My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts
Day 125: Attention all self-published authors
Some self-published writers like to brag about their sales, some are happy with a sale here and there, while some are not happy at all and ask for help how they can effectively market their work.
I used to do okay in sales. Nothing to brag about, but a steady flow of book sales. And then suddenly, nothing. The sales all but dried up. When I looked in March at my February statement there were no sales.
Now it so happened that in January we adopted a kitten from the Toronto Cat Rescue and I stayed in touch with its foster mom, Jackie.
During one of our email conversations, I mentioned that I was a writer, that I had written three novels and two children’s books and Jackie promptly ordered copies of ‘Kitten Diaries’ and ‘Debbie’ for her grandchildren.
Jackie had purchased the books in February, yet my Amazon statement said that there had been no sales in February. I waited until April, expecting the sales to show up in the March statement, but that was not the case.
I got in touch with Amazon and they promised to investigate the matter. After a few days, I received an email from Ana who stated that no sales were documented. I told her that I had proof of sales. She asked if she could see that proof. I emailed her a copy and she sent me the following response ...
|
Fri, Jun 29, 2:37 PM (8 days ago)
|
 |
||
|
||||
Hello Conny,
Greetings from CreateSpace.
Thank you very much fort contacting us back with additional information. This is very helpful as it assists us with the investigation.
I have now forwarded the investigation to a representative who is best equipped to answer your question. You should receive a response within one business day. I really appreciate your patience.
When I didn’t hear back from Ana I sent a follow-up email … how did the investigation go? I received no response. I sent a second follow-up email and again, no response.
This got me thinking … how many self-published authors are there who don’t have a clue about their book sales? If they order their own books or someone they know places an order, they know of those sales, but how many more sales are made they are unaware of? They have no way of knowing if someone bought their books or not.
I was lucky that I knew Jackie, and she was willing to share proof of sale with me, but how many self-published authors are out there not knowing anything about their book sales. This could be a scam amounting to millions of dollars.
That’s not all though. Another reason why my sales are down is that my books show up on a number of websites that offers free downloads. ‘Waiting for Silverbird’, ‘Voice of an Angel’, ‘Lily’, ‘Kitten Diaries’ and ‘Debbie’ are all there.
I know about this because I get Google alerts similar to this one:
|
Conny Manero
As-it-happens update ⋅ June 29, 2018
|
||
|
WEB
|
||
|
google.com
There was a problem loading more pages. [ntg.ebook] Debbie Conny Manero Free Download.pdf. [ntg.ebook] Debbie Conny Manero Free Download.
|
Book Descriptions:
Debbie the ferret lives in a pet store. One day, a man named Andrew takes her home. He shows her around the condo and then introduces her to Charlie, the cat. Debbie is terrified, but soon she and Charlie become good friends, and Charlie teaches her about—everything! Come, let Debbie tell you all about ferrets and how they live and read about all her adventures!
How it works:
· 1. Register a free 1 month Trial Account.
· 2. Download as many books as you like (Personal use)
· 3. Cancel the membership at any time if not satisfied.
It's no wonder my sales are down. Amazon is hiding sales and various pirate sales are offering free downloads.
Has something similar happened to you?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.