Changes in Amazon's Algorithm: An Update

For a while I've been wondering if Amazon Select is worth enrolling ones books in considering the exclusivity clause. Recently the matter became even more complicated by Amazon changing their ranking algorithm, a change that directly and, in many cases drastically, affected book sales.

Before Amazon changed their algorithm a free download counted the same as a paid download in terms of the effect it had on how ones book was ranked. After the change, it looked as though a free download counted for a fraction of what a paid download did.

Since many indie authors rely on periodic giveaways to boost their book's rank, and therefore hopefully keep the book toward the top of Amazon's bestseller lists, this was a big deal. Edward Robertson has posted an invaluable series of articles on the changes Amazon has made to their algorithm and in my earlier article I promised to keep readers up to date. Well, here's the latest.

Robertson, in an attempt to figure out the full impact of the changes to Amazon's ranking algorithm, made his book, Breakers, free for a few days and his results were startling. Over the period of a few days nearly 26,000 copies of his book were downloaded, 173 were sold and 93 copies were borrowed. Here's the big news, though. At the end of that period his books ranking had dramatically increased. (See Robertson's post -- How Much Juice Is Left In Select? -- for full details.)


He writes:

[W]hat does this mean long-term? I don't know. I'm trying not to know just yet, because I don't want to get my hopes up. But prior to this free run, Breakers was #121 on the Technothrillers popularity list and worse than #500 on Science Fiction > Adventure. On day three of its run, it improved to #10 Technothriller and #27 Sci-Fi > Adventure. Right now, it's #8 and #24. I'm guessing sales will slow down after an initial rush, but hold, driven by the pop lists, at a decent clip, for an unknown length of time. If that happens, I will be a very happy Ed.

I can imagine, I would be ecstatic! If Robertson's experience with Breakers is any indication the news for indie writers isn't bleak, it's quite the opposite. As Robertson writes, though, it's too early to draw sweeping conclusions.

Stay tuned!

Related Articles:
Amazon's Ranking Algorithm Has Changed: what this means for indie authors
An Indie Writer Shares His Experience With KDP Select
Self Publishing on Amazon: Kindle Direct Publishing


"Changes in Amazon's Algorithm: An Update," copyright© 2012 by Karen Woodward.

Fifty Shades of Grey - Oh My!

I'm not quite finished the Fifty Shades series by author E.L. James but I've read enough to be surprised by the fuss over the trilogy, especially the first book, Fifty Shades of Grey. Which isn't to say I don't think they're wonderful books.

Here's what I'm talking about. I found this paragraph in the Wikipedia entry for Fifty Shades of Grey:

By the release of the final volume in January 2012, news networks in the United States had begun to report on the Fifty Shades trilogy as an example of viral marketing and of the rise in popularity of female erotica, attributing its success to the discreet nature of e-reading devices.

I feel I must have been living under a rock for the past few months, but the first I heard of Fifty Shades was when I did by blog post for the indie bestseller Wool and that book was compared to Fifty Shades of Grey in its sudden and astonishing popularity. Since nothing else was said about Fifty Shades the description aroused my curiosity. When I walked into Chapters the next day I had forgotten all about the book, but when I saw it perched at the top of the bestsellers bookshelf, I picked it up and began reading.

And I read, and read, and read. By the time my friend came back from his clothes shopping I was 20 pages in and thoroughly hooked. What attracted me wasn't salacious curiosity about the hinted at peek into the world of DBSM, it was good writing and the promise of a sweet love story.

At the moment I'm a third of the way through James' last book, Fifty Shades Freed, and would describe the series as being more about the redemptive power of love than anything else.

In a sense, Fifty Shades is an urban fairy tale.

Being of a certain age I have come to the opinion that people do not change drastically. Someone with issues on the scale of Christian Grey is not likely to transform themselves because of the power of love. (And, yes, I do glare and youngsters and sporadically growl "Humbug!" during Xmas.) But it's a nice thought.

I gather that James' prose has been criticized, but I wonder what they are comparing it to. Margaret Atwood? Neil Gaiman? Stephen King? Not many writers could stand up to that sort of scrutiny. Personally I thought she did fine, but I'm comparing her with writers like Charlaine Harris (The Southern Vampire Series, True Blood), Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake Series) and even Kim Harrison (The Hollows Series).

