The Kindle Scout Program

by Alan Orloff, @alanorloff

Thank you, Elizabeth, for hosting me on your fabulous blog!

A few years ago, we had a guinea pig for a couple of weeks. It (I never checked if it was a boy or girl) used to make an odd squeaking noise, and I couldn’t tell if it was excited or stressed. These days, I know exactly how it felt.

That’s because my suspense novel, RUNNING FROM THE PAST, is among the first wave of books in Amazon’s brand spanking new experiment, the Kindle Scout program. Yes, I’m one of their guinea pigs.

Here’s how it works:

Authors submit their completed books to the program. The submission package includes a novel of at least 50,000 words, a cover, answers to a few questions, and a description (the catchier, the better). Right now, books in three genres are being accepted: Mystery, thriller, & suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Romance. Shortly after submitting your package, Amazon will let you know if your book has been accepted.

Once accepted, your material gets uploaded to the site, and your 30-day campaign begins (mine runs through Nov 26).

Now it’s the readers’ chance to get involved: They can read excerpts from any of the books in the program, and if they like what they’ve read, they can nominate it for publication. A reader can have three books nominated at any one time.

Then, when a book’s campaign ends, all the nominations are tallied. According to Amazon: “The more nominations your book receives, the more likely it will get the attention of our Kindle Scout team and be selected for publication.”

I think this means that the program is not solely a popularity contest: “Nominations give us an idea of which books readers think are great; the rest is up to the Kindle Scout team who then reviews books for potential publication.”

As a thank-you to the readers, if a book they nominate garners a contract, they will get a free advance copy of the entire novel.

That’s the basics. It’s like American Idol for books.

Why did I decide to get involved? I’m what’s referred to as a hybrid author. I had three books published with Midnight Ink (which is how I met Elizabeth), including DIAMONDS FOR THE DEAD, an Agatha Award Finalist. I also self-pubbed three books. So I understand the pros and cons of each strategy. (The Kindle Scout program is itself a hybrid of the two methods.)

For my self-pubbed books, the most challenging part was getting them discovered. So far, I haven’t found too many effective ways to market them. Although a modest advance is part of the winners’ contract, the most appealing part of the Scout Program is the possibility of getting access to Amazon’s powerful marketing engine.

Say what you will about Amazon, but they know how to sell stuff.

I’m not sure I would have participated if I didn’t already have a suspense novel (and professionally-designed cover) ready to go. I’d put RUNNING FROM THE PAST up on Wattpad in another “publishing” experiment (without much success). When I heard about the Kindle Scout program, this novel was just languishing on my hard drive, with no real plans and no place to call home.

So I figured, why not try it here? Nothing to lose. Something to gain.

Once my campaign began, I realized I needed to do some, gasp, marketing to make people aware of the program and get them to read an excerpt, hoping that they’ll then nominate it.

First, I tried the obvious things. Posting on Facebook. Tweets on Twitter. Many of my Facebook friends shared my posts (bless them) and my Twitter followers retweeted my tweets (bless them). I put a notice on my website. I created a Facebook Event (but I haven’t invited anyone yet—I hate getting spammed myself). I told my friends and family. I sent out a few press releases to local newspapers. I plan to send an email blast to those on my mailing list.

I also am offering to give a free PDF copy of my not-yet-published short story CHEAP MEDZ to anyone who shares the Kindle Scout link to my book on Facebook or Twitter, in an attempt to leverage the power of social media.

But then what? Go door-to-door? Stand on the street corner with a sandwich board? Maybe make up one of those spinning signs and hang out at a busy intersection? Get endorsed by Oprah? (If anyone has any bright ideas, I’m all ears!)

Of course, I won’t know how the campaign did until it’s over (there are no metrics beyond a “Hot & Trending” list that is updated frequently). If I’m lucky enough to get a contract, great. If not, I guess I can apply some lessons learned from my marketing efforts.

While I’ve been concentrating on the marketing, I can take solace that the most important thing, the thing that really matters, has already been done.

The writing of the book.

(If you’d like to read the excerpt, here’s the link: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/2QOKLYZIY0P1M   And if you read it, I’d love your nomination! And, and, and, if you share it on Facebook or Twitter, I’ll send you a PDF of my short story—just message me with your email address.)

Alan Orloff is the author of Diamonds for the Dead (2010), an Agatha Award finalist for Best First Novel. He also writes the Last Laff Mystery series (Killer Routine (2011) and Deadly Campaign (2012)) and has three e-book originals, THE TASTE (horror/thriller), FIRST TIME KILLER (thriller), and RIDE-ALONG (suspense).

For more info, please visit his website: www.alanorloff.com