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quote:hm okay, so Goodreads basically won't affect it much. I mean, I didn't realize 3.7 is decent (didn't use GR much before starting this). I guess I should stop obsessively hitting refresh now. Users on Goodreads have a completely different definition for their reviews than have people on Amazon. Goodreads: 5 star = best thing ever. 4 star = Super amazing great. 3 star = I liked it. 2 star = It was okay, possibly some flaws. 1 star = poo poo. Amazon: 5 star = It was what I was expecting. 4 star = Pretty good, maybe a few flaws. 3 star = Okay, big flaws. 2 star = It was terrible and here's why. 1 star = Scam, broken, or reviewer is a dumbass. My most-rated book over on Goodreads has 1,121 reviews and a 3.78 average. On Amazon, it has 131 reviews and a 4.5-star average. Every other book has a similar trend. Great reviews on Amazon, mediocre on Goodreads even among people who rave about how much they liked it. In some cases, the same person left a 5-star on Amazon and a 3-star on Goodreads. (This is also one of the potential problems with courting goodreads as a primary source of sales, by the way. A lot of them refuse to leave reviews on Amazon.) quote:Goodreads is a great place to mine for reviews on Amazon, however. Just send a polite note thanking them for giving your book a rating on Goodreads and request that they write a short review on Amazon (give them the link so they don't have to hunt for it). I think my conversion for requests is about 1 review for every 7-10 people asked. EXACTLY. Cherry-pick review requests from people who love your genre or books similar to yours, and who tend to leave 5-star reviews or 4-stars on Goodreads. Totally worth it. Sundae fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Feb 4, 2015 |
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Feb 4, 2015 17:37
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Sundae posted:Users on Goodreads have a completely different definition for their reviews than have people on Amazon. wow, okay, I'm glad I posted. I was starting to feel a little worried. I think the advice to cherry pick my reviewers on GR and Amazon is fantastic. I'm absolutely going to do that. A lot of the people I've sent ARCs to seem to have a pretty good idea about what's up, so I'm hoping the people who actually remember to leave a review on Amazon will do me a solid and make it a 4 or 5 star. I mean, most people seemed to like it enough, and a few have said they'd read the next one, too. It's still amazing to me. I mean, I know I haven't made any sales yet, but people are actually reading it. I feel pretty good.
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Feb 4, 2015 17:51
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EngineerSean posted:3.76 is actually a pretty high rating on Goodreads. So what do you do if you get a 1 star review early on and the book tanks?
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Feb 4, 2015 23:03
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Drink heavily as you silently seethe, glaring at the bartender and wondering if maybe, just maybe he's the one who left the review. Then you wait until he goes out to his car that night and... go back to your apartment, unpublish and repub under a new ASIN.  Honestly, what you do depends on what your launch strategy was. If nobody really knew it was coming out anyway, you might as well do the unpub/repub. If you have a ton of reviewers or gave tons of free copies away or something, then it's a tougher question.
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Feb 4, 2015 23:42
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Sundae posted:Drink heavily as you silently seethe, glaring at the bartender and wondering if maybe, just maybe he's the one who left the review. Then you wait until he goes out to his car that night and... go back to your apartment, unpublish and repub under a new ASIN. You can just pull it down then repost it? Do you have to put it under a different title or whatever? How much do you have to change to get a new ASIN?
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Feb 5, 2015 00:14
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You'd make a completely new upload with the same title, cover, blurb, etc after pulling the other. Edit: Apparently this is wrong. I am stupid and deserve your scorn. Sundae fucked around with this message at 01:01 on Feb 5, 2015 |
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Feb 5, 2015 00:24
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Sundae posted:You'd make a completely new upload with the same title, cover, blurb, etc after pulling the other. I've done this and it basically kept the review somehow.
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Feb 5, 2015 00:33
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Yeah if you specifically keep the same cover and title they will link.
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Feb 5, 2015 00:57
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Seriously? I've never had them link like that before. I've had them link when I didn't have the same stuff and they weren't even the same item, but never when they were. I retract my statement, then! 
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Feb 5, 2015 01:00
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Sundae posted:Seriously? I've never had them link like that before. I've had them link when I didn't have the same stuff and they weren't even the same item, but never when they were. We've basically counted on this in the past since KDP has no partial transfer-of-rights procedure.
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Feb 5, 2015 02:05
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EngineerSean posted:We've basically counted on this in the past since KDP has no partial transfer-of-rights procedure. Ahh, yeah you'd need that with your PYP stuff.
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Feb 5, 2015 02:12
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Hey guys, what stock image sites do you use? I'm thinking about making some promo banners and such, but shutterstock is 2 images for ~30 bucks, which doesn't seem very economical to me. Any suggestions?
