AUTHOR KRISTA D. BALL ON SUPERCHARGING INDIE NOVEL SALES (MF GALAXY 057)

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WHY AND HOW TO START A MAILING LIST, CREATE AN AUTHOR CENTRAL PAGE, THE SWEET SPOT FOR EBOOK PRICING, WHEN AND WHY TO OFFER DISCOUNTS, AND WHY BUNDLING WITH OTHER AUTHORS FOR 99 CENTS CAN EARN YOU THOUSANDS
Last fall I was one of the guests of honour at Pure Spec, one of E-Town’s most important conventions, and because I was giving a talk, I missed a session that people were raving about. They said that an indie author who’d had major sales was handing out her success secrets for free!

Being an indie author myself and also very, very cheap, I immediately cursed myself for having missed such an excellent chance, and then remembered, Dude, you’ve got a podcast! You can ask anybody for anything!

So I asked Krista D. Ball to tell me and thus you how she went from a low-selling epic fantasy series to being able to pay her mortgage from book sales.

Krista Ball is not only a charming and delightful interviewee, she’s also the author of 13 novels and novellas including the Spirit Caller series, the Historical Writing Guides Series, First (wrong) Impressions, and Limelight.

In today’s episode of MF GALAXY, she tells us:

  • How she boosted her sales from nearly zero to clearly hero
  • The importance of starting a mailing list, and what service to run that list
  • Setting up your Author Central page on Amazon
  • The sweet spot for pricing ebooks, when to throw a discount on them, and why
  • What “supported sales” are, and why you need them
  • How and why to make boxed sets and bundles of ebooks
  • The importance of cover design and where and how to commission one, and
  • Why it pays authors to have one of their books bundled with those of six other writers even though the entire bundle will be sold for only 99 cents
  • Krista Ball spoke with me by Skype on November 25, 2015. During our conversation she cites E-Town author Eileen Bell, author of Seeing the Light and The First Circle, and I cite E-Town author Wayne Arthurson, author of the Leo Desroches mystery novels.
I began by asking Krista to reveal her strategies for how an indie author can sell more books.

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If you’re looking for awesome audiobook enjoyment, visit my Minister Faust is Creating Audiobooks page on Patreon. Tomorrow, December 23, 2015, episode 2 of The Coyote Kings, Book One: Space-Age Bachelor Pad goes live with one solid hour of entertainment, plus bonus features!
Coming up next episode: Ted Bishop, author of The Social Life of Ink.


Comments

Heather Leighton Dickson said…
Loved this podcast! Very helpful!
5:39 pm
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