devil than bought a discounted copy of List, but I am fairly certain from looking at the monthly and daily trends that this tactic meant there were more sales than there would have been without the offers. Which meant a larger donation for Save the Children!

The total profits that would have gone into my pocket came to just under £50 GBP, which is not very much at all but it will still save lives. I rounded it up of course, from my own money. Because I am a UK citizen there is also an additional 25% whacked on top of that through the "Gift Aid" tax relief system, so the campaign will actually receive £62.50.

I look forward to the day when regular sales are good enough that I can donate much larger sums!

The effects of the quake have still not gone away, even though the world's reporters appear to have done. If you wish to make your own donation, you'll find the option on this Save the Children donation page.

It's Not Just Robots! Why We Need Science Fiction

There seems to be a prevalent belief that if it contains robots, spaceships, or aliens, then it's science fiction, and that is all science fiction really is.

The truth is that science fiction need not have any of those things in it, and just because a book, film, or television show contains them it doesn't necessarily mean it's best placed in the science fiction genre.

Star Wars is possibly the best known and most divisive example of that; it's mostly fantasy, but with many science fiction elements which — funnily enough — all fall squarely into the robots, spaceships, and aliens category. The story itself combines two fantasy tropes: "The Hero's Journey" and "The War Between Good and Evil". Everything else is window dressing, and the actual story would probably suffer no ill effects if it were set in Middle Earth instead of a galaxy far, far away.

So how do we tell if something is science fiction, and what use is it anyway?

May/June Profits to go to Nepal - Save the Children

Unless you have been visiting another world recently, you will know that an earthquake struck Nepal on 25th April 2015.

More than 7,000 people are known to have been killed, and there are potentially many more yet to be located.

The legacy of this quake is that there are now thousands of people in need of urgent medical attention, food, clothing, and shelter. Hundreds of thousands of homes were destroyed by the quake.

Nepal is one of Asia's poorest countries by GDP, and it is no slur to say that they are struggling with the aftermath of this disaster.

To try and help in any way possible, all of the author profits generated by the Armada Wars universe in May and June will go to Save the Children's campaign for the victims of the Nepal quake.

If you wish to donate to the appeal, but not buy into the Armada Wars brand, you can make a direct donation on the Save the Children Nepal Earthquake Appeal page.

"I Dream of Damastion" — New Details!

The upcoming novella which will serve as an expansion episode for The Ravening Deep has now been named.

I Dream of Damastion will be a first person story, taking place in a claustrophobic environment where the stakes are high and the threat is difficult to see.

It will feature a previously unseen main character, and a dangerous villain we have met before.

Another Scam to Avoid...

You may remember that I posted an article a while ago about a site claiming to allow downloads of a pirate copy of List of the Dead, before I had even finished writing it.

Thanks to Google Alerts, which I use to notify me automatically when people write about the Armada Wars universe, I have now identified another scam. This one is similar but much more sophisticated.

Google Alerts found what it thought was a genuine link (now removed), to a site called fire-italia.org. When you click the link, it takes you through a series of redirects (one page forwarding you to another page on a different server) until you land on what appears to be a discussion forum. In this case, the topic under discussion was Steal from the Devil, and the thread starter said they were looking to download it cheaply.

That was my first clue, since it's only $2.99 (£2) on Kindle anyway.

Announced: Armada Wars Novella 1

Those of you following me on Twitter may have spotted this bit of news appearing quite sneakily a few days ago.

If you've got as far as List of the Dead you will know that in the current story various Imperial ships and facilities have gone silent. You can probably guess at why that is happening, given the other events in the novels, but might feel that you'd like to see it first hand (so to speak).

This first novella — one of a handful which will expand and enhance the Great War of the Shaeld story arc — will be released fairly quickly after The Ravening Deep becomes available. My intention for the novellas is to add extra dimensions to the overall story without interrupting the flow of the narrative with irrelevancies. This particular episode will deal with some of the mechanics of the ongoing invasion.

Without wanting to drop any spoilers, I can confirm that it will follow a previously unseen character aboard an Imperial starship.

