Login or Register for free to create your own customized page of blog posts from your favorite blogs. You can also add blogs by clicking the "Add to MyJacketFlap" links next to the blog name in each post.
Blog Posts by Tag
In the past 7 days
Blog Posts by Date
Click days in this calendar to see posts by day or month
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Amazon Best Seller, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 4 of 4
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: Amazon Best Seller in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
BookBuzzr author Inger Iversen’s book – Inevitable: Love and War – recently hit the #1 spot on the Amazon. We reached out to Inger to learn more about her story.
The screenshot below was taken on Mar 05, 2015.
Tell us about your journey as an author so far.
When I started I didn’t think I would make a career out of being an author. I’d planned to write a book or two to supplement my income and have a hobby that would be a stress reliever after a hard days work. However, I soon realized that while I loved to write, it was also hard work and very rewarding. I started in 2011 when I wrote a very short prequel called, Goodnight Sam. I didn’t know much about the indie business back then, but I’d like to think that I have grown and come a long way. I went from writing a book in eighteen months to being able to write one in two weeks, I’ve learned how to brand and market myself, and I am doing much more than just supplementing my income these days.
What is the storyline of Inevitable? Inevitable follows Teal and Trent to Maine for Katie and Logan’s wedding. Teal is a workaholic, a loudmouthed, takes no prisoners type who actually works in a prison. Trent is the proverbial boy from the wrong side of the tracks with a bad attitude and a good reason behind it.
Place these two in a stranded in a cabin for a few days and let the games begin…
Walk us through a typical day in your life.
Ha! I have a boring life! I only work six hours a night at my “day” job, so when I arrive at home at 6 a.m. I write. On a normal day I write from 7 a.m. to about 10 a.m. and then I sleep. I have such an odd schedule, but that makes for easy writing time. I wake up around 4 p.m. and write again until about 8 p.m. On this schedule I can write a novel in 14 days!
How do you divide your time between writing and promotion?
Dividing my time between writing and promotion one of the hardest aspects of the job. While I want to promote and get my work out to new readers, I have to write in order to make current readers happy and not waiting too long between novels. That is where BookBuzzr comes in. I use the Twitter Scheduler and Freado giveaways to promote and tweet about my novels. I use Facebook and Instagram on a daily basis. Actually, I feel like I spend 90% of my time on Facebook and about 10% writing!
What are some of the things that you do to promote your book?
To promote my book I use Amazon giveaways, Freado giveaways and I use Bookbub, the Midlist and OHFB to promote. Those sites email my sales and deals out to their subscribers who are interested in receiving notifications about books and sales. I also hired a production company to create a trailed for my novel, Incarcerated. The biggest tool I use is Facebook. It is where the readers seems to be so it is where you will always find me!
How does BookBuzzr tie in to your overall marketing plan?
BookBuzzr is really helpful. I love the Tweet scheduler function and it is one of the reasons I choose BookBuzzr over other sites. I learned about BookBuzzr last year from Rachel Thompson of Bad Redhead Media and I have been using it every since.
Your book trailer for your other book Few Are Angels is of a very high quality. How did you get this book trailer made? What was its impact on book sales?
The book trailer for Few Are Angels has made a BIG impact on my career, boosted sales and reviews. Last year I attended a conference called, UtopYacon. This was a big step for my career. I attended a Marketing class and a ‘How to Utilize Facebook’ class. While there, I screened a short movie called, Avarice created by Timid Monster. Timid Monster is producer Dan Baker and director Rachel Taylor. They agreed to shoot a trailer for me and the experience was amazing. I picked actors and even co-wrote a script.
What’s the best part of your job as an author?
Hands down the best part about being an author is receiving emails and messages from readers about how my stories have touched their hearts. There is no greater reward.
In your role as an author, what are some of the activities that you need to do but dislike doing?
Ugh…research! I hate research! I just want to write and write, but there are those few times when I need to fact check. A recent example is in the final book of the Few Are Angels series, Eternal Light. I have to research medical techniques from 1666. I cannot tell you how boring it is to read over information about the crude and crazy medical techniques of that period.
What advice would you give to a new author?
I get asked this a lot and I have two gems that I love to share.
1. Never, ever and I mean never give up. You are your own worst critic, but you are also the only person who can tell your stories and readers want to hear them—trust me.
2. This isn’t a hobby. This is your business, your brand and your name. Readers will only respect it as much as you do. Treat it as if you love it because I know you do or you wouldn’t be here. I know it can be expensive, but always get professional editing, covers and formatting. Yes, some of use are multi-talented and can do some of these things, but if you can’t just let the professionals do it.
BookBuzzr subscriber – Luana Ehrlich’s book – One Night in Tehran has been seeing steady success on Amazon. It has garnered over 150 reviews and recently hit the number one spot on the Canadian Amazon store. We connected with Luana to learn her story.
