Having a new book come out causes all kinds of activities. A week or so ago I received my author copy of the new travel book, Exploring Texas History: Weekend Adventures, scheduled for a May release date. Book in hand, I went to the computer and signed on to Amazon.com, typed in the book's title and found the book. All's well. A week or so later I was working on some pre-publicity stuff and happened to type my name into Amazon and discovered the new book didn't show up. Typed in the title, found it. Then I realized, to my horror, that my name had been left off Amazon's author listing.
Now listen, that is a major shock to a writer's fragile system. One reason I was worried is because that probably meant the information keyed into Books In Print was incorrect and I was not listed there. And that would mean that anyone trying to buy my book using my name would not be able to find it on Amazon or at any of the bookstores. Horrors! Another reason it caused some anxiety is because that meant I would have to find out how to correct the problem via Amazon and my publisher. Anyone having anything to do with publishing knows that speed is not necessarily one of the game's major characteristics. With thoughts of soon-to-be released promotional material bouncing in my head, I finally found a place on Amazon.com to make a content request and did so. Their note said they would try to make the changes within five days--note the word "try."
I emailed my editor and prayed.
Today, much to my delight, I discovered Amazon.com lists my name as co-author.
Peace reigns once again in Vikk's realm of publishing.
Now, you're probably wondering what the experiment is all about. Well, if you've happened to click through the title or the amazon link on the left (Yes, I know my name doesn't show up on the link--drat), you might have noticed that this is still a virgin book for Amazon. It is so new we don't even have any sales ranking numbers. (These are important figures to the authors, though they don't necessarily prove anything stupendous for the writer with regard to trying to figure out actual sales due to the strange way the ranking is done, but they sure make us feel good when we see a sudden surge in the ranking from sales.) So you have an opportunity to help establish a sales surge and a high ranking for our book if you were to order a copy, and you'd provide a rollicking good couple of days for me and my fellow author as we watch the ranking move up and up and up.
I also noticed it's offered at a 32% discount and it hasn't even hit the store's shelves yet. I think that's cheaper than I can get wholesale. :) Ah, the book businesss and the joys of being an author.
Yes, I know, this is flagrant BSP but I'm a struggling writer; did I tell you I've lost my job and will be out of work at the end of the week? And haven't I told you promotion is a huge part of being a published writer in today's world? You might also note that you can order the book through my links in this post, or through the link on the right side or even through the Amazon shopping portal that takes you straight to your personal shopping cart and allows you to easily shop for more books. :)
Feel free to let pass this on to friends and family alike, and always remember to support your friendly authors and fellow bloggers . . . and join me in this experiment to play with my new book's Amazon ranking. :) Did I mention that having a huge number of sales that occur within 24 hours makes a HUGE impression on the sales ranking figure?
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