Tag Archives: shopping

The Great Leviathan AKA Amazon and how to sell your books

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Amazon is frequently portrayed as the great Leviathan, a monster who devours independent publishers and authors without mercy. Amazon may well have grown to big for it’s boots, the company is, however a great way for authors to promote their work.

Last year I self-published my collection of short stories, “The First Time” using authorsonline.co.uk, a self-publishing company. Initially “The First Time” appeared on a multiplicity of sites including Smashwords, Google Books and the great Leviathan itself! Months past and not having sold a single copy (actually I tell a lie as one book was downloaded by myself in order to check how it read on my Kindle)! I determined to make “The First Time” exclusive to Amazon and enrol it in Amazon’s KDP Select Programme which allows authors to promote their books free for upto 5 days in any 90 day period. I had already enrolled my other books (“Samantha”, “Sting In The Tail” and “An Act Of Mercy”) in the Programme and had an idea of what to expect. Enrolment of “Samantha” led to two 4 star reviews while “Sting In The Tail” has, thus far received one 4 star review. As at the time of writing “The First Time” has been downloaded 47 times as a consequence of it’s participation in KDP Select (the book is on free promotion from 4-8 October).

I believe in my books. When “The First Time” first appeared in serialised form back in 2012 it received a large number of likes and encouraging comments. However despite these encouraging signs “The First Time” languished on virtual book shelves until it’s enrolment in the KDP Select Programme.

The lesson I have learned is that however good one’s book is it is extremely difficult to get noticed unless you are lucky enough to be an established author. I have done all the things recommended by social media experts (E.G. use of Twitter and Facebook) to promote my books, however I’ve found that the use of KDP Select is the most effective way of bringing my books to the attention of a wider audience. Blogging and other social media are a great way of letting people know that you are out there and interacting with readers and I derive enormous pleasure from such interaction, however when push comes to shove it has in my experience been Amazon which has moved books from their virtual shelves into the hands (do I mean virtual hands?) of my readers. I’d certainly recommend blogging and the use of other tools but you should, in my opinion give serious consideration to the KDP Programme.

“The First Time” is free to download in the Kindle store until 8 October, http://newauthoronline.com/2013/10/04/free-book-promotion/

Sainsburys Ebooks

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I very rarely listen to commercial radio preferring BBC Radio 4, however while enjoying a curry in my favourite Indian restaurant this evening I heard an advertisement for Sainsburys Ebooks so determined to check it out, http://www.sainsburysebooks.co.uk/about.

Being registered blind I love ebooks which I read using the text to speech facility on my Kindle, the Kindle app on my iPad or Voiceover using iBooks on Apple devices. I’m not clear from the Sainsburys Ebook site as to whether their books can be read using the kind of accessible software used by blind people such as myself. The website states that Sainsbury’s Ebooks are not compatible with Kindle which suggests to me that they can not be read by registered blind people. I have, however e-mailed Sainsburys to ask whether their books can be read using access software (the product I use on my computer to access the screen as Jaws converts text into speech and braille). However It is always good to know of healthy competition in the ebook market so I thought that I’d share the site with my readers.

For my Amazon Author’s Page please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

No Problem

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I am, as those of you who follow this blog will know registered blind. As a consequence of my blindness I require sighted assistance to locate products while shopping.

Erlier this evening I popped into a supermarket and soon obtained help, however the assistance offered was so bizarre that I feel compelled to put fingers to keyboard and write about it. My conversation with the young lady went something like this

Me “Can I have a litre of fresh milk please, the one with the blue top?”

My assistant, “Absolutely, no problem”.

Me, “Can I have Tropicana orange juice please?”

My assistant, “Absolutely, no problem”.

My shopping “experience” (see I have all the right buzz words) continued in precisely the same manner until I, in a fit of merriment felt compelled to ask

“Do you say anything other than “absolutely, no problem?””

My companion responded with

“Sometimes I say cool” (I am not making this up I promise you)!

I asked if my companion spoke in the same manner when conversing with her friends, to which she replied that she was “a gamer” and this is how gamers interact with one another.

At the end of my “customer experience” I couldn’t resist saying with a smile that when I next encountered my companion I would call her “absolutely, no problem” to which she responded without a hint of irony that this was fine.

I feel that I’ve gone down the rabbit hole to join Alice in Wonderland and to be frank I don’t know whether it is me or my companion of earlier this evening who is the mad hatter!

I must confess to knowing virtually nothing about gaming, however if the pastime produces people who are unable to communicate other than by churning out meaningless phrases then we are, as one of the leading personalities in Dad’s Army says “all doomed”!

On a serious point excessive exposure to gaming or any other similar activity can not be conducive to the development of fully rounded persons. All things in moderation say I.

 

Kevin

Reading Aloud

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On Monday one of my colleagues mentioned how he reads to his 2-year-old daughter using a Kindle. His little girl likes to look at the pictures on screen, however my colleague said that he prefers print books as the photographs are bigger.

I was heartened to learn that parents still read to their children as it brought back happy memories of visits to W H Smiths with my grandfather. Most Saturdays we would pop into Smiths and buy (well my grandfather would do the purchasing) a book. On reaching home I would sit on my grandfather’s knee or lie in bed as he regailed me with the adventures of The Famous Five or other classics of children’s literature.

Today most of my reading is done using the text to speech facility on my Kindle. After a while I forget that I’m being read to by a dalek and enjoy the experience of listening to the classics of world literature, however there is no substitute for the human voice, of being read to by a much loved parent or grandparent. Sadly my grandfather died many years ago but I often think of him reading aloud to me or of our walks together in the woods near to where he lived.

Does he take sugar?

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I am registered blind and live alone in London. I frequently shop independently (the shop assistants locate the items I require and I pay using either card or cash). I am, almost always unaccompanied on shopping trips, consequently the interaction is purely between myself and the shop assistant.

I spent the Christmas festivities visiting my mum and her partner in Liverpool. While there I visited a branch of W H Smiths and purchased a book, as a Christmas present for my sister. I paid for the item using my debit card and given that the transaction was between myself and the sales assistant I was surprised when she attempted to hand my receipt to my mum! My mum is non-disabled so I can only assume that the assistant felt more comfortable interacting with a non-disabled rather than a disabled person. The incident was resolved with the assistant handing the receipt to me (my mum refused to take it and I continued to hold out my hand)!

Having experienced similar incidents I’m able to see the funny side and my mum and I laughed about it afterwards. Had I been alone the assistant would have had no alternative other than to hand the receipt to me, however due to the presence of a non-disabled individual she automatically attempted to pass the paperwork to that person rather than the rightful recipient, yours truly!

On the whole attitudes towards people with disabilities have (and continue) to improve in the UK. In 1995 the Disability Discrimination Act came into force outlawing discrimination against people with disabilities in the fields of employment and service provision. The legislation has been strengthened since 1995 and has been superceeded by the Equalities Act. However despite the implementation of legislation and greatly improved social attitudes people with disabilities such as myself continue to encounter misunderstanding and, on occasions prejudice as is exemplified by my experience in purchasing a book in W H Smiths. What is the solution? Greater integration of disabled people into mainstream society is vital. As a child I attended several schools for visually impaired children and it was only on attending university that I entered mainstream education. Today greater numbers of children with disabilities are being educated with their non-disabled peers. The exposure of non-disabled children to those who are disabled is to be welcomed and will assist in enhancing understanding, however the incident in Smiths demonstrates that more education is required.

 

(Kevin Morris is a writer. For his latest book, The First Time” please visit https://newauthoronline.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/the-first-time-by-kevin-morris-availible-at-waterstones-for-only-0-98/).