[VincentZandri]

Hi Gang:

I had a scheduled telephone conference with two execs from Amazon yesterday who wished to discuss my recent
sales, etc. (especially of the The Innocent) They asked about my experiences publishing with Amazon Kindle, but for that I mostly had to refer them to StoneHouse/StoneGate Ink since they pub my stuff these days. It was a very nice meeting all around and what they wish to do is interview a bunch of authors, indie, traditional, self-pub'd and otherwise and market their success stories. Not a bad idea. That said, they asked me if I had any recommendations for improving things, and I mentioned the tags, and that their sudden exclusion from the book pages became a cause for concern. In other words, if there are no tags it's not as easy for readers to find us. The execs told me that they still have no idea why the tags went down and that it was indeed a "glitch" hopefully never to be repeated. Then I casually made mention of the Summer Sizzler Program, which is also more or less cutting into sales. The execs actually had to laugh and admitted that indeed, the program isn't exactly a boon to indie sales. However, the program should be over on or around the 15th of June. That's just a few days. My gut reaction is that anyone who has noticed a temporary slow down in sales momentum will begin to see a gradual speeding up after that. 
Fingers crossed.
Cheers,
Vin

 

[lisarusczyk]

Neat.

 

[ChristopherDavidPetersen]

Hi Vincent, Thanks for the "promo" update. I was wondering when it would be over. It is DEFINITELY killing my sales (at least for the past two days).

I know Amazon's sales are ultimately good for business, but DANG, I really hate them - LOL! "Sure picked a bad to give up sniffing glue"

 

[Mel Comley]

Thanks for being our spokesperson Vincent.

If they call again, can you ask them where my royalty checks have gone?  

 

[VincentZandri]

I know, I couldn't help but vent a little...between the tags and the sale sizzler hitting at the same time, it totally knocked the wind out of my momentum...But being that our books ain't ever coming off the cyber shelves, we have all the time in the world to build that momentum back up...

 

[Sam Rivers]

I was wondering what was wrong with my sales.  I had a lot of sales at first then they suddenly stopped.

 

[DonnaBurgess]

Thanks, Vincent, for sharing that info. And I thought readers just didn't like me anymore 

On the other hand, the reader side of me did enjoyed the Summer Sizzler Program. My Kindle is nearly bursting at the seams. Not sad to see it go, however.

 

[James Everington]

Interesting, thanks... fingers crossed your right about the sales!

 

[JoeMitchell]

I can think of two things Amazon could do to help us:

1: Provide an easy way for us to do paid adverts on their site that isn't ridiculously expensive.

2: Implement some form of signatures in their forums, like we have here.  Even simple text links would be good, then we wouldn't have to worry about being randomly banned for posting a book link.

 

[MariaESchneider]

Hi Gang:

I had a scheduled telephone conference with two execs from Amazon yesterday who wished to discuss my recent
sales, etc. (especially of the The Innocent) They asked about my experiences publishing with Amazon Kindle, but for that I mostly had to refer them to StoneHouse/StoneGate Ink since they pub my stuff these days. It was a very nice meeting all around and what they wish to do is interview a bunch of authors, indie, traditional, self-pub'd and otherwise and market their success stories. Not a bad idea. That said, they asked me if I had any recommendations for improving things, and I mentioned the tags, and that their sudden exclusion from the book pages became a cause for concern. In other words, if there are no tags it's not as easy for readers to find us. The execs told me that they still have no idea why the tags went down and that it was indeed a "glitch" hopefully never to be repeated. Then I casually made mention of the Summer Sizzler Program, which is also more or less cutting into sales. The execs actually had to laugh and admitted that indeed, the program isn't exactly a boon to indie sales. However, the program should be over on or around the 15th of June. That's just a few days. My gut reaction is that anyone who has noticed a temporary slow down in sales momentum will begin to see a gradual speeding up after that.
Fingers crossed.
Cheers,
Vin

Thanks for posting this.

 

[VincentZandri]

Good ideas Joe,
I'll try and pass them along....
Cheers
Vin

 

[J. Carson Black]

I went into slo-mo, too.  For a minute there I thought I'd have to get out on the street and sell them to passersby... I could stand outside the Dollar Store. But those folks have their eye on the gift paper, balloons and the 99-cent toilet brush.  

 

[ChristopherDavidPetersen]

2: Implement some form of signatures in their forums, like we have here. Even simple text links would be good, then we wouldn't have to worry about being randomly banned for posting a book link.

Oh WOW, Joe... did you ever strike a nerve! When I first published my books four months ago, I posted them on the Amazon forum (3 books at the time). About a month ago, I visited the forum and tried to post a comment, but was rejected. I contacted Amazon and was told I was banned FOR LIFE... not for a day, a week, a month or even a year, but FOR LIFE!.

I responded to them by saying that I was new to epublishing and forums (before publishing, I have never visited a forum before) and that I have since realized my error and limit my self-promo's where they are considered offensive. I begged for mercy and received none - the ban is irreversible.

Thankfully though, there's more than one way to skin a cat… I just need to create another account, then buy something (like a 99 cent ebook), but to say the least, Amazon hasn't made things easy.

 

[VincentZandri]

Ha!
I too was banned last summer..."for Life"...
It hasn't hurt my sales at all ...
V

 

[Gertie Kindle]

Ha!
I too was banned last summer..."for Life"...
It hasn't hurt my sales at all ...
V

I've never been banned but I rarely go to the Amazon forums anymore. Only when I've got a new release. There has been no noticeable drop in sales. I used to be on Amazon UK all the time. Recently dropped that and it hasn't hurt one bit.

Tags are back and life is good again.

 

[Cheryl Shireman]

Is it possible to even advertise on Amazon? If it is, they don't make this information easy to find.

Does anyone know?

 

[Arthur Slade]

thanks for the info Vincent. Between the tags disappearing and the sizzler sales swamping Amazon, I've seen a big drop in sales. You're right though, the books will be there forever. A long time for the sales to climb back up.

 

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

I can think of two things Amazon could do to help us:

1: Provide an easy way for us to do paid adverts on their site that isn't ridiculously expensive.

2: Implement some form of signatures in their forums, like we have here. Even simple text links would be good, then we wouldn't have to worry about being randomly banned for posting a book link.

I agree about the sig lines on Amazon - definitely needed.

I've read a thread about how readers choose books and most of them said they never read adverts, so not sure paid adverts work

I do hope sales improve after the summer madness. Most disconcerting seeing them drop.

 

[Will Write for Gruel]

I know, I couldn't help but vent a little...between the tags and the sale sizzler hitting at the same time, it totally knocked the wind out of my momentum...But being that our books ain't ever coming off the cyber shelves, we have all the time in the world to build that momentum back up...

I think it's something we will have to get used to. The big 6 have a lot of backlist they can publish, and I expect they will always be pricing at $2.99 or lower with some of their titles. I think they are just getting started in attacking the ebook market.

 

[Bakari]

Thanks Vincent,

At least I know that I am not crazy for suspecting (along with others) that missing tags and the Sunshine Deals hammered independent sales. Even though sales have lagged, it is still good to know that they admitted that the S. Deals hurt indie sales.