Ruth Kaufman - Award-Winning Author and Romance Writer

Ruth Kaufman is the author of My Life as a Star, My Life as an Extra, My Once & Future Love, The Bride Tournament, Follow Your Heart, At His Command and other books.

Another new boxed set: Medieval Hearts

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My third book, The Bride Tournament, is now part of the boxed set Medieval Hearts: Four Epic Tales of Romance and Passion. It’s on preorder for .99 on Amazon and will be available in Kindle Unlimited when it releases July 12! 

In TBT, The Gone with the Wind love triangle meets The Bachelor in late medieval England. The king wants her to marry the new earl, but she wants to marry her betrothed. So she holds a bride tournament to find the earl a better, more willing bride. Who will win his hand in marriage…and his love?

Also in the set are:

Enthralled by Amazon All-Star Emma Prince

When raiding Northumbria’s holy houses to help his village, Eirik meets Laurel, who stirs him like no other. In an attempt to protect her, he breaks his oath never to claim possession of another person, and claims her as his thrall. But can he claim her heart, or will Laurel fall prey to his enemies’ devious schemes?
Torn between securing her freedom or giving herself to her Viking master, will fate decide for Laurel—and rip them apart forever?

Lady of the Mist by bestseller Elizabeth Rose

Echo, daughter of the infamous pirate, Captain Powell ap Llyr, tries to live up to his expectations of being the son he never had. But when handsome lord Garret is trapped aboard her ship, she can’t let him die at the hands of her father and the crew. Love and honor clash as a nobleman and a pirate fall in love and face the most difficult challenge of their lives.

Knight Storm by Ria Cantrell

Respected as a Healer, Rhianna du Montefort turns a deaf ear to hurtful whispers of “witch” and vows not to marry. Sir Erik Ragnorsen is commanded to marry her, but despite his reputation for honor doesn’t wish to marry a witch. Will love be strong enough to weather the storm that threatens to tear them apart?

Hope you enjoy the set, and, if you’re so inclined, leave an honest review.

The power of FREE: At His Command on Amazon 3/1-5

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AT HIS COMMAND is free on Amazon March 1 to 5!

I’ve read many posts about making a book free for a brief time or permafree. While it’s hard to give away a product I spent countless hours producing, I’m hoping the benefits are worth it:

1) Readers may get to know an author and buy her other books. (Or will they wait to see if those are free, too?)

2) If the book is also in Kindle Unlimited, and subscribers read it, you get paid for those pages.

3) If you get enough downloads, the book climbs Amazon bestseller lists including Top Free Historical Romance, which leads to more visibility and perhaps more sales of other books.

4) You might get more reviews. The more reviews a book has on Amazon, the better the opportunities for Amazon promotion, such as “also bought” and “you might like.”

But making “going free” work can require a significant investment of:

1) Time: to scour promotion sites, choose some, and apply for a listing by filling out their forms. Posting on Facebook groups and other social media. Spent away from writing/getting your next book out or other work. Checking and compiling results.

2) Money: for said promotions. I got my first BookBub for 3/2, quite an achievement. (I was denied for two books when I had .99 cent countdown deals.) Though it costs hundreds of dollars, the high number of downloads and visibility are said to be amazing. I hope so!

It’s working! AHC is already #38 on Top Free Medievals.

25 things authors should know about Amazon: Self-publish via 5) KDP 6) CreateSpace

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This is part three of my series explaining “25 things authors want to know about Amazon but didn’t know to ask“introduced on Romance Author Marketing Network.

Post one is here.

Post two is here.

Before I self-published, I kept hearing things like, “Just put your books up on Amazon,” as if doing so were simple. Well, IMO, it’s not. There are many many steps to complete. Every time I did the happy dance after getting past one, I had to stop and figure out the next. To me, the amount of clicking back and forth and finding information you need to enter was dizzying. I hope it’s easier for you because you can make decisions in advance.

To self-publish ebooks for Kindle, you need Kindle Direct Publishing. You can sign in with your already existing Amazon account info.

You’ll start by creating a new title on your Bookshelf. After entering details about your book, such as title, publisher and a description (aka back cover copy), you have to verify that you have the rights to your content. Next, you choose your browse categories by drilling down in the provided list. Where would readers look for your book in a store?

Is your book ready to release now? Do you want to do a preorder so you can promote your book before it goes live (read up on whether these sales count toward your Amazon ranking or not)? You’ll need to answer these questions.

The cover comes next. You can upload one already designed or assay their Cover Creator, which offers some pre-designed covers you can customize and an image gallery (or your own images) to start from scratch.  My suggestion: do not do your own cover unless you’re a designer. A good cover isn’t enough…yours has to be competitive with top sellers in your subgenre. Layout, fonts, colors, images, text…when working with a designer you still need to make most of the choices, but you’ll have guidance.

