Kindle Scout – a Survivor’s Report

As I write this blog, I do not know if Amazon will accept Ant Farm for the Kindle Scout program. Its nomination period ended Thursday, February 26. I’ve noticed that those selected typically show up on the approved list two or three business days after the nomination period closed. My guess is the authors find out a business day or two after the nomination period closes, and it takes a day for the contract signing and changing the Kindle Scout website.

If that guess is correct, I’ll know on Monday or maybe Tuesday.

Kindle Scout is releasing the first ten books of the program on March 3, 2015, following traditional publishers in picking a Tuesday publication date. Of the first ten, two are Science Fiction, two are straight Romance. One is labeled as Mystery, four are called Thrillers, and one is a combination Mystery/Romance. Two are by authors I know—how cool is that?

Preordering provides our first view of how Amazon will price these ebooks. The books range in length from a short 178 equivalent print pages to a substantial 436. Prices range from $2.99 to $3.99. Here is the page range associated with each price. Whether something other than length went into Kindle Scout’s pricing decision, we’ll be able to figure out later as they publish more titles. 

• $2.99 ranged from 178-205 pages
• $3.49 ranged from 250-329 pages
• $3.99 ranged from 338-436 pages

How does Amazon select which books to publish? They have been coy about how much the nomination process affects their decision and how much is based on their definition of quality. Their FAQs has this answer, “Nominations give us an idea of which books readers think are great; the rest is up to the Kindle Scout team who then reviews books for potential publication.”

As the program matures I suspect what they already have in the hopper will play a role as well as how similar stories have sold. Amazon knows how to use data to shape markets. However, sometimes their reporting of statistics leaves me scratching my head.

According to their press release, “Scouts,” as Amazon calls those who make nominations under their program, average reading nine excerpts before making a nomination. That is hard for me to believe. I know many of the people who nominated Ant Farm did so by following a link I sent them. For every one of those who clicked my link, read the sample chapters (or not) and nominated the book, some other (average) soul had to read seventeen excerpts before finding one worthy of nomination. Really?

The press release also indicates the average number of days in which a Kindle Scout author receives a publishing decision after submitting a book is 31 days. Since it usually takes a couple of days for Amazon to decide to allow a book into the nomination process, and the nomination process itself last 30 days, that would mean authors on average know whether they will be published before the nomination process is over. That math does not work.

I’m thinking someone is playing a bit fast and loose with data (or is arithmetically challenged). However, the quick turnaround between the completion of a book’s nomination period and when the author hears suggests that the humans behind the scenes are doing some work while the book is still in the nomination process.

My guess (because of the timing, but mostly because it is how I would do it) is that before a book is accepted for nomination someone checks to make sure the writing meets some minimal standard and is complete. Then up it goes. If during the first three weeks or so the book continues to gather support, then one or more humans read the entire manuscript. At the end of the nomination period the decision makers will know not only how many nomination votes a book received, but would have access to other statistics as well, such as

• How many of those votes came as a result of someone directly accessing the novel’s page? 
• Of those, how many read the excerpt before nominating the book?
•  How many nominations came from those who read other books’ excerpts before selecting this one?
•  How many who nominated this book went on to read other books’ excerpts?
•  How many people read the excerpt and chose not to nominate the book?
•  How long did people read the excerpt before moving off the page (or choosing to nominate it)?

In other words, Amazon has lots of information to evaluate the quality of a book’s nomination. Do they use it? I sure would. So what does that mean if you are an author interested in the program?

Keeping in mind that we really do not know how Amazon makes its decisions, I suggest authors do the following:

Try to maintain your book as “Hot.” Of course this presumably means that people are voting for it, a good thing of itself, but it also keeps it in front of people. Plus, when making a decision of what to nominate, we humans like to know we are not alone. Labeling a book hot makes it easier for someone to click the blue “Nominate this book” button.

This means you need to start out strong, but also spread out your asks over the thirty-day nomination period. Kindle Scout gives you a couple of days between notifying you that your book will be eligible for nomination and the day it is first available. Use those days to plan out your campaign.

Make sure your website has a nominate link prominently displayed.

Go through your personal email list and determine who you know well enough to ask that they nominate your book.

Consider your social networks: writing groups, the stamp-collecting forum you belong to, church, alumni associations, etc. Spread out informing them through your campaign.

Use social media to generate interest without falling into the trap of everything being about me, Me ME! There is a fine line between being too bashful to present your request for people to check out your three chapters and nominate your book and boring people so they ignore you. I chose to post on Facebook four times: The first day, about a week into the program, a week remaining in the program and the last day for nominations.

However, during the thirty days I also wrote an informativeblog for readers and authors about the Kindle Scout program that had a small mention of my entry and another blog for authors titled “Six Rules of AuthorSelf-Promotion” that also mentioned my Kindle Scout participation. My Facebook account automatically notes when my new blogs appear, so those were two more related posts.

Special are those people who will spread the word for you. Those authors with street teams could employ them. Author Alan Orloff whose novel Running From the Past was one of the very first Kindle Scout selections, offered a free story to anyone who nominated his book and shared his posts on Facebook.

