Q&A with Rachel Abbott discussion

I regularly get emails from people asking about self-publishing - everything from how to create a Kindle version to how to market the finished book.

I don't claim to have all the answers, but I'm very happy to share what I do know.

Just post a question and we'll get the discussion going.

Is there a way to get Amazon, for example to price your book or ebook at a special promotion price you want?
I recently found out they were charging $9.99 for my ebook which is nowhere near the publisher price of $3.49. I was thinking of doing a promo at $.99, but have no idea how to get that to happen.

Sandra wrote: "Is there a way to get Amazon, for example to price your book or ebook at a special promotion price you want?
I recently found out they were charging $9.99 for my ebook which is nowhere near the pub..."

Hi Sandra

I have absolutely no idea why Amazon were charging $9.99 for your book if the publisher price is £3.49. They do price match, but that's usually when a book is cheaper somewhere else, so I can't help with that one, I'm afraid.

You can always drop the price to $0.99 yourself, of course (I'm presuming your self-published, but if not, your publisher can do it) - but if you specifically want to be in an Amazon promotion, I think you need to decide which one you want to be in, and then write and ask them.

I am in an Amazon UK promotion for 99p at the moment - my book is usually £1.99. I have yet to see how effective the promotion is, as opposed to just dropping the price myself - but I was able to get into this promotion as part of the Amazon White Glove programme.

In this programme, Amazon has a relationship with an agent, and this is all organised between them.. If you don't have an agent or publisher, I would guess it might be more difficult. But I certainly think it's worth contacting them to find out.

Sorry I can't be more specific.

I received a query from Graeme - who asks

"As an author, what have you found to be the most effective form of promotion? "

This is actually quite a difficult question to answer, and it all depends where you are up to in your sales cycle.

When I published Only the Innocent I had no sales platform at all - only 9 followers on Twitter, and probably fewer than that on Facebook. But over the first few weeks, I steadily built those up. Within a couple of months of launch of my first book, I would guess that Twitter was probably accounting for around 10 sales per day. That's not great - but enough to start to get me noticed.

I also spent a lot of time chatting in forums - in particular the Amazon forums. But I have discovered that these forums have changed. A year ago, it was full of people who were supportive of each other and bought each other's books. Now there seem to be lots of people who just post the info about their books and never respond or engage with other readers and writers. So I've ruled that out as a realistic option.

I have found my blog to be useful. I try to post about things that interest other self-published authors - in a genuine effort to be helpful.

One thing that I would strongly recommend is to try to get your book reviewed on blogs. Although you may not see direct results of those posts, you are raising awareness - and that's all you can do. Make people aware of your book, and then when they see it, they will recognise it and are more likely to give it a try.

I hope that helps. I have written a lot more about this on my blog at http://rachelabbottwriter.wordpress.com but please keep the questions coming.

PS apologies if there are any typos - it's a busy day, so I'm being a bit careless about proof-reading forum comments! Sorry!

Hi Rachel,

Thanks for your helpful comments. You mentioned blog tours. I have looked into this myself, but from what I see so far it looks like a lot of tours expect you to review other authors' books. I don't have time for this - and I'm sure you, and any author can relate. I am more than happy to interact with readers and blog hosts, however.
Can you recommend and particular places for book blogs that don't carry this expectation?