Kidz Like 2 e-Read discussion

Just wondering if you know there is a Daily Cheap Reads Junior.

http://dailycheapreads.com/junior/

One of my Leon Chameleon PI books is featured today.

I heard about that but didn't know if it was up & running yet. Thanks!

How do you get your eBooks on there? I'd love to have my three children's eBooks available on that website. They are already on Amazon Kindle, Smashwords and CreateSpace.
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How did you get your book on there, Jan?

Hi Patricia,
I had my other books on Daily Cheap Reads so was in contact with them. I think I used this email address
, but you can contact them through the 'my two cents worth' button on the link I gave above.

Let us know how this works for your book. I've found the middle grade market is really tough. All my other books are outselling that one but people who do buy it seem to love it it. So I'm glad it's available on Amazon & Nook.

Jan, thanks for that. I have contacted them through my two cents worth button.


LB, I agree, middle grade is so hard to sell. All my books are MG and I'm having trouble selling on Amazon, Amazon Kindle and Smashwords, but when I order author copies and sell them myself I'm finding people love them and buy all three of my books and have asked when the sequels are coming out. I never go anywhere without copies of my books and have sold them to bank tellers, people in coffee lounges, chemists,supermarkets. Teehee. It helps to be a chatterbox and propmote yourself without being too much like a sales woman. I just sneak in that I write for children and when they ask me what about, I whip the books out and show them. People usually buy straight away. I've sold twenty books that way in the past three months. Also I've sold nine books to pensioners in my mother's retirement village. Pensioners love to read children's books.

I guess I'll have to write a Y/A if I want to make any money. However, I've now put my books for sale on my own little stand in a coffee shop in town and they have started to sell that way. Young mum's sitting having a coffee with friends browse through the books and then buy them. Try that. I also have them in so art shops and local novelty shops. I've donated them to the local schools and libraries too, just to get them out there.

LB, what other genre do you write? And which sells the most? I'll go and check your books to see.

Thanks again, Jan. I'll let you know what happens.

Good luck with your sales LB and Jan.

Hi Patricia,
I've also found good sales with the granny generation as there are many grandparents in SA whose children have left to live overseas, and the grandparents like to send their grandchildren books about South Africa so that they will learn something of their heritage.

For the same reason I've also found that I can sell more books in gift shops than in our local bookshop!

I'm finding it really frustrating that Y/A eBooks are selling so well, yet children's books hardly sell at all. I've had five-star ratings from readers that read my eBooks, but getting people to read them in the first place is so difficult. I guess children aren't on Goodreads and they don't buy their own books. And as much as I want to writ a Y/A story, my heart is with children's books.

I suppose eventually they'll start to sell as even five-year-olds are learning about eReaders at school. And at least the children of the future won't have to carry heavy books on their backs.

I feel the same way. I've had some lovely reviews for Leon Chameleon, but they are not followed by lovely sales. I have published two books in the series, and a third is waiting to be illustrated, but there doesn't seem much point if the first two aren't selling. I also have about 20 storylines mapped out (I had an animator interested at one time), and would love to write them all.
My YA novel is an action adventure story, but it seems that only vampires and horror are selling.(insert sad smiley)

Jan wrote: "I feel the same way. I've had some lovely reviews for Leon Chameleon, but they are not followed by lovely sales. I have published two books in the series, and a third is waiting to be illustrated, ..."

Well, we'll have to come up with an idea to get sales for children's books. I don't know what that is yet, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. Maybe we should start a thread for mothers of children under twelve and see what happens.

I've even added my three books for Giveaways, but still no sales.

I know what you mean about writing more books and all the work and effort that goes into them. But what's the point if they're not selling?

As I said, I manage to sell the paperback copies okay and people tell me they love them, so how do we get them to children on eReaders? My stories are on Amazon Kindle, and now on Smashwords too, so hopefully they'll get to other eBook sales channels. So frustrating.

I've even lowered all my eBooks to $0.99 and still no luck.

I also did a Giveaway here.I've got a couple of good reviews on Barnes & Noble, and quite by chance I found a review on Amazon from someone who had bought a 2nd hand print copy on Amazon. Managed to get it linked with my kindle version, but don't know if that helped.
I've had to keep my Leon books at $2.99 because I published through someone in the US who was kind enough to scan them in for me, and I also have to give the illustrator a cut (when I eventually make some money!)

I think we'll have to Google some Mom's forums where we can mention the books.

I started a thread offering to send the e-book to children who were interested in reviewing books, but didn't have any luck.

