Getting Back into the Groove

My schedule has been thrown off for this week. I went to Nebraska over the weekend and didn’t get back until Monday. It’s a long trip to drive there, but that will be the last time I do it for a visit. The next time I go, it will be to move there.

Because my week has been thrown off, I’m not posting as much as I normally do. That will change next week. I’ll get back into my groove. Since I haven’t been posting, that also means I haven’t been writing fiction. I’ve been doing some freelance stuff, but I haven’t been writing for me. That will also change in the coming weeks.

Soon enough, I will have a schedule that will allow me to be productive and creative, and I’m really looking forward to that. I have several projects that are demanding my attention. On the top of that list is getting my middle grade books ready for self-publishing.

I don’t foresee the process taking long, but it still requires time. They need to be edited again, then formatted and fitted with new covers. It’s an exciting process, and I really enjoy doing it, I just have to have the time.

Soon. It’s going to happen soon.

In the meantime, please feel free to keep yourself busy trying to win signed zombie paperbacks. The sign up is in the right hand column. May is Zombie Awareness Month, so I’ve been giving away free books. This is the last one for this month, so don’t miss out. It’s my nonfiction book, so it has some great advice on how to survive zombies.

The Bio is Almost Done!

Last week, I got the cover for the bio. If you didn’t happen to see it on Twitter or Facebook, here it is again.

My friend created it for me, and I think she did an amazing job. You know what that means? The book is this close to being done. I expect the proof to show up any day now. After it’s approved, it will be ready for the world. It’s so exciting to get this book done!

There’s always that moment of bliss when a book is ready to come into the world. I have a sense of accomplishment, that all my hard work paid off. It’s amazing. I ride that wave for a while, then I move on to the next project.

And speaking of next projects, I actually found some time to work on the zombie book over the weekend. That felt really good too. The progress is going slowly, but at least it’s progress.

Don’t forget next month I’m doing my Creatures in Need fundraiser. My friend created a logo for me for the t-shirt. You’ll get to see it as soon as the campaign starts!  Don’t miss out on some amazing books and a chance to help some amazing creatures!

What’s All This “Rankings” Business?

If any of you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know I’ve been talking about my rankings on Amazon quite a bit. You’ll also know I’m incredibly excited about the numbers, so let me explain a little bit about what they mean.

First of all, I have to say that the whole rankings business is a little complicated and not everyone agrees about how Amazon figures it out. Amazon is pretty tight-lipped about how their calculations, but there is some information out there. For a really good idea of what I’m talking about, you can read this article.

For the rest of you who want a quick and dirty version, here ya go.

In a nutshell, my books are compared to every other book on Amazon’s site and ranked according to sales. If you look at the following picture, which is a snapshot from a specific time, you’ll see that there is an overall ranking (Amazon Best Sellers Rank), which compares me to ALL Amazon books, then there are three categories beneath that. These categories are more specific to my book so that readers can find it easily and know if it’s something they want to read. This screen shot was taken for Life After the Undead.

From these numbers, you can see that I rank 33,882 out of ALL PAID Kindle books on Amazon. They separate books further into PAID and FREE. Overall, that number doesn’t look that fantastic. I mean, 33,000? Pffft. That’s 33,000 books ahead of mine. However, if you take into account that there are millions of books on Amazon, that number isn’t so terrible.

The three numbers beneath that are what matter the most to me. As you can see from the above photo, I am in the top 100 for my three categories. That means that out of all the other books that have the same classification, I’m pretty low on this list. When that happens, my books appears on another list that shows covers for all top 100 books. This helps potential readers finds my books and hopefully leads to more sales.

(Notice at this particular point in time for this particular category there are some R.L. Stine books around me. How freaking cool is that?)

So why is this so important? Am I that greedy that I have to make money on my books? Well, yes and no. It’s important because it means my books are getting into the hands of readers—and that’s the whole reason I write. And yes, I deserve to get paid for the work I put in, but I’m not going to be retiring any time soon.

Amazon ranks books based on sales, but it also takes into account how many reads are done through their Kindle Unlimited (KU) program. For those of you who don’t know what the KU program is, it’s a subscription service that Amazon offers. Readers pay a monthly fee to access books. They don’t have to purchase the books separately, so it works kind of like a library—but with a fee.

Authors within the program get paid by how many pages of their work are read. It averages out to be like .004 cents per page, but, if you ask me, it’s better than a kick in the pants. There are some rules to the program, such as if your book is enrolled, you can’t have it for sale anywhere else—it has to be exclusive to Amazon. That means no Barnes and Noble, no iTunes, no nothing. As an author, you have to decide if that’s worth it or not. Personally, for me, it is. My sales were pretty dismal on other channels, but the KU program gets it into the hands of readers. Again, the whole reason I write.

Depending on what authority you ask or what article you read, rankings are either down hourly or at various times throughout the day. In either case, they fluctuate. For part of the day, I might be ranking in the top 100, then the next part, I’m might not be. It all depends on how many sales and reads happen throughout the day. However, it also factors in historical sales. I’m not exactly sure how that formula works. And, to be honest, I don’t know that I really care.

The reason I get so excited about my rankings (and check them like an addict looking for a fix) is because I love seeing people check out my book. I love knowing that readers are reading it. It helps build my confidence and inspires me to keep writing.

Not all of my books get low rankings on Amazon, though they all get ranked. I’m totally fine with that. If my zombie books didn’t get the low rankings they have now, I would be fine with that too. In fact, for years they never made it this low and it didn’t impact me or my writing. However, it feels good to know they are ranking so low now.

One day, I will fall off the charts again. I will stop being in the top 100, and I’m totally fine with that. Until that day comes, though, I’m going to ride this wave and share my excitement with the world.