I’m not going to pontificate here on whether gaming systems is morally suspect, yada yada. Doing them is totally up to you. Whatever game you’re playing to gain some advantage over the way a system is built, designed and is actually supposed to be used, screwing around with that is most certainly “within the rules.” Technically. For now, anyway.
These are system holes, ladies and gents, and sooner or later, these holes will more than likely be plugged up. Which means if your business model banks heavily on being able to work and take advantage of these holes, well — surprise! — someday, that’ll just likely come to a screeching halt. And seemingly overnight, with no warning. One day click, it’ll all just go dark.
Google’s search results algorithm is a perfect example of this. Trying to take advantage of how it works is a never-ending source of system gaming examples. In the early days, for instance, keyword stuffing reaped huge benefits, moving practitioners’ sites way up in the search results, much to Google’s users’ dismay. Huge business operations were actually built around sites taking advantage of this technical hole.
Then one day — click! — no more. The faucet with the flood of inbound traffic was shut off. All those advertising $$$ from that traffic (AdSense, affiliate marketing, etc.)? Gone too.
That’s not the end of it, though. As far as I know, these keyword stuffing sites started getting penalized in the algorithm’s search results. These sites were now worse off than the clean folks. All that system-gaming content? Useless. Heck, worse than useless: damaging. They either had to invest huge sums to redo all their content, or die. Many died.
That’s the thing, folks: System owners hate the people who game their systems. Passionately. And for obvious reasons. Here’s a simple one: It screws up their business operations and income. Duh.
LOTS of examples of this kind of thing going on through the years, and not just with the search engines. Social media sites battling follower farming is something you’re likely aware of, for instance.
Indie publishing itself isn’t immune from system gaming, which is the whole point of this post. Amazon sure has problems with them. And a lot of the games aren’t based on some technical or logistical hole in an automated system that can be easily plugged up. Ergo, they’re a bit more difficult for Amazon to “clean up” and start preventing. I would imagine that doesn’t make Amazon very happy.
The latest clean up mess I’m aware of, picking up from forum whining, is Amazon cracking down on ARCs. That stands for “advanced review copies.” Amazon’s not against them in general, obviously, just the practice a lot of indie authors have been employing of assembling and using “ARC teams” — people with Amazon accounts whose whole raison d’être is to post those star-rated Amazon customer reviews. Besides just padding the review counts, timed well around book launch, those usually glowing reviews paint a rosy picture and prime the pump, so to speak. These “reviewers” get ARCs not to review and write about in regular media or even their own blogs to share with their readers — you know, old school legit ARC activity — but mainly for futzing with those Amazon customer reviews. It doesn’t really take a genius to figure that out, so save it.
Yeah, Amazon could of course turn a blind eye to the whole thing, but apparently it’s chosen to do a solid for its customers instead. Why that would be a surprise to anyone, I have no idea.
Just as unsurprisingly, Amazon’s none too happy with the game players. I don’t know the exact technical details, but it seems they’re all now on some internal watchlists (those can be automated too… surprise!). The ARC reviewers are seeing many of their reviews zapped, and they are now being prevented from posting reviews pretty much everywhere; authors are seeing their books’ existing reviews purged, yada yada.
As you may have guessed, however, this kind of manual/automated-hybrid cleanup effort is causing some real problems: There’s the inevitable collateral damage. Many of these books are seeing a significant number of legit reviews getting nuked as well. Interesting, huh? If you think about it, much like the Google keyword stuffing thing, the game players seem to be losing way more than whatever gains they may have enjoyed screwing with the system.
Funny how that works. If you’re caught up in this kerfuffle, good luck getting it all sorted out.
But hey, I’m not stopping you from trying to game the system if you’re so inclined — large scale, small scale, it’s all the same (yeah, killing just one person instead of 10 makes a difference, hmm?). But please, spare us the whining, and even the outrage, if it catches up to you.
This all just reminds me of this very common saying I keep stumbling across online. Amazing how well it fits:
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”
Now on to the Reader’s featured selections! What say we keep it simple today and stick with an all-Writing issue? OK, let’s do that. Enjoy!
