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First Month in Kindle Unlimited Part One –
More Time, No Borrows, One Sale
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Pictured Left :
Love’s Travels – Vermont Paris Austin
Currently available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited
Four star review:
“Love’s Travels is one of the best books/poetry I’ve read recently. The rhythm of the words with the incredible photos creates a lovely picture of love shared. Mr. Lerma paints a beautiful story. I highly recommend this book. ”
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Original fiction, photo-memoirs, and poetry by Felipe Adan Lerma
Available via subscription, direct purchase, or library.
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“the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”
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First Month in Kindle Unlimited Part One –
More Time, No Borrows, One Sale
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October 23, 2014
Category – Platform Advantages
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Risking Exclusivity for More Time for Health
Recap
A month ago I decided, for both business and personal reasons, to move the majority of my titles to Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited (KU).
Hugh Howey had laid out some compelling reasons in his post, Ruminations on Exclusivity.
One of which was the huge savings in time by having one outlet.
It made sense to me, and, because I was spending so much time trying to get readers to so many locations for so many titles, felt it was worth the chance.
Growing Voices Against Exclusivity
Hugh has recently posted another article, saying that maybe writers in the middle, might not benefit as much as those at the bottom (who need exposure and time) or those at the top, getting huge bonuses from Amazon for staying in the program. And that exclusivity, as I’ve posted many times, may not even be in Amazon’s best interests anymore.
Business Results
Unfortunately, as even my first month in KU shows, I’m very much at the bottom, maybe even scrunched down beneath the surface a bit (smiles).
And while my business end has been, if not a bust, a non-starter sputter 🙂 with less sales than previously, and not even one borrow yet, my personal end has had the intended benefit.
Personal Results
As I told Alison, my personal contact in customer support at Scribd when I left (miss that girl!), I really needed to both cut back the amount of time I was spending marketing, and devote more time to getting myself fit and healthy again. I wasn’t “sick.” But I had allowed myself to become un-toned and much too sluggish.
At my age, I turned 64 this past weekend – yay! – I need, not only to exercise regularly, but time to rest and recover.
I’d been relatively fit before, and I knew what it would take for me – dedicated time.
So in this past month, I’ve signed up for some evening alignment yoga classes, and – a (very) early morning boot camp (via Fusion Boot Camp)!
Driving to Boot Camp!
I even wrote, “Maybe I’ll get a bicycle for Christmas.”
I was a little off there, my son gave me a great commuter bike for my birthday! 🙂
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Bottomline(s)
- One, it’s much too early to get “too” discouraged regarding the business benefit of Kindle Unlimited for me.
- Two, if and when I returned titles to being non-exclusive, something would need to change regarding my time spent marketing to other outlets (I still have a handful of titles in Scribd, Apple, etc). My Authors Page and the right side of each page have links to my other outlet author pages.
- Three, it may be time to try someone other than Smashwords for distribution to Scribd, Apple, and Barnes and Noble. Smashwords does distribute to libraries via OverDrive, but that’s been a protracted no-news no-updates disappointment since June.
- For now, with two more months commitment in Kindle Unlimited, I remain hopeful, and intend to take advantage of the newly freed time to continue getting fit. Who knows, maybe even my writing, not just my body, will become “unsluggish.” 🙂
Below is some info on my new thriller, my first actually. Some requests for reviews are processing, and hopefully readers will have more than mine and m wife’s and a few friends’ enthusiastic response to go by (smiles).
Thanks so much, best wishes!
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One Night in the Hill Country – a Suspense Thriller
My first thriller – One Night in the Hill Country, is now available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited.
A 3000 word sample (approx 10%) is available on my site.
My blurb reads :
In “One Night in the Hill Country,” a suspense thriller, Sam (Samantha) takes four young cousins to the Texas Hill Country to search for a kitten, visit some vineyards, and enjoy a Saturday afternoon.
They encounter a mis-guided effort by brother and sister, Rolf and Tara, to use illegal immigrant children as bait to catch men who would abuse those children.
Cultures clash and mesh among the children, while the adults play for life and death.
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namaste´- con dios – god be with you
Sheila & Adan
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*** INTEGRATING YOGA FITNESS AND THE ARTS
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