KAREN CHARLTON
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Welcome to the official website of historical novelist KAREN CHARLTON

News: Amazon Publishing to Take over Detective Lavender series

11/11/2014

26 Comments

 

MY self-publishing ADVENTURE

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Two weeks ago, I had an incredible experience. 

I was head-hunted by Emilie Marneur, the Senior Acquisitions Editor, from Amazon Publishing. She wanted my Detective Lavender Series to publish under their Thomas & Mercer crime fiction imprint. She had read ‘The Heiress of Linn Hagh’ and loved it. She wanted to know if there was any chance we could work together on the series.  After some discussion, she offered me a jaw-dropping deal in order to take over the books. I know that it was jaw-dropping because my mouth couldn’t formulate words properly when I phoned my sister immediately afterwards.

Needless to say, I am absolutely delighted. Stunned, surprised and shocked. But absolutely delighted.

I live a quiet life in a sleepy North East fishing village where nothing ever happens.  As a rule, Senior Editors from major publishing companies don’t just materialise unbidden out of the autumn mist and offer Marske residents amazing publishing deals.  

After we had discussed the deal and I agreed to sign up with Amazon Publishing, I asked Emilie how she had heard about me. Why had she picked out me from the hundreds of thousands of self-published authors on Amazon?  She just laughed, kept her secrets and said she had ‘special antennae.’

‘It must be their website algorithms,’ my brother, the IT specialist, suggested later.  ‘Their computer churns out the sales numbers. A piece of paper containing details of the sales of ‘The Heiress of Linn Hagh’ will have landed on someone’s desk and set a chain reaction in motion. ’ He is probably right. Emilie seemed to know all about me, my publishing history and my sales before she contacted me.  

So what is my publishing and sales history? What is so special about ‘Heiress’ that it attracted such esteemed interest and I received this amazing offer?

As some of you may know, this time last year I was unhappily locked into a miserable contract with a small, traditional publisher of historical fiction. In the twelve months that Knox Robinson Publishing owned ‘The Heiress of Linn Hagh’ they priced the eBook at $12 and only sold 38 copies. I regained my publishing rights last Christmas and self-published ‘Heiress’ in February, priced at a more sensible $2.99.  For the first two months, I made a handful of sales.

In April, the eBook sales in the USA suddenly started to take off.  This happened while I was away on holiday in Turkey and I’m still not 100% sure what the catalyst was which kick-started my sales.   However, I think it may be something to with a favourable review I received from Cathy Cole, one of Amazon’s Vine Reviewers.  I had randomly contacted Cathy through her website when I first published the novel to ask for a review.  I had no idea that she was a Vine Reviewer for Amazon at that point. In fact, I had never heard of the program and had to research it later.  All I knew was that Cathy was kind lady, who liked my novel.  I now realise that she must have a big group of followers in the States.  I came back from Turkey to discover that Cathy’s review was up and that ‘Heiress’ was suddenly selling about ten eBooks a day  in America on Amazon.com.   And most importantly, it now had a low rank in the Amazon sub-category: Historical Mysteries.

I immediately put the price down to $0.99 in order to make it more attractive and to try and to keep the momentum going.  I was desperate to keep the eBook visible in those rankings. I really do believe that being visible, and staying visible, in a popular Amazon sub-category is the key to success.


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I only had eight reviews at that point so I scrabbled around to get a couple more reviews on Amazon.com (not easy when you’re a Brit and most of your family, friends and fans are on this side of the pond.) Once I had ten reviews, I entered ‘Heiress’ into an Ereader News Today (ENT) promotion.  It worked.  I sold 200 copies of the eBook in the States. Thanks to this promotion, the ranking stabilized – and rose further.  To my delight, dozens of new and positive reviews also began to appear.  It seemed that the Americans couldn’t get enough of my Regency mystery set in rural Northumberland. I was over the moon as the sales steadily rose. After such a slow, frustrating and disappointing start with my previous publisher, ‘Heiress’ was finally being read – and enjoyed. It wasn’t about the money at that point. I was simply elated that after all those years of hard work and frustration my precious novel had finally found an audience.

