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Neil D Ostroff

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Blogs by Neil D Ostroff

My KDP story
1/29/2014 10:30:22 AM

Exactly three years ago today, I first discovered Kindle Direct Publishing while desperately searching for a new agent to represent my books. A few weeks prior, I parted ways with my then agent, a powerful New Yorker with dozens of big sales under his belt. Leaving the agency was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done and the lowest point in my twenty years of continuous writing, but I immediately saw potential in KDP as a way to get my books out into the world. With renewed fanaticism about the future of publishing, I hired an editor and a cover designer and a few weeks later I published my first book, a science fiction novel.

A week went by with absolutely no sales, and then another. My initial dreams of indie publishing as a writer’s savior was diminishing quickly and I was petrified that I might never achieve any level of success. And then one day something magical occurred at Amazon.com. I checked my dashboard and lo and behold someone had purchased my book. It wasn’t a friend or relative, but a total stranger. A total stranger had purchased my book! I can’t describe in words how exhilarating it felt. Like a light bulb had ignited in my head. I realized right then I no longer needed an agent or publisher to unleash my creative children into the world. All I needed was an outlet, and KDP provided one.

With the fury of a newly published author, I spent weeks researching how to market and promote online. Being an introvert I knew I didn’t want to do grassroots sales, i.e. book signings and such so I joined dozens of online writers groups and participated in forums and discussions. I downloaded samples of my book to every major writer’s site. I spent money on advertising promotions (though I wouldn’t recommend that anymore since the market is oversaturated). I joined Facebook, and Twitter, and Linkedin, and Google+, and many more social media sites… and slowly my book started to sell.

With my platform in place, I began publishing my other completed novels, one every three months. I started to see sales of my books increase and with that came more exposure. I was asked to do blog interviews and was a featured author on numerous established websites. I started to receive awards and accolades from strangers. Reviews of my books came in the four and five star range. Sales skyrocketed and a few of my books briefly hit the Amazon bestseller list. Though I wasn’t getting rich from my sales the pride of knowing that strangers loved my stories was reward enough.

Now three years later, sales have quieted a bit as I get ready to release my tenth book. I still have a large platform and a huge base of core readers which I hope will enjoy my latest as much as my previously published books. I have outlines for many more to come. Thanks KDP, it’s been an amazing journey.

To learn more about my books and myself, please check out my blog: ALWAYS WRITING.

