Finding More Ways to Get Book Noticed

Today was not overly eventful, but things are progressing. I was having problems getting my D-Lux 4 book listed on Amazon.com through the Amazon Advantage program; the site gave an "internal error" every time I tried to upload the book title to this program, by which Amazon orders copies of the books to sell on the main Amazon site (that is, if Amazon decides to order any). I contacted Amazon's support through the site, and about 12 hours later I received an e-mail saying they mistakenly had my account listed as closed; they had now reactivated it. I tried again, and my title uploaded perfectly. It had not yet shown up in a search on Amazon the last time I checked, but it should show up fairly soon, I think.

I also checked into getting the book listed at bn.com, the Barnes and Noble online site. That procedure seems more complicated, and involves a written application. The application seems to require various information such as a business checking account. So I went to the bank in my building at work today and opened up a business checking account. Nowadays it seems harder to do that than it did years ago, when I opened one up in connection with my earlier book, Dauntless Marine. Luckily I had some advance warning of the hoops to jump through, so I went armed with a copy of my business license and my certificate from the county court registering my dba name of White Knight Press. The account has been opened, so I'll try applying to bn.com in the near future.

I also started looking into publishing the book in the format for Amazon's Kindle electronic reader. It doesn't sound overly complicated, so I may try that route; I figure that every new outlet for the book may help somewhat. I will need to try to find a way to convert my text and graphics into HTML format, which seems to be the preferred format for the conversion process.

My latest marketing action this evening was to list the book for sale on eBay. I had been planning to do that, and found time today. It seems to me that some owners of the Leica D-Lux 4 camera will go on eBay and search for "D-Lux 4" looking for cases or other accessories, and possibly find my book that way. I listed it at the same price ($19.95) as it is on my own web site, in a Buy It Now format. I listed it as having ten copies available. We'll see if any purchases come in from that avenue.

By the way, I still have never heard another word from the very first buyer of the book; after I e-mailed him back to ask if he wants the book or not, he has maintained a strict silence. I have refunded his money, and may never hear from him again. The second book has possibly been delivered by now, and the third one was mailed this morning. I'm going to send out a very few free copies to people who helped with the editing process, just to thank them and see if they have any reactions or suggestions for further promotion.

I printed four new copies today, but we took a break from binding. We'll probably do some more binding and shrink-wrapping over the weekend to build up the inventory in case more orders start to come in.