How I Made Over $42,000 in 1 Month Selling My Kindle eBooks [Kindle Edition]

Cheryl Kaye Tardif (Author)

Book Description

• The #1 Marketing book specifically designed for Amazon's KDP Select program!
• International Bestseller
• Contains detailed Select experiments & analysis previously published on author's blog (no longer there). Contains over 50% new material. Now gives you over 110 resource links for sites that will promote your free days. 

UPDATE: I've now earned over $210,000 with KDP Select! I signed with Trident Media; I was also contacted by the senior editor at a "big 6" publishing company because of my success on Amazon; and Amazon hand-picked two of my titles for special promotions--ALL because of my KDP Select success.

In March 2012 one Canadian author boldly went where few have gone before--into the land of making real money with Amazon's KDP Select program.

This is her story...

My name is Cheryl Kaye Tardif and I am an international bestselling suspense author who earned over $42,000 dollars in March 2012 selling ebooks via Amazon's KDP Select program, captured the interest of a major literary agency, and went on to sign with an agent at Trident Media. And I'm about to tell you HOW I did all that.

I don't normally tell people how much money I make, but I believe writers need to know it IS possible to earn a real income from your books. Seriously, if I can do it, anyone can--if you have the right combination of criteria and techniques.

In this book, I'll share with you what I believe are four key elements you must have in place to see high sales. And I'll reveal the strategic techniques I used during my KDP Select promotions that resulted in earning over $42,000--with $32,000 of that from ONE title alone.

Not only did I earn over $42,000 in ebook sales, I was contacted by Trident Media, one of the leading literary agencies in New York. The chairman, Robert Gottlieb, saw my success when my one title made #4 in the Top 100 Bestselling Kindle ebooks, right under The Hunger Games trilogy. I am now represented by agent Erica Spellman-Silverman, Trident Media.

So, if you're ready to earn some real money with Select, let's begin...

**SPECIAL FEATURE: A new, updated resource list of websites where you can promote your free ebooks.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cheryl Kaye Tardif is an award-winning, international bestselling Canadian suspense author. Her novels include Submerged, Divine Justice, Children of the Fog, The River, Divine Intervention, and Whale Song, which New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice calls "a compelling story of love and family and the mysteries of the human heart...a beautiful, haunting novel."
 
She is now working on her next thriller.
 
Cheryl also enjoys writing short stories inspired mainly by her author idol Stephen King, and this has resulted in Skeletons in the Closet & Other Creepy Stories (eBook) and Remote Control (novelette eBook).
 
In 2010 Cheryl detoured into the romance genre with her contemporary romantic suspense debut, Lancelot's Lady, written under the pen name of Cherish D'Angelo.
 
Booklist raves, "Tardif, already a big hit in Canada...a name to reckon with south of the border."
 
You can find Cheryl Kaye Tardif on Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Goodreads, Shelfari and LibraryThing, plus other social networks.

Product Details

• File Size: 527 KB
• Print Length: 99 pages
• Publisher: Imajin Books (May 5, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0080USSYW
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,282 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #10 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Marketing
  • #11 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Sales & Selling
  • #34 in Books > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Sales & Selling

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

143 of 155 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Filler Material to Sort Through October 12, 2012

By R. M. Smith

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

While the grammar is acceptable, and there is a little bit of information; however, the book isn't formatted to deliver this information in a ready-to-use fashion. You have to pick through the tons of filler material that makes one wonder if the writer plans to get to a point anytime soon. I read the book through twice to be sure I wasn't missing any gems. I was let down by this theme which runs through the book: Learn the Pros and Cons of Kindle Publishing. Well, that is why I bought your book. I expected you to elaborate on those kinds of topics. HOW did you navigate through the pros and cons and HOW did you manage to succeed, etc. Delivering platitudes without substance is not telling me HOW anything was done. Sadly, this book is little more than that.

I really didn't read any hardcore HOW TO info until the fourth chapter. Even then, it is little more than common sense. The rest of the book seems to be the author republishing her blog posts that track her sales. Inside of HOW I MADE...it should just be I MADE...because in this short summary of her glowing sales statics one finds little if any HOW.

In the front matter of the book it says "This is a work of fiction." I emailed the author about that and she stated that it was an oversight since this was her first non-fiction work. I can understand that and I give her credit for responding promptly.

There are more substantive titles available, and I would recommend moving along to those. There's nothing to see here folks.

55 of 61 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very empowering book for even established authors... January 22, 2013

By SuperNatural Customer

Format:Kindle Edition

I am new to Kindle and Amazon, but I see it is the place to be and Kindle is redefining how authors spend time promoting themselves. Prepare to drag yourself to your last book signing because when you read Cheryl Kaye Tardif's book you will be investing your energy on much more fun things that are also more permanent than a fleeting book signing appearance. I love it, love it, love it! And this reconfirmed my feelings that book signings are one trick ponies. I am so glad I can walk away from those chains after reading her book.

