New Release: How I Made Over $42,000 Selling My Kindle eBooks

In March 2012 one Canadian author boldly went where few have gone before—into the land of making real money with Amazon's KDP Select program.

This is her story…

My name is Cheryl Kaye Tardif and I am an international bestselling suspense author who earned over $42,000 dollars in March 2012 selling ebooks via Amazon's KDP Select program, captured the interest of a major literary agency, and went on to sign with a foreign rights agent. And I'm about to tell you HOW I did all that.

I don't normally tell people how much money I make, but I believe writers need to know it IS possible to earn a real income from your books. Seriously, if I can do it, anyone can—if you have the right combination of criteria and techniques.

In this book, I'll share with you what I believe are four key elements you must have in place to see high sales. And I'll reveal the strategic techniques I used during my KDP Select promotions that resulted in earning over $42,000—with $32,000 of that from ONE title alone.

Not only did I earn over $42,000 in ebook sales, I was contacted by one of the leading literary agencies in New York. The chairman noticed my success when my one title made #4 in the Top 100 Bestselling Kindle ebooks, right under The Hunger Games trilogy. Since then, I've signed with another agent for foreign rights.

So, if you're ready to earn some real money with Select, let's begin…

Available at Amazon (Kindle) for only $2.99.

Are Christmas Craft Fairs Profitable for Book Selling?

Over the past few days, I sold my mystery novels at two different Christmas craft fairs. In the past, my day jobs—always involving weekend shifts—kept me from participating, but self-employment has provided more selling opportunities. I’d heard mixed reviews from other writers who’d sold fiction and nonfiction at Christmas fairs, so I was curious to experiment.

The first event was hosted by my local fitness center for members, so it wasn’t advertised. The fair was five days long. I split the cost of a table, and was able to come and go as I pleased. This was a real communal effort from sellers, where everyone looked out for one another’s table so we wouldn’t have to stay all day.

Because Taxed to Death and Fatal Encryption both feature the adventures of tax auditor, Alex Bellamy, I wrapped some of them in cellophane with a ribbon and bow, and sold them as an autographed set at a discounted price. I discovered, though, that just as many people bought unwrapped sets for personalized signing. In the end, I made over $250 in profit, and sold more books than I thought I would for a center with only 150 members. The best part was that I received some good tips about future craft fairs for next year, and chatted with a lot of people I didn’t normally see.

The second event was the first Christmas artisan fair hosted by a local cultural center to tie in with a tree lighting ceremony. The fair was only four hours long and, again, I split the cost of a table. Although there were many people at the ceremony, we estimate that only 150 attendees made the trek across the parking lot and into the building to look at crafts and warm up from the cold. Still, I made a little profit and had the most interesting conversations with all types of people. I’m going to try new venues next year and see how it goes. If you’d like to try selling at Christmas craft fairs, here are some tips:

. Book well in advance for the popular ones. I have to book now for some of next year’s events.
. Don’t book a table that costs over $100, and split the cost with another writer.
. Presentation is important. A festive table cloth, some gift-wrapped books, and promo materials will help draw people to your table.
. Talk to people. You learn all sorts of things.
. Have a large enough float to make change. Bank machines spit out twenties, and that’s what people carry.
. Accept checks. Not everyone carries cash.
. Have fun. Going in with a positive attitude makes all the difference.

Good luck!

My Alex Bellamy mysteries can be purchased at
FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

Do Print Books Still Sell?

What sells, what doesn’t; what works, what doesn’t? I’ve been pondering these issues a fair bit, as I’ve had a number of interesting discussions with fiction writers over the past month who are both self-published and traditionally published, and who sell print and/or ebooks. Clearly, many authors are still looking for the most efficient and productive means to sell books, and while technology and ebooks have certainly evened the playing field in terms of visibility and promotion opportunities for authors, the reality is that about 90% of the fiction listings on amazon probably far sell less than a hundred print copies. Some of the reasons for this are poor attempts at promotion, no reviews, a poorly written book, and the fact that amazon carries millions of titles. But what about the author who promotes everyday, garners a few good reviews, and has written a fine book?

I don’t have all the answers, but here’s what I and others have noticed from our experiences. First, if you want to sell print copies of your novel, then a lot of really good reviews from established reviewers can help. The reviewers don’t have to be connected to newspapers. There are some credible, online reviewers. If even one of them likes your book and posts their review on several different blogs, forums, and websites, this can help boost your sales, or so it did for me in both print and electronic formats.

Second, if you want to sell more print copies, I recommend getting out there and meeting book buyers. Arrange bookstore meet and greets, and attend book festivals; even certain craft markets can be good venues. Two events I took part in this fall sold more print copies than they had in three years of selling through amazon. In fact, when I look at my stats over the past five years, the more events I took part in, the more books I sold that year. Not every event resulted in sales, but 75% of them did. On the other hand, social networking does not generate sales 75% of the time for me, although it has helped with ebook sales.

The bottom line is that a good book, word of mouth, and participation are still effective selling tools. As far as print fiction goes, I don’t see technological advances changing the tried and true methods anytime soon.

My Alex Bellamy mysteries can be purchased at
FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

Crap Happens

Recently, I read a blog from someone who was warning of the dire straights bookstores are in, or will be in soon, because of the recession. In fact, I’ve read several comments this week about how we should all buy books to help bookstores survive.

Lord knows that in unhealthy economies, artists of all sorts are among the first to feel the pinch. Books, paintings, and sculptures are luxury items for many people. A choice between buying food or a book, is a no-brainer. While I’ll likely buy books for Christmas and love receiving them as gifts, I also want to say that spending my hard-earned money to support certain bookstores might be too much to ask. Here’s why.

Last month a bookstore arranged a “Meet 'N Greet” for me. I’d attended one in August and it went so well that the store invited me back. A week before the event, the store cancelled on me because a scheduling snafu had a celebrity appearing the same day. Three weeks later, another date was given to me. A week before that event, another apologetic email arrived stating that all events were now cancelled for December because the store couldn’t handle the “challenge” of hosting events while dealing with the heavy volume of customers. Huh? We’re in a recession and this store (a large store) couldn’t handle the extra work of hosting a three-hour "Meet 'N Greet" (where I do all the work) during their best sales month of the year?

Look, if authors, publishers, and bookstores want to survive tough economic times, then we’d all better step up to the plate, work harder, and think outside the box. Lately, I’ve heard far more complaining about reduced sales than new ideas for selling books. And I’ve already heard about layoffs at publishing houses and fewer contracts being offered to authors. So what else is new? During thirty-five years in the workforce, I’ve been through enough recessions and bad news cycles to know that crap happens now and then. Best thing to do is deal with it and move on. But for crying out loud, don’t tell me that selling books is too much work at Christmas time, or any other time, or you’ll lose my business.

To read excerpts of Taxed to Death and Fatal Encryption visit, www.debrapurdykong.com