Posting this early, instead of tomorrow, because I'll be really busy tomorrow.
I've spent some time on the Amazon Kindle Discussion Forums. There is so much to learn, and I'm a Kindle addict. I've gotten some response to my books posting on the forum. Many indie writers make posts with their books as links at the bottom of their posts. Some do over-the-top promotion. There are lively debates between readers and authors as to whether or not self-promoting on the Kindle Forums is a good thing. Some readers like finding out about new books this way. Some readers hate the spam promotions. Overall, I think there is a balance. Readers like writers who engage in conversations and don't just spam their books. Writers have met other writers and made friends and read each others' books. It's worth checking out if you have a book on Kindle, or just have a Kindle and want to learn about more books and Kindle-related topics.
Another site I found from reading the Amazon forums is Kindle Boards. This place is more receptive to author promotion and there are tons of threads about cheap books that are good reads. I received a warm welcome when I joined a few days ago. You can make links to your books that are on Kindle in your signature. They have a Link-Maker program that allows you to find your book on Amazon, copy the URL for either a text or image of your book cover link. The discussions are great. I spent well over an hour just reading threads. So many books, so little time.
Many people talk and blog about the changes of Kindle's letting authors publish their books without a publisher. People with Kindles have so much more variety to choose from. Will this indie book trend start taking over publishing as we know it? The only problem I see when I read indie books is the editing. For me, the best bonus of having a publisher is the professional editing. I've given some thought to offering editing services for a low price to these indie authors, but I don't know how to go about that exactly. I'm moving in the direction of editing rather than writing (although I want to still write) and wonder if a Kindle Publishing Company is possible. I read a post on one of my freelance writing sites that I check every day that someone is putting something like this together.
What are your thoughts on all this?
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Kindle Forums to Get Work Noticed and Learn about Good Reads
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2 comments:
I have been wanting to check out the Amazon and Kindle forums for a while now and see how promoting and talking with fellow authors and readers would help sales of Once Upon a December Nightmare. Right now, I don't have the time, but perhaps soon.
I love Kindle books, and I've had Indie authors ask me to read and review their books. I agree that the lack of publisher editing can be a problem, even with the ones that had a professional editor read over their manuscript. Of course, I've read some publisher published books that could've used better editing.
I think it would be neat if they had a Kindle Publishing Company or something along those lines, but it might interfere with the other publishers out there. I don't know.
I do follow Jessica Bell's blog, http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com, and she offers editing services. You can see on her pages how to set something like that up. Facebook and Twitter can be ways to go, too, to offer those things to people.
Wow, Cherie wrote her own mini blog post in the comments!
I've seen these forums and thought about doing promo, but I was a scaredy cat.
Now I think I should at least start reading them and join!
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