Next you decide whether or not to enable DRM, digital rights management, which impacts how readers can share your book. There are proponents for both options, so read up on which is right for you.

Now you’ll upload your book’s content. This isn’t just the manuscript. You need front and back matter. Look at books on your e-reader or on Amazon for ideas of what to include.

The content must be properly formatted. I’ve seen many posts about problems with this step. I hired a formatter for two reasons. One, worrying about these things (margins, spacing, fonts for text and chapter headers, scene spacers, etc. makes my head explode. Two, if it doesn’t upload correctly, they have to fix it. Even so, you’ll still have to make most of the decisions and let your formatter know what you want. You’ll want to review your book after it’s formatted via the “Preview Your Book” option. Check carefully for spacing and other errors.

Whew. Now we’re on to Rights & Pricing. How much do you want to charge for your book, and in what countries? I could do an entire post on this topic. Finally, are you “going wide,” meaning selling on as many vendors as possible (meaning you’ll need to repeat this uploading process with every vendor or use a distributor like Smashwords [of course there are pros and cons])? If you’re only going with Amazon, as I’m doing, you can decide about KDP Select, which puts your book in Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library

Do you want print books, too? Some think e-only is enough. I have print because: if I give a workshop or attend an event, it’s great to have examples and copies to sell (you can purchase author copies at a discount via CS), you have to have print if you want to do certain giveaways, such as on Goodreads, and I’ve had several readers ask for a print version. The cost to you includes a cover formatted for a print book (with a spine, etc.) and a print-formatted text file (unless you do it yourself).

Head over to CreateSpace. CS is its own platform. There is a way to covert your CS book to Kindle, but I’ve read too many things about formatting problems to give that a shot. You’ll need to make many more interior and exterior decisions, such as book size (for some reason, there’s no mass market size [though supposedly there’s a workaround], so they offer assorted trade paperback sizes) bleed, paper color, and matte or glossy cover.

How are you going to price your paperback…without sending readers into sticker shock, but still allowing you to earn some royalties? I just didn’t think most people would try a new author if the price was over $10.

Questions, comments?

More 25 things authors should know about Amazon: 3) Imprints & 4) Kindle Worlds

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If you prefer traditional to self-publishing, consider submitting to one of 3) Amazon Publishing’s 14 (!) imprints, listed at http://www.apub.com/.    

Each imprint releases different genres and types of books. For example, Thomas & Mercer is for mystery, thriller and suspense, while Grand Harbor Press is for personal growth, self-help and inspirational works and Two Lions is for kids’ books. When you click on each, you’re taken to that imprint’s books on Amazon. There aren’t any posted submission guidelines, probably because their site says Amazon Publishing doesn’t accept unsolicited submissions at this time. So, as with many other traditional publishers, you’ll need an agent.

4) Via Kindle Worlds, authors can self-publish fan fiction in the worlds of certain popular TV shows such as The Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars, best-selling authors such as Kathryn Le Veque’s World of de Wolfe Pack and J.A. Konrath’s Jack Daniels and Associates, and comics. There are currently 49 worlds from which to choose. I suggest checking out what’s already available in your world of choice and assessing which are selling the most before writing yours.

Make sure to follow the instructions and rules as you write a novella or book in that “world.” And, as with any publishing agreement, read the KW agreement very carefully.

Then you’ll need to set up a KW account to upload your manuscript. You’re responsible for designing (and paying for your own cover), making sure to leave room for both the KW log and the individual world’s logo. They offer some free images to help you create one, but as with any self-published book, if you’re not a capable of creating a competitive cover, I’d suggest hiring a designer. Amazon sets the price and offers 35% of net revenue as a standard royalty rate paid monthly for ebook projects over 10,000 words. You can now write shorter stories, too. And there are royalties offered for hardcover, paperback and audio should you be interested in those formats.

KW has its own section in Kindle Books and its own bestseller lists. And there’s a blog geared toward readers and authors.

I’m in the progress of testing the KW waters…and will keep you posted. I’ve heard that novellas do better than full-length novels, so that’s what I’m writing.

Stay tuned!

Top 10 reasons why your book isn’t selling

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In the online writing groups I follow, one issue is brought up again and again: how hard it is for new self-published authors to sell any books at all, much less gain some traction.

Why?
1) The competition. As of this writing, 11,667 new romance Kindle books released in the last 30 days, or around 400 per day. There are 326,894 romance ebooks to choose from. What’s a newer author to do to compete in fields with so many flowers?

2) Free reads! Some readers will return a .99 boxed set. Though just a few years ago we willingly went to a bookstore and paid $6.99 or more for a paperback, these days there are so many permafree and temporarily free books that paying even .99, much less $2.99, Amazon’s recommended sweet spot for my historical romances, can seem like a lit. Kindle Unlimited, which is $10/month, and Kindle Owners Lending Library are other options readers are choosing to lower their reading costs.