The screenshot below was taken on Feb, 16 2015.
Hi, Luana, thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Although I grew up in Illinois, I’ve lived in either Texas or Oklahoma for most of my adult life. For a short period of time, I also worked with my husband, who is a Baptist minister, as a missionary in Latin America.
I’m called “Granny” by my two grandsons who live nearby, and until my husband’s retirement from a long-time pastorate, I was identified as “the pastor’s wife.” Now, at least among my friends, I’m simply known as “the author.”
This may be more than you want to know about me, but I’m also an avid reader, a news fanatic, and an enthusiastic supporter of the Dallas Cowboy football team.
What is the premise behind One Night in Tehran?
Because I’ve been a freelance writer for several years and also a fan of spy fiction, it’s probably not surprising I’ve always had a desire to write my own espionage thriller. However, until recently, I didn’t so because, quite frankly, I’ve never enjoyed reading Christian fiction as much as secular fiction. Yet, I knew the element of faith would have to be present in any novel I wrote. Then, one morning, after hearing about how Christians in Iran were living out their faith under intense persecution, the character of Titus Ray and the plot of One Night in Tehran suddenly came to life for me. I began by asking these questions: “What would happen if a veteran CIA intelligence operative in Tehran encountered a group of Iranian Christians and became a believer? How would his conversion affect his career? How would a man trained to lie and deceive others be able to follow the teachings of Christ in the real world? What if he was involved in a murder and was being pursued by an assassin at the same time?
When did you start writing One Night in Tehran and what was the process like?
When my husband and I retired, I began writing a blog. The support I received from my followers led me to start thinking about writing a novel. Once I had the general plotline in my head, I wrote it down in the form of a brief paragraph. Then, I began mapping out some character details. After that, I did very little in the way of outlining; instead, I allowed the action and dialogue to be spontaneous. The process became like reading a book, only at a much slower pace.
What was the process you employed in getting the book cover designed?
Book covers in the mystery/suspense/thriller genre have a certain look to them. I can easily pick up a book and know whether or not it’s written in that genre without reading the description. They’re usually printed in dark color with short titles in bold white type. When I studied the covers on Amazon and noted the ones that caught my eye, I realized how important a cover was, even in deciding to read a book’s description. With that in mind, I made a prototype of my cover using Adobe software, and I used that prototype to tell my professional cover designer what I wanted. Even though she never saw my homemade design, the end result was very similar to the one I’d done. I’ve done this same thing in visualizing the cover for my second book.
What is your goal as a writer?
My primary goal as a fiction writer is to entertain my readers. I want them to experience being in the skin of a covert intelligence officer, to know what it feels like to make life and death choices, and to know the constant pressure of hiding one’s identity in the shadows of obscurity.
As a Christian fiction writer, my secondary goal is to encourage my readers to live out their Christian faith by introducing them to characters who are flawed, weak, and struggling, yet determined to follow the teachings of Christ anyway.
What is your biggest frustration as a book author?
My biggest frustration as an author is not being able to write for several hours at a time without getting tired. Although writing appears to involve merely the mental processes, writing for an extended period of time takes its toll on the body as well.
What is your biggest challenge as a self-published author?
My biggest challenge as a self-published author is that I must wear several different hats at the same time. I need to promote myself as an author—the job of a publicist—format and publish my manuscript—the job of a publisher—and create and write my book—the job of an author. Achieving that balance is the biggest challenge.
What are you currently reading? How did you find this book?
Currently, I’m reading Personal by Lee Child
. He’s one of my favorite authors, and I was notified by a book club when he published this novel.
How do you divide your time between marketing your book and writing your next book?
I usually spend 3 hours a day marketing One Night in Tehran. That includes answering emails, visiting advertising websites, staying updated on market trends, and then blogging and using social media. After that, I spend approximately 8 hours a day writing my second book, Two Days in Caracas.
Do you use Hootsuite or any other twitter scheduling tools for your social media marketing?
I use Buffer for scheduling my social media marketing; I’ve found it very useful in both scheduling and also in its analytical capabilities.
How did you find your first 100 readers?
Much of the action in One Night in Tehran takes place in the state of Oklahoma, and my first 100 readers came from this geographical location. This was primarily because a month after publication, a person of influence in Norman, Oklahoma, read the book and advertised it heavily as a thriller worth reading. As a result, I was able to sell over 100 books at my first book signing.
When is the next book in your Titus Ray series coming out and what can readers expect? Two Days in Caracas will be published in May 2015. In this action-packed second book in the Titus Ray Thriller series, Titus travels from Costa Rica to Caracas with a surprise stopover in between. Besides hunting down Jihadi terrorist, Ahmed Al-Amin, Titus will face an old nemesis, mentor a new operative, and deal with several demons from his past.