After three months, I am only using about half her methods and I can say my sales have tripled and I have much more free time. Any place I do invest my energy is always long term and this is the most important thing I learned from Tardif's book. I plan to also read her "Indy Author Guide to the Universe" and want to thank her here and now for stepping out on a limb to share what activities helped her to succeed. We do live in a Jungle.

The Kindle book was also well done, meaning well formatted. It has a table of contents that is "interactive." I rarely see a live TOC in any Kindle book. I do want to point out sometimes offering free things invites bottom feeders who just want to say something shocking to get your attention to their own author-dom. Its a level low tactic but I see people doing it mainly with FREE things, so I may think harder on how bad I want thunder thieves around. Look at any high cost book and you do not see many negative reviews and then compare that with ones that are inexpensive, (that has never been free) and then compare with one that has been "free" even for a few days on Amazon. I think the less money that changed hands the more likely they are to get nailed with one stars filibuster types that want the "floor...." Maybe I am in the wrong business.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif's book is fun, and at times I felt like I was at the Kentucky Derby watching the horses race and betting on the horse named "Tardif." She really brings you in to the action and sits you on her lap for the ride. Your great ! Read more ›

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting June 6, 2012

By Chris Stralyn

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Interesting information in this little book. Much of it I'd heard before...but it's presented in an easy to read and readily understandable format in this book. May try a few of the suggestions presented. Hope it works as well for me as it did for her! Overall, I'd say this book is worth a look. :)

274 of 330 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Too much spam! May 17, 2012

By CharlotteSimmons

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I began following the author of this book on Twitter as soon as I downloaded the book. Before I was 10% in to the book, I had unfollowed the author again. Her timeline consisted almost entirely of the same message- buy my book. The tweets were on the hour, every hour (something she recommends doing in the book), and went on for days and days. I scrolled through her tweets on the day I unfollowed her- I had to go through two days of tweets to find one 'not 'related to one of her books (it was encouraging followers to buy a book by another author) and I think it took me another day of tweets to find a tweet (one, solitary tweet) which was personal, part of a conversation with another human being.

It wasn't a good start to the book.

While "experimenting" with KDP Select* the author wrote blog posts outlining what she was doing and the results she was seeing. While interesting, these were simply copied and pasted into the book- they weren't edited or reformatted. This was annoying to read, because it meant that what should have been links to previous blog posts appeared on my Kindle as a list of the posts, which I had read just three pages previously.

The posts are interesting, but really, there's little in them which is applicable to the reader. It's all her experience, which is great, and I think seeing other author's sales figures is fascinating (BTW, if that's something you're also interested in, you should check out are The Newbie's Guide To Publishing).

The marketing advice bothered me, and is what brought the rating down to just two stars. It seems 'very' spammy to me. Let me give you some examples;

When pitching them, say something like" I saw you liked (author). Me too.... In fact, he inspired me to write (name of novel) (Amazon URL shortened)

'Or....

Since you enjoy (author) I think you may like (name of novel)(Amazon URL).

Now, I've actually gotten a few tweets like this, and I have never clicked a single one, not even when the name-dropped author is one of my all-time favourites. Why? Because a) it's spammy, and who in their right mind clicks a suspicious looking link on Twitter? and b) it's rude.

The author also advocates visiting your book's Amazon page, listing the books and authors listed under "Customers who bought this also bought..." searching for those books and authors on Twitter, and contacting them in the above way, with the caveat that the tweets should be worded differently each time, and made personal. If I got a tweet like that which included my name, I still wouldn't click it. It still feels spammy to me.

The book also advocates scheduling tweets in advance using HootSuite, to go out hourly. This is the exact behaviour which made me unfollow the author. I don't recommend this to anyone. Now, I'm not a bestselling author, never will be, but I am your audience. Don't do this, please. If I had seen the author's tweets before buying this book, I would never have contemplated reading it.

I should add that there is a paragraph in the book advising readers not to spam anyone, and another paragraph advising people to build relationships with Twitter users before contacting them, but I think the other advice outweighs it, and brings the overall spam rating up.

There is a chapter dedicated entirely to finding friends on social networks. Some advice is sound- follow publishers, agents, reviewers, other authors. Some of it is a little strange- search for people who share your characters' names on Facebook and Twitter, add them as a friend or follow them, then comment on their wall "(for ALL to see). Let them know that they have the same name as your character. Tell them a but about this character and your book. Invite them to order it online- leave the link- and offer to send them an autographed bookplate or bookmark. You can do this in stages, replying to the friend."

