{"id":5939,"date":"2011-09-05T19:00:30","date_gmt":"2011-09-05T13:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/?p=5939"},"modified":"2015-06-25T20:02:40","modified_gmt":"2015-06-25T14:32:40","slug":"how-to-be-a-chartbuster-on-the-kindle-store-an-interview-with-angela-white-author-of-the-survivors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookbuzzr.com\/blog\/how-to-be-a-chartbuster-on-the-kindle-store-an-interview-with-angela-white-author-of-the-survivors\/","title":{"rendered":"How to be a Chartbuster on the Kindle Store (An Interview With Angela White – Author of The Survivors)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We recently discovered that one of our Author Pro Subscribers<\/a> had broken into the top 5 on the Kindle store. While these lists change constantly, it is still a moment to savor if you are an indie author. Especially when you notice that your book is ranked ahead of a mega author such as Stephen King (in the picture it is the book ranked #4 and titled \u201cSurvivors.<\/a>\u201d) <\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note:<\/strong> You can win a free copy of Angela\u2019s book on Freado.<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We requested her for an interview to share her learnings on book promotion and indie publishing with us. She graciously agreed.<\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen \u2026without further ado \u2026 we present to you, an interview with Angela White<\/a>, city taxi-cab dispatcher turned charbusting author! <\/p>\n

BB \u2013 Angela, tell us a bit about yourself and your books. You are fairly enigmatic on your Amazon bio. All we know is that you\u2019re from Cincinnati and are a city taxi cab dispatcher. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Wow. That was a great introduction. I\u2019m blushing. And very honored to even be mentioned in the same sentence as Stephen King. He\u2019s a mad genius, my favorite author, and unknowing mentor. I\u2019ve spent more a.m. hours in his universes, twitching at every little sound, than I can count. I was a third shift waitress back then and I\u2019d pick up one of his newest paperbacks and sometimes read until noon. That\u2019s one of those things about writers; we love to flip pages, ours or someone else\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Something about me that no one knows\u2026 I\u2019m not a taxicab dispatcher anymore. Thanks to the readers, I\u2019ve recently been able to leave my offline job. I now put in full time hours (60+) on my own material and only I<\/em><\/strong>, tell me what to do. It hasn\u2019t gotten old yet. Lol (in a grateful, humble manor and wishing it on others.)<\/p>\n

My Books. Nearly everything that comes out of my pen is about the end of the world. You\u2019ll find a bit of romance and drama, surrounded by horror and fantasy. Perfect for a chilly evening\u2019s pleasure. For a little while, the \u201cReal world\u201d won\u2019t exist. My word on that. I\u2019ll give you what you came for. <\/p>\n

BB \u2212 How did you become an author? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I wrote my first book (7 pages) in elementary school for a class project. As far as I know, it\u2019s still in their library. That\u2019s when it began. As to how: Officially I started with AuthorHouse (Not recommended) and after spending thousands to get six dollar checks back, I did a lot of research. I get like a dog with a bone sometimes and I spent almost 6 months on it. The things you can find! Do the indie authors reading this know that they can request categories directly through Amazon? (If you don\u2019t know why this matters, do the legwork. It\u2019s part of the reason my books are doing so well right now. Without it, you wouldn\u2019t be reading this.) What about free book covers and how to set up the perfect Amazon page? The information is out there for those with the determination and desire to be more than they are now. At least that\u2019s how I see it. I discovered Amazon during my searching and from there, everything I did, I aimed at that site, from links to blog posts.<\/p>\n

BB \u2212 Why do you write? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Why do I breathe? Because I\u2019m supposed to. Some people take you places with a car or provide something you can see, touch and smell. I do the exact same thing. Mentally.<\/p>\n

BB \u2212 Whom do you write for?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It used to be only for myself and if people thought it was crass or graphic, it didn\u2019t matter. I was sure it was perfect the way it was and I refused to listen to anyone. Wasn\u2019t all bad though, I learned from those mistakes. Now, it matters to me if the reader is satisfied.<\/p>\n

BB \u2013 How did you feel when you discovered that your book is a top 5 book in the Amazon Kindle store? Did you go out and celebrate? <\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a bit harder to answer. I watched my first book move from 150,000 range, up to 2,500 in right around a month. I was working The Plan (started 6\/14\/11 for a book that had been on and done nothing for 8 months.) but I remember thinking it had to be a fluke.
\nWhen it hit the top 20 list for fantasy series, I was still waiting for an email from KDP, telling me there had been a mistake.
\nI broke the top 10 about 8?9? weeks into the Plan and it became more real for me. The sequels, which had also done nothing for half a year, were moving up the charts now, which meant people were coming back for more. They liked it! Indescribable.
\nI still haven\u2019t celebrated. Scared that the other shoe might drop, I suppose. You\u2019d think I\u2019d have tougher skin than that, after some of the reviews I\u2019ve gotten. What I did, was get another story out there. Then another. One of those things \u201cThey\u201d don\u2019t tell you: One-hit wonders happen all the time. It\u2019s the next book, where it gets hard.<\/p>\n