 Please let me be clear, I love Charlaine Harris's and Kim Harrison's books, and I adored the first four or so books in Laurrell Hamilton's Anita Blake series. (As an aside I'd like to mention that each of these authors have written steamy sex scenes but I saw no criticisms similar to those leveled at James. But then, to be fair, the scenes to which I refer didn't involve BDSM, just vampires -- I write that tongue in cheek).

Here are excerpts of the non-steamy variety from all four authors, see what you think:

First excerpt:

I'd been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar.

Ever since vampires came out of the coffin (as they laughingly put it) two years ago, I'd hoped one would come to Bon Temps. We had all the other minorities in our little town--why not the newest, the legally recognized undead? But rural northern Louisiana wasn't too tempting to vampires, apparently; on the other hand, New Orleans was a real center for them--the whole Anne Rice thing, right?

Second Excerpt:

I stood in the shadows of a deserted shop front across from The Blood and Brew Pub, trying not to be obvious as I tugged my black leather pants back up where they belonged. This is pathetic, I thought, eyeing the rain-emptied street. I was way too good for this.

Apprehending unlicensed and black-art witches was my usual line of work, as it takes a witch to catch a witch. But the streets were quieter than usual this week. Everyone who could make it was at the West Coast for our yearly convention, leaving me with this gem of a run. A simple snag and drag. It was just the luck of the Turn that had put me here in the dark and rain.

Third Excerpt:

Willie McCoy had been a jerk before he died. His being dead didn’t change that. He sat across from me, wearing a loud plaid sport jacket. The polyester pants were primary Crayola green. His short, black hair was slicked back from a thin, triangular face. He had always reminded me of a bit player in a gangster movie. The kind that sells information, runs errands, and is expendable.

Of course now that Willie was a vampire, the expendable part didn’t count anymore. But he was still selling information and running errands. No, death hadn’t changed him much. But just in case, I avoided looking directly into his eyes. It was standard policy for dealing with vampires. He was a slime bucket, but now he was an undead slime bucket. It was a new category for me.

Fourth Excerpt:

I scowl with frustration at myself in the mirror. Damn my hair--it just won't behave, and damn Katherine Kavanagh for being ill and subjecting me to this ordeal. I should be studying for my final exams, which are next week, yet here I am trying to brush my hair into submission. I just not sleep with it wet. I must not sleep with it wet. Reciting this mantra several times, I attempt, once more, to bring it under control with the brush. I roll my eyes in exasperation and gaze at the pale, brown-haired girl with blue eyes too big for her face staring back at me, and give up. My only option is to restrain my wayward hair in a ponytail and hope that I look semi-presentable.

Excerpt One: "Dead Until Dark," by Charlaine Harris
Excerpt Two: "Dead Witch Walking," by Kim Harrison
Excerpt Three: "Guilty Pleasures," by Laurell K. Hamilton
Excerpt Four: "Fifty Shades of Grey," by E.L. James

Yes, all right, James' excerpt -- and, by the way, these were all the first paragraphs of the first book in their respective series -- was about boys and girls living in this world, a world not populated by dark, brooding, sexy and forbidden supernatural creatures, but since her book did start off as fan fiction for the Twilight Series I thought it was appropriate. In any case, I don't read many romance books, so I used what I had in my bookshelf.

If you haven't read Fifty Shades of Grey I'd recommend giving the first few pages a try.

Whatever is currently on your nightstand, happy reading!

You might also be interested in:
- 19 Ways To Grow Your Twitter Following.
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do
- Writers: In Order To Win We Must Embrace Failure

"Fifty Shades of Grey - Oh My!" copyright© 2012 by Karen Woodward.

The Versatile Blogger Award, Part Two

Having to choose 15 blogs I've recently discovered or follow regularly is difficult because there are so many! I've decided not to list big blogs like Joe Konrath's (A Newbie's Guide To Publishing), Dean Wesley Smith, Kris Rusch or The Passive Voice Blog because I've talked about them and posted links to their blogs elsewhere.

Here is the rest of my list:

- The Creative Penn
I am an author, blogger, speaker and business consultant based in London, England although I have lived in Australia and New Zealand for the last 11 years. I always dreamed of writing my own books, and spent many years thinking about it before I actually took the plunge.

- Adventures in ePublishing
I am a part-time YA and scifi writer. I self-publish my own novels for e-readers such as Kindle and Nook. derek@derekjcanyon.com

- Jim C. Hines
My name's Jim, and I write books. And also short stories. Plus a fairly regular blog. Not to mention the occasional nonfiction article. And once I wrote and sold a small bumper sticker. But these days, it's mostly books.

- John Green: New York Times Bestselling Author
In 2007, Green and his brother Hank ceased textual communication and began to talk primarily through videoblogs posted to youtube. The videos spawned a community of people called nerdfighters who fight for intellectualism and to decrease the overall worldwide level of suck. (Decreasing suck takes many forms: Nerdfighters have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight poverty in the developing world; they also planted thousands of trees around the world in May of 2010 to celebrate Hank’s 30th birthday.) Although they have long since resumed textual communication, John and Hank continue to upload three videos a week to their youtube channel, vlogbrothers. Their videos have been viewed more than 75 million times, and their channel is one of the most popular in the history of online video. He is also an active (if reluctant) Twitter user with more than 1.1 million followers.

- Nathan Bransford
"Nathan Bransford is the author of Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow (Dial, May 2011), Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe (Dial, April 2012) and Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp (Dial, March 2013). He was formerly a literary agent with Curtis Brown Ltd. and is now the social media manager at CNET. He lives in San Francisco." 
I began following Nathan's Bransford's blog when he was an agent, and fortunately he's left all those old posts up. Knowledgeable about the publishing industry from both sides of the fence, charming and articulate, this is one of the first blogs I subscribed to. Well worth the read.

- The Book Deal: An Inside View of Publishing The Book Deal is a blog for writers and book people, with a veteran editor's insider take on the strange and inscrutable way books are published and the big changes going on in the business today.

- Utterances of an Overcrowded Mind
...Sometimes there's stuff that needs to come out. I can't say whether it's relevant or not; it just wants to be said. These things are the 'utterances of an overcrowded mind.'

- Charlie's Diary
Being the blog of Charles Stross, author, and occasional guests ...
Witty and always interesting.

There are SO many more blogs I would have liked to post. I'm truly sorry I couldn't list more! In case anyone is interested, italics indicates the text is a quotation. Regular unquoted text represents my own comments.

Thanks for reading and thanks again to Melanie for the award!

The Versatile Blogger Award

For me, the good news today was that I wrote 4,700 words, I haven't done that in a while! The bad news, though, was that none of those words went into a blog post. That's okay, I decided, I did what writers do, namely write, but I still wondered what I was going to post about.

With these thoughts running around in my head like a gerbil on a wheel I opened my digital mailbox and found a note from Melanie Marttila over at Writerly Goodness breaking the good news that she had awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award.

Looking at Melanie's email, it felt as though the universe had smiled on me. What a lovely thing to be given and what a marvelous topic for a blog post. I'm honored, thank you Melanie!

So, from Melanie's blog post, here are the rules (Oh my! And, yes, I have recently read 50 Shades of Grey ;):

a) Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
b) Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.
c) Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
d) Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.
e) Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

So, first, thank you Melanie! I'm honored that you thought of me when you were giving out the award. :-) I've put a link to Melanie's blog, Writerly Goodness, above, but I thought I'd include it here as well.

My fifteen nominees, in no particular order:

- Elizabeth Span Craig: Mystery Writing Is Murder
Elizabeth writes the Memphis Barbeque series for Penguin/Berkley (as Riley Adams), the Southern Quilting mysteries (2012) for Penguin/NAL, and the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink. She blogs daily at Mystery Writing is Murder, which was named by Writer’s Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers for 2010, 2011, and 2012.

- Seth Godin's Blog
 The man needs no introduction and I would be hard pressed to winnow his interests down to just a few areas. Here are a couple of articles about him:
Seth Godin: How To Change Your Luck
Seth Godin: The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread (includes a link to his TED talk.)

- Dead Houseplants.
I am a mother of three with an English degree and an obsession with children's and YA literature. I edit children's books part-time for a small, independent publisher. I love teaching and wish I could do more of it. I have a love/hate relationship with writing and think I ought to do more of it.

- Kim Nevile: Faith, trust, pixie dust
I write stories, most of which contain a fairy or two. On this blog I write about the things that matter to me. When I'm not making stuff up I also love taking photographs. All the photos here are my own. If you're still curious, find out more on my About page.

- The Land of Deborah. Singer, songwriter, composer.
Deborah isn't a writer, but she is definitely a fellow creative. Here's her YouTube channel [link].

