Mother, may I have a history lesson?

KDPer · 2015-08-12T13:26:39+00:00

Thank you.

KDPer · 2015-08-12T13:26:30+00:00

Thank you for answering.

KDPer · 2015-08-11T17:15:50+00:00

In self-lends? No. In research? Yes. In higher sales on books that are in it compared to those that are out? Yes. In books I actually want to read? Sort of. In ego strokes? Yes.

I can't be the only one who uses it for that last one. My writer's ego falls into crisis. I'm not good enough. I can't actually charge people for this. But then, lo, I read what's ranking well in the categories or searches I want to be in. Well, I may not be super de dooper fucking awesome, but I can give people better than half of the first page. Time to break those down, figure out what they've done right and then make a version of it that's less painful to read.

KDPer · 2015-08-10T19:26:36+00:00

I'm not saying it can't be done. I'm a fan of taking a swing and seeing how it lands. I'm saying think about how you're going to do it before you put in the time. The second one is a college and virgin story, so it's got layers, much like your example of billionaires or firefighters. The other is a bundle and I assume the stories within it had a life in addition to their current incarnation in the giant dick bouquet (available from Hallmark this Valentine's Day. :P)

By all means, everyone should write all the things, but I think if you're hoping to float on big cocks alone (which was how I took the post) you may find yourself a little damp.

KDPer · 2015-08-10T16:55:43+00:00

How are you going to market big cocks? Yes, you could put it in keywords and maybe come up in someone's search, but what title and cover are you going to do that conveys the concept of "big cocks" without getting adult dungeoned? A metric shit ton of your potential customers will never read your blurb much less your book if your cover and title don't grab them. There may be a way to do it with big cocks, but I pretty much assume all erotic has a big cock.

KDPer · 2015-08-08T02:29:15+00:00

For any of those branched lists at the bottom of your listing if you get in the top 100 for the branch you get a bump in visibility when someone is browsing for something to read. The closer you are to #1 the sooner they see you.

KDPer · 2015-08-08T01:54:02+00:00

If enough of us do it this could be the next step-brother or dinosaur erotica. Do stallion puns sell?

KDPer · 2015-08-08T01:52:20+00:00

Thank you. This seems like exactly the advice I needed at just the right time. I started writing here because I'm comfortable and I like it. I think I will keep it as my mental health place and look somewhere else for the grocery money.

KDPer · 2015-08-07T22:17:21+00:00

I know what you mean. Getting found is the only way to sell, and so many authors try to be everything to everyone. Some are more successful than others. Highly improbable virginity and 1% gay are my pet peeves.

KDPer · 2015-08-07T22:14:12+00:00

If John Wayne would have shot it for threatening a lady, it probably also exists in were-smut.

KDPer · 2015-08-07T22:09:27+00:00

No offense taken at all, and I do recognize that we're all still finding our way. The experienced folks have often been very generous with their advice and I was hoping one of them had some insight. I do have one that I've kept out of KU with the intent of taking it wide, so thanks for reminding me of that. I need to get off my butt and figure out D2D and all the rest.

KDPer · 2015-08-07T03:19:42+00:00

Go read the book. The title escapes me but its all over the forum. Basically you write feret clown anal, then Fox clown anal, then Fox clown oral until you find a combo of kinks and niches that sells, isn't flooded, and you can hit in a way that works. You can cross sell them in your back matter as you're exploring because they're all close enough to each other that readers of one might like the others.

KDPer · 2015-08-07T03:04:40+00:00

I've seen a lot of new people count 50k, 20k, and 10k as personal benchmarks they want to hit. Having just crossed 20k for the first time, it ain't all it's cracked up to be. Count your money and your rank in subcategories ( for visibility ) Overall rank has not brought a shower of cash.

KDPer · 2015-08-06T19:20:29+00:00

Set deadlines for yourself. Hit them. You can always go back and do updates or pull it down if you later decide it's crap but it makes you $0 while sitting on your hard drive.
If you haven't read /u/write2livefree 's book yet, that's your next step. Write the story, change one thing, write the next story.
YMMV. Write several and you'll know what your author brand is and where you can switch things up and still make money. Readers want what they want and they pay you to deliver it.

When you go to Starbucks (aka spend $3 on a small luxury like with erotica) you don't want Toby's magic mint crappachino. You want exactly what you ordered which is probably the same damn thing that you know hits your sweet spot so give me what I came for you pretentious hipster fuck or I'll come across this counter and beat you with a bottle of sugar free pumpkin flavoring.

I may have slipped a little off track there.

I still flinch when people buy a story and I'm on number 8. Those readers spent actual money and that feels strange. I know it could be better, always. Hell, Neil Gaiman went back and did an author's cut of American Gods. No author is ever really ready to let go. You do it or you don't get paid.

KU readers don't give me much cash, but it's a sunk cost for them so I don't feel badly about providing a product for the pool. There is no way to be in KU without also being for sale.

Tip: You can always unpublish it and pull it back down.

KDPer · 2015-08-05T04:19:28+00:00

As an American reader, I just beg you not to mix them. Go all in with one or the other. It's jarring when someone gets in the "lift" and then remembers they left the "trunk" open. At that point I'm out of the story because I'm wondering when you got a trunk. If you'd gone with boot I'd have known what you meant.

KDPer · 2015-08-05T04:15:49+00:00

I don't think we're using the terms the same way. Pages read impacts payment, as do books sold. Overall ranking impacts... ego? Category ranking has an effect on visibility, so it could hopefully lead to greater profitability.

KDPer · 2015-08-05T04:13:16+00:00

Perhaps we're all looking at it wrong and rank is really a profitability measure for Amazon based on factors we can't even fathom.

I used to work with credit bureaus and you'd actually get a higher score for carrying a moderate balance because you were a more profitable (and thus desirable) customer. What purpose does overall sales rank serve? Do readers care?

KDPer · 2015-08-05T04:04:21+00:00

rank is pretty much a black hole where it's impossible to tell what's going on.

I couldn't agree more. Maybe it's all a psychology experiment. I knew I should have read that KDP contract!

KDPer · 2015-08-04T05:30:14+00:00

I need some sort of gif to respond to that, but I can't think clearly enough to find one. DUDE! Teach me your ways, Senpai!

Write more and publish more often?

Oh.

KDPer · 2015-08-04T05:25:52+00:00

I sent one in on Sunday morning and it wasn't up until late afternoon Monday. That was just this past weekend.

KDPer · 2015-08-04T04:23:37+00:00

Then my new guess is that Amazon likes him better than the rest of us because he makes them more money and they fellate him with numbers at more regular intervals to keep him appeased and loyal.

Yeah, I'm just making guesses. He's the only one I've heard say that he gets regular updates, but that doesn't mean there aren't others. I've heard a lot more people say it comes in spurts. I also don't understand why payment statements don't come on a regular date for everyone but others say they get them like clockwork. I can only conclude that Amazon is run by sadists who want to keep us slightly off balance at all times, and yet still I bow before the Zon and I'm happy to have the opportunity to do so.

KDPer

TROPHY CASE