April 21, 2015

Why you should put your book on Wattpad ASAP

How do you like the idea of sharing your ebooks for free? If you don't like it, if it doesn't sit well with you, then this blog post is not for you. There are as many ways to get the word out about your book as there are writers. What I'm doing with my books is not considered a traditional way of marketing them. It works for me, it might not work for you.

However, if you're an indie like me who has started with nothing, may I put a bug in your ear and give you an idea that might propel your readership upward? If so, stock up on your favorite snack, make yourself comfortable, and read on.

May 24, 2014

What happens to book sales if your books are FREE

by Ksenia Anske

Let me expand on what I have recently tweeted, and Facebooked, Googled Plussed (is that even a thing?) after a brief interview over the phone with Publishers Weekly that sent my blood boiling. Because. Of course. I mean, who am I? And who is Publishers Weekly? You get the significance. I have to thank Martha Brockenbrough for the referral, so thank you, Martha! They called me to talk about YA books (because ROSEHEAD is sort of YA, isn't it?) and about piracy (because I give my books away for free). And whilst on the phone, they asked me about my numbers. Like, how many books did I sell, since the day I published them? How many free books of mine people have downloaded? Have I make any money? Am I going to make any money? How do I plan to survive? That sort of thing. As much as I hate math, this forced me to go and look at my numbers, and they blew me out of the water. It's nothing like millions, so don't get over-excited here. But it's thousands, and hey, that's like, wow! People have set aside their precious time to read my books? Really? REALLY? Here are the numbers for you, just so you know that even though I give my books away for free, I still sell them too:

February 4, 2014

The best sellers rank mystery, and letting your readers sell your book

by Ksenia Anske

As I'm writing this, I'm high, high on the fact that all 3 SIREN SUICIDES books shot to top 100 books on Amazon in their respective Paranormal & Urban category, #55, #44, and #39 each, the last one surprisingly the highest, although I got more reviews on the first one. Now, I'm still at a loss as to how exactly this whole ranking system works because in the Amazon Best Sellers Rank the books are #1,392, #1,148, and #956 in Free in Kindle Store. So, whatever does this mean? It doesn't seem to mean that my books are in the top 100 (mercy, please, I'm still learning how this works), because it's not the total Amazon number, only the category, as far as I understand, but the number game here is beside the point. I wanted this post to be an encouragement to those of you who are doubting yourself. Because don't. All you have to do it keep writing, reading, and letting those few (because at first it's only very few people who read your work) readers sell your books for you. It's what I did, rowing forward blindly, through fog and rain and hail, writing like mad, giving my books away to anyone who would ask, writing blog posts for anyone who would request it of me, basically, writing, reading, writing, reading, writing, reading every day. And not doing anything else.