What is the Most Successful Thing You have Done to Boost Book Sales?

There are so many things, both big and small, short term and long term, that can be done to help boost book sales.  It can sometimes be overwhelming to think about and to research.  Whether you're a newbie writer or have been in it for the long haul.  I thought it would be easier for readers to break it down to this....

What is the most successful thing you have done to boost book sales?

As a long-term writer, I would have to say that the most successful thing I've done to boost book sales was to make one of my books perma-free.

The Wife of a Lesser Man, the first in a police procedural trilogy, has been permanently free since 2014, and has been reigning in consistent downloads, averaging about 350 per month, since then.  Ranking has changed in time, of course, since many more books in that genre have been made perma-free, but the downloads are still as strong as ever.

Downloads have turned into sales of the other two in the trilogy pretty consistently, too.  Some months are stronger than others, like December, which was one of the best months of organic sales I've ever had.  But all things considered, readers seem to be checking out my back list in the back matter of that book, and have gone on to purchase my other books.

If you don't know how to make a book permanently free, read on.

Books can be made permanently free on most platforms, simply by changing the sale price to zero.  Unfortunately, on Amazon, you are only permitted to put your selling price as low as $0.99.

So, it takes a little canoodling to do this...

If you set your selling price to zero on all other platforms (Kobo, Nook, Smashwords, Google Play), Amazon does price matching.  So tell your friends or family members (or some author friends) to report the lower selling price to Amazon via the 'would you like to tell us about a lower price?' link at the bottom of the book's page, where the product details are, Amazon will allow the customer to purchase the book at zero cost.  If that happens often enough, not sure of  the time it takes (some of my books have been permanently free on all other platforms since 2017), Amazon will make it permanently free.

What is the most successful thing you've done to boost book sales?  Help fellow authors out and share below!

Createspace to KDP...How Easy Is It?

KDP’s Paperback Tool

For those of you who have used Createspace in the past, I’m sure you’re aware that your paperbacks are being encouraged to migrate over to KDP.  At first, I was reluctant, because, let’s face it, it sounds like more work.  But in reality, it really isn’t more than a few minutes to send your titles over to where your ebooks are anyway. 

If you already have your books in paperback format as well as ebook, you’ll find the transition very smooth.  It’s just a matter of linking your ebook to your paperback.  Many of my titles, however, are only available in ebook. 

Yesterday, I took the opportunity to see how easy it is to create a paperback from an ebook, and compare the ease from Createspace to KDP.

If you use the 6” x 9” template (which is the most common paperback size), and copy and paste the ebook into the paperback, the only real legwork involved (if you’ve already formatted your ebook properly) is to set your chapter breaks to the next page after the previous chapter ends.  You’ll find that the chapter title wants to migrate to the middle of the next page, and its anchored there, so you can’t fix it.  To remedy this, go to format-paragraph-line and page breaks-and deselect ‘window orphan control’ and ‘keep with next’.  Then, you should be able to place your chapter title anywhere you want on the page.  Also, don't forget to remove any live links you have in your book's front or back matter, as they won't work in the paperback version.

The cover is so easy anyone can do it, and the best part is, you don’t have to fiddle with Myecovermaker and pay the $5.00USD time and again until Createspace is satisfied with the formatting of it.  You don’t even have to convert to PDF, KDP does that all for you. 

When you utilize the Cover Creator, all you have to do is upload your ebook cover, fit it to size (which they give you a nice red template to follow, so all you have to do is drag the image until it fits properly), and copy and paste your author bio image, bio information, and your book blurb.  You’ll also need an ISBN, but KDP can also supply you with one. I prefer to use my own, but that's an individual preference.

The worst part was waiting for the files to convert and save.  Some of them took upwards of a half hour or more, and some I had to cancel and re-do. 

Overall it was easy and much better than the Createspace process.

Great if you’re a working writer and a mom like I am, and don’t have the time to invest fiddling, which is one of the major reasons why I haven’t made many of my ebooks into paperback.  That’s all going to change!

