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the dolls

May15

Kindle KDP- “the curse”

Update:   When I first published my latest book, ‘The Dolls’, I chose to participate in the KDP program.  I had read great things about the great exposure it was giving indie authors.

However, as of late, I’ve stopped hearing the glowing reviews.  Most believe that the algorithm has changed.  Many feel that the promo’s have done more harm than good.

I am going to stay positive.  I had my free days on 5/15 and 5/16/2012.  I had more downloads than I imagined.  I had 33 in the UK. (yawn), but in the U.S. I had 4,799 downloads (woo-hoo!).  That was a record breaker for me.   I have not seen any sales this morning, but it’s only 9:45 am.  I’m going to remain hopeful.

Then there is that other bit of ugliness that has afflicted countless authors, when they do their KDP free days.  It seems a pattern has emerged.  It’s the curse of the one star review.  It hits the authors during or directly after their free days.

I got mine yesterday.  It was not “constructive criticism”.  It was one of those hateful, personal attacks.  But it looked familiar.  A couple of weeks back, another writer friend had lamented about his own one star review, and it looked suspiciously similar.

I went back to the ugly review and found that another writer had added a comment under it, mentioning this KDP issue.  Believe it or not- within the hour, the evil reviewer returned to Amazon, to my book page and responded to the comment!  If the book was so hideous- why would she/he return?  Within minutes, there was an additional one star review.  Again- in the same hateful tone-but this one is full of spoilers.

It’s hard not to feel bad about these reviews.  But- since I learned of “the curse”, I had to comfort myself by visiting other authors and check their reviews.  Yes, they all had “the curse”.  Mind you, some of these books have won awards, one is being made in to a movie as we speak.  These are books with dozens, sometimes hundreds of 5 star reviews.

I’d love to hear of your experience with the KDP  “Curse of the one star review”.

You can find me on Twitter  or check out  ‘The Dolls’ on Facebook- maybe you’ll “like” it : )

Kindle KDP- Is it worth it?

May15

Update 5/17/2012

When I first published my latest book, ‘The Dolls’, I chose to participate in the KDP program. I had read great things about the great exposure it was giving indie authors.

However, as of late, I have stopped hearing the glowing reviews. Most believe that the algorithm has changed. Many feel that the promos have done more harm than good.

I am going to stay positive. I had more downloads than I imagined. I had 33 in the U.K. (yawn), but in the U.S. I had 4,799 downloads (woo-hoo!). That was a record breaker for me. I have not seen any sales this morning, but it is only 10:30 am. I am going to remain hopeful.

Then there is that other bit of ugliness that has afflicted countless authors, when they do their KDP free days. It seems a pattern has emerged. It’s the curse of the one star review. It hits the authors during or directly after their free days.

I got mine yesterday. It was not “constructive criticism”. It was one of those hateful, personal attacks. In addition, it looked familiar. A couple of weeks back, another writer friend had lamented about his own one star review, and it looked suspiciously similar.

I went back to the ugly review and found that another writer had added a comment under it, mentioning this KDP issue. Unbelievably- within the hour, the evil reviewer returned to Amazon, to my book page and responded to the comment!

If the book were so hideous- why would she/he return?

Within minutes, there was an additional one star review. Again- in the same hateful tone-but this one is full of spoilers.

It’s hard not to feel hurt by these reviews. But- since I learned of “the curse”, I have had to comfort myself by visiting other authors on Amazon, and checking their reviews. These are authors that I respect and look up to, dreaming that someday I will be in their league. Yes, they all had “the curse”. Mind you, some of these books have won awards; one is now in the filming process. These are books with dozens, sometimes hundreds of 5 star reviews.

I would love to hear about your experience with “the curse of the one star review”.