Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

Although it’s interesting to ponder the direction in which Amazon is going to take Amazon Encore it’s much more fascinating to research how they pick books and authors – Are there patterns?

 Let’s see what we can unearth.

What are the criteria to pick Amazon Encore Authors?

Here are the four books and authors -

1. Legacy – Cayla Kluver. 
2. Perfect on Paper - Maria Murnane.
3. A Wish After Midnight – Zetta Eliott. 
4. They Never Die Quickly – D. M. Annechino.

While the last 3 books have not been released, they all have customer reviews providing one source for great information.

Legacy – Cayla Kluver

Key points -

1. Book started June 2006. 9 months to complete and 6-7 months to edit and polish.  
2. Blog started June 2008.
3. Lots of touring and book signings.
4. Picked up by Amazon Encore in May 2009. 
5. Awards included -
   

   1st place in Young Adult Fiction in 2008 Reader Views Literary Awards.
   Bronze Medalist in Young Adult Fiction in 2008 Moonbeam Children’s Books Awards.
   Award Winning Finalist in Young Adult Fiction and Literature/Romance in National Best Book Awards 2008.

6. 5 star Reviews included reviews from -
   

   BookIdeas, TeensReadtoo, Curled Up With a Good Kid’s Book, ForeWord Clarion Reviews.

7. Two more books in the series – the second is going through revisions. 
8. Great background story i.e. 16 year old author.

It’s hard to uncover facts since the amount of coverage post Encore is ridiculously high.

Perfect on Paper - Maria Murnane.

Key points -

1. 5 months to write first draft and then 10 months editing it.
2. After agent couldn’t get her a deal, 6 more months reworking the book.
3. 6 months with book on the shelf.
4. Then self-published.
5. Blogging since September 2008. 
6. Mar, 2009 – Someone at Warner Brothers tried to push the book there. No updates.
7. Aug, 2009 – Publishing Deal signed.
8. Nov, 2009 – Encore Announcement.
9. Lots of Awards -
   

   *Was named a finalist in the chick lit category of the 2009 National Indie Excellence Awards

   *Won a bronze 2009 IPPY Award for best book marketing

   *Won the genre-based fiction category of the 2008 DIY Book Festival for independent publishing

   *Won the women’s literature category of the Book Bloggers Top 10 of 2008 awards…and received more votes than ANY book in all categories

10. Great Reviews -
    

    Amazon. 4.7 out of 5 stars on 124 reviews.
    Lots of Blogs like American Bibliophile absolutely loved it.
    Gotham Gal and her husband A VC in New York.
    Check her Reviews page for a ton of links to glowing reviews.

11. She’s on a ton of social networks. 
12. A very, very compelling personal story.

A Wish After Midnight – Zetta Eliott

1. Great author site and blog. 
2. Blogging since October 2008.
3. Lots of social network presence.
4. Lots of Awards for the Author -
   

   Zetta won the 2005 Honor Award in Lee & Low Books’ New Voices Contest.
   Her play was a finalist in the Chicago Dramatists’ Many Voices Project (2006).

5. The reviews are great and endless – pages and pages and from sources as diverse as Rutgers University and Author Blogs.
6. Very few reviews on Amazon itself.
7. Couldn’t find much on the creation of the book itself. 

This book gets a super pretty cover -

A Wish After Midnight - Cover Artistry

They Never Die Quietly – Daniel M. Annechino

1. Mr. Annechino got sick and tired of traditional publishing politics and self-published.
2. Blogging since October 2008. Rarely updated.
3. Lots of social web profiles.  
4. Great Back Story - do read it. 
5. Very well reviewed on Amazon.com – 5 stars on 32 reviews. 
6. We find out that there’s a Senior Content Acquisition Editor at Amazon Encore who goes around finding and reading books.
7. A day after agreeing to an Amazon Encore deal a top literary agent called up Mr. Annechino and offered representation.
8. He has a past success – a book titled How to buy the Most Car for the Least Money.

What makes for an Amazon Encore Author?

There seem to be some main ingredients -

1. Quality – Excellent Reviews and lots of Awards. 
2. Hard Work – A book that has been worked on a lot. A ton of effort on the author’s part promoting it.
3. An author that can be a star i.e. Compelling Personal Story.
4. Perhaps Sales Data (which is impossible to figure out post selection).
5. Strong online presence (blog, social networks, websites).
6. Self-Published.

Amazon are cherry-picking. They’re taking books that obviously should be published and publishing them.

Consider Perfect for Paper – Any single girl could relate to it. There’s even a guy on Amazon saying every guy can relate.

Is there a Shortcut for getting into Amazon Encore?

Apparently the magic formula is -

• Write a really great book.
• Work really, really hard.
• Find success and great reviews. Helps to win a few awards.

Then Amazon will step in and help you.

The 2-4 years of hard work magic formula .

Things that aren’t being Mentioned

Here are a few Amazon Encore related things that aren’t being discussed -

1. Amazon are capturing extremely low risk and very high upside authors.
2. The extreme importance of bloggers and reviewers. In a few years bloggers might be determining who gets book deals.
3. Encore Authors get Ridiculous amounts of Publicity just by virtue of being in Amazon Encore. 
4. Top Literary Agents calling up to represent Encore Authors.
5. Amazon.com, Kindle Store and Audible are quite a combination for promoting a book. 
6. Automatic credibility and lots of it.
7. Amazon Encore is recruiting authors for the long-term.  
8. How long are the Amazon Encore contracts? We know Cayla Kluver signed up for a 3 book deal.
9. The writer’s personal stories are amazing – Is Amazon consciously building stars?
10. You get Amazon’s expertise in selling and knowledge of customer behavior.

Amazon Encore might be about to show Publishers how to bat .500.

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