— EES
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![1+tip[1]](https://wordpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1tip1-167x130.jpg "1+tip[1]")
“Can’t you give me just 1 tip (for getting book reviews)?” she asked
“The other day a newly published author who had befriended me 5 minutes earlier asked me if I could give her just one tip how to get book reviews from Amazon top reviewers.
I told her to read my book.
She came back with, ‘Can’t you give me just 1 tip?’
Hmm… Apparently this author was not aware how much in demand these reviews are; on average Hall-of-Fame reviewers get 250+ review requests per month.
So, I told her that getting a book reviewed by an Amazon top reviewer isn’t a ‘1-tip thing,’ especially if the book did not have any reviews yet. Getting reviews is a challenging task that encompasses many steps; which is why my book has 100 pages.
She immediately un-friended me.
I guess that says it all. Just another wannabe author who does not really want to learn the trade. The indie author industry is overrun with people like that. The sooner they get out and make room for the people who really hone their craft and all skills, the better for all.
Of course, from experience I know that most indie authors work a lot harder than this one.
So, here is one tip for authors whose books received already a few reviews (including from top reviewers).
‘Like/find helpful’ the reviewers’ reviews!!!”
Continue reading @ Gisela’s Straightforward Blog »
“Self-Made” is a Myth; Here’s the Real Formula for Success
“[T]hat’s what most people get wrong. They never learn how to reach out. You’ve got to be willing to put yourself out there…”
» Medium
$4,344.81 in 40 Days with my Fiction Book Only Spending $30 on Advertising
“I had a plan. A big plan. Heck, I had the plan of the universe — to sell thousands of copies of my new release Science Fiction book, Project Atlantis, during the first month I published it.
This plan started six months before I started writing the book. The plan entailed rapidly finishing three books in a series — Project Atlantis, Destination Atlantis, and Colony Atlantis — and once it had been edited, beta-read, and sent out to my ARC reviewers, I’d release Project Atlantis, then Destination Atlantis seven days later, and Colony Atlantis fourteen days after Destination Atlantis. Additionally, I’d have the fourth book, Beyond Atlantis, almost 100% written. Yet, I’d have Beyond Atlantis’s pre-order already up and running before Colony Atlantis was released, all the while dropping over $1500 dollars in Facebook Ads, Amazon Ads, and on Promo Sites, and whatever else I could get my greedy paws on.
Well, I did none of the above.
Here is what happened that led me to only spending $30 on Facebook and Amazon ads and how I was able to make $4,344.81 in 40 Days with my Fiction Book.”
Continue reading @ Medium »
10 Actionable WordPress Security Tips for the Layman
“[T]he more popular something is, the more people want to leverage on it for nefarious means… Fortunately, WordPress is a platform that offers you a multitude of opportunity to defend yourself.”
» WHSR
Free
Cameron D. Garriepy
Member Area • Content
Cameron D. Garriepy Wordpreneur Peeps Interview
Self-described shenaniganist and unabashed romantic, Cameron D. Garriepy wrote her first romance novel on an antique typewriter, using a stack of pink paper. Detours between that draft and her publishing goals have included a BA in Music, a professional culinary education, and twelve years in the child-wrangling industry.
Cameron writes from the Metro Boston area. When she isn’t blogging or performing her duties as managing editor at Write on Edge, she lives with her husband, son, and two poorly behaved dogs.
How Cameron Got Started Self-Publishing
She got into self-publishing as a way of learning about it. She had been blogging for almost seven years (and three of those posting her fiction on her blog), and was looking for a way to expand her exposure. She submitted a short story, “Closing Shift,” to a contest. It didn’t win. Since she “lacked the financial freedom” to submit it to paid competitions, she decided to repurpose the work instead, using it to teach herself the Smashwords publishing platform. Her second publication-ready short story, “Requiring of Care,” she decided to also publish through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), intent on learning and adding her experience with the KDP platform to her professional skill set. As she moved from her short stories to finished novel manuscripts, the decision to publish them independently was a natural progression.
