QUICK TUTORIAL in BOOKS
How to
Apply to Kindle Scout
Vivi Stutz, a fellow author, applied to Kindle Scout with her book The Creed – A Novel of Romantic Magical Realism. You can read an excerpt of her novel and nominate her here https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/QNBOI4AEVP1P .
I had heard about Kindle Scout but not given it much thought till I heard that Vivi applied with her novel. I decided to read up on it.
What is Kindle Scout all about?
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/about
Sounds good. Doesn’t it?
What books are eligible to apply for Kindle Scout?
Kindle Scout is open for eligible countries. Here is the link: http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2015/amazons-kindle-scout-publishing-platform-expands-internationally/
Kindle Scout is a significant opportunity for self-published authors. With the backing of Amazon’s marketing muscle, novels published through Kindle Press perform financially better than self-published novels. A selection by Kindle Scout can mean the breakthrough of an author’s career.
Even if not selected by Amazon, the campaign can contribute to a successful self-published launch, since the month-long pre-release promotion adds downloads during launch.
Synopsis of Requirements for submission to Kindle Scout
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/submit
- a previously unpublished novel of a minimum of 50,000 words, submitted as a Word document
- genres: literature& fiction; mystery, thriller &suspense; science fiction &fantasy; romance; teen & young adult
- a professionally copy-edited manuscript (Chicago Manual of Style)
- a professionally designed, genre-specific book cover
- a one-liner about the book’s premise in 45 characters (spaces included)
- a strong blurb of 500 characters (spaces included)
- author bio of 500 characters (spaces included)
- author headshot
- thank you note to readers for voting
- author Q&A, which can be chosen from a list of questions
- author contacts and social media links
guidelines and entree requirements
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/help?topicId=AP72QR5GUKEQS.
TIPS FROM VIVI
I asked Vivi how she is going with it all and Vivi told me that she likes to help other writers apply to Kindle Scout. Her campaign ends the second of October, 2016 and this is what she has to say about it:
The major challenge of running a Kindle Scout campaign is that the novel does not only need to collect nominations, but also needs to spend a sizeable number of hours on the “Hot&Trending” list. My novel spent 32 hours in “Hot&Trending” in the beginning, but hasn’t made it back there after the first week. Advertizing is more difficult than a regular launch, because most book promo sites don’t accept Kindle Scout campaigns. Author Shout does, and so does Black Caviar Book Club.
Other great resources for gathering support for a Kindle Scout campaign are Kboards and Goodreads, which have threads for nomination requests. I also posted regularly in as many Facebook Book Groups as possible, and I purchased social media advertizing on Fiverr.com. (Note that many Facebook promo groups don’t allow “yet unpublished” books.)
A successful campaign is far more likely for authors who already have an established fan base, or if the author receives outside help (in my case, Mimi is one of the helping hands!)
For any of us fiction authors considering Kindle Scout, I still recommend it even though it requires a high frustration tolerance and a month of intense promoting. I found several accounts of authors who spent very little or no time in “Hot&Trending” and were selected for publication anyway, while some authors dominated “Hot&Trending” throughout their campaign and were not selected. Amazon editors do read the manuscripts and my guess is that at the end, a novel has to be a memorable story which the editors believe in.
Vivi’s novel has a biblical backstory based on an ancient text found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is inspirational in nature; the themes are forgiveness, aligning with the divine plan, listening to intuition and belief in the wholeness which surrounds and nurtures us.
Thank you Vivi for sharing, that is really helpful info for writers applying to Kindle Scout. For more info, you can visit Vivi on www.ViviStutz.com.
This is how you can vote for Vivi’s book:
1) Click on https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/QNBOI4AEVP1P (campaign page will open)
2) Click on blue field “nominate me”
3) When prompted, sign into your Amazon account
4) When page opens, award stars for presentation or excerpt
5) (optional but helpful) leave short comment in “comments” box
6) Click “submit”
Open to submissions year-round.
Kindle Scout is a reader-powered Amazon publishing program in which readers can nominate a novel for possible publication through Kindle Press. Voters receive a free ebook by Amazon if selected for publication, or are notified when the author self-publishes and runs a free promotion.
The author receives a 1500$ advance and 50% royalties during a five-year contract. If the author’s royalties are less than 25,000$ within the five-year term, the author may withdraw publishing rights from Amazon. Kindle Press will only publish and market the ebook version of the novel, which leaves print rights with the author.
