An indie writer’s woes and a free book promotion

Until this October, my first (and so far only) book on Amazon, Bound by Life, has had a steady readership. I have not had as many paid downloads, but since the book is enrolled in KDP Select Program, it has seen many reads through KU/KOLL. The screenshow below shows the KENP read in September, 2016. Though the book has seen many more KENP Reads in previous months, September was much better compared to October and November, with no KENP reads at all.

This kind of made me panicky – because I am not sure about the reason for the drop in reads suddenly. For an author, perhaps nothing is better than being read. Hence, whether or not the royalty is ample, an author always wants readership.

In the past, I have noticed that writing about the book (whether in blog/Facebook) has led to spikes in readership. And for months now, I have only talked about the book when during the Free Book Promotion (FBP). The FBP creates a buzz in the digital world, which later translates to more readership. Which is why, I am again making the book available for free for the next five days.

From Nov. 21 – Nov. 25, Bound by Life will be absolutely FREE on Amazon. The free promotion starts approximately 12 AM PST, so keep a look at your clocks tomorrow, especially if you are not in PST.

When I go back to the Amazon KDP account, I keep thinking when I will be able to put another book out there along with this book. At a point in time, I had a dream that I will publish one book every year. But as I struggle with work life, I realize it is easier said than done. Somewhere, pressed by the cogwheels of life, inspiration vanishes. I have lost count of how many WIPs are lying around here and there in the computer. These days I have even stopped using the computer – with the smartphone, I can do mostly every day-to-day thing that I need to do. Unless, I have to write a blogpost or work in the book, I don’t use the laptop.

Are you a working professional and an aspiring writer? How do your manage your time? How do you insert the much-needed dose of inspiration to your writing life? Write to me in the Comments below.

Until later,

Write On!

 

Last day of FREE PROMOTION of Bound by Life

Dear bloggers!

Today is the last day of Bound by Life being FREE on Amazon. In the last four days, Bound by Life has sold 26 free copies, much below my targeted 100 copies. On a brighter note, though, the book is currently placed at #25 in Short Stories in Amazon Kindle Store.

So, if you have not downloaded your copy yet, I urge you to download it right away! Also, please feel free to share this with your friends and family, whoever happens to own a Kindle.

Thank you in advance for your help! Happy reading!

Buy Bound by Life on Amazon.

What is Bound by Life?

Bound by Life is the first book by Arpita Pramanick. It contains ten short stories.
The title story is epistolary. An old man writes a letter to his son before leaving for an old age home. Set in the backdrop of the modern nuclear family, the story contains references to the immigrant experiences of those who came to India from the then East-Pakistan (presently Bangladesh) to escape the wrath of the communal riots post-Indian independence.
One of the stories, I am Mala, has been previously published on the eFiction magazine. I am Mala is the tragic tale of a young woman who becomes the victim of the dogmatic caste system.
The protagonist of The Silent Victim, Deepa, has traumatic past. She just started college and is struggling badly with androphobia. Will she be able overcome her past and lead a normal life?
Arpita delves into the fabric of Indian life – its ethics, values, customs and superstitions. Her characters belong to different walks of life. From tea-vendors on the pavements of Salt Lake, a leading IT hub in West Bengal (Manorama Tea Stall) to the young village boy performing in a circus in a city (The Last Show) – everyone finds a place in Bound by Life.
The stories are simple tales of day-to-day lives of the common man. It is this simplicity that adds beauty to this collection.

Review of Sister of My Heart and Reminder of Bound by Life Free Promotion

Hello everyone! Hope you are doing well. Today I want to share with you all some thoughts about the latest book I have been reading – Sister of my Heart – by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

I discovered Divakaruni when I was looking for authors like Jhumpa Lahiri. Before I came to Bangalore in October, 2015, I bought her Palace of Illusions. I meant to read it in the long train journey that I was to undertake. But life had different things in store for me in that train journey (just a few hours before I were to board the train, my maternal grandfather passed away, and I pretty my cried during the entire duration of my first inter-state train journey).

After I reached Bangalore and found Kwench, I had access to a lot of books. Somehow, Palace of Illusions shifted to a corner in my wardrobe. A few days ago I gave it to my roommate for reading.

This March, they featured Divakaruni for Women’s Day Special books in Kwench. Almost all her books are available there.

This Thursday, after I returned Game of Thrones (less than half-read, but my borrow period was over), I ordered Sister of My Heart. Apparently, Divakaruni is a popular author in Kwench. Almost all her books except two were in circulation when I ordered this book. It arrived Thursday at lunch. I started reading it right away.

