BE THE BEST YOU CAN AS AN INDIE AUTHOR

This is a reality. 

Just because 200 FB friends click that they will be attending your event doesn't mean they are coming. You'll have about half the people joining the event that live on the opposite coast and more people that join the event just because they like you or they click to join anything. In 2010 during my first and only release party not one FB person was there despite the overwhelming ppl that not only joined the event but they also personally told me they planned to come. It's been said that this is dishonest and deceitful. Ergo, if you're a person that just likes and joins events just to do it, do your favorite author a favor, and don't do it.

The same holds true for book sales. When in the process of writing a book, you'll have so many ppl telling you that they can't wait for the book to release, but they fade as soon as you post that the book is available. 

Don't be a casualty to FB. FB is a networking site and not a online retailer and that is how I treat it. You may believe different and that is Ok. I am reporting it as I see it. 

People ask me why don't I promote often on FB, and it's simple, FB has NEVER really helped my bottom line directly. I have always had to meet ppl on FB and then take the next step to garner sales from that connection. I do not just sit behind my computer and play FB posting/spamming games all day. The half hour spent posting ads in groups could have been time calling two stores and selling 10 books to each store. I work to be visible. 

I support as many authors as I can. I attend many events and parties. I stay visible amongst my peers. I cold call stores to get sales using leads from indiebound.org. I maintain a PROFESSIONAL web site. I am armed with a professional media kit and press kit for each book. My books are available in all media outlets. 

Please don't be a casualty of FB. There has been a title coined for this and it's, FACEBOOK AUTHOR. Don't be one of them, and sadly it's very obvious to others and the higher ranking authors won't reach back to pull you up if it's not obvious that you're doing it on your own. It's like the sibling with no job. Are you going to buy them cigarettes and a Pepsi everyday and pay their rent when they're not even looking for a job? No. It's the same here in this industry.

Good luck and remember that google is your best friend. I promise you'd have to work very hard to find a topic that has not previously been researched online. And do not get discouraged if you find store info that is outdated. Simply, record the new info and review the schedule on your favorite author's website, as I am sure they list the stores they'll be at, and you can record that information too. You can also check out their site to find the key pages that you need on your site so that it's professional.

Thanks for your time.

Rahiem Brooks
Visit my web site for new books and my backlist is available for $5.99 each.


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STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT E-BOOK PRICING

I am kinda loss as to why people are always complaining about E-book prices. Why they try to figure out why would an author make a book free: who complains about Free stuff. Then the people that refuse to buy $0.99 books crack me up, as if John Grisham offered Kindle book for $0.99 anyone would complain. This is like the billionaire that only shops in Prada and scoffs at K-mart bargains. In my opine, some sales is better than no sales.

E-book pricing is a very tricky and funny business. If you're not savvy or not paying attention to trends and watching the numbers, you will lose. When I had one book out, LAUGH NOW, I had it priced at $9.99 and I honestly had 0, yes, ZERO sales for the first month, and only one (1) book the next, and I couldn't understand why. Bottom line, no one would support me as a new indie author at that price.

I wasn't discouraged, but as a business man, I lowered my price to $2.99, and my first check after that was $350. When I release CON TEST, I opened with $4.99, and sales were OK, but the two books worked out to me getting about the same $350. I rode that wave for a few months and then came DIE LATER, my third book and a sequel. At different times, I had all three books at $2.99, $1.99, $0.99. And guess what, the cheaper the book the more sales. Now here is the catch. When they were $0.99 that forced the number of sales to go up, along with my Amazon rank. When the rank went up, so did the price on my end, and guess what, I earned $850, the first month that I tried this.

When the KDP program offered the option to make books free, I added CON TEST only. First of all, you can only make the book Free on 5 days out of a month. What I did was, make CON TEST Free for a day at a time. That garnered no less that 4,000 downloads a day for CON TEST. But additionally, about 100 straight sales of LAUGH NOW, and DIE LATER, because people get the free book, and buy the other two.

After seeing this bring in four-digit checks, I added LAUGH NOW, my first book to the KDP program. It's a no brainer because people will buy the sequel along with the Free book. The only problems that you must remove your books from Nook and iTunes and Sony to be in the program. I have only sold 280 Nook books as a whole, and only 45 in iTunes. So, I removed them, and now, I rotate the free days and each time that I do, the next two days the paid sales jump considerably, because the Amazon rank is higher.

Additionally, my sales in Foreign countries have also been jumping because of this new formula.

I have just released, MURDER IN GERMANTOWN, on Tuesday, April 23rd, I have scheduled a free Con Test giveaway and Saturday, while I am at the Newark Harlem Book Fair, I have a Laugh Now Free giveaway scheduled. I am looking to garner attention to my new work. My expectation is this: If readers pass on the paperback, I can send them to get the Free Laugh Now, in hopes that they read it and then get the sequel, or just buy all of them at that time when they get the free one.

