Day 86--The Author's Decision To Go Pro

Most readers don't know who published their favorite books. Off the top of your head, who published The Hunger Games, The Lightening Thief, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo? If you know, it's probably because you're an author and we, of all people, tend to notice these things.

When readers browse on Amazon, they are looking at book covers, reading snippets, looking at prices and making decisions. They aren't sorting by indie versus non-indie. Most of the time, they don't know or care about the difference.

And I don't want to be the one to point that difference out with an unprofessional product. 

I formed my own publishing company, Dreamcatcher Books, in the hopes of avoiding that. I failed. I don't know enough about graphic design to choose the right fonts and colors for a professional cover. When I asked the artist to draw the picture, I didn't understand it had to be designed for a thumbnail. I made text formatting errors and, after I made the changes suggested by my editor, I didn't go back and have it proofread again. I thought my book would sell itself, how wrong I was.

I did my best, but as they say, my best wasn't good enough.

I believe in my story. My readers believe in my story, but my product doesn't have mass market appeal. People view it, but don't make that click to purchase it. No amount of promoting will fix this problem.

My book did shoot up into the top 100 in childrens books last night, but I know why. I sold 25 paperbacks in a few minutes because of a school visit I'm doing this month. The sales were a direct result of a promotion, but not the organic traffic I'm looking for. The ranking boost might have increased my visibility but it didn't lead to sales like it should.  

So far, almost all of my sales correlate to an event I'm holding. I rarely get sales out of the blue. Part of this is because my readers are younger and don't own kindles (I rely almost solely on paperback sales). I expect my eBook sales to grow in the future when younger children own eReaders. The other reason is that my thumbnail stands out for the wrong reasons on Amazon.  I used Times New Roman for my book title, who does that?

I had to make a heart breaking decision to redo my cover. While I'm at it, I'm going to reformat the paperback with smaller margins and right justified text. I will get over my solemness and re-release The Pet Washer with joy, but first I have to go through the hard work of redoing everything. At least I've done it once already, the second time should go smoother.

I've hired two professionals to help me--a graphic designer and a proofreader. I'm using the money I earn from speaking and the small sum I've earned from book sales to cover the costs. Our family is still in a fragile recovery from the recession so I don't make these decisions lightly. However, I believe the changes will make a difference and I believe in The Pet Washer.

To Do: My book is my creation and I was blind to its flaws for a long time. I advise all indie authors to go to an author forum like the  Kindle Direct Publishing Community, posting a link to your book and asking the forum to analyze it from a readers' perspective. Ask for a critique on your cover, your blurb, your opening sample, your price and your author bio.

Then put on your big kid pants and listen. It may be the best thing you ever do for your books and it may be the hardest things you've ever had to hear. I did it once and I was astonished at what came out. Criticism by it's nature can come across as mean, but I realized it was helpful. I didn't argue. I just listened. Try it, it may be your time to go pro. Those of you who got it right the first time, congratulations!

I want to see these numbers again!

A few minutes after I took this photo, I dropped out of the top 100.

Jennifer Lynn Alvarez
author of The Pet Washer
a novel for children aged 8 and up