Keep an eye out on the blog and social media for a title announcement!

"The Ravening Deep" Teasers

Just before the release of List of the Dead, I posted an announcement for the title of the next book in this series, The Ravening Deep.

You may remember that at the time I did not provide any plot details, for fear of dropping spoilers about the major events which occurred at the end of List of the Dead.

Well... enough time has now passed!

Let's have some teasers...

• Euryce Eilentes will be the flashback character in this volume, and as was strongly hinted at in List she will be coming into her own in major ways.
• As far as the dreadships go, the heavy defeat suffered by the Empire at the end of List prefaces what is coming next.
• The story unfolding on Guathelia, which so far has occupied only the prologues and epilogues, will collide with the main narrative.
• Maber Castigon will also collide with the main story, in a way you might not expect.
• You will hear more from Voice and The Emptiness, and also see more of Earth.

Deep is the middle volume of this five-part story, and it will very much be the Empire Strikes Back of the series. Dark days are ahead for our plucky protagonists!

Worlds Will Fall.

Launched: "List of the Dead", Armada Wars Book 2

Book 2 of the current Armada Wars story, List of the Dead, is now available in both print and Kindle eBook formats.

The release was brought forwards from 21st December 2014 to 19th December 2014, due to an overwhelming demand for answers!

The story which began in Steal from the Devil continues, with some questions being answered and new, tantalising mysteries being brought into the light.

You can find direct links to the Kindle and print versions for all regions on the book's dedicated information page.

Fear the Deep.

Updated: "Steal from the Devil" Second Edition

While writing List of the Dead, I learned a few things about writing fiction which were all news to me. They are little twiddly bits which don't typically get taught at school, and which are generally only of interest to editors. But every one of them is something which works to improve the structure and flow of text. Some are typographic (like proper use of the em-dash), some are to do with breaking and closing dialogue, and so on.

So I have gone back over Steal from the Devil with a fine-toothed comb, and applied what I have learned. The difference — I think — is subtle but effective.

While I was at it, I also weeded out some split infinitives. I say 'some'... turns out that when I looked for them specifically, there were a lot. A few sentences and bits of dialogue have been restructured for clarity.

Plot is not affected, and perhaps the only really significant change is in the first chapter. Because a minority of readers found it 'choppy' and 'disjointed' (real words from real reviews), I have de-chopped and re-jointed it. The Hammer's emergence from the wormhole now runs straight into the passage which introduces Captain Aker Santani, and the passage in which we see Caden's dream now runs directly into him waking up and contacting Rendir Throam.

All in all, I think it's a much better read. Had I not rushed so much to get it out last December it is probably the text I would have ended up with.

The paperback has been updated to the second edition, and new Kindle customers will get it automatically since it's now live on the Kindle store. Existing customers on Kindle need to visit their "Manage your Content and Devices" page on Amazon to get the updated file (it's easy).

Announced: "The Ravening Deep", Armada Wars Book 3

With the launch of List of the Dead coming up in just under a month, it's time to officially announce the third book in the current five-book story!

The title of book three was sneaked onto Goodreads (and this very blog) a few months ago, but for those of you who missed that the title will be The Ravening Deep.

Because there is a major plot event at the end of List of the Dead, and a major event for some main characters, I am not going to share any story details for The Ravening Deep just yet. So let's just say things will be going downhill for our plucky protagonists! Darkness awaits.

The eagle-eyed amongst you might notice the release date for TRD is 21st September 2015. Who can wait a whole year, right?

Worlds Will Fall.

Proof that "Free eBook" Sites Lie

You may remember a previous post about scam pirate sites purporting to supply downloads of copyright eBooks, and my cynical assertion that whatever it is they allow you to download it probably isn't the file they say it is.

If you weren't convinced, try this on for size.

This link goes to one such site: http://satrymonal1993cabquai.wordpress.com/2013/12/30/list-of-the-dead-armada-wars-2-r-curtis-venture/

If that link is gone before you visit it, try the Google cache of the page as it appeared on 7th September.