Have you found any other time-saving strategies for self-publishing?  Are you also a working writer?  Please feel free to share your tips below.

I'm working on a self-help book geared for first-time or established authors who need tips on how to write that book in limited time frames.  If you're interested in knowing when it's available, please subscribe to my newsletter, and/or follow me on BookBub.

A New Website and Some Eye-Catching Banners....Oh My!

This long holiday weekend I found myself with time on my hands....did I just say that?

After months of looking at a tired, old-looking and mechanically unappealing website, I revamped it.  But that's not all. 

For months I've seen these cool banners posted on social media.  I mean, I've done many banners before, but these banners were ultra cool with captivating backgrounds and three-dimensional book images, etc.  Now, I know that most authors pay a pretty penny to have that stuff done for them, but I myself am a DIY kind of person.

So.....I did some research, and found out that if you use resources like myecovermaker.com, Canva.com, and of course, Shutterstock, you can make yourself a tidy little eye-catching banner for way less than what it would have cost to have someone do it for you.

Here's the first one:

and the second:

you get the idea...

I just couldn't get enough!  You can make all sorts of marketing materials in different sizes and formats for your website header, Twitter and Facebook banners, and posts. 

With a little time and imagination, and of course, nothing is free, so a little money doesn't hurt, you can go a long way in promoting your books beautifully.

What do you think?  Which one do you like best?

Happy Reading,

Sandy Appleyard

New Look....Same Great Content!

It's been a long time since I posted a blog.  After going back to work full time nearly two and a half years ago, finding time to blog has been tough.  Most of my spare time has been dedicated to writing, and I don't feel guilty about that at all!

That being said, on this wonderful long holiday weekend, I have managed to find the time to revamp my website.  It was looking rather mechanical as a Wordpress site, so I have switched back to Weebly.  Take a look and tell me what you think....www.sandyappleyard.com

In other news, I'm about eighty percent finished writing my latest creation called 'Knowing'.  As I've said with all my previous works, this is my best one yet!  I think that happens each time us authors write another masterpiece...it's bound to be better than the last one.

My website has a few changes.  One is that I've compiled all three of my 'To Hide in Holly Springs' novels into one book.  The cover is fabulous; it's one of my favourites:

I love how it captures the essence of the story with the mysterious mist in the background.  The red lettering is my favourite, too.  It's my favourite colour and I often try to get it at least a bit of it into each cover I create.  If you're interested in checking out what the story is about, you can do so here.

Now that my online course is over I might actually have time to do more blogging...so stay tuned!

Keep reading,

Sandy Appleyard

Writers: A Free and Easy Way to Advertise Your Books

I'm taking a bit of a break from writing for the weekend, and instead focusing on new and improved ways to promote my books, and I stumbled across a great way to show off my work!

If you've never heard of KBoards, you're missing out.  This is a great avenue for all - readers and writers - to learn what there is to know about writing, publishing, self-publishing, ereaders, and where to find great books.  I've been a member for quite some time now and have learned so much from there.

Well, today, I came across the 'Book Profile Page' feature.  This is completely FREE and any author who is a member of KBoards can do it.

All you have to do is type in this URL:
http://www.kboards.com/book/?asin=XXXXXXXXXX

then replace the 'XXXXX' portion with your book's ASIN number, which can be found in the numerical portion of your book's URL on Amazon or any website where it is listed.

Add in all the information that it asks for, including Y or N for whatever feature you want or don't want, cut and paste your author bio and picture URL from Amazon (or wherever you like), type in your email address and choose a password (you can choose a different password for each book if you wish), and BAM!

Check out what it looks like here.  You can see all three of my books in the 'A Calamity Place Romance' series listed!  When you click on each one, it shows a dedicated page for all the book's info!

KBoards members that are looking for books can navigate through the site by genre, author, etc., to find your book.

Cool, eh?  Have fun!