- Failure Ahoy! Adventures in Digital Publishing
I'm a sci-fi/fantasy author, freelancer, and movie critic, which as far as jobs go is among them. I enjoy kung fu, which I'm all right at, and my aquarium, which kills more fish than StarKist. I'm not too happy about that.
(Ed Robertson has a terrific blog that is, among other things, filled with statistics on different strategies for selling books on Amazon. A must read for indie authors.)

- Ghostwriter Dad: Helping good writers make a great living online
His tagline says it all. Great writer, great advice.

I'm going to have to split this post into two, it's getting so long! 7 today, 8 tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

btw, I tried to avoid overlap with the links I gave out in a recent post, Great Writing Blogs, but Elizabeth's blog and books are just too good not to mention again!

Short Story: A Night In The Country, Part Two

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Writer's Rejoice!

In her latest blog post, The Business Rusch: The “Brutal” 2000-Word Day, Kris Rusch discusses the beak future traditionally published writers are facing, even bestselling writers. Given this, you might be puzzled by my blog title: Writer's Rejoice. I promise I'll get there.

Overall, the amount of money traditional publishers have made is not going down, if anything it's going up, while at the same time print sales in every category are going down. Of course what's making up the difference is the burgeoning ebook market.

The big question: What effect are fewer print sales and ever increasing digital sales having on writers?

The answer: It's not good. Since traditional publishers give much lower royalties and few advances for ebooks, writers have to work more to earn the same amount of money.

But that's not all.

Because of indie writers, traditional publishers find their market shrinking. One consequence of this is that publishers expect authors to sell a higher percentage of their print runs. If they don't, they're dropped.

So, is the outlook for writers going from bleak to absolutely abysmal? No, it's not. There's some very good news hidden in the numbers. It's this:

In order to make a living as a writer you don't have to be traditionally published.

Terri Giuliano Long writes:

Today, many talented authors choose the self-publishing route and they do it for a variety of reasons. Jackie Collins recently shocked the literary world with her announcement that she planned to self-publish a new, rewritten version of her novel "The Bitch". “Times are changing,” Collins said of her decision, “and technology is changing, so I wanted to experiment with this growing trend of self-publishing.”

Industry superstars like New York Times bestselling authors Barbara Freethy and C.J. Lyons use self-publishing platforms to market their out-of-print backlists. Other authors are drawn to self-publishing because of its flexibility, the ability to publish within their own timeframe, for instance—perhaps to leverage topical interest or mark an anniversary. Others authors self-publish out of a desire for artistic control.

Self-publishing can also be a practical way to build an audience. Today, publishers expect authors to have a solid platform. By self-publishing, emerging authors can build the fan base necessary to attract a traditional publisher for their next work. Other authors, long-timers as well as newbies, feel they can make more money on their own. At $2.99 a pop, authors earn nearly $2.00 on every eBook sale. Even at 99¢, with average royalties of 33¢ to 60¢, earnings on a hot-selling book can quickly out-pace the meager advance offered to all but the superstars by a traditional house.
- Sticks & Stones: The Changing Politics of the Self-Publishing Stigma

I think the mantra of the writer these days is: be flexible. Seek out new markets and experiment.

Hopefully, despite the doom and gloom we're hearing about the publishing industry these days (Simon Says, Agent Fail) it is a time for writers to rejoice and embrace the new.

Well, that's my two cents.

Note: After I finished the rough draft of this post I noticed Joe Konrath posted a blog that touches on a few of the same issues: Exploited Writers in an Unfair Industry. Joe gives a great summary of the state of publishing today and how we got here. Well worth the read.

Related articles:
- Writers: Don't Despair
- Writers Despair

Why Dropbox Is A Writer's Best Friend

My brand new wonderful computer isn't working. I try to boot it up and electricity starts to surge, willy-nilly, through its circuits. That's never good.

Due to my computer being temporarily out of commission, I wasn't able to meet a writing deadline because my completed, vetted, manuscript (A Night In The Country) was on the malfunctioning machine and therefore inaccessible. If my story had have been on Dropbox -- and after this ALL my stories are going on Dropbox -- this wouldn't have happened. I have another computer--the one I'm using to type this post, one I've had since the stone age--and it works just fine. I could have used this computer to access my manuscript on Dropbox and meet my deadline.

But enough about me and my woes. I think Dropbox is the perfect solution for writers, even if you don't travel a lot, or have multiple devises you shuttle between each day. Because, as I'm experiencing right now, you never know when your machine is going to go down. (And yes, if I had backed up my work, I wouldn't be in this fix either. I know, I know.) But, again, enough about me.

