The Mommy's Guide Visits Amazon

This past November I was invited to a very exclusive Amazon Roundtable to discuss the amazing perks of publishing digital with Kindle Direct Publishing. It should come as no surprise to anyone out there that Amazon would be in the forefront of this new wave of self-publishing. They have already made themselves the leaders in online shopping, as well as digital reading, it only makes sense that they would create a program with that would be as user friendly to publish those books as well! Amazon has set up two wonderful programs, the Kindle Direct Publishing, and CreateSpace, which have done wonders for the self-publishing industry.

To talk about how the process works, and to give helpful hints as well as tell us their stories of success, we got to talk to three highly successful writers in the children and teen genres. E.G. Foley is a real life couple that has had real success in publishing their series of books The Gryphon Chronicles, both in the printed book world and via online downloads. This husband and wife team live and work in Pennsylvania and have been finishing each other’s sentences way before they started publishing them.

The Gryphon Chronicles is a series of books that although are published toward the young adult audience but are as popular among the adults and they are within the young adult genre. A period piece that takes place in the Victorian streets of London, follow young Jake as he goes on his magical and mysterious adventures, fights grand foes, and goes through the trials and tribulations of also being a young boy on the brink of manhood.

Both Eric and Gaelen (the E.G. of E.G Foley) agree that they have had a rise in popularity that was largely in part with their partnering with Amazon Digital Printing. They had a pretty big fan base before, and Gael has had success writing in other genres as well, however Amazon has done wonders with connecting with their current fan base, as well as enticing new readers towards their books.

Eric especially liked the try a sample feature, stating it gave the readers an opportunity to go into their world without the commitment of buying it. Many people tend to like to try out the book, However the days of pursuing the pages at a bookstore are swiftly coming to an end, so this gives new readers a great way to really immerse themselves in the world they have created, before purchasing. He makes a connection with this feature and their high purchase rate on amazon.

Personally, I always take advantage of the try a sample option, and I happen to be one of The Gryphon Chronicles statistics. I did in fact download a sample before purchasing, and am completely hooked on the series.

It was quite amazing to meet the two that created the series which I happen to enjoy very much. Eric showed a true passion for writing, and was as shocked as anyone when he was able to quit his full time job to dedicate himself in the creation of their written world. He attributes a great deal of the series success to Amazon Digital Download and tablets like the Kindle Fire, to their success. Of course the series is also amazing, so that always helps.

Another Writer at the Roundtable was the author of Captain No Beard. Carole P. Roman was named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best of 2012 for her very first title. The “Imaginary Tale of a Pirate’s Life”. Writing was not Ms. Romans first love, and indeed she is thrilled as well as surprised that writing is part of her “second Act” as she likes to call it. Her first act was comprised of raising her children and working in her “family Business”. She attributes all her success to publishing on Kindle Digital, that and marketing......Read More