KDP Who's buying my books? Who is downloading my books? How can you tell who has bought your book on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing?

Europe

Who's buying my books?
Hey Kindlers,  
I'm about to start an ad campaign for my eBook, and I was wondering if there is any way to track who is downloading it--by location or account or anything (this is to verify "group orders" to issue a rebate). Is there any way to do this? Should I just ask buyers to forward me their receipt?
Thanks!

Answers:
1. well let's say your ad campaign was using a web page you made, you could stick google analytics on it, so you'd see at least who was looking at that page and then how many then clicked through to the amazon page for your book...

2. In a word, no.  
Amazon is the only one who knows which account purchases which product, and they aren't letting go of that data, nor should they. It's called privacy.


3. KDP sales/transaction reports contain usernames don't they? As many people use the same username on multiple sites, that could be pretty revealing. And I'd bet most Kindle e-book buyers aren't even aware their Amazon username is being shared with the author every-time they make a purchase.

4. You must be getting very different KDP sales reports to me. In a year here I have never seen a single username in a sales report. The only time I've had a clue who has bought any of my published books is when they get a review!


5. Yes, the user names are not shared with authors.  
If you keep watching the reports, you can get a pretty good idea of when sales were made, and whether the buyer was in the US, the UK, or some other country. But that's about it.


https://www.kdpcommunity.com/s/q ... ooks?language=en_US

Europe

How can you tell who has bought your book on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing?
What's the catch with Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon?
The "catch" is to write a good book, then have it edited and proofread by these 2 different professionals. Spend time (and $) on a professional cover design, write (buy-$) a "killer" blurb (stops the reader in their tracks-thinking I have to read this book.) DIY covers from KDP stick out (as awful) compared to professionally designed covers. If your book isn't selling—problems with cover, blurb, ads.

KDP Select requires selling (e-books) thru Amazon exclusively. Love or hate Amazon, they are the 10,000 pound gorilla in the room. They account for 80+% of all books sold. The revenue I get from KU page-reads pays for my AMS promos, which means the e-book/print sales are profit.

If Amazon didn't have Amazon Ads (formerly AMS) I'd be less enthusiastic about KDP. AMS generates 80% of my book sales. For me, AMS is better than FB and BB for finding readers who click the "buy" button.

Finally, KDP revenues. If an author signs with an agent and then lands a contract with a Big-5 publisher, the author earns less than 15% of sales and add-ons. If an Indie author does the above in editing, proofing,etc., the author receives 70% of the royalties. In another post, we can discuss Publishers expectations of what the author must do to promote their book (It ain't a free ride.)

KDP is what an author makes of it. I spend 4-hrs/day writing and 4-hrs/day promoting my books (AMS ads, BB ads, FB ads, writing new copy, and keeping social media contacts current (Showing my face regularly.) It's a job! There are no benefits, no sick-days, and no vacation days. KDP is what you make of it, and right now, it's working for me.

https://www.quora.com/How-can-yo ... e-Direct-Publishing

Viet

More Answers:
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Option 1- E-mail your drafts (first two or three chapters) to the top publishers in the country. A few like Westland and Harper Collins have stopped taking unsolicited works, so you’ll have to take option 2.
Option 2- E-mail your drafts (first two or three chapters) to the top literary agents in the country. Red Ink, Jacaranda, Sherna Khambatta, Purplefolio etc. are great and provide editing services too. They know the ins and outs of the publishing business in India and will definitely find a great publisher for you.
Option 3- Contact small publishers. Pay them money. And they’ll publish your works. You’ll have to do capital investment and marketing on your own though.
Option 4- Amazon KDP. Publish online for next to nothing. Earn 70% royalty and an international audience. Just that you’ll have to do your own marketing, else see your works get lost among a flood of others.
Option 1 takes time. Publishers like Penguin can take up to 6 months to respond to your mail.

Option 2 can take comparatively less time. I was in contact with Sherna Khambatta within a week of me sending out my proposal.

Option 3 is good if you have the resources. I have been in contact with two so far and their rates are definitely not worth it for millennials like me.

Option 4 is exploding like anything these days and many self published authors are easily trumping established ones. See- Savi Sharma.

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In the Digital Age, it is easy enough to self-publish virtually any book. However, getting a real publisher to invest its time in developing, producing, and marketing your book is a very different prospect.

Is your book any good? Will people want to read it? Will they be willing pay for it? In a world of a million book choices, why should someone (other than your friends and family) pick your book?

Writing a novel is an impressive accomplishment. Wanting to get it published is an understandable goal. To that end, make sure your book is as good as it can be. Ask people whose opinions you trust what they think of your book. Ask your English teacher. Listen to what these readers say—and consider how their suggestions might improve your book.

Hint: Your most important work will likely take place during the revision stage. Writing a novel—a first draft—is just the first step.

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In the Digital Age, it is easy enough to self-publish virtually any book. However, getting a real publisher to invest its time in developing, producing, and marketing your book is a very different prospect.

Is your book any good? Will people want to read it? Will they be willing pay for it? In a world of a million book choices, why should someone (other than your friends and family) pick your book?

Writing a novel is an impressive accomplishment. Wanting to get it published is an understandable goal. To that end, make sure your book is as good as it can be. Ask people whose opinions you trust what they think of your book. Ask your English teacher. Listen to what these readers say—and consider how their suggestions might improve your book.

Hint: Your most important work will likely take place during the revision stage. Writing a novel—a first draft—is just the first step.

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First buy two books. I’m not selling them. You can get one from Amazon and the other from Smashwords. From Amazon, buy Stephen King’s On Writing: Memoir’s of the Craft. Oddly enough, the paperback version is cheaper than the Kindle version. Read it many times, as if you’re studying for the most important final exam you ever took. Commit the best parts to memory.

I assume, because you are 17 and this is probably your first book, you will want to self publish, so you will want to make an Ebook out of your MS Word manuscript so from Smashwords download the Ebook Smashwords Style Guide. It’s free and is without doubt THE best book for learning how to turn your MS Word manuscript into a file that will easily pass through the program which converts it into a nicely formatted Ebook.

But first, after you have read On Writing a few times. Finish your novel. Be sure to write twice as many words as the target optimal number for your genre. For instance, the optimum length for a romance novel is about 100,00 words and the target number for an epic fantasy is somewhere from 200,000 to 300,00. You want twice as many so that you can do aggressive cutting — as recommended in On Writing — before showing it to anyone. Now find beta readers and editors. I prefer ones who have the appropriate skills, not just friends and family. It’s interesting to note however that King says his best beta reader and always his first reader is his wife, Tabatha. He has a circle of five friends whose literary opinions he trusts who make up the rest of his beta readers. I think that’s a great model.

About editors: Join Goodreads, a social site for Readers and Authors. Make friends with authors whose books you think are well written with excellent grammar and spelling. Find one or two who would be willing to look at a sample of your work in order to decide if they are willing to trade edits with you (you edit theirs and they edit yours). You can offer to do a trial with them, one chapter each, to see if they can work with you.

You will find plenty of people on this site offering to edit your book for a price. Some of them are quite good. Just be aware that the good ones charge a lot, as much as $3,000 or more. I’ve heard as high as $7,000 mentioned on Quora. Even if you have brilliant talent and do everything right, the chances of making enough money on your first book to break even after paying a good editor are slim to none because you’re an unknown name. No reflection on your writing. The vast majority of readers browse for books by author’s name.

Good luck! Break a leg! Knock'em dead!