Kindle Scout Winner - Kaitlynn Aisling
My email came yesterday. I cried --- tears of joy, people! If you nominated me, your emails should have gone out this morning. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I had promised some people a blog post about the process, and I think it's only fitting that I write it now with the end results revealed. So, if you're an author considering a Kindle Scout campaign or a reader curious about it, here it is: The first thing you need to do is make sure your work is the best you can make it. I discuss it more below, but you could have a million nominations and not be chosen. There were some books on the hot and trending page for the entirety of their campaign that I nominated but were not chosen. Your manuscript needs to shine. It needs to have a good premise, be marketable, and be well written. The second thing you need to do if you're considering a Kindle Scout campaign is to read the contract. You're about to sign something, create a legal agreement that will go into effect the minute you're chosen (if you're chosen). You need to read it carefully, word-by-word. I did this and saw nothing that raised any flags. Kindle is asking for the digital and audio rights to your novel. You keep the print rights. There are caveats, of course. If a certain amount of royalties are not made within a certain amount of time you can have the rights revert back to you. Likewise, if Amazon does not create the audiobook within a certain amount of time you can request those rights back. But let's get down to it: I'm not a lawyer; I'm an author. You didn't come here to read the legalese spiel. Heck, there are even websites devoted to translating legalese into plain English. That's right, Legalese is essentially a language at this point. The point is - there's a contract; read it. Once you've accepted the contract and weighed the risk vs. reward, you may come to the decision to embark on your Kindle Scout journey as I did. You need friends now. All of the friends you've ever made since grade school, and all of their friends too. Does having the most number of nominations and page hits ensure you're chosen? No. You could have the most nominations and page views in the history of...ever and still not be chosen. However, having that attention does help. I have to give my mom special credit. Gayle Jones became the best campaign manager I've ever seen. She contacted people, helped me with flyers, distributed flyers, got other people to distribute flyers, sent out emails, posted Facebook posts, and wanted to go out into the neighborhood. She was a walking signboard for my campaign and is my biggest fan. Love you, Mom! :) Once you've gathered your friendbase, you need to expand. That means going virtual. Before you start, you should have a website and author Facebook account to start. A Twitter and Instagram account can only help your cause (I have neither). You can try Facebook ads, Google ads, and newspaper ads (if you're feeling nostalgic). Hopefully you're already involved in the author, blogger, and reviewer community. If not, start building relationships. I have to give special thanks to Platypire Reviews. Check them out here: http://www.platypire.com/ Their Facebook page is also awesome, filled with comedic posts and fellow authors with which to connect. They let me takeover the Facebook page for a day and have been great! Overall, the formula for success in a Kindle Scout campaign is similar to self-publishing or publishing with a traditional publisher. Write, edit, polish, design, plan, and market. Thank you again, everyone!
Werewolves are real and they dwell in Scotland; vampires are also real and they are everywhere, and Natalie has. no. idea.
Natalie is having the worst day. She lost a promotion to the CEO's son's bit of fluff, then she finds that same bit of fluff in her boyfriend's bed. She realizes two things: she's unhappy and she hates accounting. Her dad is ill, she has the headache from Hell, and all she wants is a stiff drink. That decision is going to lead to much worse. *Gavin is an alpha male, however this novel is a sweet romance, and does not contain explicit sexual content.
