Please vote for me at: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/X0Z1F8GSDDVB
The Powerball lottery is really high right now. I mean, really high. $1.3 billion, to be exact. And people around me are starting to get antsy about it. Most people have at least one or two tickets or are joining in a pool to split winnings. I’ve heard of some who decided to go out and spend several hundred dollars on tickets to help their odds of winning.
Right now I understand that feeling. I’ve continued my research on Kindle Scout. I did finally get on Hot and Trending, though I’m not there anymore. I started a facebook group that’s gotten me tons of views, and my tweets are finally picking up. Even these posts have gotten me noticeable support. But one thing I’ve picked up on by talking to people has given me reason for concern. There are two ways to get votes for Kindle Scout. One way–the recommended way–is to do what I’ve been doing and share with family and friends over social networks. But for people like me, who don’t have much of a social circle, there is a perfectly legal alternative. Paid advertising is considered a viable option. Paid votes are also completely legal according to the terms and conditions. Not only that, but they’re recommended.
It doesn’t change the data. One thing I found on the stats page is that they can see exactly where your traffic is coming from, whether they read the selection or just voted, and whether they spent time looking around the site or just looked at your vote. They know if votes are organic or not, so I guess the whole “buying votes” does nothing to impress them. But what it does do is help get the book on “Hot & Trending,” where more serious readers will look at it and be more likely to vote for it.
The system is broken. Either you have to have money, or you have to have friends. And that was a tough discovery to make. In the end, I did throw a few dollars into some advertising, and in a few days, I should start to see the results. I can only hope and pray that it was the right decision, and I plan to keep my other efforts centered around more organic growth methods.