I would LOVE some insights on how to best get my book into IngramSparks. To date, I’ve been Amazon KDP exclusive with all my indie books, and now realize that’s not a good idea. A local bookstore wants to put my recent book on her shelf, but needs to get it from Ingram I watched Lara’s video about this just this morning and realize the mistake I made at the beginning. Two questions: 1) Can I go into IngramSparks if all my books are also on Kindle Unlimited? They are also there in paperback and hardcover. 2) If I checked the going wide box in KDP, can I just uncheck it without them penalizing me (ie, blocking my account)? If anyone here can enlighten me I’d be most appreciative. I REALLY, REALLY want on the shelf of the bookstore here.

We've discussed a lot about how to create effective book covers and descriptions, but not so much metrics. So my question is about interpreting some early data on my ad testing, currently running on Meta to target FB and Insta readers. At a cost of $6.71, the test ad generated 1825 views from 1615 distinct viewers and translated into 56 clicks to read the book description on Amazon. Those 56 potential readers generated 5 orders (downloads on KU) and so far have created 18 Kindle pages read on a book that has only 33 Kindle pages (KENP). The 56 / 1615 = 3.5% click rate seems decent for ads hitting a wide pool of readers. What do you think? That works out to just over 0.12 cents per click ($6.75 /56). Is an 11:1 conversion rate for the book description a sign that it needs further work? Or is it a reasonable expectation? That works out to $1.32 of advertising per sale ($0.12 x 11). I'm continuing to run further tests.

Portrait of a Suspect, by Sonya Myers. I've written for many years, but never to the point of publishing. But today, my debut novel is live on KDP. It's about sixty-year-old woman who has lost almost everything then becomes entangled in a murder while trying to rebuild her life. It is a heartwarming mystery about finding the courage to create the life you always wanted, and discovering that love—and murder—can arrive when you least expect them. This is book one in a three-book series. Available on KDP, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HC4HWQS8

I have noticed something with authors: we spend so much time writing and polishing the book that when publication day gets close, we suddenly realize there’s a whole other side of the process we haven’t prepared for. The last 30 days shouldn’t be about scrambling. They should be about making sure everything is ready. I like to think about it this way: 30 days out: Get the foundation right. Final editing, proofreading, formatting, cover, title, and subtitle. 21 days out: Look at the book through your reader’s eyes. Does the cover communicate the genre? Does the description make the right reader curious enough to click? 14 days out: Get your marketing ready. Know who you're trying to reach and what you're going to say to them. 7 days out: Prepare your launch content, emails, social posts, review strategy, and everything else you’ll need. Last 48 hours: Check everything one more time metadata, pricing, categories, keywords, links, formatting, and retailer pages. But here's the part I think authors often overlook: Don't make your entire plan about launch day. Your book needs a strategy for the weeks and months after publication too. A successful author career isn't built from one launch. It's built by consistently getting your books in front of the right readers and giving them a reason to come back. Publishing the book is an achievement. Being prepared to help readers discover it is the next one. For those who've already published, what's one thing you wish you'd done differently in the 30 days before your first launch?

Barking Orders by Roxy the Cattle Dog. Written from a dogs point of view. I havent owned a dog for many years and wanted my kids to have a dog. It was time to stop going to the dog park without a dog to pat the other dogs. Never had a cattle dog before and an amazing and interesting breed. When I was walking her I often wandered what she was thinking so made up stories in my head. All of the incidents in the "diary" are true with lets just say writers license. Had so much fun writing it and busy working on book 3. Appreciate thoughts on the cover as I recently changed it. Currently available on Amazon and will go wide when my Canadian isbn numbers are issued.