Amazon's Staggering Market Share & Free eBook Promotion Ends

My free eBook roller-coaster ride finally ended yesterday. My short story is now back to 99 cents (but still selling fairly well).  The most interesting part of this whole adventure was the numbers. I've been giving away my short stories on my website, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords.com, Sony, and the Apple eBookstore. I would have given them away on Amazon as well, but they require a minimum price of 99 cents.

Over the last two months I sold about forty 99 cent copies on Amazon. But I had over 1,400 downloads between Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble (Apple hasn't reported and Sony has been about 4 copies). Not bad I thought. That was until Amazon lowered the price to free. In 5 days I had over 5,500 downloads. 

That's 1,400 in two months on all the other e-book sites combined and 5,500 on Amazon in 5 days--talk about market power! 

Wow, I Guess I'm a Bestselling Author!

A few months ago I started posting shorts on my website. I figured why not put them up on Smashwords and Amazon for free with links back to my webpage. I thought it might be a good way to build a platform.
Only problem Amazon made me put a 99 cent minimum price. Over two months I sold almost 50 on Amazon, but I'm approaching the 2,000 download mark between all the sites I posted it. Not bad.

Yesterday (Saturday) Amazon picked some titles to offer for free. Luckily, mine was one of them. Of course my sales skyrocketed. Blogs and forums picked it up and the next thing I knew I was on Amazon's list of 100 free ebook bestsellers. Today, I broke the top 50 peeking at #48. I'm outselling War and Peace. Wow, I couldn't be happier. And while these aren't technically sales, since the book is free (though I should get paid commission on them), it's a great opportunity to get my name out there.

So while I don't know how long it will last, I can officially say, I'm an Amazon Top 50 BestSelling Kindle Author!

Now if I can just find an agent, sign with a publisher, and get my book in hand, I'll feel like one!

Zombiepalooza!

Best selling Author Amanda Hocking is throwing a Zombiepalooza all October. She's doing lots of giveaways, original shorts, guest posts, etc. I'm even participating with an excerpt from Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb and a free copy of House of the Dead III on the 17th.

If you love zombies or just have a passion for Halloween be sure to check it out!

Mentorship Opportunity from The Bookshelf Muse

I spend a lot of time on forums. One of the things I've noticed is that new writers are always looking for mentors. While established writers pretty much all seem to be very generous with their time (I've received tons of help from others), no one has the time to focus on mentoring one individual.

If you are looking for an established author to mentor you, check out this great contest at The Bookshelf Muse.  Angela Ackerman writes both YA and MG. If you write in those genres check the contest out.

Did I mention she's into Zombies?

Authors Guild Silent Over iBooks Text-To-Speech

I haven't been writing long enough to have a strong opinion about the Authors Guild. However, I found this posting on Slashdot interesting.
It seems that the Authors Guild stopped Amazon from including text-to-speech by default on all ebooks (it's available on some, but not others, depending on the publisher). However, they aren't bothering to insist that Apple do the same. I'm not sure the reason, but on the surface, it does look like a double standard. Hopefully, they will ask Apple to get in line soon.

I've just updated my homepage; adding two free short stories. Monster, in the Mirror and Steve, Space Stowaway. I've even added links so you can download them to your ereader.

Ralph Lauren Disguising Fall Catalog as Kid's eBook

The Wall Street Journal ran an interesting story about Ralph Lauren disguising a clothes catalog as an eBook for kids. I guess it's never too early to start indoctrinating kids to be mindless consumers.
"Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein may have some competition in the children's book department, thanks to Polo Ralph Lauren's first storybook, "The RL Gang." But unlike Mr. Seuss and Mr. Silverstein, Ralph Lauren and his team have created an online virtual experience... [and] Since it's never too early to teach children to shop online, young readers will also be able to click and purchase fall pieces, including the ones worn by characters in the story."

They are donating 15% of the proceeds to a charity, probably to soften the backlash. Hopefully, most parents realize this is a marketing ploy.

SCBWI to become eBook Publisher?

That's the advice given to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) by Rubin Pfeffer (some industry bigshot) in his speech given at their annual conference. I'm not sure this is really such a good idea, but it's an interesting concept none the less.