In its most basic terms, metadata is data about data. A novel is filled with data, and Amazon and other sites use data (keywords) based on the data in the novel to categorize your book and make sure that when certain terms or phrases are searched that your novel pops up.
The keywords Book Baby and I chose were:
“abduction|courage|friendship|kidnapping|survival story|teenage boys|thriller”
If you do wish to change these in the future for your novel you can, and it takes about 24 hours for the changes to occur on Amazon.
Now on to pricing. Since it was my first novel, I didn’t want to charge a crazy amount, but I also wanted to make sure that I could make some money off each sale. I decided on the lowest amount that gets you a maximum return on Amazon: $2.99. At this price I get 70% of the sale and Amazon gets 30%. Any lower and I get 35%. $2.99 seemed like a fair price since it is affordable for an eBook and my main goal was to get people to download and read the book.
With all that in place, I did a few more accounting-based steps about where you want your money sent and at what set amount would you like the money sent to you, and awaited the proofs for the eBook.
But did I just sit around waiting for that day to arrive? Quite the contrary! I knew I had to create a platform for people to learn about my book, so I created a website using www.wordpress.com. I started with a pretty basic and bland theme and format, but eventually took the time to make it my own. I opted for the business website option, which costs a bit more but gives you more freedom and options with your design.
Tomorrow, I’ll talk about proofs, other book sites I joined, and getting early reviews. See you then!