Gingerly, I edged the price back up to $2.99 but the book remained in the top thirty of .com Historical Mysteries throughout the summer – sometimes reaching the top twenty.  On one hot, giddy day in August, I sold 130 eBooks.  Or rather, on one hot, giddy NIGHT I sold 130 eBooks.  Because of the time difference between the UK and the US, most of my sales are at night. I go to bed and when I check my sales first thing in the morning I’m often hundreds of dollars richer. It’s definitely the best way for a woman to earn money while lying on her back.

Conscious that my reviewers were asking for more stories, I turned my attention to my other novel and a short story I had lying around about Detective Lavender.  I organized editing, proofreading and book covers and published them both in August.  They also started to sell well in the States, in the wake of the success of ‘Heiress.’  I have now sold nearly 13,000 eBooks since April – 99.9% of these are in the US. Paperback sales have also taken off. Recently, my royalty payments have been higher than the salary I received when I was teaching English at a British Secondary School.  

So yes, my brother is probably right. An Amazon computer must have highlighted the fact that a lot of royalties were being paid to a small, middle-aged, ex-teacher in the remote north of England for her historical whodunit.  This set off a chain reaction in Amazon HQ which resulted in Emilie’s email and the offer from Amazon Publishing.  I’m meeting her for lunch in London next week and will grill her again to try to get to the bottom of this. I may be small but I’m determined, and the mystery writer within me is desperate to confirm my suspicions.  

Do I have any doubts about signing up with Amazon Publishing after my previous bad experience with a publisher? No, I don’t.  I expect the two publishers to be poles apart. Even though I know that we will have to sell twice as many books in order to maintain my current level of income, I am confident that the Amazon marketing machine can do this. I look forward to ditching the administration, formatting and constant sales promotion which go with being a self-published author and becoming part of a team again. All Amazon want me to do is write a book a year.  Bliss. I have a good friend who already works for the Thomas & Mercer imprint and he can’t praise the company highly enough. Apparently, they are brilliant to work with and involve their authors at every stage of publication, from book cover design through to the editing.  I have complete confidence that with the Amazon marketing machine behind it, my Detective Lavender Mystery Series will sky-rocket and reach thousands of new readers that I can’t reach myself – especially in my home country where I have sold diddly squat.

And after all, that is why we have that compulsion to write, isn’t it? To tell our stories to as many other people as possible. I feel incredibly lucky that I have been able to realise my dream and I hope that this account of my experience helps somebody else to realise theirs.

‘The Heiress of Linn Hagh’ will be published by Thomas and Mercer in June 2015 and three months later in October, they will publish the second novel in the series: ‘The Sans Pareil Mystery.’

Buy ‘The Heiress of Linn Hagh’ on Amazon.com

Buy ‘The Heiress of Linn Hagh’ on Amazon.co.uk 
26 Comments
Terry Lee link
10/11/2014 11:21:02 pm

Wow, I am impressed. I too regained my rights from a small publisher and am doing the self-marketing avenue. You've given me some excellent advice on how to up my sales. Great post. Thanks for the info and congratulations!
terryleeauthor.blogspot.com
author of Saving Gracie and Partly Sunny

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Karen Charlton link
11/11/2014 10:59:49 pm

Glad to be of help, Terry. x

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Helen Victoria Anderson link
11/11/2014 01:34:20 am

What brilliant news that your hard work is paying off. I love the line "the best way for a woman to earn money while lying on her back"! I hope that your meeting in London goes well. And maybe one day, when you explain these algorithm thingies to me, I'll understand!!!

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Karen Charlton link
11/11/2014 11:01:06 pm

Thanks, Helen. Yes, I'll happily explain all. We must meet up for a coffee again. x

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Jean Joachim
11/11/2014 02:31:21 am

Great story, Karen! You must have written a fabulous book. Congratulations on your success -- well deserved.

