Writer Sanctum
Corporate Sector => What are Amazon doing now? [Public] => Topic started by: Eric Thomson on November 11, 2019, 12:45:38 AM
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I don't think the followers thing works anymore either. I signed up to follow myself and never get a notice on a new book. Haven't heard of anyone else getting it either.
I got my notices for my latest book, published last month - the first notice when the pre-order went up and the second when it was actually released, and both within days.
{Split from the Goodreads discussion by request. t.}
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I don't think the followers thing works anymore either. I signed up to follow myself and never get a notice on a new book. Haven't heard of anyone else getting it either.
I got my notices for my latest book, published last month - the first notice when the pre-order went up and the second when it was actually released, and both within days.
I think pre-order makes a huge difference. Amazon seems to favour this, and rewards pre-orders with double the emails, and in more timely fashion.
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I haven't tried a preorder in a long time. When I was wide with all my books, I never could get all the preorders to come out on the same day, which made promotions a nightmare. Now that I am putting my books right into KU from the beginning, maybe it's time to try that again.
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I haven't tried a preorder in a long time.
I've never done one. I never know when I'll be hitting submit. Nor do I like delaying the release once the book is ready. I guess I should try one.
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I haven't tried a preorder in a long time.
I've never done one. I never know when I'll be hitting submit. Nor do I like delaying the release once the book is ready. I guess I should try one.
That's a problem too. I think some of that may have changed lately such as moving the release date up. I'll have to look into that.
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I haven't tried a preorder in a long time.
I've never done one. I never know when I'll be hitting submit. Nor do I like delaying the release once the book is ready. I guess I should try one.
That's a problem too. I think some of that may have changed lately such as moving the release date up. I'll have to look into that.
Let me know what you find. If we can setup a pre-order, and then bring the date forward to the moment of final upload, that would work for me. But if there's a delay of a day or 2 after the final upload, it won't.
The documentation last time I looked was totally inadequate as far as actual timelines were concerned. It says what you can do, but not what the tolerances are. And without the detail of what happens when you bring a date forward, and how close you can make it to final upload, it's not something I'm willing to take a punt on.
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You can move the pre-order release date up but no earlier than three days after ther current date. I had my pre-order set for Oct 31, was ready on Oct 21 but the Zon didn't allow any earlier than 24. That meant my book came out in other stores a few days before Zon.
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You can move the pre-order release date up but no earlier than three days after ther current date. I had my pre-order set for Oct 31, was ready on Oct 21 but the Zon didn't allow any earlier than 24. That meant my book came out in other stores a few days before Zon.
That's what I thought.
And that 3 days is a total waste for me, an unnecessary delay.
What I dont know is if the benefits of doing a pre-order outweigh the delay. The enhanced follower emails alone might be worth it.
What did your ranks do with the pre-order?
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You can move the pre-order release date up but no earlier than three days after ther current date. I had my pre-order set for Oct 31, was ready on Oct 21 but the Zon didn't allow any earlier than 24. That meant my book came out in other stores a few days before Zon.
That's what I thought.
And that 3 days is a total waste for me, an unnecessary delay.
What I dont know is if the benefits of doing a pre-order outweigh the delay. The enhanced follower emails alone might be worth it.
What did your ranks do with the pre-order?
Here's the book's ranking graph for Amazon.com. The pattern was pretty similar for UK. Note that I also publicized the pre-order on my blog, website, social media and AMS. I did not put it for pre-order with any other retailer as this was my first pre-order experiment, and the other retailers had requirements I didn't feel like meeting.
(https://ericthomsonblog.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/ranking-graph.png)
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That's interesting data that almost makes me want to try a preorder.
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That's interesting data that almost makes me want to try a preorder.
Me too.
I'm getting towards the end of my current WIP, so if I set it for a month, and release in a couple of weeks, it might work. Although maybe 6 weeks might be safer on the first date. Hard to tell with me. I can have a lousy fortnight which sets me back a month, or a good week and be in editing much sooner than I expect.
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That's interesting data that almost makes me want to try a preorder.
Me too.
I'm getting towards the end of my current WIP, so if I set it for a month, and release in a couple of weeks, it might work. Although maybe 6 weeks might be safer on the first date. Hard to tell with me. I can have a lousy fortnight which sets me back a month, or a good week and be in editing much sooner than I expect.
I think you can move a preorder out farther is you need to. At least that's how it used to be.
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That's interesting data that almost makes me want to try a preorder.
Me too.
I'm getting towards the end of my current WIP, so if I set it for a month, and release in a couple of weeks, it might work. Although maybe 6 weeks might be safer on the first date. Hard to tell with me. I can have a lousy fortnight which sets me back a month, or a good week and be in editing much sooner than I expect.
I put the pre-order up when I sent the MS to my editor.
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I put the pre-order up when I sent the MS to my editor.
That might be a plan.
Put the pre-order up as soon as I start editing, with a two week time frame, and just put up with the 3 day delay when I finish. It rarely takes me more than 2 weeks in an editing phase these days so should be safe enough, even if I dont bring it forward.
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There have been some changes lately that make pre-orders a lot more attractive.
- There's a release-day bump in rank, based on the number of pre-orders. Previously, you only got the rank bump when someone placed a pre-order, but in the last year or so, there's been some benefit when the book releases, too.
- We now have assetless pre-orders, ie you can set up the pre-order without uploading a placeholder or early draft file.
- Pre-orders up to a year ahead, just like the trad pubs do. This is huge for indies.
- The right to delay a pre-order by up to 30 days without penalty if Real Life overtakes you. Only once per book, and if you miss the new deadline you still get the no-pre-orders-for-a-year slap on the wrist, but it's a huge concession.
I love pre-orders, especially at full price. Grin
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There have been some changes lately that make pre-orders a lot more attractive.
- There's a release-day bump in rank, based on the number of pre-orders. Previously, you only got the rank bump when someone placed a pre-order, but in the last year or so, there's been some benefit when the book releases, too.
- We now have assetless pre-orders, ie you can set up the pre-order without uploading a placeholder or early draft file.
- Pre-orders up to a year ahead, just like the trad pubs do. This is huge for indies.
- The right to delay a pre-order by up to 30 days without penalty if Real Life overtakes you. Only once per book, and if you miss the new deadline you still get the no-pre-orders-for-a-year slap on the wrist, but it's a huge concession.
I love pre-orders, especially at full price. Grin
I'll be setting up my first pre-order in a couple of weeks. Thanks for that very useful info.
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** Tim. Please can you split the thread from where it devolved into Pre-Orders. As Maggie says, there's a lot of good info here that needs its own thread. Thanks. **
Yes, Pauline is right. I've had the first three of my new series up for pre-order, and although the KDP help section on the topic is somewhat opaque, they've all done well. The third of them has a release date of next June 1! Though I'm hoping I can bring that forward - once I've written the bally thing, that is. :help
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If you do put a preorder up, don't announce it to friends, family, forum visitors, etc. As David Gaughran frequently warns, you'll end up with a dogs breakfast in the also-boughts.
Stick to ads targeted at readers of that genre. The specific category, focussed keywords, etc.