Hi everyone From today until 21st May ’19, Grace in Mombasa ebook is discounted from $4.99 to $0.99! Why not watch the 2 min video clip below to see if this is a book you might be interested in?
Sale alert – Grace in Mombasa
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Amazon kdp Select & advertising – is it worth it?
Yes!
Well in my experience anyway, and I’ve been an indie author for three years now. In fact yesterday I removed some of my books from various other sites – from which I had zero sales, and put my books back onto kindle select.
The reason? Well to make money of course. The main reason for putting books onto other sites, for me, was so that I could get a BookBub deal – which are supposed to be amazing, however, after I think about 30 submissions to BookBub with a no-no response I began to wonder if it was worth it. I decided ‘no it’s not’ yesterday, took my books off other sites and returned to good old Amazon kindle select kdp.
Here are some interesting things I’ve learnt recently.
- The average indie author only ever sells around 50 books
- People who know how to use Amazon kdp and advertising move out of being an average indie and earn approx $500 per month and sell a lot more than 50 books
- Out of that $500 around $200 will be from kindle pages read
So the answer to… Is Amazon kdp select and advertising worth it… is a very loud yes!
To make sales and earn money… and get good reviews… you need firstly to enroll in kdp select and then you need to advertise.
However, before you follow the steps in my next blog for setting up your own advertisement campaign with Amazon I need to point out some things.
- The first thing people see is your book cover, if your cover is not eye-catching and appealing then forget about advertising, no amount of pushing your book before people will encourage them to buy if the cover is flat or boring. There are great cover designers out there, if you want me to suggest a couple then please ask in the notes below. In my experience you can get a really good professional cover done for approx $100.
- The Blurb… the blurb… we hates the blurb! Well I do anyway, again if your blurb isn’t punchy and interesting, and pleasing to the eye (in other words do you know your amazon formatting?) forget it, you can spend $100’s on advertising and no one is going to bite. I know a really good company that do blurbs but unfortunately they charge $300. Again, if you would like to know who they are, please ask in the notes below. (ps I’ll tell you a little secret… I paid $300 for the blurb on my first book, it really is a million times better than anything I could do… however, not being able to pay $300 for all the other books I copied and pasted the formatting they gave me – double dutch jargon that makes your blurb stand out as professional on the Amazon pages, and just changed the words to the other books. The blurb itself might not be amazing but at least it is presented well ha ha) I suggest you look for help from friends – especially book readers, and also ask several different book clubs, I belong to three book clubs that I really rate on FB, you pop a post on and get invaluable information and help. This is a good place to put your blurb and listen to the comments that come back.
- Last, but by no means least, the book itself MUST be a) a gripping story and b) edited to perfection. I got this wrong with my first book and I so regret publishing before I was ready. Some readers are vicious, I mean down right uncaring of the years of hard work you’ve put into a book, if the editing is bad they will give you 1* and tell the world your book is not worth reading. Once that review is on there you can’t get it removed, it is there for eternity and once people see that review you have an enormous amount of work to do to try and correct it. Please, please, do not list your book until you have had it proof read by a professional.
So, have you got all the above 3 points done? Then you’re ready to start advertising. My next blog will be a step-by-step guide to setting up an advert that should make you money.
Grace in Mombasa – two endorsements
I’m so excited to say that I will probably have the kindle of Grace in Mombasa up by Friday 23rd November – a whole week early!
I’d like to share with you the two endorsements that I have had for the book.
Tracy Traynor’s writing transports you from World War 1 and 2 England to the courts of heaven, via Mombasa. With characters which pop off the page and straight into your heart, this is a book you will remember for a long time. Wendy H Jones, author and member/webmaster of Association of Christian Writers.
The story of Grace captures the experience of many others who, though quite ordinary by themselves, find that the love of God propels them towards quite extraordinary endeavours. Tracy is the author of Grace’s story but the inspiration was Moira Smith and the author of her story was none other than God himself, described in the Bible as the ‘author and finisher of our faith’. I commend Tracy’s book Grace in Mombasa to you in the hope that, inspired by the story of Grace and Moira, you will become hungry for a story of your own and that you will turn to the great author of all our lives. He already has a story prepared for you” Sean McIntyre, missionary with Barnabas and now minister to the Assembly of God Church in Colchester.
Grace in Mombasa – release date 01/12/18
I am happy to say, that Grace in Mombasa is now with a professional editor being polished.
The release date on Amazon will be Sat 1st December 2018.
I’m so excited and can’t wait for people to read it and find out what they think.
53 days to go….
Review – Antiques and Alibis, by Wendy H. Jones
I have to begin by saying I think the book cover is great! If you want a picture to draw you into a story, this one certainly does. Its atmospheric black and white picture of a moonlit street simply shouts mystery and intrigue, a very good start for a detective novel!
As the blurb tells you, Cass Claymore is a red-headed, motorbike riding, ex-ballerina who inherits her uncle’s detective agency. That alone was enough to tickle my interest buds and make me buy the book.
And I wasn’t disappointed. From the get-go this tongue-in-cheek detective novel had me turning pages.
I really enjoyed the ‘lightness’ not taking itself too seriously, tone of the author. The editing style also helped keep things crisp and easy to read and I found this very easy on the eye and relaxing to read.
The story is well paced and has good structure. I instantly liked Cass Claymore and enjoyed the world-building that was created around her. But I simply fell in love with the dwarf Quill (as apparently all the women around him do). He’s a marvellous character, laid back, smooth talking and totally knows how to wind up Cass, just loved the conversations between the two, and have to say I do hope the author is planning a book two because I want to see more of them.
The only, very slight, downside for me was the ending. It felt rushed, unlike the rest of the book which moves along at a lovely steady pace. One minute something is left on Cass’s doorstep and the next minute (it felt) it was all round-up and over. Who did leave the clue on the doorstep and why did they? That’s too much of an unknown to leave me completely satisfied with the ending of the book.
That said, I totally enjoyed this book and found myself smiling in every chapter, and I would most definitely recommend you read it for yourself if you like murder-mysteries.
To conclude: A great, tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted mystery. Highly recommend.
Should we go to writers conferences?
Until this weekend I wasn’t sure about writers conferences, plus I have discovered I am a terribly indecisive procrastinator! I’m not sure, I’m going, I’ve paid, I’ve canceled, I’ve repaid… seriously, I must have driven the organizers crazy. (Sorry Tanja!)
Before today if you had asked me about a conference I would have answered you with umm’s, maybe’s, and depends. Today, however, I can with confidence say… yes go!
I’m not looking for agents and publishers and I am a very happy indie-author, or as I found out this weekend, an authorpreneur, really like the sound of that.
So where did I go that made me swing like a pendulum, that firmly left me on scales that sunk on the ‘go-for-it’ side? The answer is, The Dublin Writers Conference run by,
Did I learn a bucket full of information from the speakers, well probably as I am so far along the line of being an authorpreneur, (sorry just really fell in love with the word) maybe not. People just starting off on their writing career would certainly have learned massive amounts of useful information though, and to others like them I say, go go go and go quickly, learn how to do it properly and don’t make the mistakes I made. If I had attended a conference like this before I self-published I would have saved myself thousands of pounds… and I’m not kidding.
However, before established indie-authors are put off, I have to rush on and say – there is much more to these conferences than the guest speakers. I met loads, and I mean loads, of lovely people and swapped business cards with numerous attendees. The indie-world of book publishing is blessed with a multitude of authors, artists, and like-minded people, who simply LOVE to help other people, now in what other business can you say that?
I learned tons from my chats with other authors, really invaluable information, and happy to say I was able to offer a couple of people bits of information they didn’t know.
Besides the great atmosphere and the constant exchange between people, we ended Saturday evening with an Irish Ditty session that I shall never forget. Oh, and Michael Neff, should you ever happen upon this post, I am still singing your ditty about authors (to the tune of ‘Would you like to swing on a star’) and I promise never to start a book with a scene in a car or someone waking up from a dream!!!
For me, the icing on the top, was being able to pitch to Ken Atchity an American producer, in what day-to-day walk of life can you ever get to do that?
The cost, €149. Money for value? One hundred percent. Go again? Oh, I hope so.
Grace in Mombasa ~ update
I’m happy to say, that I am now just about at the halfway mark of this beautiful story.
Inspired by true events ~ A book in two halves
The first half of Grace’s life is in England between 1912 – 1953. The book picks up when Grace is 27 and WW2 has just begun. Living in Newton Le Willows in England (half way between Liverpool & Manchester) Grace still lives with Richard, her father who is the local vicar. Her Fiancee has joined up, and Eleanor, a land-army lady from London has moved in with them.
The story is portrayed through Grace’s eyes and we experience a tiny bit of what it was like here in the North West during the war. Writing about the Manchester Blitz of 1940 was quite emotional after all the research I did about it.
The book is going slower than I would have liked, but I just can’t skimp on the research, it is vital to make this story as authentic as I possibly can.
Still, I am longing to start the second half of her life which is lived in Mombasa, Kenya.
This story is fictional but totally inspired by Moira Smith, a lady I met in Mombasa, who briefly told me a small part of her life.
I am very happy to announce that I will be giving 50% of all my proceeds (from the sale of this book) to Barnabas Outreach Mombasa, so that in some way, the good works that Moira did may continue in her name.
I’m praying that Grace in Mombasa will bless them abundantly.
I’ll keep you updated on the process, if wishes came true it would be finished in time for Christmas.
The Innkeeper’s Son ~ K C Herbel
As a Christian, I love it when I find a book full of morals. One of my all-time favorites is the Narnia series by C S Lewis. Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day.
I love that Clive went through changes in his life, which include losing his Christian faith and then finding it again later in life. A true prodigal son story. He wrote quite a few books but I think the world’s favorite must be The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe.
I adore when a story has hidden beliefs and principles for life behind the writing. My own series Born to Be, is exactly that. I was once told that my story was too innocent to get anywhere, says a lot about the world we live in doesn’t it?
I was, therefore, over the moon to read The Innkeeper’s Son by K C Herbal, and discover a beautifully written, traditional fantasy packed with caring and sensitive characters. Woven together in a magical story of dragons and fairies and magic. I loved it and highly recommend it. Very pleased to find there is already four in the series and I look forward to reading the rest.
Ruin’s Lot by ID Johnson
Over time, many authors have painted a different image of angels and demons. I loved the film Michael with John Travolta drinking, smoking and smelling of cookies… ingenious. Also, really enjoyed Constantine with Keanu Reeves, which was intriguing and spellbinding. And City of Angels with Nicolas Cage, which was lovely and moving. These are just to name a few, there is a plethora out there.
So with so many books and films to choose from, do we really need another?
Well, I’m happy to say that yes, there is still more space for unique and interesting stories. That’s what I found Ruin’s Lot by ID Johnson to be.
The story is well written and flows, making it an easy page-turner. I won’t say too much about the story itself as I don’t want to ruin it (sorry no pun intended) for you.
