land-a-linkin'

Things are different than they used to be. I grew up in a world where the print books were king and nobody'd even heard of e-books. Now it all seems to be e-books. And mine, some of which are poorly formatted, need to come up to standard I think.

But this post is really about Kindle Unlimited sites on Facebook. There are five but one is a single person and not devoted to the whole Kindle Unlimited scene. So that makes four. But let me explain the kindleunlimited scene.

In a way I feel bad because I think we're just giving Jeff Bezos lots of $. Nevertheless he had the good idea to begin with. We put our books on KU, it becomes a very wide buying/selling market where people are paying $10/mo., and downloading whatever they want. I'm all over KU, of my 23 books maybe all of them are on there, not quite sure. But still people don't really know about me so I have to get out there and get my name on all these sites. And of course I'm putting #kindleunlimited on everything. You're welcome, Jeff.

So one site, Kindle Unlimited Reads & Reviews, has only 103 members. It seems to be a tighter community and just tells everyone they have to read a book before they can join. So I went and read one. I'm not quite finished, but it was an eye-opener and I learned a lot. It's set in Liverpool and Birmingham, UK, and is by a guy a lot like me, I thought. I decided that a small, tight community would be really good to start with and I've become an avid reader, so it's not a problem for me to pick a book and read it.

Another, Kindle Unlimitied (15,300 members) was hard to join because I can't seem to scroll on my popups, therefore I was unable to type "neon pink" or something that they wanted upon joining because I couldn't see it. I literally couldn't scroll that popup down to where I could manage with it. Finally I wrote them a desperate note and they let me in. I'm slowly getting my work on just about every site. Not sure if I'll get any downloads off of it though.

Then there's Kindle Unlimited Books. All of a sudden they were having a contest among members - (they have 8,100), and I was unable to post there because people were replying so quickly that it took the whole screen just for that one moderator's post. I managed to be the fourth person who applied, but if hundreds apply my chances are one out of hundreds anyway, with no particular advantage for being one of the first who asked. Actually I was scrolling around hoping for my chance to post my own promo, otherwise I wouldn't have even been there.

Last one is Kindle Unlimited Free Reads and Subscribers, 10, 400 members, which I tried on Thursday. My post was quickly buried among dozens that were posted above it. I might try it again quick while it's a weekend, but this site doesn't seem to have much active engagement. Actually I posted my short stories there, not my new haiku which is 1) very short, 2) edgy, 3) provocative graphic, 4) political. Not sure any of that matters but I could try again figuring that if I drop enough of this little 24-page haiku book around facebook, I'll get something.

I really really am not sure how this will all work out. But it's better than nothing, and nothing is what I was starting out with. I was doing all this writing, and nobody knew about me. Now I'm getting out there, all guns blazing, and putting my stuff up.

OK here's the honest truth. For a long time I just didn't want to play the game. The game, for writers, is getting reviews, getting "reads," getting your name out there, etc. I figured that if I was good, my name would get out there. I was right to some degree but then it petered out. A year or two after I write this stuff, it has faded away back into the woodwork.

I got a kindle for Christmas and all of a sudden became an avid reader. I started with my own 23 books on the market. I am considering dwindling that number and removing ones that are redundant etc. But how can I know that if I don't read them? In the process of reading I've found that I'm not a perfect proofreader - several little errors and a few big ones - and I'm horrified. I imagine that many readers, upon seeing these, just feel that I'm not professional.

Well, I am professional, just bsuy, and my proofreading system needs work. But my marketing system needs work too. I've been flailing for a long time and need a slightly better community than my own mind.

I have some haiku coming out soon. My computer crashed along about the same time as the capitol insurrection, so I decided to put aside a book that was almost done (plus a couple more that will be hard to replace if the computer won't repair), and just do a book of haiku about the insurrection, epiphany coup haiku. In advance of this I'm looking into such things as page-read swaps, review swaps etc. Everyone else does it. I might as well do it. I don't want to grovel too much, but it seems you have to build a community.

Having a kindle has made me a more avid reader. I actually enjoy reading all kinds of things. And that I think will make me a better writer. I'm just starting, really. Novels are coming. Mark my words!

I never played the ratings game, never tried to get the ratings up, or get good reviews, or make a better appearance. I always just figured, I am what I am, if people like it, fine, if they don't fine.

Ah, but you can't do that, and then get mad if they ignore you. People are like, he doesn't even play the game. He doesn't have any reviews. He doesn't do anything to get you involved.

So now I'm doing an overview. I have twenty-three books on the market. Some are entirely pointless and I will get rid of them, thin out the herd. I am proud that I put them up there, but I don't need to leave them up there. In fact they might become more valuable if they are "out of print." But in the meantime, I am taking stock of what I have.

Also, doing an all-out blitz on the marketing front. My weak points - instagram and linked in, which I really don't use much - I'm going to hit them. I'll put my best foot forward. It will be a marketing month like no other. Starting now.