The story is about a traditional Brahmin Bengali family living in Kolkata. It captures the story of two cousin sisters, Anju and Sudha, who love each other very much. One is headstrong, practical while the other makes wishes upon the fallen stars and believes in prince and princess fairy-tale stories. The book touches on variety of issues: the ideals of proper upbringing in a high-class Bengali family, which is not longer as wealthy as it once was; the tremors of young love, the dowry system, stigma against female girl child, some mystery, some fairy-tale storytelling and above all, how love surpasses all.

The leading characters are women and are complexly constructed. Nalini, Sudha’s mother is a typical gossiping woman, who frets and complains about everything in life. Yet, when the author explains the past that led Nalini to be wed and be part of the Chatterjee family, we cannot but feel a little sorry and sympathy for the poor woman. Gouri Ma, Anju’s mother, who had promised her husband when he went on an adventure that would be the end of him, that she would bring up her daughter as a girl from Chatterjee family must be brought up, kept her promise by manning a bookstore single-handedly, breaking social stigma of women not being the sole breadwinner in the family. Then there is Pishima, who first tells Sudha the dreaded secret of her existence – a secret that is to cast a shadow on all the characters’ lives forever since it has been uttered.

I loved how each character is different and has a different story to tell. I love the way the story develops, said through the alternating, contrasting points of view of Anju and Sudha. I love how strong the emotions are portrayed, that moved me to tears more than once.

I loved the book so much that I stayed up till 5.00 AM in the morning today to finish it. I can’t remember any other book that I finished in less than 24 hours in the recent past.

If you have a liking towards Jhumpa Lahiri’s books, you must definitely give Divakaruni a try. I can assure you you’ll love it!

On a different  note, my ebook, Bound by Life is available for free now on Amazon. If you have a Kindle, don’t forget to download it.

Also, if possible do share about the free promotion on your blog/social media platforms. I aim to sell at least 100 free copies of the book between today and coming Tuesday. I’d love if you can help me achieve my goal!

Happy weekend!

Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and KDP Select: Update after two month self-publishing journey

If you have been following this blog, you probably know that I published my first (and so far, the only) book through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program. At that point of time, I had no idea that I could self-publish a book. So, for me it was a big deal! In fact, if it wasn’t for Amazon KDP program, I wouldn’t perhaps haven’t written a book at all.

When I published Bound by Life through Kindle, I had automatically enrolled it for KDP Select program. For the uninitiated, KDP Select allows authors a few special features. For one, every author gets 5 days of free promotion in which the book can be made absolutely free! Plus, there is a new feature that Amazon has introduced: the pay-per-page-read concept. Under this, if your book is borrowed from the Kindle Owners Lending Library or downloaded through Kindle Unlimited, then you get paid for every page read of your book. As per available statistics, you get paid about 57 cents for every Kindle Edition Normalized Page (KENP) read.

On the flip-side, if you enroll your book in KDP Select, you can not sell your book on any other online platform, including your website.

For more details, check out KDP Select FAQ.

There is an ongoing debate in the author community as to whether KDP Select is worth it or not.

As for me, here are my statistics: Bound by Life has sold about 30 copies during the free promotion. I am not sure if I should call that a good number. I have read in other blogs of authors selling thousands of copies on the free promotion days and mine is not even in hundreds. Then again, I have only started and I have probably not marketed the book as well as I should have.

Only recently I saw some activity in KENP Count – so far it has been read completely just once. In fact, it was only when I saw some activity in KENPC that I took to reading about KDP Select in detail, and the result is this post. So whoever read Bound by Life through KU or KOLL, if you are reading this now, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. My heart jumps in joy every time I see some activity on my Sales Dashboard, and I was so glad to see the blue graph (that’s how Amazon represents the KENP Count in the Sales Dashboard) finally take a sharp hike! I have no idea if you liked my book, but if you did, please leave me a review letting me know.

I complete my 90 days in KDP Select program in September. Will I continue using the program for another 90 days? I do not think so. Amazon KDP has made my publishing dreams come true. But it is time to test new waters. I hope to launch Bound by Life through Smashwords towards end of September. I guess it is time to reach new readers – not all of us use the Kindle app or devices for our digital reading, do we? Don’t forget to let me know in the comments how your read your favourite ebook and maybe, I will publish my ebook in your preferred format.

Are you a self-published author who has enrolled in KDP Select? Do you think it is worth it? Don’t forget to share your experience with me.

---

P.S: If you have an Amazon Prime membership or a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can borrow my book, Bound by Life for FREE on your Kindle Device. My book is also part of Kindle Countdown Deal, so even though it is priced at $5.99, you’ll probably get it for less if you decide to buy it. Do give Bound by Life a try!