You are competing against other authors, but really, aren’t we in this together? If you know other authors whose books are in the nomination process the same time as yours, figure out ways to support each other. I’ve even become online correspondents with three authors who I only learned about because their books were interesting, and we reached out to each other in mutual support.

Thirty days is a long time, more a marathon than a sprint. Carve out time each day to implement your plan and when people do support you, make sure to thank them.

Stop by my website say Tuesday afternoon. Whenever I know whether or not I have a contract, I’ll post the information. In the meantime, do you know how hard it is to touch-type with crossed fingers?

~ Jim

P.S. (added 3/2/15 early morning) Arriving in my inbox at 12:17 a.m. while I was sleeping was an email from Kindle Press notifying me that they selected Ant Farm for publication. ~ J.

Strategizing Story

This Friday, I am looking forward to teaching a 90-minute workshop about writing and submitting short stories (concentrating on mystery, fantasy, romance, and other genres) at the South Carolina Book Festival. I plan to start out by focusing on craft, then provide attendees with marketing information and strategies.

In preparation, I’ve been thinking about the short story writing process. What organization is required before you write? Where do you physically write? How do you begin a story? Who do you write about? When do you know you are finished? Why should you submit a short story to a publisher for consideration?

What do you need to begin? Paper, writing instrument, computer, idea? You definitely want to have the tools and the writing space that make you feel comfortable and ready to write. But, you must start with the desire to tell a story.

You may or may not know the story itself, but you have certainty that you want to convey a story to others. This is your motivator, or why you keep returning to write. The reason may be as simple as “because I want to and it needs to be told.” It may be to preserve history; help your child get to sleep; explain something important to the world; respond to a call for submissions; or prove after having read so many [mysteries, romances, fantasies — you fill in the blank] that you can write one, too. The motive or justification is important because it keeps you writing. Some day you may share it with your readers or literary biographer, but that’s a different story from the one you want to tell.

What is your purpose for telling a particular story? What “spark” convinces you that a story must be told? Maybe it’s an idea, a character, a situation, or a place. Perhaps it starts with means (a way to hurt someone) or motive (an emotion such as greed or revenge).

Columbia Pictures, City Slickers, 1991

Like Curly explains the secret of life Mitch in City Slickers, “It’s one thing, and you have to figure out what it is.”

I’ve heard writers discuss whether they start with character or plot. Both are important, but after much consideration, I decided that in my own writing I needed to answer the “when” and “where” questions in order to figure out the “who” (character) and “why” (plot).

Think about it: knowing the time period and setting in which a story takes place are crucial components for determining the characters’ backgrounds and the challenges they will face. Whether it’s “once upon a time in a dark forest” or “on December 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,” the time and setting give a writer the conventions and limitations he must follow in developing a character who can live in, or a plot that can occur during, that period in that location.

When you know the spark of what the story is about, how do you organize what happens? Some people (“plotters”) require an outline or a basic idea of the beginning, middle, and end to begin the writing process. Others (“pantsers”) say that the action flows naturally from the characters’ inclinations and the author simply chronicles the characters’ journey as it happens.

In either process, a writer needs a strategy in order to encourage writing momentum. By definition, to “strategize” is to work out, devise, or chart a course of action to achieve a specific goal.

What is that goal? To produce a story, or a short factual or fictional narrative that has a plot. Plot involves a storyline, sequence, pattern, or series of related incidents that explain why a character starts out in one place and ends in another. Some writers contend that a plot works best if it reflects certain images throughout the story and has an unexpected twist at the end.

Art Taylor (Photo by Catriona McPherson)

My friend, award winning short story writer and Assistant Professor at George Mason University, Art Taylor told me that he had his students write a story in five sentences based on story structure. Each sentence described the following: (1) a character, (2) who wants something desperately, (3) but faces an obstacle in obtaining it, (4) and struggles to overcome the challenge, (5) then finally either succeeds or fails.

Ursula K. Le Guin says what makes a story is wanting “to find out what happens next.” See: http://www.ursulakleguin.com/WhatMakesAStory.html. She compares constructing a story with taking a tour through a house. The entrance should be inviting. The reader must be lured inside and shown a unique environment. Because it’s just a visit, the reader can’t stay forever, so the writer must provide an exit. A beginning, middle, and end — each significant and none more important than the others. What is necessary is that the overall experience be memorable.

Ursula K. Le Guin (Photo by Marion Wood Kolisch)

Why should a writer submit a story for publication? Finding the appropriate home for a story is as much a part of the strategy as writing the story. To become a published author, you need to understand not only story craft, but also the expectations and requirements of the market, an editor, and your audience. By completing and submitting a short story, you have: (1) accomplished a valuable personal achievement, and (2) learned something about what it takes to be a professional writer.

And, if the story is accepted, you have a writing credit.

Have I covered everything I should teach my students? What would you tell them, and what information and advice would you want to hear if you took the workshop?

Many thanks!