by Alan Orloff, @alanorloff
Thank you, Elizabeth, for hosting me on your fabulous blog!
A few years ago, we had a guinea pig for a couple of weeks. It (I never checked if it was a boy or girl) used to make an odd squeaking noise, and I couldn’t tell if it was excited or stressed. These days, I know exactly how it felt.
That’s because my suspense novel, RUNNING FROM THE PAST, is among the first wave of books in Amazon’s brand spanking new experiment, the Kindle Scout program. Yes, I’m one of their guinea pigs.
Here’s how it works:
Authors submit their completed books to the program. The submission package includes a novel of at least 50,000 words, a cover, answers to a few questions, and a description (the catchier, the better). Right now, books in three genres are being accepted: Mystery, thriller, & suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Romance. Shortly after submitting your package, Amazon will let you know if your book has been accepted.
Once accepted, your material gets uploaded to the site, and your 30-day campaign begins (mine runs through Nov 26).
Now it’s the readers’ chance to get involved: They can read excerpts from any of the books in the program, and if they like what they’ve read, they can nominate it for publication. A reader can have three books nominated at any one time.
Then, when a book’s campaign ends, all the nominations are tallied. According to Amazon: “The more nominations your book receives, the more likely it will get the attention of our Kindle Scout team and be selected for publication.”
I think this means that the program is not solely a popularity contest: “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 a thank-you to the readers, if a book they nominate garners a contract, they will get a free advance copy of the entire novel.
That’s the basics. It’s like American Idol for books.
Why did I decide to get involved? I’m what’s referred to as a hybrid author. I had three books published with Midnight Ink (which is how I met Elizabeth), including DIAMONDS FOR THE DEAD, an Agatha Award Finalist. I also self-pubbed three books. So I understand the pros and cons of each strategy. (The Kindle Scout program is itself a hybrid of the two methods.)
For my self-pubbed books, the most challenging part was getting them discovered. So far, I haven’t found too many effective ways to market them. Although a modest advance is part of the winners’ contract, the most appealing part of the Scout Program is the possibility of getting access to Amazon’s powerful marketing engine.
Say what you will about Amazon, but they know how to sell stuff.
I’m not sure I would have participated if I didn’t already have a suspense novel (and professionally-designed cover) ready to go. I’d put RUNNING FROM THE PAST up on Wattpad in another “publishing” experiment (without much success). When I heard about the Kindle Scout program, this novel was just languishing on my hard drive, with no real plans and no place to call home.
So I figured, why not try it here? Nothing to lose. Something to gain.
Once my campaign began, I realized I needed to do some, gasp, marketing to make people aware of the program and get them to read an excerpt, hoping that they’ll then nominate it.
First, I tried the obvious things. Posting on Facebook. Tweets on Twitter. Many of my Facebook friends shared my posts (bless them) and my Twitter followers retweeted my tweets (bless them). I put a notice on my website. I created a Facebook Event (but I haven’t invited anyone yet—I hate getting spammed myself). I told my friends and family. I sent out a few press releases to local newspapers. I plan to send an email blast to those on my mailing list.
I also am offering to give a free PDF copy of my not-yet-published short story CHEAP MEDZ to anyone who shares the Kindle Scout link to my book on Facebook or Twitter, in an attempt to leverage the power of social media.
But then what? Go door-to-door? Stand on the street corner with a sandwich board? Maybe make up one of those spinning signs and hang out at a busy intersection? Get endorsed by Oprah? (If anyone has any bright ideas, I’m all ears!)
Of course, I won’t know how the campaign did until it’s over (there are no metrics beyond a “Hot & Trending” list that is updated frequently). If I’m lucky enough to get a contract, great. If not, I guess I can apply some lessons learned from my marketing efforts.
While I’ve been concentrating on the marketing, I can take solace that the most important thing, the thing that really matters, has already been done.
The writing of the book.
(If you’d like to read the excerpt, here’s the link: https://kindlescout.amazon.
Alan Orloff is the author of Diamonds for the Dead
For more info, please visit his website: www.alanorloff.com
Sounds like a pretty good idea for NaNo books, though I have a feeling they might get inundated.