For her Buck’s Landing book (“A New England Seacoast Romance”), Cameron did something quite interesting to help finance the project. Knowing that in terms of production value the book would require a step up, she began seeking out the services of a professional editor and compiling a list of possible marketing strategies and companies. As a stay-at-home mom with a young child, her family’s finances did not allow for such expenses, so she did something innovative: she turned to her network of readers and friends and launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to cover her book project’s start up costs. “I offered my funders perks ranging from a mention in the front-matter to e- and paper copies of the novel,” she said, “as well as the opportunity to name characters.” The book was released a few weeks ago, with the crowdfunding campaign making it possible to create a high quality, edited and polished product, as well as providing the resources to acquire inventory for physical sales and ad space/marketing packages.
Self-Publishing Tips
- “Remember the famous line about murdering your darlings. Find the means, even if it means saving up, to hire an objective editor — one whose profession it is to edit fiction. Find someone you enjoy working with, and trust them! Not only will you be offering your reader a better product, you’ll be helping the entire indie author community raise the bar!”
- “Learn everything you can about the nuts and bolts of the various self-publishing platforms. Being able to format your own files is an invaluable skill in self-publishing.”
Check out Cameron’s author page and books for sale on Amazon.com. You can also follow her on Twitter.
Originally published: November 12, 2012
8 Steps To Writing A Sales-Driving Author Bio
“With almost two million ebooks on Amazon, authors can get lost in the sea of books… [I]t’s important to have a compelling and interesting author bio. Unless you’re a household name, how are prospective readers going to learn about you on the world’s largest platform?”
» Authority Pub
peeps: D.V. Berkom
As the author of a number of thrillers — such as her Kate Jones Thriller series and new Leine Basso series — it would seem that D.V. Berkom’s natural inclination is to keep readers “on the edge of their seats,” a tendency she explains away by saying that she grew up “on a steady diet of spy novels [and] James Bond movies and mysteries.”
Maybe. And maybe that’s just the way she’s really built. But you probably can’t pick up any hint of that from the details of her life: raised in the Midwest and graduating with a Political Science degree from the University of Minnesota, she lived on a sailboat in Mexico for a few years before settling in Seattle, Washington.
Pretty normal and peaceful. But there they are, her fast-growing library of heart-thumping thrillers that keep you guessing until the last page. Makes one wonder sometimes, you know?
How D.V. Got Started Self-Publishing
In 2010, after D.V. finished the second of two full-length Kate Jones thrillers, a friend suggested she do a prequel. She did, and signed on with a boutique ebook publisher, releasing in serial form what eventually became the novella, Bad Spirits. D.V. looked into Kindle Direct Publishing, however, and figured out she “was looking at a phenomenal opportunity to publish my work and retain much of the control by going out on my own.” Graciously (and fortunately), the ebook publisher gave back her rights to her work.
So, in the spring of 2011, D.V. released her self-published work on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. She’s published a number of new titles since then, and her sales have been “gradually” moving up, enough that in July 2012, she reports that she quit her day job and now writes full-time!
Self-Publishing Tips and Observations
- “The publishing sands are continually shifting, and I don’t see it stabilizing any time soon. The only thing you can count on in this business is change. Most of the time it’s exciting and I love it. Sometimes it sucks.”
- “If you’re an author with an entrepreneurial spirit, you’ll fare better than someone who hates all things business and just wants to create/write.“
- “Making a living self-publishing can be very hard. You have to wear all the hats like most self-employed folks do, with a heavy emphasis on promotion and sales.”
- “And, just like in traditional publishing, you’ll have to develop a thick skin for those inevitable less-than-stellar reviews.”
- “That being said, it’s still the most rewarding career I’ve had.”
