I struggled with exactly what to do with The Disembodied. When I finished the novel last fall, I was torn among submitting it to the small press which published two of my earlier novels, self-publish it in order to learn the process, or submit it to a Kindle Scout campaign.
My previous publisher, Damnation Books, was just bought out by Caliburn Press around the time when I finished The Disembodied. I have full confidence in Caliburn since they have two of my novels already and acquired the rights to my third which had also been accepted by Damnation Books. I figured the new owners had a lot of details to iron out and so I decided I didn’t want to wait for them to get their processes up and running. That left self-publishing or Kindle Scout.
I quickly learned that I needed to hire an editor to work on The Disembodied whether I went the self-published route or with the Kindle Scout. So, while my editor was working on The Disembodied I explored the Kindle Scout more thoroughly and decided what the heck. Let’s do it. What really intrigued me more than anything was having the Amazon marketing machine behind me if I was successful in being selected at the end of the 30 day campaign window. Self-promotion is a huge drag and I don’t think I do it well, so the idea of being promoted by Amazon was a convincing factor. More money would be nice, but really, who goes into this to make money? More readers is what I was looking for.
The editorial process took months, since I went with the whole shebang of story editing, copy editing, and line editing – not to mention proofreading. But today, April 30th, 2016, the Kindle Scout Campaign went live. I have no clue if people are nominating it – after all, it is just the first day. I know I did. So, at least there is one vote for me.
Authors can look at a page called “My Campaigns” on Amazon and see their page views and whether they’re considered “hot and trending”. I have no idea what constitutes hot and trending, and I’m not even sure if Amazon tells you. My plan at this stage is to not log into my campaigns to see if I am “hot”. That will only drive me crazy. Instead, I will end up promoting the campaign through social media and try to avoid the temptation of looking. Of course, I say this now.
I’ll be posting more thoughts on the Kindle Scout process and The Disembodied in the weeks to come.
Do you feel like nominating me? Here is the link: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/38077YOXC700J
My previous publisher, Damnation Books, was just bought out by Caliburn Press around the time when I finished The Disembodied. I have full confidence in Caliburn since they have two of my novels already and acquired the rights to my third which had also been accepted by Damnation Books. I figured the new owners had a lot of details to iron out and so I decided I didn’t want to wait for them to get their processes up and running. That left self-publishing or Kindle Scout.
I quickly learned that I needed to hire an editor to work on The Disembodied whether I went the self-published route or with the Kindle Scout. So, while my editor was working on The Disembodied I explored the Kindle Scout more thoroughly and decided what the heck. Let’s do it. What really intrigued me more than anything was having the Amazon marketing machine behind me if I was successful in being selected at the end of the 30 day campaign window. Self-promotion is a huge drag and I don’t think I do it well, so the idea of being promoted by Amazon was a convincing factor. More money would be nice, but really, who goes into this to make money? More readers is what I was looking for.
The editorial process took months, since I went with the whole shebang of story editing, copy editing, and line editing – not to mention proofreading. But today, April 30th, 2016, the Kindle Scout Campaign went live. I have no clue if people are nominating it – after all, it is just the first day. I know I did. So, at least there is one vote for me.
Authors can look at a page called “My Campaigns” on Amazon and see their page views and whether they’re considered “hot and trending”. I have no idea what constitutes hot and trending, and I’m not even sure if Amazon tells you. My plan at this stage is to not log into my campaigns to see if I am “hot”. That will only drive me crazy. Instead, I will end up promoting the campaign through social media and try to avoid the temptation of looking. Of course, I say this now.
I’ll be posting more thoughts on the Kindle Scout process and The Disembodied in the weeks to come.
Do you feel like nominating me? Here is the link: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/38077YOXC700J
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