Kindle Scout is open to submissions year-round. After submission, Kindle editors review the manuscript within 2-3 days. If accepted, Amazon notifies the author of the beginning date of the campaign. The campaign is active for 30 days, after which Amazon editors decide whether or not to offer a publishing contract.
As a rule of thumb, an author must promote the campaign for 30 days to collect nominations and spend as many hours as possible on the “Hot &Trending” list. “Hot&Trending” requires a high number of votes during any given hour (the exact algorithm is not published, but it appears that approximately 20+ votes are required.)
Even if not selected by Amazon, the campaign can contribute to a successful self-published launch, since the month-long pre-release promotion adds downloads during launch.
Below is an amended version with extra advice from Chris Lambert. You can check out her campaign and support her at https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/DPMLVPC7B4OX
TIPS FROM CHRIS LAMBERT
HITTING MY STRIDE
I’m two weeks in to my Kindle Scout campaign https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/DPMLVPC7B4OX ends December 27, 2016.
and I have finally figured out how to keep my book in the “hot and trending” list.
After a few false starts, tantrums, crying in my pillow, wailing at the gods of the Kindle Scout algorithm, pouting, holding my breath till I turn blue (I thought it’d work, really!), I decided, out of sheer desperation, to try something that might actually be useful.
And I’ve succeeded! I have reached the heights of Kindle Scout hotness! I am hot! Hot I am!! From zero hours some days to 24 hours a day four consecutive days as of this writing.
GET HOT
And you can be hot too! Yes you, sitting there wondering if you’ll ever experience even an hour of hotness. I know how you feel. I was there. But since I developed my new system, all is hot.
Normally I charge a kazillion dollars for the Lambert Sooper Sekrit Kindle Scout Success Strategy, and some people willingly pay it (in my dreams), but I’m giving it away free to a select few special people. And I’m not even going to ask for your email so I won’t be able to spam you with affiliate offers into the next decade. That’s how free it is.
Why, you may ask, am I giving this valuable life-changing information away, absolutely free?
Well, I’ve had all kinds of support from a lot of people, including Mimi. In fact, I first heard of Kindle Scout in a previous version of this very document that Mimi shared.
And so, without further ado, here is the trick to constant hotness on Kindle Scout.
A MARATHON NOT A SPRINT
You want to get a consistent flow of page views. It’s a marathon, not a sprint like a regular launch.
So every day, mid-morning, I IM about 15 – 20 fb friends, even the ones I hardly know. Some of them commented on a post of mine from years ago then sent a friend request. I don’t even recognize their name. But I IM them anyway. I’ve got about 15 days worth of fb friends, then I’ll start in on my emails.
Then late afternoon or early evening, I post in about 20 fb groups for free books, Christian books, etc. You should read the rules for the group: some are OK with posting every day, some once a month, some not at all. Some, when I post, give me a message that the moderator will review my post. I’ve been waiting a week for three of these posts and I suspect they won’t be approved. I post usually no more often than once every three days in each group.
I also started a facebook campaign, $5/day, targetting over 30 years old and interested in Christian fiction. In 9 days I’ve had 70 clicks, which isn’t much but better than nothing. I’m not sure it’s worth the money, especially since the number of nominations and hours on the hot list aren’t critical in getting accepted. But it’s something I thought I’d try.
And my email signature has a link to the campaign page.
It’s so easy once I figured it out. If I can do it, you can too!! So go forth into hotness!
Remember that when you submit your book, you also submit an email that will go out to everyone who nominates your book. When you’re writing this email, you do not know whether you’ll be accepted or not. So include your website and social media links. If people are interested enough to nominate you, they may sign up to your and you can then reach out to them (a) if you’re not accepted and launch on your own and/or (b) start building a list for your next books.
End of extra advice from Chris Lambert. You can find her campaign here https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/DPMLVPC7B4OX
Helpful links:
http://www.lincolncole.net/kindlescout/ (best analysis!)
http://selfpublishingadvice.org/how-to-run-a-kindle-scout-campaign/
http://ulstermanbooks.com/d-w-ulsterman-kindle-scout-experience/
Sign up here
What are you waiting for? Find out more here https://kindlescout.amazon.com/submit and sign up here https://kindlescout.amazon.com/author/project/create.
To help Vivi with her campaign you can vote for her book or contact her on www.ViviStutz.com. For more free tutorials and new releases of my books you can join my launch party or sign up to my newsletter.
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