For those of you who have never heard of Kindle Scout, it's an Amazon program that's something of a hybrid between traditional and self-publishing. They are looking for never before published works - and readers get the chance to nominate the books they want to read. Successful authors are offered publishing contracts with Amazon.
It's great for readers because not only do they get to vote for the books they want - but they get a FREE copy of the books they've nominated if the author gets a contract. But it's great for authors too - because if they're successful they receive a $1,500 advance and editing assistance from Amazon.
There's more - but for full details visit their How It Works page on the Kindle Scout web page.
So - I got my Scout acceptance e-mail for London Lady on April 7 and by April 9 my campaign was launched - they don't mess around!
I jumped straight on Facebook and sent messages to all my friends (both personal and business accounts.) I found it was much better to kiss-the-baby approach - that is, to PM everyone personally rather than just post a link -which hardly anyone ever responds to. I would say 75% of the people I asked went off to the site. I have to take on faith that they nominated me - the Scout campaign page only shares page views- not nomination totals.
Once I exhausted that supply of personal friends I turned to more general sources of social media and shared links on as many Facebook groups as I could find. I've also talked to some of the other campaigners - and we've exchanged experiences which is proving such a wonderful part of the process.
Primary nomination sources in my first week:
- Kboards
- Absolutewrite
- Dirty Discourse
Now on day 8 a host of new books have arrived and I've slipped out of the H & T list. I'm not fazed. Amazon promotes the new entrants hard and they are in peak campaign mode. But there are 30 campaign days in total and I'm in this for the long haul.
Next week - Pinterest, more direct campaigning, and a hell-ova-lot of research into how to promote your book without boring the pants off potential voters.
Writers who are considering the program might like to join me on this journey. For now, wish me luck and if you like my sample on the site, please nominate me!
Thanks for reading,
Heather!
Author Bio:
Heather Hart is a British author who lives with her family in Maryland. She’s a writer of hot erotic and romantic fiction – an eclectic mix of innocence and dirt in a hyperactive imagination.
When she’s not frantically scribbling away she’s a cat worshipper and curry fanatic. If you like what she writes, please feel free to drop her a line at authorheatherhart@gmail[dot]com.
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