Greg – In this first month of the program, there are about 125 – 150 books listed, but I suspect you’re right. Once people hear about it (and after NaNoWriMo has concluded), the deluge could begin! After all, the lower word count limit is (coincidentally?) 50K words.
Hi Elizabeth and Alan – a good subject to learn about … always interesting to find out what else is out there … cheers Hilary
Hilary – And it seems there’s something new every day!
Interesting idea. I’d never heard of the program before.
Alex – My book is in the first wave, but knowing Amazon, if the program “works” they’ll start pushing it more.
Elizabeth – Thanks for hosting Alan.
Alan – Thanks for sharing about the Kindle Scout program. It sounds like a really interesting option and I wish you all the best!
Thanks, Margot! One good thing: Amazon says they’ll make the decisions within 45 days. Pretty quickly, in the world of publishing.
It sounds like popularity will still play a part, but at least Amazon will make the final decision.
Yes, and I’m glad for that. It would be interesting to know how much of their decisions will be made by the vote and how much by the quality of the work. I’m sure Amazon will never reveal the recipe for their special sauce, though.
Thanks for the guest post, Alan! This is a cool program…and I love the way they’ve modeled it after an American Idol sort of competition. I think the best part is that it doesn’t take very long for Amazon to make its final decision. And I think you’ve done the most important part of preparation for success there–written a good story and paid for a professional cover.
My pleasure! Thanks for hosting me! I did use a professional cover designer, but, you know, I’m never sure about any of the covers I’ve gotten. I like them for a while, then change my mind. Oh well, I can’t do anything about it at the moment!
Oh, I’ve heard about this! I wish you the best of luck. I’ll head over there and read the excerpt.
Thanks, Julie! I’ve read some of the other excerpts, and there’s a lot of good stuff there. Of course, sometimes you can’t really tell what the book’s going to be like just from the excerpt.
I’d heard about this recently and thanks to you guys, Elizabeth and Alan, I’ve finally learned how it works. It takes guts, though, to participate in this sort of marathon, and it means you have to do a lot of networking. People applying to American Idol might be more the sort of person that can easily pull it off than writers (especially those who tend to be solitary…as I tend to do! I’ve only just come out with my real name, ha ha!)
So, Alan, here’s to your success!
Claude – Yeah, the networking and efforts to “get out the vote” are somewhat out of my comfort zone. But sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and bear it. Only two more weeks of it…
This sounds really cool! I’ll definitely check out your book!
Thanks, Megan!
Wishing you lots of good luck!
Hi, Elizabeth :)
Thanks, Carol!
Thanks for telling us about this interesting project. Sounds like it could really be a big thing in publishing if it works right.
Also, I went and read your excerpt and nominated your book, because it sounds great, and your writing had me at the beginning and held me throughout.
Thanks, Jennifer! If my book gets a contract, you’ll get a free copy! I hope you’ll get a free copy! (So tell all your friends :) )
Alan–
Could you provide a little more detail about the networking aspect of this program? For me, that word is sometimes a euphemism for “insider trading.”
Sure, Barry. It’s more like campaigning for votes. Amazon encourages authors with books in the program to use every social media outlet at their disposal to attract readers to the Scout books. So I’ve been putting the word out on Facebook and Twitter. I think the size of my networks (which aren’t small, by any means), pale in comparison to some of the author’s networks. So I’m trying to leverage what I got by asking others to share the link within their networks. As a thank-you (inducement, perhaps?), I’m offering to send a short story to anyone who shares. I’ve seen other others try different things (iPad and gift card giveaways, FB wall tours, YouTube, etc). Probably more than you wanted to know, right?
[…] The Kindle Scout Program – Elizabeth Spann Craig […]
Thanks Alan (and Elizabeth),
I decided to put an under-the-bed book into the program two days ago, and just found out my campaign starts on the 22nd. I’m searching everywhere to get ideas on how to spread the word. Interesting that the Twitter and FB pages are not very active for Kindle Scout. I wonder if readers don’t want to vote on the next best thing? I think, way back when I was just a reader (elementary school :-), if I would have participated. I think I would have considered it fun.
For those of you who like fantasy, I’ve got an entry in Kindle Scout. It’s OK, I’m real: Clarion West sf/fantasy workshop graduate, 38 short stories published. Please check out the excerpt, and if you like it, VOTE! Yes, I feel like a cheap politican.