With: EmKay Connor
Congratulations to "Dee", the winner in EmKay's giveaway. Thank you to all who participated!
I recently released my fourth book in Roxanne St.
Claire’s Barefoot Bay Kindle World and my second book in Erin Nicholas’
Sapphire Falls Kindle World. With six stories set in other authors’ worlds, I’m
often asked why I continue to participate. I’d like to share what it’s like to
write for Amazon’s Kindle Worlds (AKW) and why I keep going back.
How I got
started writing for AKW
In 2013, I published two romance novels. After that,
life got a little crazy. Recently divorced, I was working three jobs and taking
full-time college courses. Oh, and I had three sons at home. Over the next
three years I managed to put out two self-published novellas, but I couldn’t
dedicate the time and effort needed to build a serious writing career.
In 2016, I learned Roxanne St. Claire was launching a
Kindle World. After researching how AKW works, the idea of participating
intrigued me.
·
Since I write to deadline, this gave me a firm
due date.
·
The word count was flexible, which meant I could
do a short story or novella, which is part of my author voice and style.
·
The most significant advantage was getting my
book in front of Roxanne’s readers, since I didn’t have an audience of my own.
My first Barefoot Bay Kindle World novella, Perfect Mismatch, released on April
12, 2016.
Seeing that book up for sale on Amazon gave me a
tremendous sense of achievement. After months of not publishing anything, I
finally had a new release. Making a commitment to write for Roxanne’s Kindle
World provided the structure and incentive I needed.
Why I continue
to write for AKW
I often put in 12-14 hour days for my “regular” job,
which I love. Still, it makes it difficult to schedule regular releases. When
Roxanne announced a second round of Barefoot Bay Kindle World books, I came up
with a story idea for one of the secondary characters in my first book. And
thus a series was born.
My Perfect Match series includes three other titles: Miss Match (August 22, 2016), Romance Rematch (October 10, 2016)
and Matchless Mayhem (February 21, 2917).
I also have a series set in Erin Nicholas’ Sapphire
Falls Kindle World. The Natural Love series includes Going Strong (October 24, 2016) and Going It Alone (February 13, 2017).
Right now I have three more books planned for the
Perfect Match series and two more for the Natural Love series. All of these
stories will be published through Amazon’s Kindle Worlds.
Some authors believe publishing through AKW, which is
essentially authorized fan fiction, builds the sponsoring author’s brand and
not the individual author’s brand. I disagree. I’ve applied proven book
marketing strategies to all of my AKW books.
·
Instead of standalone books, I created a series
so each new release automatically markets the rest of the books.
·
All of the books are strongly branded through
cohesive cover design and series order
·
I release a new book (on average) every quarter
My approach to
writing for AKW
I was a freelance writer for 15 years. During that
time, I discovered I write most effectively and successfully when given a
specific topic, word count and other parameters. Writing in another author’s
Kindle World provides these parameters for me.
My Kindle World romances focus primarily on my
characters and settings, with the sponsoring authors’ characters and settings
woven into the fringe of the story. My goal is not to write like Roxanne St.
Claire or Erin Nicholas, but to replicate the ambiance and emotion their
readers adore. In one story, the characters basically breeze through Sapphire
Falls, but the rest of the action occurs elsewhere. I worried that I wasn’t
giving Erin’s readers enough of the location and characters they’ve come to
love, so reading this review reassured me that my approach is working:
“Ms. Connor has done a great
job integrating the Sapphire Falls culture & atmosphere into her
series.” -PamD, Amazon
The benefits of
writing for AKW
It’s been ten months since my first Kindle Worlds
release. Did it help my writing career? Hell, yes!
·
Six published novellas
·
I added subscribers to my mailing list
·
I have a street team / reader group (we’re up to
16 members!)
·
I can count on reviews from “my” readers
·
Stronger connections with other authors
·
Increased brand awareness #sexysassy
·
Royalties
·
I “feel” like a published author now
·
The opportunity to apply book marketing
strategies (and see results)
·
My writing is getting better
·
I regained my love for the creative writing
process
What readers
like about AKW
I was curious about what readers think of Amazon’s
Kindle Worlds. I asked a few of them to share what they like about AKW. Here’s
what romance readers had to say:
I love visiting a
favorite fictional town with new authors for their take of the community. Kindle
Worlds is a great way to find new authors in a familiar setting. Normally at a
great price too. –Shari B.