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Feb 6, 2015 23:38
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the brotherly phl posted:Hey guys, what stock image sites do you use? I'm thinking about making some promo banners and such, but shutterstock is 2 images for ~30 bucks, which doesn't seem very economical to me. Any suggestions? Depositphotos using a popular Mightydeals package deal that pops up from time to time. Good site, good selection, good ToS, etc.
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Feb 6, 2015 23:58
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the brotherly phl posted:Hey guys, what stock image sites do you use? I'm thinking about making some promo banners and such, but shutterstock is 2 images for ~30 bucks, which doesn't seem very economical to me. Any suggestions? Depositphotos is my go to, as Trustworthy mentioned. I picked up 100 download credits for $40 a while ago. There's also BigStockPhoto.com, and a few times a year they'll have a special deal where you sign up and for ten days you can download ten images each day. If you fail to cancel, they hit you with a $79 charge for the month. I made sure to cancel after 7 days. Seventy free stock photos: hard to beat it. Edit: There's also dollarphotoclub but I've never used it.
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Feb 7, 2015 03:59
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Awesome, thanks! Depositphotos is already way more affordable than shutterstock, even without the mightydeals. But I'm going to keep an eye out for the deal.
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Feb 7, 2015 17:11
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Canstock. Fotolia.
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Feb 8, 2015 03:31
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Man, my sales on D2D are down like 90% this month. Dunno what the hell happened.
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Feb 11, 2015 14:02
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ravenkult posted:Man, my sales on D2D are down like 90% this month. Dunno what the hell happened. Are there seasonal swings in horror like there are in romance? I honestly don't know.
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Feb 11, 2015 18:48
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Is February slow for romance?
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Feb 11, 2015 19:16
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ravenkult posted:Is February slow for romance? nah it's huge, especially with Fifty $hade$ of Gray coming out
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Feb 11, 2015 19:22
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I cannot wait to see how badly that movie bombs. I'm predicting a box office flop and miserable reviews, possibly a new cult film for just how bad it'll be. The sad thing is that I can't even drink myself into oblivion when I'm wrong. 
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Feb 11, 2015 19:37
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Sundae posted:I cannot wait to see how badly that movie bombs. I'm predicting a box office flop and miserable reviews, possibly a new cult film for just how bad it'll be. I'm on my phone right now so I can't look it up but have you seen the videos where it's clear that the two leads hate each other. I'm going to be thinking about that the entire time I watch it. By the way I agree that it'll get miserable reviews but then again so did the book, this movie is going to be huge commercially.
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Feb 11, 2015 19:51
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EngineerSean posted:I'm on my phone right now so I can't look it up but have you seen the videos where it's clear that the two leads hate each other. I'm going to be thinking about that the entire time I watch it. Oh yeah, I saw the stuff about the two leads. That's the part I'm crossing my fingers for most--the potential for chemistry faked so badly that it's hilarious. I wish I could convince my wife to go see it with me. I think it's going to be well worth laughing at, if nothing else, and I'd rather not be alone when the fan base inevitably beats me to death in my seat. I am a terrible human being.
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Feb 11, 2015 20:11
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Every time I have seen an excerpt from the Fifty Shades books posted online, I'm agog at how terrible the writing is. THIS is what's become such a huge phenomenon?
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Feb 11, 2015 20:56
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I think that really goes to show that the quality of writing itself isn't something people necessarily look for in a story. They're looking for an experience of a certain sort (especially when it comes to romance) and they're often willing to forgive a lot of bad writing and storytelling if the story and experience behind those things is what they're seeking.
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Feb 11, 2015 20:58
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Sundae posted:I cannot wait to see how badly that movie bombs. I'm predicting a box office flop and miserable reviews, possibly a new cult film for just how bad it'll be. I'm going to go on record and say it will be a massive box office success. the early reviews range from "it's not bad!" to "it's pretty good!" and most complaints are that there's not enough sex in it. Considering the rumors that 20% (25 minutes) of the 125 minute movie are sex scenes, people pretty much want porn. february is huge for romance movies, and this will be the king of those.
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Feb 11, 2015 21:32
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It'll be a smash, we'll have a year of cheap porn ripoffs, the genre that shall not be named will do well off the back of it and meanwhile we will all seethe on the inside at how terrible writing has yet again managed to outsell the combined incomes of everyone in this thread. My Facebook feed seems to be all about how it's about abuse and rape, but that's probably more of a reflection on my Facebook friends rather than the film.
