Thursday, May 14, 2009

AmazonEncore


Ever feel, like me, that your book is outstanding, the reviews have been great, people seem to love it, but sales are disappointing? I believe that many small press authors share that same sinking feeling. Well now Amazon has launched a new program to increase visibility for those hidden gems.

From Amazon: "Even great books can be overlooked. Amazon customers raved over “Legacy,” a self-published novel by 16-year-old Cayla Kluver, with customer review titles such as “loved it, loved it,” “rich lyrical tapestry and story” and “breathtaking in scope and execution!” Despite winning several prizes from literary groups and accolades like this from readers, Kluver’s debut novel achieved only modest sales. Amazon.com, Inc. today announced a new program, AmazonEncore,” to help readers discover exceptional books from emerging authors, such as the program’s first book, “Legacy.”"

Read more information here: http://www.weberbooks.com/2009/05/amazon-encore-cherry-picking.html

Enjoy

7 comments:

Jina Bacarr said...

What a fantastic opportunity for authors! This sounds like a very cool program from Amazon.

Re: the author mentioned, Cayla Kluver, I did a video interview her agent, Kevon Lyon, a while back along with her partner, Jill Marshal.

Since I did the video, they've opened their own agency.

http://www.marsallyonliteraryagency.com/

Check out the video of Kevan and Jill on Daily Motion:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x18txn_dijkstra-literary-agencyauthor-talk_news

Jina

http://tinyurl.com/BerlinSexDiary

Enid Wilson said...

Alan, thanks for the link. I'm not so sure about it though. It sounds like Amazon is trying to act like a publishing house. They can only "help" a few authors a year.

I was thinking if they would actually index like one book per genre per week with good reviews both by Amazon customers and outside review agencies and match them with poor sale ranking and feature them separately, they would be helping more struggling but good authors that way.

In Quest of Theta Magic

C. Margery Kempe said...

We need to revamp the publishing industry and then things will be a lot more author-oriented. Returns are a ridiculous concept that leads to bloat and foolishness. But the sad fact remains -- there are a lot of books and a finite number of readers. Finding the readers who will love your book will be a challenge.

Anonymous said...

Enid said: It sounds like Amazon is trying to act like a publishing house.

I agree, but it seems they've been going in that direction for some time. It's a pity that they are not planning to do this wide scale, but if it is very successful, then I believe they will expand the program.

It is something to keep and eye on.

Julie Lomoe said...

Thanks for the info, Alan, and for making your posts so consistently informative. I'm highly ambivalent about Amazon, but it's the easiest place for people to get my books, so I guess I'm an Amazon prisoner for now.

Alexis Grant said...

That's pretty cool. I always wonder how readers hear about the good books, with so much clutter out there. Then I remind myself, I'm a reader! And how do I hear about good books? From friends, mostly.

KK Brees said...

I like the diversity of your posts. There's always something to learn. Good job!