Barefoot Bay to me means ordinary people doing
extraordinary things. Ms. St. Claire created the perfect means of escape. Beautiful
scenery, heartwarming stories and a bit of romance to brighten up the day. I
read Kindle Worlds Barefoot Bay because I enjoy getting the chance to discover
new authors but I also get the chance to fall in love with some great
characters along the way. –Isha C.
I love the Barefoot
Bay books, and everything the new authors bring to it. When they work the
characters into their stories, it makes it fun. What I liked most is the
suspense in some, the heat level in the others, and the romance in all of them.
–Ramona K.
I enjoy reading a
love story. They are a quick read, and you can't wait to read how it all ends. –Gail F.
If you aren’t
familiar with Amazon’s Kindle Worlds, you can learn more here. To visit Barefoot Bay Kindle World,
click here.
For Sapphire Falls Kindle World, click here.
Connect with EmKay
Connor:
Website: www.sexysassyromance.com
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bI5sYz
Facebook: www.facebook.com/EmKayConnor
Twitter: twitter.com/EmKayConnor
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bI5sYz
Facebook: www.facebook.com/EmKayConnor
Twitter: twitter.com/EmKayConnor
Giveaway:
EmKay will be giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to one person leaving a comment or email entry.
Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST February 23rd. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@JustContemporaryRomance.com with a subject title of JCR GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway.
EmKay will be giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to one person leaving a comment or email entry.
Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST February 23rd. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@JustContemporaryRomance.com with a subject title of JCR GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway.
Thanks for your post, EmKay. I'm not familiar with Kindle World; those books (novel or novella) I buy are sometimes Kindle exclusive though not Kindle World. So your post enlightens me on the matter, much thanks. Congrats with your latest release and best wishes on your future book releases as well! :)
ReplyDeletepuspitorinid AT yahoo DOT com
Dee - Thanks for stopping by this morning! I'm glad I shared something new with you. Like I mentioned in the blog, Kindle Worlds is similar to fan fiction. There are rules, but essentially authors grant permission for other writers to create stories in their worlds. Whatever your favorite genre, you can find a Kindle World. Check them out!
DeleteThat's so cool, I love how these fictional worlds create even more for both authors and readers alike. Thanks for sharing your story with us, I really enjoyed learning more about Kindle Worlds! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteahui89 at hotmail dot com
Ada - Happy Wednesday and thanks for taking time to learn more about me and Kindle Worlds.
DeleteThanks for sharing the Kindle Worlds information. I find it's a great way to discover new authors for series I enjoy.
ReplyDeletejtcgc at yahoo dot com
Very interesting! Thanks for a deeper look into things!
ReplyDeleteHi Colleen - I hope you enjoyed a look at Kindle Worlds from one author's perspective. Happy reading!
DeleteThank you for the giveaway
ReplyDeletealysap at yahoo dot com
Good luck! Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday!
Deleteinteresting post
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotamil dot com
LOL...I hope "interesting" in a good way. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI do enjoy how so many authors can participate in these Kindle Worlds and bring their stories into such a larger scene. I've found many a new author that way and I can't wait to check out more of these Kindle World books!
ReplyDeletethebigbluewall77 (at) gmail (dot) com
I enjoy reading the Kindle Worlds books and I've actually discovered a few new to me authors this way. I especially like the Sapphire Falls and the Barefoot Bay stories.
ReplyDeletelinda dot henderson70 at yahoo dot com
I enjoyed reading about your benefits. Reminds me of Oprah's Grateful Journal. Always nice to think about the positives.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. This is all new to me and I appreciate the heads-up.
Have a lovely weekend!
Forgot to say that Maureen has my email address.
DeleteThanks for your generosity....
Great post, thanks for sharing! I haven't read many KW books, but I'm familiar with Roxanne St. Claire’s Barefoot Bay series.
ReplyDeletenatalija DOT shkomare AT gmail DOT com
Thanks to everyone who stopped by the blog and special thanks to JCR for having me!
ReplyDelete