Scoliosis and Embracing Challenge

We all have some kind of challenge, whether it be physical or emotional, or something else, and it's important to not let it define us.  God has given us an obstacle, and it's up to us to face it, deal with it, and perhaps even overcome it.

But what if it can't be overcome?

Some things are with us for life, no matter what.  For some, that's a hard pill to swallow.  But as long as it isn't something life-threatening, we must remember that; that there are many people out there with terminal illnesses, and we are not one of them.

Embrace that.  

For myself, I learned something pretty upsetting after being involved in a car accident when I was twenty-one years old.  It was bad enough to realize that the car that I loved and only had for three months was totaled forever, but when I went to physiotherapy for whiplash, and found out I had Scoliosis, my life changed forever.

It was scary, frustrating, and there were so many unanswered questions, but, looking back at the last twenty years since my diagnosis, I can honestly say that having Scoliosis, in many ways, has been a blessing.

What?

Yes, I said that it's mostly been a blessing.

Why?

Because, overall, it's forced me to take better care of myself, it's made me push the envelope in a lot of ways, and it has made me look at life and people so much differently.  It's also made me a better and stronger person, and has made others look up to me, which in turn, makes me feel better about myself.

How?

I'll get into much more later, but for now, I'll tell you that having Scoliosis inspired me to write my second book.

View on Amazon

And it's also inspired me to write the follow-up to it, five years later.  Please stay tuned, even if you don't have Scoliosis, I'm going to talk about life and it's challenges, whether or not it relates to a physical deformity.

Wishing you all well and God bless,

Sandy Appleyard

What puts the ‘Calamity’ in Calamity Place Romance?

Last year, when I started thinking about writing my next book, I decided to try something completely different.  Something lighter, easier to read, and a novel that had an element of mystery, yet wasn’t all-encompassing mysterious.  There are enough drama-filled romances out there, in my opinion, so I decided to use the term ‘calamity’ instead.  It involves less-intense situations, namely, where people get out alive!

"A real-life saga that pulls at your heartstrings."

Calamities in these romances occur basically amongst the floors in the building known as ‘Calamity Place’.  The storylines take place in Toronto, Ontario, my hometown, and they involve twentysomething characters, with their own set of personal issues.  But they are all interwoven somehow, and if they’re not, they sure end up that way! 

When writing these novels, I purposely made it so that the characters were all introduced based on their presence either in another part of the story, or in another volume, making it easier for the reader to remember, without having to use a lot of back story.

The beauty of this type of serial romance is that there is never really an ending.  Each story has its own cliffhanger, and the reader never really knows where the conclusion will be….I still don’t! 

It starts with Kendra, a shy recluse, who has many friends itching to pull her out of her shell.  While reluctant most of the time, she finds herself giving in to Cassandra or Missy’s pleading, and paints on a happy face to quell any misgivings her friends may have about her.  But why is she such a hermit?  Kendra is beautiful, smart, and isn’t shy around men.  Her friends know what it is, but Kendra hasn’t admitted it to herself…yet.

The second novel in the series focuses mainly on Cassandra and Luke.  They met at a bar once, had a brief relationship, and then suddenly Luke ships himself out of the province for a much-coveted position as a police officer.  In book two, however, Luke comes back…and oh, what a roller coaster ride they have!

The third novel, still a work in progress at the time of this posting, tells about a couple introduced in book one, Linda and Ray.  Also in the mix and adding to the calamity, is Mark, Luke’s best friend and fellow police officer colleague.  But it’s not a love triangle or anything that you would expect.  The relationship that the three have is very unique and while I haven’t reached the end of the manuscript yet, I can say that the conclusion will be heart-breaking, but at the same time very fulfilling, depending on which male character turns out to be your favourite!

Book One is just 99 cents!

Books one and two are currently available on Kindle, and free for Amazon Prime members.  Book one is just 99 cents!  Look for book three coming in Spring/Summer 2017!

Subscribe to my newsletter so I can let you know when book three is available!  Click here to subscribe.

  

See Book One

See Book Two