Brother Simeon Shares Resource for Successful Amazon Marketing

I am always pleased when one of my clients is excited enough about a writers' aid to want to share it with the rest of writing friends!  Brother Simeon, manger of Light of the Spirit Press, recently sharesdthis aid in a full-blown review. I hope there are those among you who will find his review of Dave Chesson's  as a valuables a resource  helpful --especially for the intricacies and benefits offered by Amazon KDP and advertising features. 

Review for Dave Chesson and Kindlepreneur

Guest Post/Review by Brother Simeon of Light of the Spirit Press

I would like to give a triple positive review to Dave Chesson. First, I have found his website, Kindlepreneur.com, to be an never failing resource for all things relating to Kindle ebooks. This especially relates to marketing, essential for anyone who has written a book and is serious about getting the word out. This even relates to authors who have signed on with book companies who, in theory, take care of promotion. He gives practical, do-it-yourself articles which are always useful and informative, even entertaining. And he always keeps his readers informed about the latest trends in what an author can do to promote his or her books. Subscribing to his blog is essential for book marketers.

Second, he recently made available an incredibly useful series of tutorial videos on Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) at https://kindlepreneur.com/ams-book-advertising-course/ which walks the viewers through how to successfully set up an AMS account and all steps for marketing through Amazon’s in-site marketing network, and making the ads as effective as they can be. Having begun implementing these steps, I am finding success with Amazon ads already, and as I apply the suggestions for optimization of the ads which Dave recommends in his course, I expect to have even more success.

And third, Dave has created some software, KDP Rocket, which is a fantastic help with all things relating to Kindle Direct Publishing. KDP Rocket is meant to help authors find profitable book ideas, get more readers to their books in Amazon, increase Kindle rankings, and find profitable AMS keywords. And he gives useful video tutorials on how to effectively us the capabilities for KDP Rocket. I can personally vouch for the software’s capacity to save hours of time not only in finding related keywords for desired keywords, but also books and authors related to the keyword inquiry, which can be used in AMS campaigns. And it does so FAST. And the list can be downloaded as an Excel file for editing. I look forward to using all facets of the software as I expand my efforts to market our books on Amazon.

My special thanks to Dave for his help to authors and publishers.

MORE ABOUT DIRECTLY FROM OUR 

GUEST BLOGGER

[Note: Please feel free to share comments and ideas for his coming book!]

I just finished producing a new book by Abbot George [spiritual leader at Brother Simeon's monastery]   Dwelling In The Mirror: A Study of Illusions Produced by Delusive Meditation and How to Be Free from Them. I have worked hard on getting pre-publication reviewers, mostly from Facebook ads and from a stable of previous reviewers. 

This is the ninth book our press offers  (in addition to three ebooks which we offer for free: reader magnets with ads for all our other books at the end of each). We just finished proofing today on the 10th book, which I hope to promote big time, actually putting into practice many of the things which I learned from our consultation, and from reading your books.

As this is the tenth book from Light of the Spirit Press, I thought it would be an opportunity to promote LOSP through press releases, contacting book stores, etc., playing up the angle of the Monastery as a growing micro-press, if that is the correct term. I hope to consult with you about this as this project goes forward, regarding press releases and the best way to use this milestone to our benefit.

Regarding this 10th book, it is a collection of questions and answers regarding all things spiritual which Abbot George has collected over the years. I think it might be of great interest to readers in our genre, though I am not un-biased. It will be a larger book, over 300 pages at 6x9, I imagine. The problem immediately before us is a catchy title. We thought of Dear Abbot, but we are of an older generation that remembers the Dear Abby columns, so it might not interest younger readers. Ask the Abbot is another limp idea. I thought of a sub-title like Questions and Answers on Life, Spiritual Liberty, and the Pursuit of Ultimate Happiness. But I think that might be too corny. What do you think? I also thought of a Facebook contest or inquiry from our readers.

Learn more about Brother Simeon and his press:

Brother Simeon
Light of the Spirit Monastery

www.ocoy.org

Light of the Spirit Press
lightofthespiritpress.com

P. O. Box 1370

Cedar Crest, NM 87008

505.281.4888

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER


Howard-Johnson is the author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the award-winning second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter (where she talks more about choosing and the advantages of winning contests and how to use those honors)  and The Frugal Editor. Her latest is in the series is  How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. Learn more on her Amazon profile page, http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers is one of her booklets--perfect for inexpensive gift giving--and, another booklet, The Great First Impression Book Proposal helps writers who want to be traditionally published. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it will help them convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. In addition to this blog, she helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs at all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com )

Relatively New Amazon/Twitter Benefits for All Authors and Their Books

You have probably noticed that I encourage authors--traditionally published and self-published authors-- to use all the benefits Amazon offers them—even if you’re not much of an Amazon fan. That includes helping one another out (and encouraging fellow writers and friends) to add your book to their Wish Lists. Why? Because it helps your exposure and your algorithms on Amazon.com, that’s why. Here’s a recent message I gleaned from a recent e-mail direct from Amazon about the new Twitter/Amazon partnership that will help you with that:

Here's how to let Twitter Make Using Amazon Wish List Easy

To Add to your wish list directly from Twitter:

 

1. Find a tweet containing an Amazon product link
2. Hit the reply butoone with and include an Amazon hashtag like this: #AmazonWishList
3. The item gets added to you Amazon Wish List and you can go back and shop later—easily. No forgetting. No extra steps.

Of course, you can also do this when you’re browsing Amazon, too. Just go to any buypage on Amazon and click on the oval Wish List button located on the right of every buy page. How about trying it with one of mine at http://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromo. Doing so benefits you, too: Your own icon may appear at the top of those same buy pages—with links to YOUR page or Amazon profile! One click benefits all.

 

PS: Kindle Unlimited is relatively new, too. This new Amazon feature is another reason I hang in there with Kindle Select, even if it means giving Amazon an exclusive on my e-books (not my paperbacks!). Their Kindle Unlimited is now also available on Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom and Ireland), too.  They say these customers "will be able to read as many books as they want from a library of over 650,000 titles [when they are]  subscribed to Kindle Unlimited. All books enrolled in KDP Select with publishing rights in the United Kingdom will be automatically included in Kindle Unlimited on Amazon.co.uk.

"Just so you know, you earn a share of the KDP Select global fund each time a customer accesses your book from Kindle Unlimited and reads more than 10% of the book they order—about the length of reading the free sample available in Kindle books—as opposed to a payout when the book is simply downloaded."

I say, this feature exposes your book to a whole new audience of book lovers willing to pay a monthly fee to access e-books! (-: and you still get your royalty--or more.  

----- Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .