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 15

Just wanted to let you all know that Since May 1st, I have had 4 sales! One of my $750 Budget Vacation book and three of my Budget Travel Mistakes booklet. I have to assume this is due to my free day last Friday. And I know those are hardly earth shattering sales, lol, but for me to see 4 sales within the first couple of days of the month is awesome since that (or less than that) is what I usually see at the end of the month for total sales across all three books.

And surprisingly the book I thought would sell the most, sells the least. I just assumed people would want to find a way to visit one of the most expensive cities (New York City) on a shoestring budget. Sigh! Ya just never know.

Anywho, Praying it isn't a fluke and that sales continue.

Happy days!

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!

Marketing My e-Books aka Arghhh!

I have to say that I love writing. I love sharing my ideas so that other single parents who are like me, the Working Poor, can find a way to take a nice vacation with their kids without going into debt.

I'm always happy to hear that because of one or a few of my ideas someone else's children had a blast somewhere new. It really is a great feeling! :)

And I want to help more people in the same boat while also earning a living for me and my kids, but how? How do I let those people know that my books exist? How can I transition from a few books being sold each month to what I need to earn as much as I do at my job? And FYI it isn't much, about $1,500 a month before taxes.

My problem is that I don't know what to do, there are so many blogs giving advice for e-Book marketing and I try and read up on ways to get the word out. And maybe it's just that I have yet to choose the right combination of marketing tips that are going to work for me, but I haven't seen any uptick in sales from the few things I have done so far.

I will keep trying through, because if I don't then who will?

Hope your marketing is going well for you :)

Amazon KDP Select Experiment - Non Fiction Travel Book - Week One

I find myself looking for ways to get my name and books out there, a lot of it seems out of my reach, Blog Tours and guest posts. I haven't really looked into what a Blog Tour entails yet but I have reached out to a few blog owners that target single parents and I'm still waiting. Hey you never know, maybe I will open my email tomorrow and get a positive response! :)

I just uploaded my new booklet "Budget Travel Tips: Six Mistakes to Avoid When Traveling With Friends and Family". I don't know how this will turn out since most of the people that have had good to great results using the KDP program are fiction writers. And as you know my books are non-fiction. I will keep you posted. And if anyone else would like to let us know about their results, please feel free to email me if you would like to guest post about it.

Happy Days!