An Author's Journey on Kindle

As previously reported on this blog, I'm Kindle-fied now. I own a Kindle (still loving it-- thank you, father-in-law!), and now I have several books offered on Kindle.

I put one of these books on Kindle myself, and others are being offered there by the original publishers. For a list, see the end of this post.

Some author friends of mine have been contemplating putting books up on Kindle, either older books of theirs whose rights have reverted back to them or new manuscripts they didn't sell -- or attempt to sell -- to a traditional publisher.

My advice to them: go for it.

This is a wild, wild west time for the Kindle market (for ease of reading, I'm going to use the word Kindle throughout this post, but other ereading devices could be dropped in as well), where publishers have yet to figure out the best pricing schemes or what to offer on Kindle, or even whether to offer books simultaneously on Kindle and in print or wait until hardcover/trade paperback versions have been out a year.

While publishers dawdle, Kindle owners crave ebooks at reasonable prices. If traditional publishers won't provide sufficient books at decent prices, independent authors can, especially authors, like myself, who have been published in traditional formats.

I decided to try offering a book directly on to Kindle and not through another publisher, this year. Here's that book's story:

I had an adult mystery manuscript titled Death Is the Cool Night that a previous agent had shopped around, but, as seems to be a pattern with me, it had received lovely comments and no takers. It had even been a finalist in a romance writers chapter contest.

New day, new agent, new career moves, and I decide a revision of this book is in order -- I changed the point of view to first person and cut about 30,000 words. It was now more novella than novel, but I thought it was a strong offering nonetheless. I'm an Edgar nominee for my first YA mystery novel, so I wondered if it might be possible to use those bona fides to get a traditional publisher interested in buying this puppy.

Nope, agent didn't think it would work. The market, it sucketh. And the book had been shopped. And it was a novella, for crying out loud.

It didn't bother me when this verdict came in. I agreed with the assessment and had other stuff for the agent to shop anyway. This was my Kindle opportunity.

First step: formatting the thing. I thought this would be tricky, but if you're just going up on Kindle and not trying to be all formats to all ereaders, it's not so difficult. Amazon walks you through the process, and you can use an MSWord format to keep things clean.

Second step: designing a cover. My husband and I spent an afternoon photographing various props--a glass of whiskey, a bottle of laudanum, a shawl and a music score--that tied into the plot. Once we had the photo we liked, my good-natured daughter offered to photoshop the title/author info on it and tidy it up, saving it in jpg form. (Lesson learned, however -- because the covers are often seen in thumbnail format, brighter is better.)

Third step: Finish the upload to amazon. This included setting the price (more on that in a sec), and writing the "product information" that would appear when browsing readers took a look at what the book was about. It took me a couple tries to get this right, by the way. The first iteration of "product information" only included a summary of the book and a few words about me, the author. Later, I added review quotes from my other books, as well as a blurb from a well-known mystery author for one of those books.

An aside about pricing: Kindle owners are in a fever about overpriced ebooks. There are even discussion groups dedicated to boycotting books priced over a certain amount. Many of these folks own a bunch of the books in print format already. They just want them in this new format. And they figure the publishers don't have to buy paper, pay for printing and distribution and the like, so why should ebooks cost so darned much? Other authors who've successfully put material up in the emarket advised against overpricing and to go for volume of sales rather than high per-unit costs. I took that to heart. Since I was offering a novella, I chose $1.99 for my price.

Fourth step: getting the word out about my book. This step is still a work-in-progress. I've found a group of Kindle owners on yahoo, where the list moderator does a monthly author promo. Many Kindle owners, I've found, want to support independent authors. Many especially want to support independent authors who are selling their works for reasonable prices. I learned to "tag" my book on amazon with descriptive words ("historical fiction," "mystery," "opera," etc.), making sure that at least two of those tags are "Kindle" and the price of the book. I'm still looking for gatherings online of ereader owners, and try to leave appropriate posts on the amazon discussion groups dedicated to letting readers know of new offerings.

The conclusion: I'm not yet lighting the world on fire with my book, but sales have been trending steadily upward. I sold twice as many this month as I did in the first two months combined. And I know precisely how many I've sold because I can check for myself online--I don't need to wait for a publisher's statement that I'll need help interpreting.

I'm hoping to put another book up on Kindle soon, another mystery with the same detective who was a player in my first book. This, I've heard, is another key to ebook success -- having numerous offerings from which readers can choose. You're trying to build a following, after all, for your "brand." Once I've polished that manuscript, up it will go -- and be available for readers to buy immediately.

Here are my books available on Kindle:

• Death Is the Cool Night, by Libby Sternberg, an adult mystery novella, $1.99
• Fire Me by Libby Malin, humorous women's fiction, $6.99
• Uncovering Sadie's Secrets, by Libby Sternberg, a young adult mystery and Edgar nominee, $8.99
• The Case Against My Brother, by Libby Sternberg, a young adult historical mystery, $9.99

I love this brave, new world of publishing and can't wait to explore more of its possibilities. To my author friends who are thinking of dipping their toes into this pool, I say again: dive in. To readers, I say. . . . many thanks to all of you willing to give independent authors a chance!

Happy reading!