Year End Review in Self Publishing with Amazon KDP

 

I can't believe we are coming to the end of 2022.  This has been a wild year for so many different reasons.  On January 1, 2022 there is no way I would have believed that I would become a published author.  Here I am in December having sold ALMOST 200 books around the world.  Oh my gosh, I'm seriously sitting at 193 titles.   Can I sell 7 more books in one day?  I don't think so.  Even if I did sell 7 tomorrow, they are registered in the statistics on they day they ship to the buyer, not the day they were ordered, so that ship has sailed.   In any case, it was really close, and who knows, maybe a few days ago I did sell 7 books and they will be shipped tomorrow and I will hit 200.  I can still dream.

This coming year, I want to focus more on marketing.  I'm really struggling in that area.  There are a lot of sources out there, so I need to make it a point to take the time and read or watch some of them!  I fell good though.  I feel positive.  Cheers to 2023!

COVID and Marketing Your Books

 

So, what happens when over 2 years into a pandemic you come down with Covid while you're attempting to market your new books?   You...

• Sleep
• Take medicine
• Sleep
• Manage major headaches
• Sleep

That's about it.   Sad but true.  The family has been hit with Covid and I haven't the strength to do much of anything.  Stay well all! 

Fiverr Advertisers

 When you are a self-published author, quite often you do not have any marketing support.  If you want to publicize your book, you do it yourself.  If you have no experience in that area, you learn!  OR  You find the money to invest in marketing.  

Being with Amazon KDP, they do offer paid advertising.  It is a bit costly, but is it worth it?  I do not know.  I did try a week with a VERY SMALL budget and noticed some traffic increase, but quite frankly, I do not have the money yet to invest any more.  So, I looked at Fiverr.

My goodness you can find someone to do most anything on that site!  There are a good many that claim to be able to help advertise your book as well.  I just did not get a good feeling about any of them though, so I never made a move.  But then a dear friend bought me a $50 advertising plan with a woman who claims to be based out of the Chicago area.

At this point, I really have no idea who this person really is.

I haven't noticed any increase at all for the $50 and no big sales jump.   They were advertising in Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn.  I checked out their ads, and quite frankly, I have done better.    (I included their ad here)

On any of their advertised books, there have been 0 to few pins, very few likes in Instagram and no likes in LinkedIn.  So I did some digging.  Their Instagram account in based in Pakistan.

*SIGH*

Can you trust anything you see on the net anymore?

Christmas Books to share through the season

 

YES!  My latest title "Five Rowdy Reindeer" has been released in time to enjoy throughout the holiday season!   Pair this with Santa : A Bingo Book for a Christmas time filled with joyous reading and singing!  They are both available on Amazon.  $9.99 for paperback, $1.99 for Kindle and FREE with Kindle Unlimited! 

Guest Post on Kids' Book Review

 I have a guest post on Kids' Book Review and I'd love for you to check it out.  You get to read about a few of my thoughts on early literacy practices and development.  Maybe I'll get you to sing a bit!   Check it out their site: Cassie Veselovsky On Making Reading More Musical

Thank you Dimity and KBR!

Learn more about KBR here