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Feb 11, 2015 21:52
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Faded Mars posted:I think that really goes to show that the quality of writing itself isn't something people necessarily look for in a story. They're looking for an experience of a certain sort (especially when it comes to romance) and they're often willing to forgive a lot of bad writing and storytelling if the story and experience behind those things is what they're seeking. I think it's less to do with forgiving it and more to do with being unable to identify it in the first place.
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Feb 11, 2015 22:51
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Hijinks Ensue posted:Every time I have seen an excerpt from the Fifty Shades books posted online, I'm agog at how terrible the writing is. THIS is what's become such a huge phenomenon? The terrible writing actually gives me hope. I think, if that garbage can sell, then something I write probably can, too. Who knows. But the standards are clearly not super high, prose-wise.
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Feb 12, 2015 00:07
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Bobby Deluxe posted:It'll be a smash, we'll have a year of cheap porn ripoffs, the genre that shall not be named will do well off the back of it and meanwhile we will all seethe on the inside at how terrible writing has yet again managed to outsell the combined incomes of everyone in this thread. The BDSM community hate it because it's basically a BDSM book written by someone without an understanding of it giving a false and dangerous impression of the community. I guess it's either a lesson to do good research, or maybe a lesson that it doesn't always matter. I guess I really like The Three Musketeers a lot but I'm pretty sure the history is wrong in several places but I love it anyway. However with that one it seems to be Dumas was likely aware and it was just necessary for story. Grey arguably could have been pretty much the same with more informed writing I guess. I'm not sure what point I'm trying to make. I suppose in either case readers seem to like confidence, informed or otherwise. Don't beat around the bush of you're not sure about something, commit to your words, story, and atmosphere - it's the only way to make a refer feel secure. Self pub books debatably need that for the fell of professionalism more than trade pub.
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Feb 12, 2015 01:58
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It's actually kind of a refutation of the old adage of "write what you know," which is both heartening and disheartening in equal measure. I mean, it gives me hope that my story about which I have no practical experience can still be appreciated by people who are just interested enough in the subject matter to overlook the various minor gaffes I'll likely include. But on the other hand, all the effort and work that people put into their stories for that "crucial" verisimilitude... Well, it may not be so crucial at all. But I mean really, we're just talking about people who are discovering and exploring a new kink, which is frankly not the hardest sell.
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Feb 12, 2015 05:10
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Amazon hosed up a whole bunch of the 1099s. They are re-sending them and alerting affected people via email. I never get Amazon emails so I'm just going to sit tight until next week, which is when the corrected 1099s should arrive.
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Feb 12, 2015 05:54
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Imperfect posted:But I mean really, we're just talking about people who are discovering and exploring a new kink, which is frankly not the hardest sell. Other people have said that he changes it and she uses the wrong one, or something. There are other things, like zero aftercare and him straight up getting her drunk and intimidating her into sex. I haven't read it though so I don't want to be one of those people. It just concerns me that people are going to get into bondage thinking that this is an acceptable way of doing things.
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Feb 12, 2015 12:06
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Imperfect posted:It's actually kind of a refutation of the old adage of "write what you know," which is both heartening and disheartening in equal measure. Imagine if the only people who wrote sci-fi were rocket engineers.
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Feb 12, 2015 13:17
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Imagine if the only people who wrote fantasy were dragonslayers.
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Feb 12, 2015 13:52
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ArchangeI posted:Imagine if the only people who wrote sci-fi were rocket engineers. But if you were writing a book about rocket engineers engineering a rocket then I personally think it would be a good idea to at least research rocket engineering somewhat.
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Feb 12, 2015 14:36
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EngineerSean posted:Imagine if the only people who wrote fantasy were dragonslayers. They are in their D&D campaign let me tell you all about it
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Feb 12, 2015 15:12
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quote:Imagine if the only people who wrote fantasy were dragonslayers. Wait, I thought The Hobbit was Tolkien's autobiography. My entire life is a lie. What I hate about the "write what you know" bullshit is that your readers don't usually know it either, but they're more than willing to voice their opinion of how wrong your book was on your reviews. It makes it very frustrating when you did write what you knew. 
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Feb 12, 2015 16:57
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Jalumibnkrayal posted:Amazon hosed up a whole bunch of the 1099s. They are re-sending them and alerting affected people via email. I never get Amazon emails so I'm just going to sit tight until next week, which is when the corrected 1099s should arrive. Online retailers do this almost every year for me. I got really worried the first year until I realized the correction was for an extra 30 cents. I didn't submit a correction to the IRS, I'm a criminal.
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Feb 12, 2015 18:42
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Came to learn the ropes of self-pubbing, stayed for the tax chat.  If I only wrote what I knew, I'd write about middle-aged office ladies issuing W-2c's.
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Feb 12, 2015 19:10
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