Blogs about Amazon abound… Amazon is an 800 lb. Gorilla. Amazon
is a monopoly. One author reported in a Facebook page, he was only earning two cents
per book in Amazon’s new royalty structure on borrows (KENP). He is not a happy
camper. As indie authors, we don’t need to get caught up in the rhetoric on the
Web. There is always a hidden agenda and facts not shared. Here is a F.A.C.T. Most
indie authors have not explored Amazon. Some have never read Amazon Terms of Service.
Here is one of the terms. If you put your books in Select, they may not be published
on any other sales venues, i.e. iTunes, Google Play, Barnes and Noble and Kobo.
One author ignored those terms and raised a ruckus because Amazon pulled all of
the author’s books and banned the author from publishing on Amazon for a year. The
author did not mention in the rant that Amazon gives the author a five day notice
to get books removed from other venues. The author ignored those notices. Oops.

Amazon provides a raft of tools and guides for indie authors.
When composing our bios inside Amazon Central, it offers ehow examples. Most don’t
tick that and compose a resume–as if looking for job…instead of creating a bio
that will interest a reader. Top 1000 Amazon Reviewer, Julie Whiteley reminds
authors that readers don’t take an author ego out of her purse while waiting in
dentist office. Readers take out their Kindles. Inside Author Central an author
can add up to five RSS feeds…your blogs stream live across your Amazon Author
page, as well as your Tweets.

On your author page you will see this beneath your photo:

That Follow button is powerful. Encourage your fans and readers
to follow you on Amazon. When you have a new release, Amazon sends out a dedicated
email announcing the new book to the follower. Every author can do this. We are
told time and again to build a platform. I’m not certain what that is…but Amazon
has given us a way to gather followers…yes it has…scroll down to the bottom
of your print edition book page, below the first page of reviews and you will see
this:

Wow! Amazon does all of the work. You can give away a single
print book or five. Up to the author’s budget. You can have entrants follow you
on Amazon, follow you on Twitter or watch a video on YouTube. But by far, following
you on Amazon is more useful. Amazon is where book buyers live and driving a reader
to Amazon is smart.

Inside Your KDP Account you may also tick Promote and Advertise
next to any of your ebook titles and this will come up:

Amazon is getting better at showing those sponsored ads on book
pages where it often shows “Also Bought.” These ads are great for exposure.
I don’t look for sales—yet.

Amazon has sites in thirteen countries. Have you checked your
book on all thirteen sites? Bet not. Ten amazon venues offer Kindle Unlimited subscriptions.
Go HERE for a list. Guess what you can do? Visit all ten Amazon
venues, navigate to your book page…just put in your author name or the title to
your book and the book page comes up…You can Tweet/Facebook and Pin your book
on Pinterest. On the far right and down a bit you will see the icons below. Use
them. See the little envelop. Click it. Up comes a nice short link to your book
to copy & paste on Facebook. You can also edit the Tweet that comes up. I do.
I add #KindleFic and perhaps another hashtag. If the book is FREE or 99c, I add
that. For non-English language sites, I also use Google to translate Read FREE w/Kindle
Unlimited or Special Sale or discounted. You will have to remove some text…I take
out my name. Or if the book is the first in a series…take out the title of the
series. Do the same with your print editions. German and India natives prefer print
editions. Pump your book in those languages. Play with Amazon. You can’t kill it.
And how nice is it to have a readymade tweet from each country?

Every author can build an author page inside Author Central, revise
bios, book descriptions, claim and add books and see the total number of reviews
on your books on amazon.com. Amazon lists all of your reviews inside Author Central…so
easy to grab quotes from reviews for blogs and Tweets. You can also check your author
rank. You want to do that during and after a book promotion. During one book promotion
my author rank was 37. That told me only 37 other authors were out selling my book
in Literary Fiction–which is the category I placed one of my books.

All of the above is just a short list of what I have explored
and used on Amazon. There is much more on the sidebar inside Amazon KDP. When you
want to know how Amazon works, ASK AMAZON, not your colleagues who may give you
misinformation picked up elsewhere. Want to talk to a live person? Say so in ‘contact’.
Amazon will call you within five minutes.

Finally. Yes, there are many indie authors unhappy with Amazon.
I am NOT one of them. My best advice to authors is: Think for Yourself. Make the
best decision you can for your book. We are not entitled to sales and we are not
entitled to reviews. We must work for those. I never like to sign off a blog without
telling you the easiest path to reviews. Put this gentle gem of a plea right after
THE END in your book.

Thank you for taking the
time to read [title]. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or
posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated.
Thank you. [author name].

Does it work? Yes it does. In my two years as an indie author
readers have posted above 1700 organic reviews on my titles. Good luck with your
books in 2016.

For more good advice from Jackie Weger

http://enovelauthorsatwork.com/blogging-a-call-to-action-or-not/

http://enovelauthorsatwork.com/dancin-with-the-flim-flam-man/

The Reluctant Hero

There are a few things Parnell Stillman is dead certain he will
never do:
He’d never fall in love.
He’d never have kids.
He’d never be a hero.

Rebecca Hollis is about to change his mind.

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FJFV6AY/
Available FREE on Kindle Unlimited

Jackie Weger is a traveler of the good earth by foot, boat, bus,
train, plane and pickup. After family and writing, destination travel is always
on her wish list. She hoards her friends and fans and is often humbled by their
kindness. If you asked her what she wants most in life, she says: “A writing
cave, a candle and a good book.”

Website http://jackieweger.com/
Blog http://enovelauthorsatwork.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/JackieWeger
Also Twitter https://twitter.com/eNovelAuthors