I'm running an Amazon Kindle Scout campaign

Very much appreciated, thank you!

Whatever the outcome I'll post about the experience, for science.
 
Well, the Kindle Scout route wasn't to be for this book.

Which is fine! The only failure is failing to try. And I tried. Now I have the opportunity to follow other routes.

Heartfelt thanks to all my friends and companions of Chronicles for graciously supporting me in the attempt. And thanks again to Brian for allowing me to post this thread.

So what have I learned about the Kindle Scout process that could help other authors who may be considering it? Not a whole lot, unfortunately. Amazon keep the whole thing opaque, which perhaps is how it should be. Anything I might say about why a book is or isn't accepted would be pure speculation. My takeaway is that it's best to regard it as being like any other publisher submission - a shot in the dark.

Submitting itself is a piece of cake. Fill in a few boxes, upload the book and images, then a day later came an acceptance notification then a couple of days after that the campaign began. You get a page which tells you how many views you've had. And that's it. No indications as to how well or badly you're doing, no clues as to how many nominations you've had, no feedback at the end. There's a 'hot and trending' list but what makes a hot and trending book is anyone's guess. It might be worth noting that 80% of views came from the Amazon site itself rather than external sources such as forums (like this one) or social media, blogs etc. hence the book's fate was ultimately in the hands of interested readers (and Amazon's editors of course).

I feel like I should write something else here but my mind has gone blank. Or maybe there's nothing more to say. I came, I saw, I got rejected.

Losing is learning.

Thanks, everyone.
 
Ah, sorry about that, Wruter - I was really hoping you'd blaze a trail here and pass on your experience of it. Still, I guess it's just like submitting to agents, but with a popularity contest angle. The best you can only ever do is try. :)
 
I'm curious to know how many views you received if you don't mind sharing?

Knowing that 80% come from amazon it would be interesting to know what kind of exposure one could roughly expect.
 
Well if they base it on a pure popularity contest... it looks like you were up against Mrs. PG and I suspect that blog gets enough traffic that anyone would have trouble beating the vote volume.
 
I'm sorry your work wasn't selected Wruter, but well done for submitting! I received the following e-mail from Kindle Scout:


Dear Christopher _____________,

We wanted to let you know that your Kindle Scout nomination Hunter's Song was not selected for publication.

We'll notify you when this book becomes available on Amazon.
Let us know if you would prefer not to be notified.

The author, William ______, wanted to make sure you received this thank you message:

“Many thanks for considering HUNTER'S SONG worthy of your nomination.”

I liked the line stating they'll let me know when the book becomes available...so they seem optimistic it will appear there some day! :) Looking forward to that day, CC
 
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