How To Become An Amazon Bestseller
a case study by Amazon best-selling author, Simone Elise
How to Become an Amazon Bestseller Introduction, by Chris Fielden
Simone Elise is an Amazon best-selling author. Her book, Reaper's Claim, was published by Inkitt after she won their novel writing contest.
There are many different ways writers can become Amazon best sellers. I thought it would be nice to ask an author who has had the support of a publisher to talk about their experiences, so those of us that might be trying this on our own can learn from them.
Inkitt is a publishing platform that's free to use. They run regular novel competitions. Winners are selected based on how Inkitt's readers engage with the stories on their website. The winners are offered a publishing deal.
Inkitt are very open about the publishing contract they offer – you can read it on their website prior to submitting. At the time of writing, they offer the winner:
- a marketing campaign that aims to get them into the top 100 on Amazon
- minimum $6000 marketing investment into the book
- professional cover design and editing
- 25% royalties
You can learn more about their success stories on the Inkitt blog.
I've liaised with the Inkitt team regularly due to listing their competitions on this website. I asked them if one of their authors would write about their experiences for my blog. They very kindly agreed.
I'd like to say a big thank you to Simone for writing this post and sharing her experiences with my readers. And a big thank you to Marvin Wey and Lauren Burns at Inkitt for their help in putting this post together.
As always, comments are welcome – see the form at the bottom of the page.
How to Become An Amazon Bestseller, by Simone Elise
Who is Simone Elise?
My name is Simone. Most know me as Explode, a pen name I've used in the past.
I was brought up in a town called Ballarat which is in Victoria, Australia. It's located about an hour or so from Melbourne. My passions are writing, tattoos and my family. To me, writing is an outlet. I write every day, regardless of my mood or commitments.
Simone Elise
On February 15th 2017, my novel Reaper’s Claim was published by Inkitt. Within two hours of its launch, my book was #12 out of 4 million titles on Amazon. It was an Amazon Best Seller.
It didn’t just happen overnight. There's a lot of work that goes on to get there. I'm going to share how I became an Amazon bestseller with you.
The Manuscript
First off, I needed a manuscript.
It took me three years to complete Reaper's Claim. Why? Well, to answer that I'll have to tell you a little more about me.
At the time I started Reaper’s Claim I was working three jobs. I was a Dispensary Technician at Priceline Pharmacy and Nova Pharmacy, as well as working as a Disability Support Worker.
Work took up most of my time. But the reason I wrote was because of my mental health. I have schizoaffective disorder. It's basically schizophrenia and bipolar. It's actually more common than you would think. People just don’t talk about it.
Reaper's Claim book cover
Writing is my way of coping with my mental health – it always has been, even before I was diagnosed. Writing is just as important to me as taking my medication. They go hand in hand. And for a long time, I didn't have the medication and relied solely on writing to keep me sane.
So the reason it took me so long to write Reaper's Claim was because when I started I was working three jobs. And studying a degree. I gave up working about two years ago. Around the same time, my diagnosis for having schizoaffective disorder was confirmed. That's when I took up writing full time.
Because I had so many ideas, my list of stories got longer. I couldn't just focus on Reaper's Claim. It's not in me to just work on one story. I like having a few on the go.
Wattpad
If you're a writer, you've probably heard of Wattpad. Nine years ago, I joined the online writing community. For about four of them, I was just a reader. Then I got up the guts and thought, Hell, I might share my work.
Sharing your work publicly is a big move. I was so nervous posting my work. I didn't think I'd get any readers.
The first novel I posted was Tattooed Love, followed shortly by Royal Blood and One Commitment. I slowly built a group of readers behind me, who wanted to read my work and were begging for uploads.
Tattooed Love book cover
So I just kept posting and writing. Before I knew it, Tattooed Love hit a million reads and it stands at 13.7 million reads on Wattpad.
I have 71,359 followers on Wattpad, which isn't a lot compared to other writers. But my readers are super supportive and are really passionate about my work. It's thanks to their support that my books got any attention.
You can find me on Wattpad here.
To get followers on Wattpad, you can let your work stand on its own, which is what I did. Or you can offer to read other writers' work, if they read yours in exchange. That's one way to get people to read your stories and gain good feedback.
After I finished Tattooed Love, and its squeal, Timeless, I started Reaper’s Claim.
Inkitt
I was still writing Reaper's Claim when I got an email from Lauren Burns who was contacting me on behalf of Inkitt. They're a publisher on the lookout for 'yet to be discovered' online indie authors. I'd never heard on Inkitt. My interest spiked after I did some research on them.
I entered their competition, not even thinking about winning, but with the goal of getting my books in front of more readers.
I'd already posted my work for free on Wattpad, so sharing my books online didn't scare me.
Unlike Wattpad, with Inkitt there is a chance you will get published. But I didn't think that would happen to me. Like I said, I entered the competition wanting to gain more readers.
Inkitt’s Competition
Inkitt's 'The Novelist' competition works by you submitting your work and putting up 100 free copies of your novel. Considering I had just finished Reaper's Claim, and hadn't posted the end chapters on Wattpad (yet), I encouraged my readers to visit Inkitt where it was now live and available. However, I told them that in the coming weeks I would be posting the ending on Wattpad. The last thing I wanted was to leave them hanging.