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

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More Blogs by Neil D Ostroff
• Beginning and end of everything! - Thursday, April 16, 2015
• Distractions - Friday, April 3, 2015
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• Writing and writing - Tuesday, February 24, 2015
• On Sale Now! - Thursday, February 12, 2015
• Everyone loves results! - Monday, February 2, 2015
• Blitz day two! - Wednesday, January 28, 2015
• Blitz starts today! - Tuesday, January 27, 2015
• To pay or not? - Monday, January 26, 2015
• What is God? - Sunday, January 18, 2015
• To my friends. - Monday, December 29, 2014
• Birth of a Book - Monday, December 15, 2014
• The Final Read - Tuesday, December 2, 2014
• State of Writing Today! - Sunday, November 23, 2014
• Winter Reads! - Thursday, November 20, 2014
• Hmmm… who is this Ostross she speaks of? - Sunday, November 16, 2014
• Emotion, emotion! - Wednesday, November 12, 2014
• Retrospective - Thursday, November 6, 2014
• Great review!! - Friday, October 24, 2014
• Results!! - Monday, October 20, 2014
• Promotion!! - Thursday, October 16, 2014
• Winter writing - Monday, October 6, 2014
• Author’s Legacy - Monday, September 29, 2014
• I just want to write! - Thursday, September 25, 2014
• Always Writing! - Wednesday, September 17, 2014
• More exposure and gaining momentum - Thursday, September 11, 2014
• Book of the week! Yeah! - Monday, September 8, 2014
• Great reviews! - Wednesday, August 27, 2014
• Last Chance! - Sunday, August 24, 2014
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• FREE TODAY!! - Tuesday, August 12, 2014
• Cheap promo - Wednesday, August 6, 2014
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• Define Novel Length - Monday, July 28, 2014
• Big Feature Today! - Wednesday, July 16, 2014
• Being a writer - Tuesday, July 15, 2014
• Stand out! - Thursday, July 10, 2014
• The marketing secret! - Monday, July 7, 2014
• Five Books! - Thursday, July 3, 2014
• Origins of a novel - Monday, June 30, 2014
• Reviews are personal - Monday, June 23, 2014
• The future! - Thursday, June 19, 2014
• Still up there in rank - Thursday, June 12, 2014
• HAPPY! - Tuesday, June 10, 2014
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• Very Excited! - Monday, June 2, 2014
• Reviews for sale! - Wednesday, May 28, 2014
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• More marketing advice - Wednesday, May 14, 2014
• Is marketing worth it? - Wednesday, May 7, 2014
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• Birthing - Thursday, April 24, 2014
• Never pay for a review - Friday, April 18, 2014
• Does blogging sell books? - Tuesday, April 15, 2014
• Creating characters from scratch - Friday, April 11, 2014
• Book 13 complete! - Monday, March 31, 2014
• The miracle way to sell more books - Wednesday, March 26, 2014
• Looking for feedback - Friday, March 14, 2014
• Getting on the bestseller list - Saturday, March 8, 2014
• Websites all writers should be on. - Wednesday, February 26, 2014
• Great book selling results! - Sunday, February 23, 2014
• Hitting the best seller list - Friday, February 21, 2014
• Don’t make these mistakes. - Thursday, February 20, 2014
• Little surprises! - Monday, February 10, 2014
• Bearing the writing soul - Monday, February 3, 2014
• Kickstarter - Friday, January 31, 2014
• A thousand thank you’s - Thursday, January 30, 2014
• My KDP story - Wednesday, January 29, 2014
• Will people still read? - Monday, January 13, 2014
• Write and get rich! - Thursday, January 2, 2014
• The new informed writer - Sunday, December 29, 2013
• Thank You, Anne Rice! - Monday, December 23, 2013
• No longer indie - Thursday, December 19, 2013
• The results part #3 - Tuesday, December 10, 2013
• The High’s - Wednesday, December 4, 2013
• Just proud, that’s all. - Tuesday, November 26, 2013
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• In a year - Saturday, November 17, 2012
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• Superstorm - Tuesday, November 13, 2012
• Beware of new novel! - Saturday, November 10, 2012
• Books can save you - Friday, November 9, 2012
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• Goodbye paperbacks - Wednesday, September 26, 2012
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• Good books - Friday, September 14, 2012
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• Winter book writing - Monday, September 10, 2012
• Books and books - Friday, September 7, 2012
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• Only until midnight! - Tuesday, August 7, 2012
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• Enjoy! - Saturday, August 4, 2012
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• Results! - Monday, July 30, 2012
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• Experience the weird - Thursday, June 21, 2012
• Worst ever! - Monday, June 18, 2012
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• Daily deal - Saturday, June 16, 2012
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• Sleepless nights ahead - Thursday, June 7, 2012
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• Check this out!! - Saturday, May 12, 2012
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• A sleeper hit - Monday, April 23, 2012
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• What will happen? - Tuesday, April 10, 2012
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• High praise… I think - Thursday, April 5, 2012
• A sleeper hit!! - Thursday, April 5, 2012
• Powerful, powerful book! - Wednesday, April 4, 2012
• Interview info - Monday, April 2, 2012
• Get the adventure free! - Saturday, March 31, 2012
• Millions upon millions - Friday, March 30, 2012
• Ye Old Query - Tuesday, March 27, 2012
• How’d this happen? - Saturday, March 24, 2012