I do not know about all authors, but I am not looking for fans from free sale days. If people love my work, and become fans that's great. In the end, it's all about the next day sales for me, and yes, I get it right with the editing, typesetting, and cover design. I write for a living, not a hobby, and not to spread any messages. I write to entertain in the thriller/mystery/African American genre.

Just please scrutinize books based on the synopsis, cover, and sample, and make a decision. But the consistent bashing of all authors is getting played out, and I hate to say that it's such a Black thing. I am in other groups on FB, and members of blogs sponsored by white people and it's such a breath of fresh air to see peace and harmony and effective tools to get to the next level, not constant complaining that a book is to high or to cheap.

Thanks for your time and attention to this blog,

Rahiem Brooks

Web Site: http://www.rahiembrooks.com

E-mail: rahiemb@prodigypublishinggroup.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rahiembrooks

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rahiembrooks

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Why would an author do a book signing?

For me to order 10 copies of DIE LATER it costs $50.09 to include shipping and taxes. If I go to a signing in Philadelphia (my hometown) and I sell each book for $10 and split with the store 50/50, I earn $50, which puts me in the hole $-0.9. Add in $8 for a roundtrip downtown on the local train and food/drinks for the day $10, I am in the whole $-18.09. Now, suppose I go to NYC for this signing with the same number of books. I paid $20 roundtrip on Greyhound, I spend $10 to eat, and local train fare $10. I am now in the hole $-40.09.

If, I sell the books for $15 and the split is 50/50, I get $75, so I make $6.91 in Philadelphia. But if I travel to NYC, I am in the hole $-15.09.

There is something seriously wrong with this picture. I am doing a business plan for MURDER IN GERMANTOWN, and book signings are becoming very low on the list of priorities. I mean at this rate, why not sell an E-book for $0.99 in Kindle store. At least you'll make $0.35. There has to be some sort of standard or oversight committee set up to fight for the rights of authors. Book stores and vendors, should not make more money than an author. In my opine anyway. What say you?

For more information about Rahiem Brooks, read my bio at http://www.rahiembrooks.com.

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Why Are Urban Book Stores Dysfunctional?

Is it me, or is the Black book business very dysfunctional? I am looking for answers to these tough questions, because, I am so tired of unprofessional people that do not have telephone etiquette, do not possess any communication/business skills, do not have an up-to-the-minute inventory system, no knowledge of the authors that they carry, and their checks don't cash. So, I ask the following questions:

(1) How can I call book stores that have ordered from me directly on more than one occasion and they have absolutely no clue who I am?

(2) Am I the only one that receives E-mail blasts from book stores that promote the same authors in every blast, while the store has possession of a case of your books that they bought?

(3) Can anyone explain why book stores do not give new authors a real fighting chance, but pump the same ol' authors that are going to sell no matter what?

(4) Is it me, or is it absurd for a book store to accept a book on consignment and never shelf the book, just keep it boxed up?

(5) Why is it hard for a book store to pay an invoice when it's a mere $30 (i.e. $6 for 5 books)?

(6) Why is it that book stores acquire more product than they can move and then mail an author a bad check?

(7) I have been a victim to all of these instances and it's about time that book stores are held accountable for their foolishness.

Please do not be afraid to weigh in and share this blog entry. And please become a member. I am gearing up to start a real dialogue about this business.

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ARE YOU A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR CHILDREN?

There I was standing on the train platform headed to Center City when I heard the loud screaming of a child. Mind you, the child was coming down the stairs  behind her mother, which was asinine to me, as someone could have snatched her child. The mother proceeded to the platform and had a seat on a bench and ignored her screaming child. The mother had the audacity to sit in a way that she was not facing the child who had lay out on the platform screaming at the top of her lungs. After three minutes the child began to roll on the platform and just as she reached the yellow lines a man grabbed her. The mother jumps up and snatches her daughter from the man and sat her on the bench.  She then beat the little girl. I didn't hear what was said because my earphones were high as Sandusky's attorney to suggest that this pedophile was teaching young boys to properly shower and not molesting them.

We as a society need to do better to remove ourselves from a ghetto state of mind. It's absurd to allow your child to be laid out on a train platform, but on another level people need to be taught parenting skills. This cycle of the idiots teaching idiots and then teaching these idiotic behaviors to innocent minors is getting very old and very fast. We need to educate ourselves. Read some etiquette books or something. What I just saw hurt me and I hate to see young adults encourage children to become hoodlums and sluts and irresponsible. 


I'm 34 and I acted like a child. I was not perfect, but Debbie woulda kicked my ass for half the things I see teenagers doing. My mom and dad gave birth to me at 16 and my mom finished high school on time and worked every day of her life. Never took a hiatus for the sake of laziness. I watched and learned that. It's innate for me to be hard worker. And unless we get more parents exhibiting good qualities we will  continue to be viewed as the lowest class, I don't care how many black presidents are elected!


