Progress Report 2024 Week 51

I learned something important about Amazon this week. No, Amazon didn’t do anything wrong — at least not as a corporation. The situation makes me wonder how many sales I lost, especially early in my writing career. Also, I tried to keep moving forward with Dreams of Deucalion Book 3: Bait and Bleed — in spite of a couple of Real Life Family Events (RLFEs). Did I meet my self-imposed minimum? Let’s take a look a the key performance indicators first.

Last Week’s Progress By the Numbers

If I call 10,000 words a week or more a success, then I have to call this week a success!

I had a couple of RFLEs this week. Fortunately for all involved, we were able to work through them. Fortunately for my writing plans, I was able to still write over 10,000 words. The RLFEs interrupted one evening entirely, but I was able to use that evening to cast a crew for a EUNAFOR frigate.

I think I’ve said it before, but I’m happy I’m here for my family and can help with RLFEs. There’s be little point in my writing without that. That said, I’m also glad I can write at all. It’s important to be grateful for what I have. Not because I’ll someday lose it, but simply because I have it now.

If nothing else, it clears my mind for writing!

There’s a phrase I used to hear NASA use during a launch: “We have cleared the tower!” I think that’s when they switch control of the mission (at least the Apollo missions) from Florida to Texas. For my novels, I’ve started thinking hitting the first 10,000 words as that stage. So, as of this week, Bait and Bleed has cleared the tower! I hope she has a good flight.

An Important Lesson

Listen To Your Son-in-Law Equivalent

If your son-in-law says searching for your name on Amazon isn’t working, listen to him. After I published Evolution’s Hand Book 1: Executive Action, my son-in-law said he searched for my name in Amazon’s bar and didn’t find anything. He wondered if Amazon had canceled my account.

I checked. My stuff was still there. I found that if you changed the category to “books,” you could find my name. Figuring I just hadn’t sold enough ebooks and the problem would take care of itself, I promptly forgot about it.

A few months ago, some kind soul commented on my Facebook ad. She said that she could not find my books, either. Why not click on the link I provided in the ad? Because she’s a cautious sort who made a smart decision: since phishing has become so sophisticated, it’s safer not to click links. I get that. I’m a security professional. So, I shared the trick of changing the category to “books.” She said that worked; she even bought one of the ebooks.

Stupidly, I forgot about it. Then, just last week, I got two more comments in rapid succession. I have sold a lot more than back when, so I didn’t think a lack of sales kept me off the main page. To test that theory, I searched for other writers’ names; they worked. In fact, my name was the only one I checked that didn’t work.

Amazon has some helpful on-line assistance. I walked through their clear troubleshooting guide. After walking through the troubleshooting steps, I got to the last step: contact support. So that’s just what I did! I explained the situation. The dude’s solution? There wasn’t one. Amazon was working as designed. I asked why a writer like “Chris Fox” worked just fine. He told me my “argument” was “void.” I wasn’t aware that I was arguing, but okay.

This is what the results from the main page should have looked. But for (literally!) years, none of my stuff showed up.

I Should Actually Read the Checkboxes

There’s a checkbox on the ebook and paperback setup screen for Kindle. It’s just above the suggested age limits for the manuscript. It asks if the cover is sexually explicit. Well, I misread it. I hate reading forms so much I just glossed over it. For whatever reason, I had it in my mind that it referred to adult content — including adult language. So I should check that box.

Guess what that box does? It blocks sexually explicit covers from showing in general Amazon searches. From Amazon’s perspective, it correctly prevents sexually explicit material from showing in general searches.

My books have zero sexual content. No spice. As soon as I unchecked that box, my books started showing up in searches from the main menu. Thinking I knew what the box meant, I mindlessly checked it for all nine of my published works. And thereby prevented who knows how many people from finding my books.

The lesson? Listen to your son-in-law and read the freaking screen! I can reduce those to: please do pay attention to the world around me.

Oh, as a bonus lesson? Not all Amazon agents understand how their systems work. But the documentation was correct. That’s what got me thinking about that checkbox.

Progress against Last Week’s Goals

Here’s how I performed against last week’s goals:

1. Write Jadwiga Janczak’s Hook: Done!
2. Write Trent Raven’s Hook: Done!
3. Write the first helper plot chapter (The Little Frigate That Could): Done!
4. Begin Atticus Porter’s Plot Turn 1: Not Done! I swapped in Trent Raven’s Plot Turn 1, which is Done!
5. Begin writing the back cover blurbs for Dreams of Deucalion. Started! This is ongoing. I’m also worked on the Amazon blurb again for The Sword of Sirius Book 1: Red Flag Warning.

Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2024 Week 51

Here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:

1. Write Jadwiga Janczak’s Plot Turn 1
2. Write the helper plot for Hans Alder’s tantrum
3. Writer Atticus Porter’s Pinch 1
4. Write the helper plot for a chance in direction at the Investment Houses
5. Write the back cover blurb for Dreams of Deucalion Book 1: Special Recon
6. Rewrite the Amazon blurb for The Sword of Sirius Book 1: Red Flag Warning to invigorate Amazon Ads

What Do You Think?

Have you ever had to use Amazon Kindle’s chat support? Did you get answers? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!