Notice anything odd about that? How about it's for List of the Dead, which I haven't actually finished writing yet.

Apparently the small matter of me being nowhere near done doesn't stop the philanthropic efforts of our friendly neighbourhood pirates. Apparently, according to them, it's 529 pages long and has been reviewed by 220 people (who collectively give it almost a 90% approval rating, by the way).

I don't know what that file is they are letting people download, but I can assure you it isn't List of the Dead. No such book currently exists!

A Progressive Learning Experience

This is a blog post with two purposes, and one that I have been thinking about writing for a couple of months now. It's partly for the fans of the new universe I've apparently unleashed, to tell them what to expect next, and partly for other independent writers who are either headed towards their first release, or thinking about how to get on with their next book.

Beware Pirate Scam Sites

As part of my marketing strategy, I have a couple of saved web searches which let me see quickly what is being said about Armada Wars and Steal from the Devil. Something I have noticed becoming increasingly more prevalent in the search results is a particular type of pirate site offering a "PDF copy" of SFTD.

After I found the first one, I filed a DMCA notice. But before that notice could even be processed, the site had been taken down by the host company for breaching their terms (i.e. for being pirates).

By modifying my saved search slightly, I found a good half a dozen more similar sites. One thing has become clear as I examined them: these sites are not simply pirate sites; they are scams.

The scam goes like this:

• The scam site "scrapes" stores like Amazon for trending and popular digital items;
• A product page is made for each interesting item. This often includes bogus information such as a "stock" number which changes at random every time the page is loaded (how exactly would one keep a stock of eBooks anyway?)
• Clicking on the link to "Download the PDF Now!" opens a new window which requires the "shopper" (read: cheap, gullible future con victim) to complete an "offer" first;
• Assuming the "offer" points to a genuine site, and not a nest of malware, the scam site owner profits from farming out a paid task;
• The "shopper" gets either nothing, a PDF full of junk, or a download that turns their computer into a zombie or holds the personal drive to ransom.

I can understand why people wouldn't want to invest $4.49 (£2.99) in an untested author. But there are other ways to get Steal from the Devil for less, and even for free. I'd much rather people put it on their Kindle wishlist and wait until it's on offer, than pull the double-whammy of circumventing my rights as the author and putting their own computer at risk. It's just the better option all around!

In short, I would rather take a hit to my own royalties than see the scummy, thieving, pretend pirate sites cream a neat referral profit by exploiting readers.

Seriously. Wishlist. Discounts and giveaways are announced on Twitter and/or Facebook, so just give me and Armada Wars a follow/like.

Announced: "List of the Dead", Armada Wars Book 2

Work is now underway on volume two of Armada Wars, entitled List of the Dead, the first sequel to Steal from the Devil and the second episode in this five-part story arc. This volume is expected to weigh in at somewhere in the region of 100,000 to 120,000 words.

Elm Caden will retain the main protagonist role, however in volume two it will be Rendir Throam's past that has the spotlight pointed at it in the form of flashbacks. That will no doubt be an interesting ride for everyone.

Initially, the main dilemma Caden and his team will face is whether to chase after the Rasas suspected of provoking the Combine-Viskr war, or to hunt down Maber Castigon before he can assassinate any more Imperial Shards.

Some of the characters from the periphery of Steal from the Devil will come into their own, and a few more pivotal characters will be introduced.

We will see the aftermath of the attack on Lophrit, learn a tantalising fragment more of what is happening on Guathelia, and be plunged head first into the explosive fall-out from Operation Seawall.

And everything else is super duper top secret :)

Feel free to post questions in the comments section, and I'll answer those that won't invoke spoilers.

Fear the Deep.

Ruling the Universe

One of the things that really annoys me about modern science fiction — and I mean on the screen, as well as in books — is the constant reliance on trite clichés. So, in developing the Armada Wars universe, I have taken the time to set down ground rules that will prevent me from falling into the same traps.

In this blog post, we'll take a look at some of the principles that help shape the worlds, situations, technology, and people in the books. Read on to discover some of the rules of the universe!