I know what you mean, Jan. I had put my eBook up to $2.99 because I live in Australia and lose some of the royalty on Tax over there and then have to pay it again here. Plus if I receive cheques I have to pay the transfer fee to Aussie dollars. Hardly make anything, but I only sold a few so I lowered the price to $0.99.

In one of my chapter books I needed illustrations, I got a quote for $3,000. Now way could I afford that, so I decided to have a go at my own illustrations. I sure surprised myself when they came out okay first go. That's because when I was a kid, I used to doodle and draw instead of listening to the teachers. LOL. Anyway, that saved me money on illustrators. In another book, I used pictures of a bandicoot I cared for in the wildlife rescue where I volunteer. For the main character, Molly, I used my eight-year-old niece to act out the scenes, then I turned some of the pictures into sketches. However, I used some of the photos too and the came out better than the sketches, especially in the paperback version.

I love doing my own illustrations and pictures. You should try it too. You might surprise yourself. But it is time consuming too and takes time away from writing. Though I seem to be spending far too much time marketing at the moment instead of writing. I might just turn off the email and get on with my stories.

It definitely helps if you have more than one story available as you can cross link them. I'm hoping to have at least a dozen. LOL. How about you Jan and LB?

Funnily enough, the illustrator of my Leon Chameleon books now lives in Australia! Her drawings are wonderful and there is no way I could compete. I have another illustrator in SA who has done some work for me at a reasonable price, but I need the same illustrator for the Leon books so there is continuity.

Regarding the cheques from Amazon - I have found a way to get round the huge bank charges by using a website called Auctionchex. He deposits my cheque into his account in the UK and then transfers the money from his SA account into my account and charges about a third of what the bank charges.

That's great Jan. Does he do that for anyone? Or is he a friend?

I found a way too, but haven't banked a cheque there yet. I banked my first check with my bank but found they charge $10 for changing to Aussie dollars, so I opened an account with a building society instead of a bank, and they only charge 1% for the check. You have to shope around though as some building societies are as dear as the banks.

This thread is great for information. I wish other children's books authors would join. The more information the better.

I should go to my own Goodreads discussion thread and post as well.

Auctionchex.com is a website that anyone can use. When I was selling stuff on eBay I used it to receive PayPal payments, but PayPal eventually stopped him from accepting, which meant I had to stop selling on eBay (very cross about that). You can go to the website and have a look how it works. You can leave the money in a Hyperwallet until the exchange rate is favourable.

Sounds good, Jan. I'll check it out.

Wow, how did I miss this thread?

We definitely need to find out how to reach younger kids (and their parents).

Some great ideas here!

Hi all,

I'm the author of a new mid-grade novel and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. :-) Like Patricia, I hit up Daily Cheap Reads Jr. a few days ago using the My Two Cents form. I'll update should I hear anything.

I think part of what makes mid-grade so tough is that parents have stopped reading to their kids by then but aren't buying kids ereaders yet either (as one who bought his 10 year old niece an iPod shuffle a couple Christmases ago that she promptly lost, I get why). What do you guys think about some sort of contest for kids with an ereader (or three) as prizes? Particularly if we could get someone like B&N or Kobo to donate.

Karl, that would be good if we could, but I don't know if they would go along with it.

I contacted Daily Cheap Reads on the 24th of June, but they never contacted me, so not holding my breath.

We just have to keep pugging along and hope that children find a way to read our stories. I donate my books to, libraries, maybe that will work. I get great feedback from children that do read my books. One little girl take one of my books with her wherever she goes. Can't get better than that. Maybe in ten years time, they'll start selling. LOL. I'll be an old woman by then.

Let's hope adults will upgrade their e-readers and pass the old ones to their children. I've lowered the price of my Leon Chameleon books to 99c, so all my books are now at the same price.

I've lowered my Children's eBooks books back to $0.99 cents on Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Patricia-Puddle...










But I've made Velvet Ball free on Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...

Hey!!! Guess what??? I have a post on Daily Cheap Reads. It was worth waiting for. I sent them my books a while agao, but it has now come through:

http://dailycheapreads.com/junior/

Yes, they do come as a nice surprise. I've put my books on so many sites that I quite forget where they are most of the time, and then one suddenly appears :)

Clare wrote: "Thanks for the Daily Cheap Reads tip! Do you send details of the book via the 'My Two Cents' area?"

Clare, I can't remember as it was a while ago, but I think I did, just tell her in the email what you want to do and she will email you straight back. It's worth the wait. I think they are going to to my other books at some stage too.

http://dailycheapreads.com/junior/