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

-


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.

GET KRISTA D. BALL BOOKS
CONTACT KRISTA D. BALL 

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE ON iTUNES
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE ON STITCHER
SUPPORT MF GALAXY ON PATREON

TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD FREE, RIGHT-CLICK AND SELECT “SAVE AS”

PLEASE USE THE SHARE BAR AT THE END OF THIS POST


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
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mazisi Kunene's “Thoughts on June 26 (South African Liberation Day)”

-
My friend and colleague Gwen Becker pointed out to me how this brilliant poem by South African writer Mazisi Kunene could be read not only in a voice of defiance, but of profound ambivalence. "Was I wrong when I thought All shall be avenged? Was I wrong when I thought The rope of iron holding the neck of young bulls Shall be avenged? Was I wrong When I thought the orphans of sulphur Shall rise from the ocean? Was I depraved when I thought there need not be love There need not be forgiveness, there need not be progress, There need not be goodness on the earth, There need not be towns of skeletons, Sending messages of elephants to the moon? Was I wrong to laugh asphyxiated ecstasy When the sea rose like quicklime When the ashes on ashes were blown by the wind When the infant sword was left alone on the hilltop? Was I wrong to erect monuments of blood? Was I wrong to avenge the pillage of Caesar? Was I wrong? Was I wrong? Was I wr...
Read more

Why Tom Zarek Was Right

-
Image
Tom Zarek: Underserved by the otherwise excellent writers. Most of the anti-Gaeta sentiment I've heard is empty chatter, calling Gaeta "a coward" or "power mad" or "a weasel." Gaeta knew less than viewers know about Cylons, and from his perspective, indeed, from any logical human perspective of a character in the story, the mutiny and coup were logical responses to: a) a tyrannical presidential-military cliqu e that based its pursuit of Earth on what was originally a flat-out lie b) the centralisation of power in an unelected president ruling by cynical religious manip ulation which drifted into self-deluded fundamentalist zealotry and a messiah-complex c) an Executive who nearly succeeded in stealing an election d) a miltary strong-man who himself overthrew civilian rule, ruled by nepotism, undermined criminal inquiries he himself launched, and made clear he would overthrow any government he opposed e) a civilian-military clique of master-race Cap...
Read more

DOCTOR BRAIN BOOK LAUNCH TONIGHT! Assemble!

-
Image
After two a nd a half years, I finally have a new novel out! It's called From the Notebooks of Doctor Brain , and it’s a self-help book for superheroes. Well, okay, not really, it’s a satire a bout psychology and office politics. Well, okay, not really... it’s actually about the Bush administration. Check out below to find out what critics and writers are saying . When: Friday, Feb. 2, 7:30 pm at Audrey's Books, 10702 Jasper Avenue , Edmonton , (780) 423-3487 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW): “[S]harp s atire of caped crusaders hides a deeper critique of individual treatment versus social injustice.... Faust's well-aimed jabs spare no super sacred cows nor many pop idols a nd psychobabbling media stars. Underneath the humor, careful readers will find uncomfortable parallels to real-world urban tragedies in the novel's 'July 16 Attacks,' where Faust gives a double meaning to the 'Crisis of Infinite Dearths.'" BOOKLIST: ”[An] excellent superh...
Read more