BB \u2013 How do you handle negative reviews on Amazon? It seems that you are quite proactive by jumping in and responding to negative feedback going so far as to offer a refund to one of your readers! I think that is quite gracious and does wonders to build goodwill. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ah, reviews and reviewers. You love them and loath them. Each one is critical of your most cherished possession; yourself. Living up to someone else’s expectations can be daunting to souls that come unprepared\u2026 As a writer, you let that piece be seen and all feedback, from ANY source, is supposed to be taken with a grain of salt and open ears.
\nPersonally, I can\u2019t ignore them, even the bad ones. I pour over their comments on edit Mondays and touch up, fix, or delete as I see fit. It bothers me to feel like I\u2019ve stole their money with a product that wasn\u2019t good. Yes, even for the tiny royalty I get from listing them at $.99. To be able to call myself a bestselling (or any kind of) author, I need the readers to be satisfied.
\nAt the same time, I\u2019ve just stopped responding to some of them. Things have gotten rough in the Amazon forums and it\u2019s branched into reviews. They\u2019ve grown very mean and starting a \u201criot\u201d with careless words will not move my books into that coveted #1 position.<\/p>\n

BB \u2013 You also have a Kindle Blog.<\/a> How effective is this in helping you find new readers? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Publishing my blog on the Kindle is only a few weeks old. I believe most of the subscriptions I\u2019ve gotten are current readers who want the convenience of having posts sent to them as I put them online.
\nAs for the blog itself; It\u2019s priceless. I use Blogger (Not Blogster!) and because it\u2019s from Google, all posts are put instantly into the search engines, instead of having to wait until the crawlers go around every few days. Other than Amazon, My Dark Fantasy Blog is the most valuable marketing tool I use. I do pre-orders and sales from there, as well as making separate pages for upcoming and my most popular titles. It\u2019s very easy to use too. That helps. <\/p>\n

BB \u2013 What is your strategy on Twitter to drive sales?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Twitter<\/a> is high volume at a very fast pace. If you don\u2019t post, a lot, then this social site won\u2019t help much. What\u2019s a lot? Judge it on your target audience. Romances imply housewives, who get kids off, take care of chores and try to enjoy a bit of quiet before the next round of duties. How often would they be able to check in? Every thing has a target audience. Once you find yours, draw up a schedule and use HootSuite to send out the ones during your busier times.
\nI try to post every few hours and I spend 5 minutes a couple days a week gathering followers. I find them in the search bar, using the keywords I gave to Amazon for my book. Many of them follow me back and then see my posts. That way I\u2019m always expanding and exposing. 2 tips about twitter:
\nOne- They have a follow limit of 2000 until you have an untold percentage of followers. Avoid businesses and other writers. Find real people.<\/p>\n

Two-Don\u2019t use the same material twice in 6 months. Rehashing gets that post and future posts ignored. Un-following will follow. (Pun intended.)<\/p>\n

BB \u2212 Did you use blurbs to help market your book?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Absolutely. You\u2019ll never have a popular book without a great description. For every new release, I draw up a blurb before I write it and just before release. It\u2019s also what I use on many of my Amazon book pages. Make once, use many times.<\/p>\n

BB \u2013 What about the iBookStore? Do you spend any time tracking reactions to your book here? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t tried the Plan on other retailers yet. This one took months of research and sales watching and it\u2019s very Amazon targeted. I\u2019m not sure it would work anywhere else. In the future, I may make an attempt. Right now, I only sell about 10 copies a week (Total) on iTunes. I do that in hours in the Kindlestore and that\u2019s just on one book. It\u2019s funny, how different all the other sites are. Many of them are just not very marketing friendly to Indies’. One of them recently had to change how it listed self published books. Instead of being in all chosen categories, they were being lumped under a \u201cIndie\u201d button and then sorted into genres just for us. You can imagine how well that went over.<\/p>\n

