[Tom Wright]

Question for those who have used Amazon's pre-order feature:

How did you drum up reviews before the launch date?

I want to use the pre-order feature for my upcoming dinosaur/alien sci-fi. But to whom would I send ARCs?

Normally I list on LibraryThing and BookLikes. I have an e-mail list that's not too responsive, but I could send it out and ask for reviews from early readers.

Would you do anything additional or different? Or have you done anything additional or different?

 

[AnonWriter]

I sent out a lot of blind queries, targeting book blogs in my genre. I also did giveaways on LibraryThing and Booklikes. And then I emailed people who had actively reviewed books but didn't win and asked if they were interested in receiving a digital ARC.

But the biggest ROI was doing Netgalley through Patchwork Press.

If you publish a paperback version on Amazon while you're in pre-order on Kindle, you can get those reviews added to your book.

 

[Sophrosyne]

Good to know -- gives you a reason to get the print out first.

Once you pick a date you're stuck with it and you have to upload 10 days prior. Do not miss that deadline. You can upload a correction after, until 3 days prior to launch. At that point, don't touch it.

If you miss the 10 day deadline or if you upload a file during the 3 days prior to launch, you're in violation of the pre-order agreement. At that point, Amazon can ban you from doing pre-orders for the next year, inform everyone who pre-ordered that you did not honor your agreement and cancel all your pre-orders.

So, if you use pre-orders -- and I highly recommend them -- give yourself enough of a cushion, make sure you double-check all the deadlines, and do not miss any of them. They are hard deadlines -- in fact, plan to upload a day before you need to, just in case something goes wrong. For instance, if Amazon switches your account to a different time zone. You do not want to tick off the consequences that will automatically roll out.

 

[Tom Wright]

But the biggest ROI was doing Netgalley through Patchwork Press.

Thanks, I'm definitely going to look into this.

I don't plan on publishing a physical version, but I'm glad to see your last point in case I ever do put a print book out there.

 

[Tom Wright]

Once you pick a date you're stuck with it and you have to upload 10 days prior. Do not miss that deadline. You can upload a correction after, until 3 days prior to launch. At that point, don't touch it.

If you miss the 10 day deadline or if you upload a file during the 3 days prior to launch, you're in violation of the pre-order agreement. At that point, Amazon can ban you from doing pre-orders for the next year, inform everyone who pre-ordered that you did not honor your agreement and cancel all your pre-orders.

So, if you use pre-orders -- and I highly recommend them -- give yourself enough of a cushion, make sure you double-check all the deadlines, and do not miss any of them. They are hard deadlines -- in fact, plan to upload a day before you need to, just in case something goes wrong. For instance, if Amazon switches your account to a different time zone. You do not want to tick off the consequences that will automatically roll out.

Thanks for the advice and warning.

If I ever find a typo in my current books, I fix it and re-upload. Would that not work with pre-orders? Or can you re-upload at will after the pre-order date has been successfully fulfilled?

 

[thewitt]

Once you pick a date you're stuck with it and you have to upload 10 days prior. Do not miss that deadline. You can upload a correction after, until 3 days prior to launch. At that point, don't touch it.

You can pull a date in, you just can't push a date out.

 

[John Ellsworth]

I'm on my fourth preorder. I keep very close tabs on word count. I want no less than 80K for each book. So I divide remaining days into needed word count and keep close tabs that I'm getting the output I need. This is a job and I'm serious about jobs so I don't have days where I "don't feel like writing" or miss word count for some reason. I get it every day. Monday I have back surgery and my guess is I'll double the count on Tuesday to make up. I'm a professional and I try to act like one.

I'm a year into FT writing so I get about 20 preorders a day at this point. No way I'm going to let those people down.

 

[Sophrosyne]

You can fix and reupload, until you hit the 3 day deadline. Then you can't touch it until after it's been released.

After it's been released, you can fix and reupload corrections.

 

[Amanda M. Lee]

You can fix and reupload, until you hit the 3 day deadline. Then you can't touch it until after it's been released.

