There are a lot of people who have decided to sell their books on amazon, and it looks like the transgender fiction genre (that Amazon refuses to admit exists) is growing daily by leaps and bounds. One thing that I didn't realize is that over the past year I have really gained a wealth of knowledge. This isn't by trial and error alone, but also by reading a ton of books about marketing e-books. So I thought I would throw some gems out there for people.

1. Never stop learning - The market place is ever changing and new features come and old ones go and what works today might not work in the future and what failed to work today might work one day. But always look for new information, and use some common sense before applying it to your situation. Anyone can post an e-book these days, not all advice is helpful or healthy.

2. Expand your readership base - If you want to sell a lot of books, logic will say to appeal to a wider arrange of people. I will give you an example. God Bless the Child sells consistently because it appeals to more than just the transgender community it appeals also to people who enjoy reading about child abuse (perhaps enjoy is the wrong word, but A Child Called It has sold millions). Be true to your vision, but keep in mind that TG fiction is really a small sliver of the pie. If your story is sci-fi and tg, it would make more sense to market it as sci-fi. Don't hide the fact that it is TG because TG fans will find it (We're crafty that way)

3. Pick the right genre - This is vitally important on Amazon. If you write a space opera and put it under westerns, you are going to get a lot of returns. If you write erotica, place it there, but if it isn't erotica, don't put it there because that is one of the few places that Amazon uses the word Transgender. Also, if it is non-fiction, don't list it as fiction. If you can't find the exact genre, find something appropriate. My stories normally fall under fiction>Psychological and Fiction>Coming of age, but that's because it is what I most closely match.

4. Keywords are important - Amazon let's you put in keywords to help people better find you. They give you seven keywords, that is not just seven words. Transgender Fiction counts as one keyword. Magical Transformations, count as one keyword. I swallowed a pill and turned into a girl, is still just one keyword. So you can get a lot in there by doing longer keywords. Try to pick the most important elements that people would look for. Transgender Fiction is a give me. As a practice, I put in big closet and fictionmania as keywords though I don't know the wisdom of that.

5. Covers count - Ever go into a bookstore just to look around. I mean, not going in with a particular title involved. What draws you to a certain book, it is usually the cover. Though Amazon gives you a cover creator, it makes cheap looking covers. And though drawings might look nice, it cries out to people "amateur" and they look for something better. Pay a few bucks and get a real cover made up can be the difference between having sales and not having sales. (Not saying that some animated covers aren't really nice and warranted, but just as a general rule). My advice. Go to fiverr and pay a couple of bucks. But make sure you read what people are willing to provide and that you'll get someone who will do your cover justice. 5 dollars gets you so much, so look at spending for enhancements. I use a guy called iDrewDesigns (Tell him Katie Leone sent you). For the most part I love his designs and give him free reign a few times he has struck out, it happens. The more detail you give about what you want, the better he can do. But there are other people also, so maybe you can find some of them to your liking.

6. Reviews count - Before most places let you advertise, they require you to have a certain amount of reviews and at a certain level. Don't forget to ask for reviews, they really matter in a lot of ways. If you expand out of the TG community it is even more vital that you get reviews from the TG community because some people are hateful out there. If you look at the majority of my 1 and 2 star reviews, they usually have nothing to do with writing and everything to do with that TG is in a positive light.

7. Never give your book away for free. This may seem a contradiction in terms since all my books are on BC and Amazon. let me explain. Amazon gives you the ability to give your book away for 5 days out of every 90 using kdp select. Also, if you know how to work the system you can make it permanently free. Don't do this. Either of them. This is where bad reviews come from and you get nothing in return. Yes, you might get a ton of people to download your book, but the odds of them reading it are virtually nil. If you want a story given away for free, keep them on the fiction sites. That said. If you notice, I post all my stories in parts (except the last one). I do this because the community is impatient and will buy a good story instead of waiting. Also, it was a good way to generate reviews but people have dropped the ball on that one late. But I do enjoy being the most reviewed Tg author out there. Unreachable has 45 reviews alone. (a 4.7 average too).

I am going to stop here. If I get a good response, I will do a part two about how to market and the programs available to make serious money. I've made over a thousand dollars a month since last June and I'm not the only TG author doing it.