Completing a Project has Never Felt Better!!

A year came and went and I managed to FINISH MY EDITING!  The feeling of accomplishment is overwhelming, really.  Writing for pleasure is one thing, but rewriting is another.

After completing what I thought was my last edit, I was informed that re-outlining the text would be necessary.  Boy, was it ever!  Once I was able to walk away from the book and revisit it with the intention of outlining it, the gaping holes were so blatant.  I had no idea there were so many gaps in the flow and that certain items would require additional explanation.  Outlining it allowed me to really focus on the content and not just the flow of the words.  I saw areas where huge improvements were required.  It was a little embarrassing at first too.  I had put something out into the world that was not at its best.  But now?!  Woohoo!  I know the quality is much better and I can sell with confidence.      

I am positive the text is not perfect and there will always be room for improvement, but getting it to this most recent stage simply feels divine!  I am once again really proud of myself and happy to see a project to its completion.  If you are in a slump or know a project is simply sitting there waiting to get done, I can only recommend you start today!

CC

Order 

The Proposal to Ever After: A Guide to Marriage and Community Property Laws in Louisiana by Camille Carter

today!! 


http://amzn.com/B008A0UVPG

Is anything ever really complete?

Upon forwarding my book information out to my friends and colleagues, I found myself revisiting the actual text and making quite a few edits.  I strongly agree with the writing concept that as much as you love writing something, it might not work in the end and you have to edit yourself.  You have to say, as much as I think that is funny and well composed, it does not work for the reader or the audience and needs to be altered.

The impetus for these changes was that someone who commented was not someone I had originally pictured in my audience.  Once HE was there (I focused my book primarily on women), I realized my introduction could be off-putting and too narrow.  It wasn't all encompassing.  It wasn't permitting the reader to get comfortable.  Rather, it seemed to make the reader say to themselves, "I am going to be fighting against the grain of this book and I am only three sentences in and already annoyed."

A slash here and a slash there, I think the book's introduction is more coherent and soft.  The only issue now are the printed books from my previous prints.  I have decided those will be galleys and there were changes made post-production :)  I am working it out.

CC

From the Proposal to Ever After: A Louisiana Woman's Guide to Marriage and Community Property Laws [Kindle Edition]

"How to Sell"

I just typed, "How to sell" in the search engine of the Community Section on kdp.amazon.com.  I thought there may be a tid-bit of knowledge there; perhaps another user may have some insight.  What do I see in the comment section?  This:

Truly, that is the million dollar question.  I think my favorite comment was, "Put a ten dollar bill in each copy..."  Ha!

CC

KDP Select: What the hell was that about?

Frankly, I feel like I got a little used.  That is the nicest way to say it.  Apparently KDP Select through Amazon.com was going to be a way for my work to reach more people.  I was hoping it would generate, I don't know, a COMMENT in the comment section from a reader who actually read the book.  Nothing.  Silence.  I thought maybe going into it would get me a, gee, idk, SALE.  Neither of those things happened.  Rather, I got 5 days of people accessing my book for free, seeing that it was getting traffic, and then nothing for three months.  Amazon Prime really is taking away the fun in this self-publishing process, but what are we suppose to do?  There are little options.

Now, my book is not worthy of, "Oh my gosh, I just read this awesome piece of prose.  You have to check it out."  You may have that nugget of awesome, I don't.  I have a legal information book with a narrow audience.  Needless to say, my marketing is going to need to look beyond this resource...

"Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed"

As I ponder over the issue of rewriting my book's description, I decided it was time to review my links.  See what kind of action the text has been having.  First off, the free 5 day KDP Select advertising as definitely come to a close.  How can I tell?  The views of the text came to a complete halt.  At the very end, the number was 62.  The problem is that Amazon doesn't tell me if this is 62 different downloads or 62 times one or two people accessed the file.  Maybe it was just someone reading a chapter at a time.  We don't know.  Obviously, there were no sales during this time period.

Next up, I decided to go back to the actual page for Amazon.  It is still free for Prime members, but Kindle members must pay $9.99 (they can also simply order the book for $9.99).  I am tempted to drop the Kindle price, but this is legal information.  If it were a simple short story, I would totally offer it for $.99, but this is something different.  I think.  Am I wrong?

Finally, as I scrolled the page, I noticed the "Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed" list.  I found this to be very informative.  Here is the screen image:

I don't know if you can see this, but it appears we are 1) definitely dealing with a woman and 2) a woman who is short on funds and 3) a woman who is seeking order in her life.  We have Feng Shui, managing money, and exercise/diet books.

My marketing sense tells me I should communicate the "order" this text will provide the reader.  Maybe something like, "Coupling with the one you love is a special time in both of your lives, but finding yourself and order in this matrimony is especially important for your overall well-being..."  I am not sure what I will ultimately prepare, but at least this feature provides a window into who my audience is and what they are looking for.

They are definitely looking for something in the price range of $2.99...Hmmmm....

On another note, my parents sold one book at their store!!!  Woohoo!  It is the little things in life.

Have a great day,
Camille

...and they said KDP Select wasn't worth it!

When I first posted the book on Kindle, I had a lot of questions on the process and visited the Community Pages for answers.  What I learned was that people thought KDP Select was a complete sham.  Posts said it wasn't worth it, it was waste of time, etc.  It made me quite skeptical of the program.  But, I never let others dictate what my overall goals are...

I signed up.  For 90 days, it will be completely free to Kindle Owners (I originally thought it was just prime...) and I will receive 5 days of promotion on the site.  Now, I am not sure where that promotion is or how it is being pushed to Kindle people, but 47 people have taken advantage of the text in the past three days.  That is a lot of people checking this thing out!  AND, CreateSpace has the option up for purchasing a hard copy...But why is it not on the same link.  Need to check that out...

I find this information helpful because before the KDP Select do-hickey I had no idea if anyone was even coming across the text.  Amazon will show you the purchases (obviously), but not the views.  Although I am not making money, the positive part is simply knowing people are taking a look at what I have put out there.  This has really motivated me to keep outreaching.

I definitely think a new book description is in order.  I am going to rewrite that portion and see if that drives sales.  Although Prime is not making me a profit right now, it has given me a great boost in my confidence.

KDP Select - Why not...

So, CreateSpace has encouraged me to enroll my book on KDP Select.  This is Amazon's doodad.  I suspect the goal is to encourage Kindle purchasing?  I am not sure what the end result will be.  What I am hoping for is that readers will post comments so I can get a sense of how people react to the text.  See if they highlight any issues, concerns, or (better yet) praises.  

KDP Select also permits 5 free days of advertising.  I went ahead and took advantage of that.  I am sure I wouldn't forget to do it later, but why not start it ASAP.  Again, simply hoping for a little buzz.