After it's been released, you can fix and reupload corrections.

Just as a warning: You can fix stuff until the three-day mark. You're not supposed to once you hit the ten-day mark because you'll get a yearlong ban. Some people don't get banned, but a lot of others have been (some have managed to get the bans lifted). It's safer to have everything done at the 10-day mark to avoid risking a ban.

 

[Sophrosyne]

That's right -- you're supposed to put your finished copy up at the 10-day mark. However, if you have to upload corrections, you need to do it before you hit the 3-day mark. Once you're at the 3-day mark, you can physically upload corrections -- KDP won't stop you -- but you will trigger a one-year ban for being in violation of your agreement.

If you need to upload anything after the 10-day mark, you can always double-check with KDP first. But as you close down to that 3-day -- and to be safe, I would take it out to 4 or 5 days, hands completely off.

 

[Amanda M. Lee]

That's right -- you're supposed to put your finished copy up at the 10-day mark. However, if you have to upload corrections, you need to do it before you hit the 3-day mark. Once you're at the 3-day mark, you can physically upload corrections -- KDP won't stop you -- but you will trigger a one-year ban for being in violation of your agreement.

If you need to upload anything after the 10-day mark, you can always double-check with KDP first. But as you close down to that 3-day -- and to be safe, I would take it out to 4 or 5 days, hands completely off.

I'm dealing with it now. I have a preorder going live on the 27th, but I have a cover with a minor tweak to upload. It's ready and waiting, but I'm not risking anything until the day of release. It's really just adding a subtitle so I don't get the nasty email for the subtitle not being on the cover, but I'm not touching a thing until release day.

 

[thewitt]

I've seen the "Banned if you upload within 10 days" statement on here several times, but I don't see anything in the policy that states this at all.

Can someone point me to a link with this on the page?  I don't believe this is a true statement.  They want your final manuscript before the 10 day mark, but there is nothing stopping you from updating again till 3 days prior. 

It would be much easier for them to simply not allow a new upload than to deal with banning users.

I've updated both my books up till the 3 day mark with no issue. I know this is only anecdotal, but without seeing this is a policy, anyone who states they were banned for this is also just supplying anecdotal evidence as well.

 

[Amanda M. Lee]

I've seen the "Banned if you upload within 10 days" statement on here several times, but I don't see anything in the policy that states this at all.

Can someone point me to a link with this on the page? I don't believe this is a true statement. They want your final manuscript before the 10 day mark, but there is nothing stopping you from updating again till 3 days prior.

It would be much easier for them to simply not allow a new upload than to deal with banning users.

I've updated both my books up till the 3 day mark with no issue. I know this is only anecdotal, but without seeing this is a policy, anyone who states they were banned for this is also just supplying anecdotal evidence as well.

It says right in the TOS that manuscripts have to be uploaded 10 days prior and if you don't follow the rules then you'll be banned for a year. This is cut and pasted from the TOS:

Your final version must be uploaded at least 10 days before the release date you set, with the last day for upload starting at midnight, U.S. Eastern time. For example, if you were releasing a book on September 20, you would need to upload it before midnight Eastern time on September 9. Delivering your book on schedule is required for you to retain access to pre-order. You will not be able to update your book 3 days before the release date. If you delay or cancel a pre-order book, you will be unable to list any book for pre-order for one year.

 

[thewitt]

There is nothing in what you posted that says you cannot upload another "final" version of your manuscript between day 10 and day 3, and I've done it with both of my books without issue.  I call BS on banning for real updates between day 10 and 3. It clearly states you will not be able to upload your book 3 days prior, and they prevent you from doing so in their system.

If you fail to upload a final version by 10 days out, you will be banned for a year. That is clear.

You can update your book until 3 days out. That is also clear.

Nowhere does it say if you update your book between day 10 and 3 that you will be banned.

If you uploaded 100 pages and called it final, then uploaded 350 pages 4 days later I can see that triggering their BS detector, but clearly they don't block updates till 3 days out and say nothing about locking you into the 10 day final version.