3) The rapid rise in book discount newsletters. I get at least 5 newsletters every day offering discounted, .99 or free books. I don’t have to search online but merely open and glance at the books available that day. With a click or two, that free book is mine. Even if I never read it. I couldn’t keep up with all of the free books I could get every day if I tried. These newsletters can be costly, so if you’re not selling, it can be hard to justify buying more ads.

4) What I call volume authors. There are some authors who are so prolific and successful that they can dominate the new releases or bestseller lists, making it harder for newbies to rise to the top. In one of my categories, 4 of the Top 10 bestsellers are by one author and 3 are by another. In some areas on Amazon, only the top three show up as recommendations, which I’m sure helps those books sell even more. These volume authors already have a huge following and promotional machine in place, which most new authors don’t.

5) The three bears syndrome. Novellas (usually under 40,000 words), shorter books and boxed sets (usually three or more books for .99) tend to dominate some bestseller lists, so that the standard full-length novel (300-400 pages) is no longer just right. Right now five boxed sets are in Top 10 medievals (I happen to have a book in the #2 box). In the Regency Top 10 are two boxed sets and four books under 300 pages (and that includes front/back matter and any excerpts) and one with 94 pages.

6) Reviews. Many newer authors may not be able to get reviews, so they can’t take out ads on sites that require a certain Amazon rating or number of reviews. Reviews can also be used on websites, in promotion, etc., but not if you don’t have any.

7) You only have one book. Everywhere I go, I hear that
a) one book is rarely enough. Some even advise waiting until you have four or five so you can set up a release schedule.
b) one release a year isn’t enough…to help get your name out there and keep the Amazon algorithms working in your favor. I’d planned to release four of my own books this year, but was invited to be in two boxed sets. So I had a new release every three months…and some say that’s too long.

8) The book itself and/or the book’s presentation. I checked the Amazon page of one author who commented about not selling. The blurb was full of errors.
Did you hire a qualified editor, and then perhaps have that editor or another one read it after you made suggested changes? Did you also use a proofreader? How does your cover stack up against books that are selling well? A newbie author should still have a bestseller-like cover. Is your subject matter in favor? Trends come and go. There’s the dichotomy of writing the books of your heart and writing something readers want. You should learn the market to know where your story fits. My fourth book might combine too many genres…time will tell.

9) Your platform. What have you done/are you doing to build your newsletter list (this is one thing I need to do better) and social media presence? Do you interact on Goodreads? Do you have a newbie website or one that looks professional?

10) Where is your book available? Is your book in the right Amazon categories? Are you “going wide,” meaning you’re available on many sites, or just on Amazon and perhaps going Select? I hear that more authors are going wide because of changes Amazon has made, but I sold far fewer books on B&N and iBooks, so I’m sticking with that.

What can you do to improve your ability to sell?

The .99 boxed set: trends in e-book pricing

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Several months ago, the prolific Laurel O’Donnell reached out via e-mail to invite me to join in a boxed set with her and two others, Elizabeth Rose and Kathryn Loch. The offer was quite flattering…they’ve all released many more books than I have (so far), and are bestsellers. I’m not…yet? Also, Laurel’s The Angel and the Prince is on my keeper shelf, so I was honored that she wanted one of my books sold with hers.

The process of putting the set together was easier than I’d expected. Fortunately her talented husband did all of the formatting, so the only expense was the set’s cover.

We needed to decide on the title, pricing and release date. And how much promotion we were willing to pay for. After tossing around some ideas, we agreed on Castles, Knights and Chivalry.

I struggled a bit with pricing. Many, many boxed sets are priced at .99 these days, and usually range from three to 10 full-length books. Amazon gives 35% royalties for .99 books, or approximately .09 per author per sale. Recently I saw a set with 11 books…for free!

I see both sides of the issue. On the one hand, it’s easier for readers to give unfamiliar or newer authors a chance if they’re part of a low priced boxed set. Then, perhaps, they’ll go on to buy the author’s other books. On the other, what’s happening to the value of books? My contribution, At His Command, currently sells at $2.99, and has only been available since January. Would joining the box cannibalize individual book sales? The other three books have been available longer. Do e-books have limited shelf lives (pun intended) at a regular price (already significantly lower than their print counterparts) nowadays because so many new releases? As of this writing, Amazon show over 10,000 new romance releases…in the past 30 days, including just over 800 historical romances.

CKandC has been on preorder and officially releases August 1st. I’m thrilled to say it’s been climbing the Amazon’s Hot New Releases charts, currently #2 in Ancient World, #7 in Medieval, and #54 in all Historical Romance. Out of the top 100 Historical Romance Hot New Releases at the moment, only seven are boxed sets. In terms of sales, we’re at

We’ll be doing a small amount of promotion in addition to Facebook and Twitter. How will the set do? Many have become bestsellers, so there’s that dream….Stay tuned!

