Are you ready!? It is time for A to Z and we are diving in! For a full list of participants, check out here.
For anyone who didn't see my theme posts, this month I will be bringing up a tool for book marketing or promotion and asking all of YOU for experiences, knowledge, and ideas.
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| Do we need to be Amazon Warriors? |
You all know that right? And this is not even remotely a new topic related to book publishing, but Amazon is DOING some new things... they are doing some quality control. They are doing some imprints that require a query process... So there are some NEW Amazon things I'd like to know...
Anybody have experience or read anything about this new quality control system?
What do you think of it? (It SOUNDS, in concept, good to me –you get through a few hoops and then have a quality stamp of sorts, but I get the impression it isn't exactly working this way? What do you know? What opinions have you formed? What have you read?)
Have you used any of the select functions?
Is this the same thing as their imprints?
Do you think these are a good idea?
Do books sell well that go through this process?
Any other Amazon themes you want to bring up?
So go ahead! You're the experts! Make me smart!!!
Alas, alack - an able amazon aficionado? Absolutely acknowledging adrift at automatic authorship!
ReplyDeleteI know nothing. Amazon is huge and this could mean good and bad for self pubbed. Day one down for the A-Z. Woot!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know the answers to these questions.
ReplyDeleteSeems like I'll have to follow this thread in order to find out.
Writer In Transit
Sorry, I don't know anything. Unless you want to know more about that Amazon warrior - then this DC guy could really fill you in.
ReplyDeleteYeah, not much of an expert but I think the quality control could be better (especially for certain genres *ahem*eroticromance*cough*). I'm not sure if they'll sell well, that's up to readers of course, but if it takes some heat off the total solo process that's cool. Some people, like me, want their hands held a little particularly as a newbie in the publishing side.
ReplyDeleteAlthough some writers do enjoy their control (i.e. covers, blurbs, etc.) so that option of self-publishing should continue to exist. This could be an extra something-something for those interested.
I haven't heard anything about this. It could certainly be interesting. I'll have to do some research now.
ReplyDeleteIf you're referring to the quality of ebooks, I know some authors who've had to redo theirs because Amazon found too many issues. It's not so much a seal of approval as a stamp of shame.
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew. I look forward to your theme, Hart! I know, I wish I was an Amazon and had an ebook ready to roll.
ReplyDeleteI have no clue about Amazon but I wish you all the best on this challenge
ReplyDeleteTyler
I did read that Amazon was doing some quality control on books that have many grammatical and punctuation issues and I say good. Other product they carry have that. Not sure about the query process, but a friend of mine has a line of Sea Salts and she had to answer many questions and be reviewed before they offered her stuff, so maybe the query is necessary?
ReplyDeleteI am always wary of giants. And Amazon is one giant whose attention I do not want. Talk to Jack about the trouble with giants! :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about the quality control, but I've watched friends to the kindle scout program. I've voted for books I thought looked great. Some were picked up and some were not. I know of one book that I loved (I've read the whole thing) that didn't get picked up when a different romance was picked up. When that book came to me (voters get a free copy if the book is chosen for publishing by Amazon) I couldn't believe it was chosen. It was all telling, passive, and not good at all. I didn't even finish.
ReplyDeleteSo, it boils down to I don't know if I trust what they consider quality.
I can't find a problem with vetting, so I think the Amazon quality control is a good thing.
ReplyDeletehttp://writegame.blogspot.com
In setting up my new releases the past couple of days, I have seen some of the new options, but I haven't had a chance to play with any of them, yet.
ReplyDeleteI love Amazon. I've bought a lot of stuff from there. But if I know a local bookstore carries a book I want that I also see on Amazon, I try my best to go through the local bookstore to help them stay in business.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of this; but it from the other comments here, that sounds like that might not be such a bad thing--guess that means my grammar is okay.
ReplyDeleteI'm clueless, but I usually am. LOL
ReplyDeleteHappy A to Z - ing!
Thank you for posting for the A to Z!
Ninga Minion @YolandaRenee from
Defending The Pen
Parallels
Murderous Imaginings
Yeah, I'm doing the official thing too!
If two writers get together, they're going to talk about Amazon. The monster we need and hate at the same time. Usually something about them comes up at every writers' meeting I attend.
ReplyDeleteSusan Says
I know not a thing about Amazon, but am soon to find out as I hope to put my new book on there.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
Great theme! Looking forward to your A-Z Challenge posts.
ReplyDeleteThe only Amazon features I was aware of is the ability to report books for too many errors etc. and then Amazon pulls the book until these errors are fixed. Which can have both positive and negative effects.
I do think, if done properly, a form of quality control would be useful, and I'm intrigued by the imprints that have a query process. But who is making these decisions? Writers, editors, publishers and other industry experts? Or Amazon executives who might not know the ins and outs of publishing? It'll be interesting to see how this develops.
Clare Dugmore from Clare Dugmore Writes.
Hmmmm...this is news to me. I'll have to investigate future...
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I don't really have any answers to your questions either. But it's definitely an interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteI'm Sargeant Schultz. I know nothing!
ReplyDeleteI’m exploring different types of dreams and their meanings during the #AtoZChallenge at Stephen Tremp’s Breakthrough Blogs
I knew nothing about the Amazon imprint process so I just now looked it up. Might be a good way for writers to go if they want to receive serious attention on Amazon, which can be overwhelmingly tough. But I'm wary of the "free on Kindle" subscription feature with this. Doesn't the author get any royalties, such as a percentage of the subscription in those circumstances?
ReplyDeleteSorry if I'm raising more questions than I can answer for you, Hart. But since I'm determined to get attention for my upcoming two Charity MacCay novels, maybe I'll try this imprint route. I'll let you know.
I have no idea what a select function is :) As for the quality control - I think it's a good idea in essence. There are a lot of very badly put together books on kdp and weeding them out might help. However, I have little faith in the way Amazon implements things, so I am waiting to see, because most things usually just end up causing more problems for indies.
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
All I know if Amazon is their prime membership. Just popping in from A-Z. I'm at denisebennorth.blogspot.com.
ReplyDeleteAll I know if Amazon is their prime membership. Just popping in from A-Z. I'm at denisebennorth.blogspot.com.
ReplyDelete