The 100 copies went live at just after 11am Australian time and were gone by 6pm that evening. So I contacted Lauren, told her what happened and she suggested we put another 100 up, to see how they went. Again, they were gone within a day.
Inkitt are very 'on it' when it comes to their writers. I don't know how many questions I sent to Lauren, but she always answered them quickly.
I guess if someone asked me why I want to work with Inkitt, the answer is: because they're the future of publishing.
With traditional publishers, you have to hope and pray that your manuscript gets looked at. If it does, it's still unlikely that you'll be published.
Inkitt puts your work in front of their readers straight away, to decide if they like it or not. It's ground breaking. I believe their approach will redefine how authors get published.
You also get to watch how your story does with Inkitt's analytics. Their analysis looks like this:
A screenshot of Inkitt's reader analytics
What's interesting about this process is that Inkitt analyse HOW readers interact with your work, rather than just looking at how many readers you get. They do this by looking at over 1,200 different reading behaviours. This means you don't have to have a huge amount of readers for your book to stand out.
After the competition ended, I received an email entitled 'Congratulations'. I'd won and Inkitt thought my work, MY WORK, was good enough to be published. I was very excited.
After receiving that email, the rollercoaster of getting published started. It was all new to me. I thought I'd done the hard work writing my book. I discovered that when you start working on publishing, the real work begins.
Social Media
It's all about getting your name out there – gaining followers, fans and readers. Emma Tonner, who works for Inkitt, helped me with my social media presence. I didn't have a Facebook page or Twitter account. So the first thing we did was start both.
Social media is all about making friends and trying to reach new people. Inkitt had me signing up to groups that related to my book. Slowly, I was branching out.
Because I already had a connection with readers and followers on Wattpad, I reached out to them, to like my Facebook page. I didn't buy my likes or followers. I was lucky enough to have people wanting to reach out to me.
A month before the book launched, we did a giveaway on Goodreads to create awareness in the reader community and help start some buzz around the book. My publisher also sent our ARC's (advanced reader copies) for the book and encouraged reviewers to post their reviews on Goodreads.
I also set up an author profile on Inkitt.
Social media becomes your best friend. You have to put time into it. I'd advise that you reply to comments and messages personally. Show your readers you aren't a robot.
The Editing
When I first received my novel back from the editors, I'd never seen so much red lining in my life! But it's all part of the process. And trust me, it is exciting.
Because Reaper's Claim was such a long novel, Inkitt recommended that I spilt the book into two. So the first novel, which is Reaper's Claim, is 104,000 words. The sequel, Reaper's Rival, is 115,000 words.
Taking in all the editor's notes, rewriting scenes and realising that someone else is just as passionate about your work as you are is amazing. As overwhelming as the editing process is, it's essential. Once a book is published, you can't rewrite a scene or change a line. So I read and breathed my novel, took the editor's opinion on board and acted on it.
The types of things that were suggested were often simple, like spelling. And my grammar is shocking, so that had to be fixed too.
I'm so thankful for all my editor's notes and the help I received during the process. Receiving professional assistance helped my novel to realise its full potential.
Reaper's Claim launched at 4am Australian time, so I was asleep. I didn't get to sleep that night till after two because I was so nervous. I woke up just after 7am with the most wonderful news from Emma – Reaper's Claim was number 12 on Amazon and was officially a best seller.
In order to get to #12 on Amazon, Reaper's Claim sold close to 2,000 copies on launch day and sold over 3,000 copies in the first two weeks.
On launch day, I went live on my Facebook page and answered questions regarding the book. I think being interactive with your readers is the key to success.
What I Suggest You Do Now
Once you have your manuscript, I suggest you get it out there. Reach out to readers, get people's opinions and start growing a following.
Obviously, I highly recommend Inkitt. By using their platform, you will receive great support and be able to get your work in front of readers.
The one thing I wish I'd done at the very start, when I posted my work on Wattpad, was set up social media accounts. I'd strongly recommend getting a Facebook page and a Twitter account. Anything you can use to reach more readers is essential.
Even if you haven't finished your first novel yet, you could still consider getting your work out there. If you post it on platforms like Wattpad and Inkitt, you'll find readers' input might reshape how you write the story. I know it did in my case.
If I could impart only one piece of advice, it would be to start sharing your work as soon as you can. Don't be afraid. Don't just settle for rejection letters from publishers. Try this new approach to publishing. If it can work for me, it can work for you too.
Big Thanks to Simone
I'd like to say a final thank you to Simone for being so honest and openly sharing her experiences regarding how to become an Amazon bestseller on my website.
If you enjoyed Simone's post, you may also be interested to read two guest posts by Australian author, HR Kemp. While she did well on Inkitt, she wasn't as successful as Simone, so went on to publish her book elsewhere. Below are links to HR's posts:
- Post 1: Book Publisher Case Study - Inkitt, by HR Kemp
- Post 2: Self Publishing, by HR Kemp
If you have a publishing success story you'd like to share with my readers, please read my submissions guidelines and then get in touch.
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