V For Victorious in the Amazon Kindle Bestseller Battle - #AtoZChallenge

Today is the “V” Day in the A to Z Challenge – 2016.

It is tough out there for a writer. Not only is writing a book difficult, but developing a presence that includes readers and sales is next to impossible. So if you’re an indie author that has had a bestseller you should be elated. You’ve been victorious in an uphill struggle to get noticed.

It took me a while. My gut told me to get paid for my efforts. For years I wanted compensation for the months and months of hard work. However, those dollars are hard to come by when readers and the general public has never heard of you. Who would know if you even existed?

The book marketing people urged me to participate in the Kindle Select program. One facet of that was an opportunity to give my eBook away for free on five days. Okay, I bowed to the suggestion. I needed readers and a free offering might serve as an introductory gesture.

It looks like I chose the right marketers to help me. Four titles were offered for free in 2015. The massive amount of Kindle downloads pushed all four of them to lofty heights on the Amazon Bestseller list. Not only did impressive Overall rankings occur, but numerous Number 1 rankings occurred in many sub-genres.

When all is said and done I can say that Opur’s Blade, Pabby’s Score, Lifetime Loser, and Shari’s Shot reached impressive levels on Amazon on various Bestseller lists. Because of that they are included in promotional emails that are generated by Amazon and Kindle to customers. Now the worldwide online bookseller helps me promote!

In my book that can be regarded as a major Victory with a capital V.

James Ross has penned several novels from the Prairie Winds Golf Course setting. The stories are character-based, cross many genres, and have become Kindle favorites. Visit his  website for detailed information, reader comments, and contact links.

Unlimited as in Kindle - #Readers are FREE to Pick @KU - #AtoZChallenge

Today is the “U” Day in the A to Z Challenge – 2016. Let’s choose Unlimited.

Kindle Unlimited is the brainchild of Amazon. It’s been out about 2 years now and the opinions about it are as widespread as the colors in a rainbow. For $9.99 per month members can choose from a variety of eBooks that are available on Kindle. Essentially readers download the eBook onto their Kindle tablet or through the Kindle reading app for a reasonable reading time. The main selling feature is the freedom to choose from any number of genres, indie authors, and adventures.

Currently the number of eBooks that can be selected tops the 1,000,000 mark. That’s over a million eBooks that are available with a click! New topics. Different genres. Unique authors. An Indie paradise. What a great opportunity for an unknown author like myself.

Serious readers don’t need a book store. They simply need to peruse the selections that are available on Kindle, stay at home, and get delivery in seconds. Half the eBook can be read in the time it takes to travel to the mall and back.

For an author the program is advantageous. We don’t need to use paper or lose time and expense in shipping. We get paid by how many pages are read. Those royalties come out of the monthly fund that is accumulated from all of the members. The downfall is that many of the Kindle Unlimited authors are unknown and need to turn to social media to be “discovered.” Nobody said that building a reader base would be easy.

Personally, I love the program. All of my novels which are in a variety of genres are available with a few author restrictions – the main being that the titles can only be offered on Kindle. But, where else would I want to be? Amazon helps to promote me. As an unknown I’m appreciative of that.

I’ve developed fictitious Prairie Winds Golf Course and have a wide assortment of recurring characters. The cozy mysteries are in the realistic fiction genre. If you’re into trying new authors you can select from Lifetime Loser which is about fraud in a small golf business; Finish Line where two teens interact daily with a cancer victim; Tuey’s Course which is a satire about a minority businessman in a battle with City Hall; Opur’s Blade where a gifted prodigy progresses to the top of his profession; Pabby’s Score where two special needs teens get oriented into society but innocently get tangled into an internet dating ring and secret law society; or Shari’s Shot where a privileged bitch gets wrapped into a murder-for-hire scheme.

Aggressive readers may want to try the 3-book bundles which are only available through Kindle. They can be identified as: James Ross – A Young Adult Trilogy and James Ross – A Character-Based Collection. I personally love the Kindle Unlimited opportunities.

James Ross has penned several novels from the Prairie Winds Golf Course setting. The stories are character-based, cross many genres, and have become Kindle favorites. Visit his  website for detailed information, reader comments, and contact links.

FREE #Kindle vs Permafree - Experience My Crime #Fiction #Mystery NOW #IARTG #ASMSG

2015 was a wild year for my eBooks. Instead of writing I devoted a year to marketing and got incredible results. It started with an effort to understand the Kindle Select program which is available to authors on Amazon and was extended to the permafree concept that is available on a number of outlets.

In the spring Shari's Shot climbed to the top of the charts in Crime Fiction on Amazon Kindle and into the Top 50 overall. Needless to say, I was elated. It was a learning process on what to do and what not to do.

In June and July Opur's Blade was promoted. I must have learned my lesson well. My efforts propelled that title to the Number 1 overall download position on Kindle and a number of subcategories. My reaction? Euphoria!

That success was parlayed into a giveaway offer on Pabby's Score in October. That title climbed to the Number 2 overall ranking on Kindle and the top spot in a number of subcategories. Elation followed.

That brought me to another option in early November - permafree. By offering my first book in the Prairie Winds Golf Course series - Lifetime Loser - for free on a number of sites, Amazon Kindle matched the price - FREE! Rather than working within the constraints of the Kindle Select program I've had the chance to give away Lifetime Loser for a longer period of time.

The results have been staggering. Even though the title is available on iBooks, B & N's The Nook, Kobo, Scribd, and 24symbols, Amazon Kindle has created 95% of the downloads. I attribute that to a host of marketing programs that are geared to Kindle books.

On January 11, 2016 I'd like for you to download Lifetime Loser when I use the Kindle marketing program that created a lot of the success on the other titles. Expect Lifetime Loser to climb to the top of all of the Kindle charts.

In case you were wondering, it's a heckuva story. A good subtitle would be How To Steal a Golf Course. The widow of an estate is swindled. A criminal vs. civil justice drama ensues after the IRS opens an investigation. Read how the victim reacts in this character-based thriller. But most importantly - Enjoy!