Read the Kindle Author Blog

I've started a new blog for Kindle owners called Kindle Author.

I mostly post interviews with indie authors who have published on Kindle, but I also post news and other items.

It's a great way to discover new authors. If you own a Kindle and are looking to find new authors to read, please hop over to my Kindle Author blog and acquaint yourself with some of the great new writers on the digital frontier.

Also, you can read the blog on your Kindle by subscribing on Amazon with a 14-day free trial:

Read the Kindle Author blog on your Kindle!

Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition) Available on Mac

Amazon has just released Kindle for Mac.

This means you can now read Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition) on your Macintosh computer.

Excellent!

Kindle for Mac

Amazon Review: Devil's Lair is "Pure Brilliance!"

Rebecca L. Downey, "Mistress of Prose," gives Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition) 5 stars on Amazon and writes:

Pure Brilliance!
It is often so hard to find new fantasy novels that exemplify the brilliance of the genre. But, author, David Wisehart, has brought us a wonderfully dark epic that should not be passed up. The novel, based off Dante's Inferno, is a remarkable piece of literature. This book is not just for fantasy fans; it is also a piece worthy of any history fanatic's personal library. I am always looking for fantasy novels that try to re-invent or challenge the conventional ideas of the genre, and Wisehart does just that with Devil's Lair. I truly believe the author is a brilliant writer, and I cannot wait to read what else he has in store for us.

Thanks, Rebecca!

Third Day Sales of Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition)

So Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition) debuted at #17 on Kindle's bestseller list for historical fantasy. But what does it take to become a bestseller in that sub-genre on Kindle?

First day: 4 copies
Second day: 5 copies
Third day: 4 copies

That's 13 copies at $0.99.

At 35% royalty, I earned $4.55 from my book in the first three days.

I'm ahead of my original goal of 3 sales a day (over 1,000 per year). We'll see how things progress. I'm hoping some of the early readers will post Amazon reviews. I'm looking forward to reading their reactions.

Devil's Lair is an Amazon bestseller!

Devil's Lair debuted at #17 on Amazon's list for "Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fantasy > Historical."

Sweet!

Using Listmania! to Promote Your Kindle eBook

One way to promote your book on Amazon is to use Listmania! I've now created two lists to promote Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition).

Basically, what you do is create a list of Amazon products organized by theme. You give the list a title and add items to the list. Your Listmania! list will then appear on Amazon product pages and beside Amazon search results. Because Listmania! creates a new web page for your list, it can also appear in Google search results.

List viewers can rate a Listmania! as helpful, which increases its popularity rank and makes it more likely that the list will show up. Getting more views for your list will also increase its rank. Amazon has an algorithm to rank Listmania!s and determine when and where to show them. Lists are also tagged (labeled) so that they can appear on relevant pages.

Authors and publishers can promote their own books by adding their books to the Listmania! list. This puts the book in front of more people. If the list is narrowly themed, then you're more likely to get your book in front of readers with an interest in your subject.

For example, my first Listmania! list is "Epic Fantasy on Kindle for $0.99." My second list is "Horror on Kindle for $0.99."

Both lists are aimed at Kindle owners looking to buy genre books at bargain prices. Each list contains 25 books, including my own book, Devil's Lair.

In the next post I'll show you how you can create your own Listmania!

Second Day Sales of Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition)

This is an update to my previous post about first-day sales of Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition) on Amazon.

First day: 4 copies
Second day: 5 copies

So that's 9 copies at $0.99.

With a 35% royalty, I earned $3.15 from my book in the first two days.

That's just Starbucks money, but I'm thrilled to have 9 more readers than I had last week.

If I can pick up three new readers a day, after one year of Kindle sales I'll have over a thousand readers.

Which would be great.

Of course, I'm hoping word of mouth will spur increased sales, and I'll build a fan base like compound interest. We'll see.

The Kindle experiment continues...

First Amazon Review for Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition)

The first customer review for Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition) appeared on the Amazon site the day after the book went live.

"Dragonnade" gave it 5 stars and said:

Great Fantasy Novel Based around The Inferno
What a great find! Devil's Lair is loosely based on Dante's "The Inferno" and follows the quest of a medieval knight to retrieve the holy grail from the devil. The knight is joined by a cast of historical and literary figures on his quest while Europe is facing the black death. Interesting fantasy novel set in a well described world. Do not pass this up if you like The Divine Comedy or a solid medieval fantasy story.

Thanks!

First Day Sales Figures of Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition)

Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition) went live yesterday on Amazon.

I don't know what time it became available for purchase, but I became aware of it at around 2:45pm. There were no customer reviews on the launch day, and for some reason the Amazon product description did not appear on day one.

By midnight, Devil's Lair had sold 4 copies at $0.99.

That was good enough to put Devil's Lair in the top 7,000 items purchased in the Kindle Store.

I don't know if that's good or bad, but I'm happy some people are buying it. More importantly, I hope they read and like it.

Product Description for Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition)

Here is the Amazon product description for Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition):

A thrilling adventure through Dante's Inferno....

"I've battled evil all my life. I’ve wrestled with darkness and demons and monsters beyond measure, in the black forests of Germany and in the troubled hearts of men, for it is there, in the human heart, that evil festers and grows. But evil has a source, and we must find that source: at the bottom of the abyss. We must descend into the Devil’s lair, and penetrate the heart of all evil."

It is the year of our Lord 1349. The world is dying. The Black Death sweeps through Europe. Apocalypse approaches. The Fourth Horseman rides the Earth…

One hope survives. A vision of the Holy Grail. Stolen by Lucifer, the Grail now lies in the lowest circle of Hell. To save the human race, someone must steal the Grail from the Devil and return it to the world above.

Four pilgrims — a knight, a friar, a poet, and a prophetess — will journey down into Hell to confront their deepest fears…

And the Devil himself.

Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition) now available on Amazon

The Kindle edition of Devil's Lair is available on Amazon for $0.99.

Devil's Lair (Kindle Edition)

For those who don't own a Kindle, the eBook can be read using the Kindle app for iPhone, BlackBerry, or Windows. A Mac version is forthcoming.