BB \u2013 Do you do any marketing on Facebook? Can you give us the link to your Facebook fan page? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my Fb link: http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Angela7white<\/a>
\nI use Hoot, which feeds all my posts directly to twitter and FB, including those from my blog. I like being on FB but they have very strict friend gathering rules and it\u2019s very easy to have your privileges suspended for days at a time without ever getting a reason why or even an answer to your confused inbox. I mostly use it for reader connection after they\u2019ve already found my book on Amazon or my blog. We can talk and not be digging through streams to find each message.<\/p>\n

BB \u2013 You also recently held a \u201cLive Safe Haven event\u201d on your website<\/a>? What exactly was this event? How did it work out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I built an interactive (Limited) demo that\u2019s based on Safe Haven refugee camp, one of the bigger parts of my Life After War series. I invited the readers to check it out and then vote on if I\u2019ll finish it. We had fun playing in the bathrooms. Sounds funny, I know.
\nHere\u2019s the link: http:\/\/authorangelawhite.blogspot.com\/2011\/07\/live-safe-haven-event-all-survivors.html.<\/a> The deadline isn\u2019t till the 30th of September so feel free to vote.<\/p>\n

BB \u2013 Who maintains your website for you? It\u2019s authentic and looks like it\u2019s been crafted with passion and creativity!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you! I use Webstarts for their outstanding, one of a kind features and use how to articles online to supplement their nearly non-existent support.<\/p>\n

BB \u2013 You also have a book trailer for one of your books. How did this work for you? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sales wise, nada. You always run into the same problem. How do you get the trailer out to people so they can find your book? Even on Youtube, unless it\u2019s spectacular, it\u2019s doesn\u2019t drive new readers. I use it mostly as a blog prop to give new people a chance to \u201cSee\u201d before I show them.<\/p>\n

BB \u2013 How do you organize your day? When do you get the time to write? When do you get time for book promotion and marketing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Organized! I\u2019m rolling my eyes at me. I\u2019m not. Other then the Plan, I don\u2019t follow a set schedule. I write when the mood strikes and work from a daily to-do list. I try to edit and update on Mondays but can\u2019t always. With Hoot, my posts are scheduled, so that\u2019s what\u2019s organized, not me!<\/p>\n

BB \u2013 Best-selling Indie author John Locke recently signed a deal with a traditional publisher to distribute his books in physical bookstores. Do you have any such plans in mind? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I use Createspace and am securing a deal with Ingram Wholesalers and Baker and Taylor that will send my books out to millions of potential readers. I see no reason to put myself back under the thumb of a boss. I\u2019ve just gotten my freedom and I\u2019ll fight to keep it.<\/p>\n

With that being said, I am very interested in this story being on the big screen or maybe redone as a mini series. I\u2019ve always felt that way. One of those quiet dreams. We all have \u2018em, right?<\/p>\n

BB \u2013 You are also selling book related merchandise on your site. Can you tell us a little about this initiative?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The merchandising is also very new. I only offer one item right now, engraved dogtags based on my series. It makes the person an official member of Safe Haven and gives their rank in the chain of command. I hope to offer more next year, like maybe a Safe Haven bed and breakfast in SD! Another of those dreams. Lol.<\/p>\n

BB – Any other thoughts or advice for other Indie authors who want to emulate you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where to start? Okay. The top 3 things you MUST do to break into the top of the charts:
\n\t\u2022\tQuality material. I made the mistake of putting unedited books online and am still paying the price for it, in reviews and lost readers. Find an editor. For free? I did. And I loved it so much that I begged him to take me on as a client. (I adore you, Daryn Malof, my wonderfully talented, kayaking, English Professing editor!) The difference it\u2019s made is incredible.
\nMany teachers, especially in today\u2019s economy, are looking for extra work. Talk one of them into taking a look and make a deal based on a percentage of copies sold.<\/p>\n

\t\u2022\t“If you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going, how will you ever get there?” I love that quote. Without a Plan, nothing will fall into place. Draw up a 6 month sheet that covers everything from marketing to editing and use Hoot or another app to keep your time free. I recommend a large desk calendar.<\/p>\n

\t\u2022\tYou really only need your book (Quality material) and the reader. Reviews will come in on their own and until then, a great price is a solid remedy to no (And sometimes bad) reviews. The cover art and even the actual epub creation, YOU CAN do yourself. I pay for nothing that I don\u2019t have to and spend less than $45 a month on promotions.<\/p>\n

Thank you very much for allowing me to share some thoughts. I\u2019m honored to be here on Freado, one of the best Author marketing sites and I\u2019d be happy to try to help if anyone wants to ask a question. For now, I hear my pen calling. It says my new release, Bone Dust & Beginnings, is ready to be uploaded to Amazon. Yeah!<\/p>\n

Have a great week everyone,
\nAngela White
\nTeller of Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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