Learn more about D.V. and her work by visiting her Amazon author page and her website. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Originally published: May 20, 2013
What to Expect From Beta Readers And Where to Find Them
What to Expect From Beta Readers And Where to Find Them
SOURCE: Reedsy
The difference between beta and alpha readers is that, while alpha readers read a novel in its first draft, beta readers are meant to read your revised manuscript; they represent the experience of your potential readers.”
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10 Best Uses of Video Marketing
“All brands need a video marketing strategy. Digital marketing professionals and video makers understand how integral video is to growth hacking the current market.”
10 Bestsellers That Began as Self-Published Books
“There is much to be said for self-publishing, especially if you have spent a year or ten (see Michael J. Sullivan below) trying to get publishing houses interested in your work.
If you self-publish, and do a proper job of marketing, your book may not only achieve success in its own right, but may be picked up by a major publishing house. (Ironically, it may even be published by one of the houses that has previously sent you a rejection slip.)
All of these books have one thing in common – their authors did not simply publish and then lean back and enjoy their success. They marketed, pitched, and sold the heck out of their books.
And they continued to write.
Here are a few best-selling books whose authors did not give up on them.”
Continue reading @ Publishing … and Other Forms of Insanity »
10 books that will make you a better writer (and why)
“…
I love borrowing books. But there are some books that a writer really should have in their own personal for-keeps libraries. These are the books that you’ll keep coming back to, over and over, through your career.
Here are my top ten writing craft books. Some of them I’ve owned for twenty years or more. Some are new to me. Some are classics that you might already own. Maybe there are some that will be new to you.
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
“You want to draw your readers into the world you’ve created, make them feel a part of it, make them forget where they are. And you can’t do this effectively if you tell your readers about your world secondhand.”
In 2004, when I was eight months pregnant, I won Nanowrimo for the first time. I wrote a truly awful first draft of a romantic suspense story. Then I had a baby girl on December 8. I never looked back. Once I knew that I could finish writing a novel, I knew that I could learn how to write well.
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers is the book that taught me how to be a better writer. I finished my first manuscript and took a solid year, going through this book, chapter by chapter, exercise by exercise, and applying what I learned to my work.
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
“I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.”
Ray Bradbury’s little book of essays about writing and creativity is an essential little pocket of inspiration. I’ve read it half a dozen times and every single time, I pick up something new. Because it’s a collection of essays, you can pick it up and read what you need, when you need it.
Bradbury’s advice for fiction writers has shaped my writing life. He believed, especially, in short stories and in reading a lot. And watching movies. One of my favorite parts of Zen in the Art of Writing is the way that Bradbury breaks down how and why he wrote some of my favorite short stories.”
Continue reading @ Startup Grind »
10 Common Sales Objections (and How to Overcome Them)
“The remedy lies in anticipating and tackling customer objections head-on so you’re prepared and confident.”
» Rambl
10 Essential Tips for Website Performance Optimization
10 Essential Tips for Website Performance Optimization
SOURCE: UnderConstructionPage
LINK: https://underconstructionpage.com/website-performance-optimization/
[P]erformance of the website is relatively essential to search engines such as Google or Yahoo as they measure it to determine the search engine rankings as well.”
[bookmark]
10 Expert Blogging Tips
10 Expert Blogging Tips
SOURCE: UnderConstructionPage
LINK: https://underconstructionpage.com/expert-blogging-tips/
More than half of internet users are accessing the web from a portable device. So the chances that your readers are accessing your content during their commute to work, while sitting in a waiting room somewhere, or even while working out, are statistically significant.”
[bookmark]
10 Major Websites You Can Build With WordPress
10 Major Websites You Can Build With WordPress
SOURCE: WPNewsify
WordPress has grown from a simple blog management system to a content management system which can have many uses in the current market. Not only that, it is slowly evolving into a platform that can solve end-to-end business problems.”
[bookmark]
10 Medium Articles Every Aspiring Entrepreneur Should Read
Web Article
10 Medium Articles Every Aspiring Entrepreneur Should Read
Wordpreneur
Reader
This is just one of many useful Wordpreneur Reader “discovered” Web articles and content. For lots more, click below!
