Have You Scouted Out Kindle Scout? This Week, Book Bundle, Giveaway

 Have You Scouted Out kindlescout? by J.Q. Rose

Working on my new manuscript--paranormal, romance, mystery. 
A photo of my work space at my dining room table. 
My theory is to change places where I write, edit, and daydream to spark new ideas.
 Try taking a "vacation" from your desk 
(or usual work space) to inspire brilliant writing!

While working on writing my mystery/romance, I imagine where my story-in-progress will be published. Nowadays writers have so many options to get their stories into the hands of readers--traditional, indie, hybrid, audio, video, and now amazon's new program--kindlescout. (evidently amazon does not like using CAPS in their logo designs)

 According to the amazon site--"Kindle Scout is reader-powered publishing for new, never-before-published books. It’s a place where readers help decide if a book gets published. Selected books will be published by Kindle Press and receive 5-year renewable terms, a $1,500 advance, 50% eBook royalty rate, easy rights reversions and featured Amazon marketing."

 Does that get your attention? The program attracted the attention of the writing team of HL Carpenter who shared with me their experience so far with kindlescout. Because their just completed cozy mystery, A Cause for Murder, fits kindlescout's three categories of mystery, thriller and suspense, they wanted to learn more about it. And like all professional authors and business people, they did their research and studied all the information. Then they read the contract. 

Cozy mystery in kindlescout campaign

Carpenter said, "We're not lawyers, but our conclusion was the terms are slanted to Amazon's advantage just like contracts with the old-school publishing houses. That means each author will have to read and decide for themselves, weighing the benefits against the drawbacks--and there are both. For example, the Scout program is more stingy with rights and royalties than when an author goes indie with Amazon. An offset is the potential for marketing as Amazon pushes the Scout program out.

We chose to submit A Cause for Murder because we felt the possibility for getting noticed in a crowded marketplace was worth the potential drawback of the exclusivity issue. We like to experiment with various ways of reaching readers, and this is simply one more avenue. If it doesn't work out, we'll figure we gave it a shot and we'll move on. Such is the entrepreneurial writer's life, right?"

The good news was the manuscript was accepted. At this writing, A Cause for Murder is in the 30-day nomination period called a campaign. That wraps up on November 23rd, after which Carpenter will find out whether they'll be published under the program. You can check out their submission and nominate them at  
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3QJ9SAPEITP2T

Approximately the first 5000 words of the required 50,000 plus word manuscript (ms) is displayed on the kindlescout site. If the reader likes the story, she can nominate the ms for publication by the Kindle Press. (This makes me wonder if the author with the most friends will win a contract on popularity alone or if the storytelling will really win the prize.) 

I should add there are other criteria for mss to be chosen, but we are not privy to that information. One blogger surmised one of the amazon secret algorithms will be used to determine a winner.

At the end of the kindlescout campaign, an email will be sent to let the author know if the book has been selected for publication. If published, everyone who nominated the book will receive an early, free copy and be invited to leave reviews.

Amazon is a clever marketer. Before the book is published, there is a group of readers ready to read the book and spread the word by writing reviews on the newly pubbed book. Granted the author loses sales to the folks who nominated the book for publication, but word-of-mouth by these readers is a very effective sales tool.

There are so many pros and cons to this program,I can't possibly cover them all, but I do have links to blogs which could answer your questions.Take a look at them if you are interested. Please leave a comment with your thoughts about kindlescout. 

Links to blogs about kindlescout:

Victoria Strauss Pros and Cons of the kindlescout Program

Digital Reader  Is kindlescout worth it? Yes

Jim Chimes Kindle Scout

        Adventure in Text  Amazon vs Big Publishing: Kindle Scout Motives Revealed  

        Crime Fiction   My Kindle Campaign: First Impressions

Watch for updates on the results for HL Carpenter's A Cause for Murder.

About HL Carpenter:

Florida-based mother/daughter author duo HL Carpenter writes sweet, clean fiction that is suitable for everyone in your family. The Carpenters write from their studios in Carpenter Country,

Mother/Daughter Author Team, HL Carpenter

a magical place that, like their stories, is unreal but not untrue. When they’re not writing, the Carpenters enjoy exploring the Land of What-If and practicing the fine art of Curiosity. Visit HLCarpenter.com to enjoy gift reads and excerpts and to find out what’s happening in Carpenter Country.


This Week:
Thursday, November 20:-Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing continues. Delightful author Conda Douglas is our tipster this week with writing tips on Marketing Made Easy. Please join us and win a copy of her e-book, Starke Naked Dead.

Book Bundle through December 2: I am thrilled to announce that Conda Douglas and I are bundled together with Heather Fraser Brainerd,

David Fraser, and Sara-Jayne Townsend in a four mystery e-book set releasing from our publisher, MuseItUp Publishing. You can pre-order now and get the special Black Friday price-- $1.99 for ALL FOUR BOOKS. Price goes up on December 2. For more information and the buy link, go to MuseItUp Publishing.