Best intentions vs. pushing yourself

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Yes, I really want to finish revisions on book #3 so I can release it. And I want to move on to my next trilogy (or series) and perhaps contemporaries, too. Despite my best intentions, I’ve been getting “must” tasks done, and simply running out of brain space for “really want” tasks. Or should I push myself harder to get more done faster?

This has been a feast week as far as acting is concerned (for which I’m grateful, owing to recent weeks of relative famine). I drove to Grand Rapids (3+ hours) and back on Saturday for a role in the indie feature, WIND. I had an on-camera audition Sunday, two at different casting agencies on Monday, plus several VO auditions throughout the week. I don’t do much extra work any more, but I’d heard that a great director was filming another movie here…and I was able to work on that Tuesday. I’m getting coaching for a play audition next week and needed to start learning those lines. Plus I’m taking a class and have two scripts to prepare..and a casting director will be attending our “audition.” And I got the proofs of my new headshots, some of which needed to be disseminated to my agents and casting sites.

Meanwhile, I needed to spend a bit of time promoting my current books, because Follow Your Heart received a great Publishers Weekly review, and Castles, Knights & Chivalry, the boxed set At His Command is in, is doing well on the Hot New Releases lists. And I’ve received several projects from a new freelance writing client, and must meet those deadlines.

All of this elucidates a key difference between an indie and a traditionally published author. If I had a contract and an editor (and agent, perhaps) expecting my next book, I’d have to find a way to fit in more fiction writing, no matter how tired I was, how much other work I had to do or how much I wanted to take a night off for a social event. On the one hand, there’s no external pressure to produce. On the other, it’s all on me to make new books a priority.

Maybe I should go on a writer’s retreat!

What will you pay for books?

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As an author, I’m always trying to grow my readership, and hope new readers of one book will buy the other and look forward to my next release. But as a newer author currently writing in perhaps not the most popular sub-genre, medievals, getting my books out there can be time consuming and costly.

What do you think the average self-published author earns a year (across all genres, not just romance)? Digital Book World says the median is $500-999 per year. Other sites, such as The Write Life, take a rosier view…but you have to pay attention to the source of the statistics and which books are included…in this case, 200,000 best-sellers.

I’m very fortunate to have exceeded $999 since my first book released January 14, 2015 (my second released April 14). However, despite my love of writing, I’m debating whether the time and effort are worth the rewards. Given the expenses of self-publishing (such as great editor(s), competitive cover(s), and any promotion or marketing), even earning back what you spent can be a challenge. And the sad reality is that many–probably most–authors will never get compensated for the hours they invested in creating each book.

Why? In my opinion, there are two key reasons:
1) The proliferation of online self-published books of all levels of quality plus many authors’ large backlists.

As of this writing, how many romances do you think are available for Kindle? 288,798. And 30,710 of those were released in the last 9 days.

2) The recent market devaluation of the cost of books in general.

Remember the days when you had to travel to an actual bookstore and shell out anywhere from $5.99 to $7.99 plus tax for a paperback? Now you can hop online and instantly download e-books…for free, a mere $.99, or from $1.99-4.99.

One site, k-lytics.com, reports that in April, 2015,  the average price of romance Top 100 best sellers was $2.99. When you upload your book to Kindle Direct Press, Amazon presents a bell curve showing the price at which you have the best chance of selling the most books. 

 Most of us love a good sale and enjoy saving money. But many readers now feel even $2.99 is too much to pay for thousands of words the author labored over. Thanks to the proliferation of bargain and/or free book e-newsletters such as BookBub (the hardest to get your book accepted into, even at a cost of hundreds of dollars depending on your book’s genre), Bargain Booksy, and Choosy Bookworm to name just a few, readers can have access to dozens of free or discounted books every single day.

 And there’s Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, via Amazon Prime, which allows members to download many books for free. Authors decide whether or not to place their books in the program, and get paid from a global pool of Amazon’s money each month. This is great, because of course authors get nothing for books taken out from traditional libraries. But for authors of novel-length books, the payment is usually less than they’d receive from an actual sale. And Amazon announced changes to the KOLL program starting in July, when payouts will be based on how many pages each KU/KOLL reader reads. 
Here’s The Authors’ Guild’s take on the changes. There are dozens of posts claiming this will be a good or a bad thing for authors.

 It’s great to have the opportunity to try a new author or a different sub-genre than you usually read for free or a low cost. But too much free, whether it’s temporary or permafree, IMO, devalues books in general and raises expectations of more free stuff. Will readers go and buy that new author’s next book, or wait for it to go on sale, too?

 What do you think about book prices?