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Ride that wave as far as it will take you…


Don’t look at the rocks below, keep your eye on the wave, and ride it all the way to shore.

Does that translate? I think so. I don’t think you have to be a surfer to get that analogy, and you certainly don’t have to be able to surf well—I can attest to that.

Thank goodness for web-surfing, because I never was good at it, even though I grew up in Cocoa Beach, home of Ron Jon’s Surf Shop if you didn’t know.

Anyway, how does this relate to writing? It doesn’t. It relates to selling.

Here’s what I learned in the last couple of years:

· Writing is easy; writing well is fractionally harder

· Writing a query letter and synopsis is harder than writing a novel

· Querying an agent or publisher is agony, way harder than writing a novel

· But the hardest part of writing a novel, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is selling your novel. It’s a nightmare!

Especially when you realize that although most authors are a little wacky and flamboyant, pretty much all of us would rather be holed-up somewhere writing.

So, back to the wave, which is Amazon Prime/Kindle Unlimited—a miracle in disguise.

Why would you put a $3.99 book on Amazon Prime? Who would download a $3.99 book, as opposed to a $14.99 bestseller? Few people, until that book becomes a bestseller.

So, how do you become a bestseller?

Well, it used to be you needed a large agent or publisher behind you, or you needed to be one of the first Indie writers with the first ever $0.99 cent platform to get noticed. (A 99-cent promo without a game plan doesn't work, my friends.)

But now, Amazon has changed that. By offering your books free or 99c, and enlisting some help, you'll be able to reach thousands--up to fifty thousand or more--if you do it correctly.

Then the readers will choose--not some big exec somewhere--what they want to read. For the first time ever, readers really have a voice. They can download all these wonderful unknown authors and say, “We like this; we want more!”


Yeah, I gave away almost 300k books in the last two and a half years, but there were still more readers. My novels have been on the 'paid' bestseller list many times because readers cheered across Twitter and Facebook that they liked what they read. :)

A BIG 'THANK YOU' to all READERS!

Amazon and Avid Readers made my dream come true. I've sat so close to Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb, and Iris Johansen that I feel I may just have hope of a writing career. These are writers I’ve read for years, never believing that I could sit beside them on the 'paid' list. I didn’t count myself as a 'bestseller' on free, even though my publisher said I could. But when I saw my name next to these great authors, I literally cried.

And yes, I’m riding that wave as far as I can. I refuse to look at the rocks below; I’m keeping my eyes on my goal: The New York Times® Bestseller List or bust, baby.

Someday I’ll be there. It may be my next novel, or it may be my twentieth, but I will make it! Thanks to you, my readers!

So, if you're wondering if Kindle Select is right for you, ask! I'll happily take the time to talk with you.

Until next time, happy reading and writing, my friends!

Carmen


Thank you for stopping by my place and reading my musings. Remember, these are just my opinions and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section, and I promise you I will answer.  If you’re curious about what I write, please visit one of my author pages, where you can read all about my novels and short stories. And hey, I’ll even give you a free book just for stopping by. 
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