Amazon KDP Select Experiment - Non Fiction Travel Book Day 16

My feelings have been hurt people. Someone returned one of my eBooks. Cut to me curled up in a corner crying, whaaaaaaaaa!

Okay I'm back :)

I really was upset when I saw the return, and my mom, trying to make me feel better suggested that the person simply read it and asked for a refund because it's a short booklet. You gotta love moms, dontcha?

I am sensitive so I really was a little sad, but then I though, eh, not everyone is going to like my style of writing. After that I was fine.

And guess what? I am currently #5 out of the top 100 eBooks today for Non Fiction Family Travel. This made me smile even if, as you can see, you only need break the 40,000 barrier to get into the top 5. Hey, I'll take what I can get.

And I now know that it is due to just that 24 hours I posted my eBook for free. Since I have no reviews yet (sad face) the free downloads somehow brought my book up the ranks and the subsequent sales have kept it there. I wish I could say the same for my other eBooks.

So on Day 16 of my KDP Select experiment, I'm happy.

P.S. No sales over on Barnes and Noble so far this month.

Happy writing!

Amazon KDP Select Experiment - Non Fiction Travel Book-Day 14

Just an update. After my free day promotion I checked my downloads and was very excited to see that 240 people now have my book on their Kindles. :)

It never occurred to me to check the foreign downloads. I did that today and was happily surprised to see 29 more copies had been downloaded on that day.

I should really get into the habit of checking all sales/free downloads and not only at amazon.com.

Happy writing!

Amazon KDP Select Experiment - Non Fiction Travel Book Day 6

So It's day 6, as the post title says and I have 3 sales total over 3 e-Books (each book 1 sale) since I joined the KDP Select Program. The breakdown however is this, I gifted one e-Book to a friend who then turned around and purchased the other 2, though I told her not to. But thanks for the support B. :)

I always tell my family and friends not to buy my books. I've been helping them for years learn how to travel on a shoestring budget so there really is no need for them to. Also if they want a copy I will gladly gift it to them. I am trying to build a brand and a career on my books, so even though I love them for supporting me, I am trying to focus on finding an audience and eventually making enough sales to write full time.

So in my eyes I have zero sales since I joined the KDP Select program. Meanwhile on the other side of this coin, I've made 2 sales on Barnes and Noble. Go figure, lol.

My Budget Travel Tip e-Book will be free on April 27th, so I will post on that as soon as I can. Hoping for the best!

Happy writing!

Writing and revising the non-fiction e-book, no help from Amazon or Barnes and Noble

A few months ago I uploaded my ebook to Kindle and Nook. Then my computer crashed and I lost my original manuscript. Since then I read an article on previewing your ebooks and going over it with a fine tooth comb as it is always easier to find typos etc when you've have some time away from your work.

And that is exactly what I found. Except how could I fix these problems with my final draft gone? I emailed KDP and Barnes and Noble and got no help. I explained my situation and asked if it was possible to get what I uploaded sent back to me as an email attachment. I didn't think it would be a problem as big as these sites are. I was wrong, this is what I got back in return.

From KDP/Amazon

Hello Lyza,

I'm sorry, we are unable to provide the content file of your book. However, you can download the uploaded copy of your book in MOBI format by following these steps:

1. Visit https://kdp.amazon.com and log in.
2. Check the box at the left side of the book and then click on the "Actions" button at the top left.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page to "Preview Your Book," under the box labeled "Enhanced Previewer box" Click on "Download Book Preview File"
4. Click on "Back to Bookshelf" to return to the previous page.

Also, please ensure you have Kindle previewer installed on your computer before trying to view your Kindle book. If you don't have one installed, click on "Download Previewer - Windows or Mac" found under "Download Book Preview File."

I hope this helps. Thanks for using Amazon KDP.

From Barnes and Noble

Hello,

There is no need for you to purchase a copy of your own eBook. To
download a current copy of the .epub file for yourself, log in your
PubIt! account. On the "my titles" tab, next to your eBook's title,
click "Actions" and then "Edit". This will load the "Edit/Add A Title"
page.

On the "Edit/Add A Title" page, scroll down to section 2, entitled
"Upload Your eBook". In the lower part of that section you should see a
box with the following:

"
Want to make changes?

There are two ways to edit your NOOKbook.

Option 1: Take a look through our _Formatting
Best Practices_ to learn more about how best
to format your source document, make some
changes, and then upload your fixed file and
reconvert.

Option 2: _Download the ePub file_ and make
changes to it. Note that knowledge of HTML
and ePub are necessary to tweak your ePub.
"

Click the link that says "_Download the ePub file_" next to Option 2,
and the system will offer you a copy of the .epub file. Please note,
this will give you a non-encrypted (non-DRM) copy of the ePub file. To
test the layout of your eBook, view the .epub file using either "NOOK
for PC" or "Adobe Digital Editions". Below are links to the installers
for each of these two reading applications:

Adobe Digital Editions:
http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/

NOOK for PC:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/nook-for-pc/379002322

For help reading your own .epub file on a NOOK reading device, please
contact Barnes & Noble Customer Service. Tell them that you're trying to
"side-load" an .epub file into your NOOK device. Here is a link to the
web-based Customer Service system:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/help/customer_service/morehelp.asp
You can also call 1-800-THE-BOOK (1-800-843-2665) to request help on
this topic.

Sincerely,
The PubIt! Team

Thanks for nothing. In case you got bored and didn't tread completely through each email response, they both basically gave me instructions on previewing my book, something I had already done, which is why I wanted to get my uploaded draft back in the first place so that I could edit and update.

I would have been more satisfied with a simple "No, sorry we can not help you" than with what I got. If I had emailed asking how to preview my own book I could understand, but I didn't.

Anyway, thank God, I found a rough draft of the final draft and went to town. Over the course of the day I have spent a total of almost 6 hours on this and just uploaded my latest revisions.

Had I not found it, I would be royally screwed as I would have had to retype the entire 52 pages from the preview option on either site.

Anyway, now I can get back to book #2 and outlining #3 with a lighter load, it was irking the hell outta me, let me tell you.

Good night everyone :)