Dropbox is free up to 2 gigabytes of storage and 2 gigs of stories is a lot. If you're Stephen King you might go over and have to pay, but if you're Stephen King I think you could afford 9.99 dollars a month!

In case anyone is unfamiliar with Dropbox, it allows users to store files in cloud storage and provides file synchronization across devices. My favorite feature is that it keeps a one-month history of your file revisions and any of those revisions can be undone. Here's a complete list of Dropbox features.


Note: I wrote this post yesterday and (* loud cheers *) my computer is working again. I'll be publishing the next installment in my A Night In The Country series later today.

Karen Woodward: A Night In The Country, Index

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The CW Making The Hollows Series (Kim Harrison) Into A TV Show

I am a huge, enormous, fan of Kim Harrison's The Hollow's series. I'm one of those people who rolls out of bed and thinks, 'Only X days till her next Hollows book!" and then I do a little happy dance. Well, in my imagination I do. No dancing before morning coffee; it's a rule.

Last October I heard stirrings there might be a Hollow's TV series, but didn't want to get too excited in case it didn't pan out.

Well, looks like I needn't have worried. Here's an excerpt of an article I just read on fearnet.com:

What can you tell us about the CW's TV series adaptation of The Hollows?

I don't have a whole lot of information on that yet. I'll know a lot more in June. But what I can tell you is that CW has picked it up. Jordan Hawley, he's the guy who worked on Smallville, he is writing the pilot right now, and they're aiming for the 2012-2013 season. Like I said, by June I should know about cast members and filming and all sorts of things. But it's Hollywood – they get easily distracted. [Laughs.] It seems like they feel very strongly about it, and I feel pretty good about the progress that's being made.

It seems like the perfect story for the current television climate, which has been so receptive to TV shows like The Vampire Diaries and True Blood.

And yet it's completely different. It's got a different feel to it, and I think that CW can pull that out and put it on the small screen. I really think it can rock and roll.

Have you thought once or twice about who you might like to see portray Rachel or her partner Ivy?

Oh people ask me that all the time! I actually watch movies more than TV, so I don't know what the current crop of available people are to tell you the honest truth. But my readers have very strong opinions, and they will drop suggestions at my blog. I've got a special section, and they go and dump all sorts of suggestions. I try not to look too much because I know I probably won't have a whole lot of say in it. And I feel comfortable trusting them in this. They know the talent a lot better than I do.

Since the TV announcement, as you said, will come in June, is there any chance we'll see you at Comic-Con in July?

That's a good question. I wasn't planning on it. But I have a very small ship that can turn very quickly if I feel like it. So I wouldn't discount it, but I am not planning on it at this time. I've got a lot of writing I need to get done between now and then. We'll see. If it works out I will be there, but I'm not counting on it.
- Exclusive: Kim Harrison on ‘The Hollows' TV Show

I'll pass along more information as I get it.

Link:
- Kim Harrison's Books

An Indie Writer Shares His Experience With KDP Select

I've written a few posts about publishing on Amazon and tried to say something intelligent, or at least intelligible, about KDP Select and whether paying the price of exclusivity with Amazon for the perks of being in its lending library are worth it.  (For those who don't know, in order to enroll your book in Amazon's KDP Select program one cannot publish that book anywhere else, not even ones own website.)

Fortunately Derek Haines has shared his experience with KDP Select. He writes:

If my conclusion about KDP Select was purely based on the number of borrowed books and having the ability to give my books away, of course I would be out. But there’s just one rather strange consequence that I’ve noticed since joining. My ebook sales keep increasing each month. For the life of me I can’t really put my finger on the reason though. Perhaps it’s all because of the free books, or maybe because I’ve changed deodorant. I really don’t know. But giving Amazon exclusivity has resulted in far, far more sales for me and more than make up for the few ebooks I used to sell on other retailers each month. As well as that it’s much easier to keep track of payments from just one source.
- The Vandal

 Thanks Derek! This is the kind of information indie authors love, it's good of you to share.

By the way, Derek's blog, The Vandal, is an excellent place to get tips about writing, blogging and the entire world of writing.

Related Articles:
- Amazon's Ranking Algorithm Has Changed: what this means for indie authors
- Self Publishing on Amazon: Kindle Direct Publishing