Rahiem Brooks, author of Laugh Now, First Laugh, Die Later, Con Test
Web site

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WHY DO YOU CARRY YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CARD?

Identity theft and other fraudulent related crimes have become the nation’s fastest growing crimes. Carrying a social security card in a wallet or purse, enhances thieves ability to rape the economy, and demolish people’s credit. Last year, 11.1 million people in the United States became a victim of identity fraud at a total cost of $54 billion - up 37% since 2007.(1) The question is: How can identity theft be prevented? For most people, to lose as little as $100 would hurt them financially. There are things that can, and indeed must, be done to thwart the potential abuse of identities. One easy step is for people to stop carrying their social security cards in their wallets and purses.

Imagine losing a wallet or purse and someone not learning until after they have reported their cards lost to their financial institutions that their identity has already been compromised. If thieves have a person’s state identification, social security card, debit/ATM card, and credit cards; essentially, their financial life is in the palm of a thief’s hands. There are ways to make it difficult, or even to prevent your money from being withdrawn from the ATM, to prevent instant credit accounts from being opened in your name, and to prevent your credit cards from bring used by thieves.

Never carry a social security card in a wallet or purse, or anything else that has the number on it, i.e. a health insurance card. Many people use the last four digits of their social security number as debit/ATM card pin numbers, and that is a big mistake. One of the first things that a thief will do with a debit/ATM card is attempting to figure out the pin number to withdraw money. Seasoned thieves know that they have a limited number of tries to get cash, before the ATM retains the card, so the first number that they would try would be the last four digits of the victim’s social security number. For that reason it is best not to carry a social security card in a wallet; and second, it is not a good idea to make the last four digits of a social security number a debit/ATM pin number. Equally, because state-issued identification will be in a wallet or purse, it is not wise to make a pin number a birth date (two-digit day and two-digit month), or the year of birth, because these will be the alternate numbers that a thief would attempt to use to steal someone’s hard earned money.

On the back of credit cards in the signature panel, it is best to write “SEE ID,” so that when attempting to compare signatures on the credit slip and the card, store associates will take that precaution and ask the credit card user for identification. Typically, a potential thief won’t risk being asked for identification, unless they resemble their victim and plan to use their identification, or they obtained a fake identification in the victim’s name.

There are limited reasons to carry a social security card around in a wallet or purse daily. The card should be kept at home, and in a safe place. This number coupled with credit cards and identification can give thieves access account balances and available credit, because many creditors request your zip code and the last four-digits of a social security number to retrieve that information via the automated system. Without a social security number, it would be an arduous task for thieves to figure out how they should use stolen credit cards. Should they go to high end boutiques and make $1,000 purchases? Or to discount stores and make a $50 purchases? Keep thieves guessing, by not carrying your social security card daily, and only when it is necessary.

Without a social security number right there in a lost wallet or purse, thieves would have a hard time attempting to receive instant credit at department stores, jewelers and other retailers in someone’s good name. Thieves could shop until they dropped in a good name, before one even found out, if the social security number is there for them. Sadly, even after someone reports their credit cards lost, identity thieves could still open instant credit accounts in their name, unless the victim alerts all three credit reporting agencies2 that they have lost their financial bona fides. It is imperative to place a fraud freezes on credit reports with all three credit bureaus if fraud is suspected, or someone has lost their social security card. Hence, everyone should review their credit reports [twice a year, or more] to assure that new accounts have not been opened.

The lesson here is to be aware, and protect you from identity theft. A social security card belongs at home in a safe place, not in a wallet or purse. Everyone must be overprotective of their financial livelihoods and work to stop knaves from destroying one’s credit, and ravaging the economy.

In my novel LAUGH NOW, by 22, Kareem Bezel has done everything, including fraud, theft, receiving stolen property, theft by deception, identity theft, and embezzlement, to get there. The character shows an in depth look at these crimes and he actually does things that teaches readers to beware of thieves.

In an Amazon Review of Laugh now, author Elizabeth Funderbirk said, "This book was definitely enlightening on the dangers of Identity Theft and opened my eyes." http://www.LiteraryLiz.com/

SiStar Tea of ARC Book Club in an Amazon Review said, "This novel will entertain you and put you on point as what not to do to avoid being a victim of a faceless crime." http://www.arcbookclubinc.com/

To purchase Laugh Now and read all reviews visit: http://www.amazon.com/Laugh-Now-Rahiem-Brooks/product-reviews/0578057778/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Thanks for your time and attention to this blog,

Rahiem Brooks
Web Site
E-mail: rbrooks@prodigygoldbooks.com
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Footnotes: (1) DATA SOURCE: 2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report – Javelin [http://fightidentitytheft.com/]

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