Now, maybe this worked for the author, I'm assuming it did, if she achieved the sales figures she says she did. I am not friends with anyone on Facebook that I have not met personally. I wouldn't add anyone as a friend unless I knew them, and if I added someone I didn't know, and then got a link on my page (for ALL to see) I would block them there and then.

The author assures the reader that she has sent many autographed bookplates and bookmarks to readers who share her characters' names, and they're always thrilled to receive it. Maybe they are- but I wouldn't want an autograph from someone who spammed my page, and whose writing I haven't read (because if I had read, there would be no need for the author to spam me). Now, if it was George R.R. Martin, that might be a different story...

The author makes it very clear in several places that she views writing as a business- she's trying to make a profit, and I take no issue with that. She is perfectly entitled to do that, and to market her books in whatever way works for her. I'm just saying, her ways absolutely do not work for me.

The sales figures, though presented poorly (all words, no graphs etc. and copied and pasted from the blog) were interesting, and that's why this book isn't getting a lower rating. What really brought the rating down was the spam advice. Read more ›

More About the Author

"ONE DOESN'T SIMPLY READ A TARDIF STORY, ONE EXPERIENCES IT!"

Dear reader:

I'm an international bestselling Canadian author who loves to say, "I kill people off for a living!" You can imagine the looks I get from people. Sometimes I'll tell them, "Fictitiously, of course. I'm an author." Sometimes I won't say anything; I'll let them wonder...

On March 4th, I'll be celebrating the release of my latest thriller, SUBMERGED, with an online launch party, featuring 6 other thriller authors.

I am probably best known for Children of the Fog, a supernatural suspense thriller that has sold over 50,000 copies (Sept 2012) and made Amazon's Top 100 bestsellers list (overall list) multiple times out of nearly 2 million ebooks; and Whale Song, a much-loved, inspiring family tale with a hint of mystery, which is now available in its third edition--plus a school edition with a discussion guide.

Whale Song, an emotional mystery that explores controversial issues like assisted suicide, school bullies and racism, has captured the attention of numerous film companies. A screenplay, which I wrote with co-writer Alison Neuman, was completed in 2006, along with a movie treatment. I'm pursuing possible film deals for many of my books. And sometimes when I think of a movie deal, I smell buttered popcorn.

Booklist calls me "a big hit in Canada...a name to reckon with south of the border."

In September 2005, my gripping action-packed techno-thriller The River was released. This well-researched novel explores the mysterious Nahanni River area, nanotechnology and man's obsession with longevity. The River has been compared to works by Michael Crichton, James Patterson, Dean Koontz and Dan Brown.

I'm also the author of the 2004 "sizzling psychic suspense" Divine Intervention, a 'psi-fi' suspense thriller (or paranormal romance) that has been compared to works by authors such as Iris Johansen, Kay Hooper and Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb's 'In Death' series. Divine Justice, the second in the Divine mystery series, was also released in 2011.

In 2009, I branched off into romance with my debut romantic suspense Lancelot's Lady. Since romance is a different genre from my usual suspense/thrillers and YA, I wrote Lancelot's Lady under the pen name of Cherish D'Angelo. Lancelot's Lady was a semi-finalist in the Dorchester Publishing Next Best Celler contest hosted by Textnovel. It also won an Editor's Choice award from Textnovel in 2010.

A novelette of suspense titled Remote Control was released in ebook edition in July 2010; and a collection of stories titled Skeletons in the Closet & Other Creepy Stories in August 2010.

In 2006, I participated in a hilarious new TV series 'A Total Write-Off', hosted by comedian Barbara North. In 2004, I was nominated for the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Award. In 2003, I wrote a public service announcement for a racial harmony campaign. My PSA script, One Voice ~ One World, placed third and was produced and aired on cable channels in Alberta.

I have not only held hundreds of book signings, I have also organized multi-author signings, held virtual book tours and other online events, and I've taught others how to promote their books. My book How I Made Over $42,000 in 1 Month Selling My Kindle eBooks is the #1 Marketing book specifically designed for Amazon's KDP Select program.

I've been interviewed by numerous TV and radio stations in Canada and the US, and I've been featured in a variety of newspapers and magazines in both countries.

I'm also the publisher at Imajin Books, a venture that is dear to my heart. Imajin Books publishes quality international fiction at affordable prices, with a focus on ebooks.

Born in Vancouver, BC, I was a "military brat" and a "military wife" who has lived all across Canada and in Bermuda. I now reside in Edmonton, AB, with my husband Marc and our Pomeranian Princess, Chai.

AGENT information:
Erica Spellman-Silverman
Trident Media Group
41 Madison Avenue, Floor 36
New York, NY 10010

Ph: 212-333-1506

www.tridentmediagroup.com

Cheryl's links:

http://www.cherylktardif.com

http://www.cherylktardif.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cheryl-Kaye-Tardif-novels/29769736630

http://www.twitter.com/cherylktardif