BookBuzzr author Regina Swanson’s book – My Husband’s Other Women – recently hit the # 3 spot on the Amazon. We reached out to Regina to learn more about her story.
The screenshot below was taken on Oct, 20 2014.
1. Congratulations on the success of ‘My Husband’s Other Women’. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your journey as a writer?
Thank you for showing interest in “My Husband’s Other Women.” It is appreciated.
I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. I took a short hiatus from Dallas to attend college. Upon completion of my undergraduate degree, I returned to Dallas. I have Master of Arts Degree in counseling and a PhD in Education. I am a late starter to the writing profession. I have always enjoyed fiction and creating stories but only recently decided to put it down on paper. Once I completed my first novel, I sent the manuscript out to some of the larger publishing companies. Needless to say, I did not hear back from any. I was extremely grateful when I was introduced to Royalty Publishing House. The company owners, Niyah Moore and Porscha Sterling, were excited about the manuscript. Together we put in the work to bring this debut novel to lovers of women’s fiction.
2. Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?
I do not have a special time to write. When idea’s spring into my brain I make notes. I could be riding in the car or standing in line at the grocery store. In the past, I would make outlines of what I wanted to happen, but I stopped because I’d never stick to the outline. You could say that I let my characters develop themselves as I am writing. It gives them more of an authentic feel as opposed to sticking to a premade script.
3. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
The most challenging part of writing for me is being concerned with how the editor views my knowledge of structure in preparing the manuscript. I know that may be weird, but the other parts of writing come very easy for me. I believe that my love of writing causes little stress throughout the process.
4. Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Absolutely! I learned that I love happy endings. I also love developing characters. It is one of the best things in the world to get to decide the outcome of what’s happening.
5. Do you have any advice for other authors on how to market their books?
My advice for other authors is to first entertain yourself with your writing. If you by chance entertain others in the process, well that’s just icing on the cake!
Vikram Narayan is the founder of BookBuzzr Book Marketing Technologies. Vikram is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to starting BookBuzzr, Vikram founded another software company that has been successfully serving clients from all over the world since 2001. When he is not dreaming up ways to help authors accelerate their earnings and book sales, Vikram spends his time playing the guitar, practicing Aikido and spending time with his family._________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hi Sharon, thank you for taking the time to do this interview.
1. How did you begin writing? Did you intend to become an author, or do you have a specific reason or reasons for writing each book?
I have been writing fiction since I was fifteen. I clearly remember when my English teacher pulled me aside and told me I was talented. That gave me the motivation to keep writing and getting better. It has always been my dream to be an author.
2. How did you come up with the title of your book or series? Tell us a little bit about your book series.
Destruction is book 1 in The December People Series. The December People Series revolves around the Vandergraff family, a family of dark wizards living in Houston, Texas. There will be four books in the series, in honor of the four seasons. The series is called “December People” because wizards are classified by seasons, with winter being the darkest. “Destruction” refers to the destructive quality of dark magic.
3. Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?
Every time I’m asked that question, I chuckle a bit. My life is chaotic. I have a full time job and also have two small children. I don’t have dedicated time to write and just squeeze in it whenever I can.
4. Do you read your reviews? Do you respond to them, good or bad? Do you have any advice on how to deal with the bad?
I wrote a blog post on this topic called, Why I Read My Book’s Reviews. So, yes, I do read them! I often thank people for their reviews, but I never argue or make comments other than “thank you.” As for dealing with bad, I recommend looking at the big picture. It’s amazing how much one scathing review can hurt, even if you have 50 others that are glowing. Do you best to look at the overall star rating and remind yourself that ALL successful authors get bad reviews!
5. Is there any marketing technique you used that had an immediate impact on your sales figures?
99 cent sales always work for me, especially if well-promoted. On the day I reached the #1 spot above, my publisher had put Destruction on Book Bub. It was certainly the one single marketing tool that had the most dramatic effect. If you can make it in, and can afford it, I highly recommend it.
Vikram Narayan is the founder of BookBuzzr Book Marketing Technologies. Vikram is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to starting BookBuzzr, Vikram founded another software company that has been successfully serving clients from all over the world since 2001. When he is not dreaming up ways to help authors accelerate their earnings and book sales, Vikram spends his time playing the guitar, practicing Aikido and spending time with his family._________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I’d planned to write a book or two to supplement my income and have a hobby that would be a stress reliever after a hard days work. However, I soon realized that while I loved to write, it was also hard work and very rewarding. I started in 2011 when I wrote a very short prequel called, Goodnight Sam. I didn’t know much about the indie business back then, but I’d like to think that I have grown and come a long way. I went from writing a book in eighteen months to being able to write one in two weeks, I’ve learned how to brand and market myself, and I am doing much more than just supplementing my income these days. 
