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FOLLOW AMAZON
When I first began using Twitter, I found Amazon on Twitter. I followed Amazon. And received a pleasant surprise. Amazon followed me back! (I’m not special. Thousands of others have received the same pleasant surprise.)
Obviously, when Amazon follows you back on Twitter, you shouldn’t expect this to be an active member of your audience, reading and enjoying your tweets, interested in any products or services that you offer. But it’s still cool.
If you’re a writer, you also want to follow KDP Amazon.
TIP: You can find a good variety of free writing and publishing tips on KDP Amazon’s Facebook or Twitter pages. (Note that following KDP Amazon is different from following Amazon.) KDP Amazon makes effective use of social media, so KDP Amazon’s posts provide good examples of how to tweet or Facebook effectively.
KDP Amazon surprised me with a wonderful social media Christmas present a few days ago. I received an email notification from Twitter that KDP Amazon had mentioned me in a post.
So I immediately searched for KDP Amazon on Twitter. There I found a beautiful image, a link to one of my WordPress posts with a cover design checklist, and a relevant hashtag, #pubtip.
Next, I received an email notification from WordPress that my stats were booming. I average about 10 views per hour, but when KDP Amazon mentioned my cover design checklist, I was averaging 100 views per hour.
I noticed that most of my traffic was coming from Facebook. So I found KDP Amazon’s Facebook page, where I saw a similar mention of my cover design checklist. And a host of other valuable references for writers.
Amazon discovers many KDP and CreateSpace indie authors. Once in a while Amazon reaches out to an author. Other times they discover helpful writing or publishing tips and link to them from their social media pages. Several authors are recognized through success stories in the KDP newsletter, CreateSpace newsletter, or even on Amazon’s homepage.
Obviously, you can’t expect Amazon to reach out to every author, or to feature you if you simply contact them with a request. But you can see that Amazon does find some authors who are finding success on Amazon or who are supporting Amazon writing and publishing opportunities.
Following are some Amazon social media pages that all writers should follow.
AMAZON TWITTER
AMAZON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/Amazon
https://www.facebook.com/KindleDirectPublishing
AMAZON EMAILS
Follow Amazon’s Success Stories. Many of these are inspirational. Also, if you check out these successful authors, you might learn some valuable tips. Click http://www.amazon.com/gp/gss > Success Stories
Subscribe to the KDP email newsletter: http://www.amazon.com/gp/gss/detail/13778590. The monthly newsletter often contains helpful tips and highlights success stories.
There is also an occasional email newsletter from Amazon called Newsletter Highlights: http://www.amazon.com/gp/gss/detail/162110.
Amazon’s new publishing program, Kindle Scout, has a subscription newsletter, too: http://www.amazon.com/gp/gss/detail/29134490.
Chris McMullen
Copyright © 2014 Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers
- Volume 1 on formatting and publishing
- Volume 2 on marketability and marketing
- 4-in-1 Boxed set now available for Kindle and in print (both at special introductory prices)
Follow me at WordPress, find my author page on Facebook, or connect with me through Twitter.
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