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Karen Charlton link
11/11/2014 11:01:46 pm

Thanks, Jean. x

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Tricia Cunningham link
11/11/2014 03:01:45 am

Hi Karen, What an encouraging and generous post. Sounds like you deserve the success and it's really kind of you to share your experience with others. Triciax

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Karen Charlton link
11/11/2014 11:02:50 pm

Thank you, Tricia.

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KJD link
11/11/2014 04:13:57 pm

Fantastic news, Karen. Brings hope to all us struggling authors.
Thanks for letting us know.

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Karen Charlton link
11/11/2014 11:03:52 pm

My pleasure, KJD. x

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Jean Gill link
11/11/2014 07:28:53 pm

Congratulations again, Karen, and it is so exciting to read of your well-deserved success. Long may you continue to earn a living while lying on your back :)

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Karen Charlton link
11/11/2014 11:05:00 pm

LOL It's definitely the best way to do it! Thanks, Jean. x

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Noreen Wainwright link
11/11/2014 08:55:33 pm

I agree with Tricia - good of you to share this encouraging and quite intriguing story. I am interviewing writers this month for my blog www.goldenagecrime.com
If you would like to answer a few questions, please email me...though you might be far too busy, at the moment!

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Karen Charlton link
11/11/2014 11:09:21 pm

Thanks for the invite, Noreen! I'll be in touch. x

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Nik Morton link
12/11/2014 09:24:21 pm

Congratulations, Karen. Your hard work has paid off. I'm with Knox Robinson for my co-written fantasy novel; however, my crime books are with Crooked Cat and my westerns are with Robert Hale, so my eggs aren't all in one basket! I'm tempted to go the self-publish route for my short story collections.

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Karen Charlton link
26/11/2014 02:50:40 am

You are very wise not to have all you eggs in one basket, Nik. Good luck if you do decided to go down the self-published route.

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Lisa G link
13/11/2014 12:27:59 pm

Thank you for sharing and congratulations!

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Babs
14/11/2014 01:24:07 am

Never be in any doubt that your books are wanted by your readers. Amazon have made a smart move - I, for one, cannot wait for your next book. I was so pleased you moved from Knox as it was too pricey for me and I ended up borrowing from the library when I really wanted to own your book.

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Karen Charlton link
26/11/2014 02:51:54 am

Thanks, Babs!

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Jane Bwye link
14/11/2014 01:48:17 am

What a wonderful fairy story, Karen - and very well deserved! The cautious cat in me says have you read the small print..... I'm sure you have!
Hooray!

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Karen Charlton link
26/11/2014 02:53:21 am

Thank you, Jane. Don't worry -- I read the small print. I'm a bit of a cautious cat myself, these days. :)

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Lorraine McDonald
16/11/2014 01:41:59 am

Congratulations Karen and good luck in London, you are definitely putting Marske on the map. It is inspiring to know that there is a successful author in the village.

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Karen Charlton link
26/11/2014 02:54:35 am

Thank YOU, Lorraine, for taking the time to read this and support me. Best wishes.

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Lacey Courvillon
17/12/2014 11:50:47 pm

Hello, I just wanted to say I LOVED 'Heiress'!!! I am also a BIG fan of Audible. Will there be an Audible edition coming out soon?

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Paula Knight
22/1/2015 12:53:38 am

I loved The first Detective Lavender novel and look forward to others. Congratulations on your new publisher and your well deserved success here in America.

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Karen Charlton link
22/1/2015 02:48:49 am

Thank you Paula and Lacey, it is always great to hear from people who enjoyed 'Heiress.'
Lacey: I've sent you separate reply about the audio books. They are working on the audiobook for 'Heiress' as we speak! Really exciting times! It should be released early June.
Best wishes,
Karen Charlton

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