I usually post something about the Kindle Direct Publishing Newsletter, and this time I'm excited because KDP is now in Japan. I have a nice readership there and I hear from these readers all the time. Though I've never been there, it's in the top ten of my places to visit list. And I've been collecting vintage Satsuma for many years (photo above). To the point of obsession. There's just something about it that relaxes me.
In any event, this is from my inbox:
Announcing KDP in Japan
We are very excited to announce Kindle Direct Publishing is now available in Japan! Your KDP published books are now available in the Japanese Kindle store, provided you had indicated rights to distribute in Japan when publishing your book. To review your preferences for a title sold in Japan, simply visit your KDP bookshelf. Visit kdp.amazon.co.jp to publish your books in Japanese, or any KDP supported language, and you can experience chats in the Community Forum or interactions with customer service in Japanese.
NaNoWriMo 2012: The CreateSpace & KDP Chronicles, Part 1
Around the world, hundreds of thousands of authors are beginning National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It's a month of furious writing to reach a 50,000-word goal in 30 days, and authors at CreateSpace and KDP are getting in on the action. Even some of our colleagues from both sides are taking the challenge and will be using their free time to write those novels alongside you. Click here to read more.
Marketing Tidbit of the Month
How to Connect with Your Readers
What is best-selling author Karen McQuestion’s secret to connecting with her fans? Establish a personal connection with readers by holding drawings on your blogs and social media where you give away copies of your books. When you send out the book to the winner, include a personal note and encourage them to write a review on Amazon. Don’t take your readers for granted and respond to your reader’s comments on social media and on your blog. For more tips on connecting with your readers from our CreateSpace friends, please click here.
Your Voice: KDP Author Aaron Patterson
Aaron Patterson, author of Sweet Dreams, shares his experiences with KDP.
I am excited for the future and can't wait to see what Amazon rolls out next.
I worked construction for 11 years when I decided to write my first novel Sweet Dreams in 2008. I never imagined I would even finish, let alone have 'real' people read it! When I was done with the first draft, I began looking into how to publish. I soon realized that it was one-big-mess. I was one of the lucky ones, as I never have written a query letter or submitted to a publisher. I decided to start my own publishing house (StoneHouse Ink) instead. Most writers will look for an agent and try to get a big publisher but I did not want to spend years looking when I could do so much on my own.
Starting my own publishing house was not a hard decision, and I knew that my worth as a writer, was not in gaining the approval of a publisher. As I researched Amazon and how to go about publishing a book I found the KDP program. It was really easy to use and I figured, "What the heck!." I did not even know what an eBook was but did not want to miss out on another way to sell my book.
Three years later, I now have 40 authors and over 60 titles, and I get to work with international bestsellers like Vincent Zandri, Les Edgerton, Melody Carlson, and many others. My own books, because of KDP and the services Amazon has to offer, have allowed me to go from, out of work and living on food stamps, to a full time income. Now that I am a full time writer, I must admit, I am a little spoiled. I don't think I could ever work a 'real' job ever again.
After publishing that first novel at the end of 2008, that first year I did not have much in sales. I found out about eBooks and began to market online through social media. My sales went from 12 downloads a month to 2,000-4,000 downloads a month in just one year! Today, with four titles to my name and a few short stories, this month I will move multiples of that number. This is HUGE, amazing and should I say it? EPIC! I know... and to top it off, the KDP Select program has helped to make our titles with StoneHouse Ink go crazy. We moved over 60,000 copies just a few months ago on one of our titles, The Lonely Mile by Allan Leverone.
I get asked all the time, "What is your secret?" Work. I look at my writing as a job. By educating myself I learned how to use social media and the other platforms Amazon has to offer, such as Search Inside The Book, CreateSpace, Author Central, and KDP Select. All these tools helped to get me where I am today.
I am excited for the future and can't wait to see what Amazon rolls out next.
- Aaron Patterson
Featured KDP Books
77 Days in September by Ray Gorham
On a Friday afternoon before Labor Day, Americans are getting ready for the holiday weekend, completely unaware of a long-planned terrorist plot about to be launched against the country. Kyle Tait is settling in for his flight home to Montana when a single nuclear bomb is detonated 300 miles above the heart of America. 77 Days in September follows Kyle and his wife, Jennifer, as they are stretched past their breaking point, but find in their devotion to each other the strength to persevere.
On a Friday afternoon before Labor Day, Americans are getting ready for the holiday weekend, completely unaware of a long-planned terrorist plot about to be launched against the country. Kyle Tait is settling in for his flight home to Montana when a single nuclear bomb is detonated 300 miles above the heart of America. 77 Days in September follows Kyle and his wife, Jennifer, as they are stretched past their breaking point, but find in their devotion to each other the strength to persevere.
Deity (Covenant) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Alexandria isn’t sure she’s going to make it to her eighteenth birthday--to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, she’s a goner... and so is Aiden. But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and she’s caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed… and destroyed.
Confessions of an Alli Cat (The Cougar Chronicles, #1) by Courtney Cole
Thirty-five year-old Allison "Alli" Lancaster has it all--a fabulous job, a beautiful 15 year-old daughter, a hilarious BFF and a gorgeous house with a pool and Jacuzzi in an exclusive Las Vegas neighborhood. What she doesn't have is a husband, because she kicked her lousy, cheating ex to the curb nine months ago. She also never thought she'd meet someone else who had the very real potential to change her life forever. Enter the new guy. He's gorgeous, refined and mature. He's also marriage material. But that poses a problem for Alli, who renounced the institution of marriage when she renounced her ex. What's a girl to do?
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