Authors and Publishers: How to Sponsor Kindle Nation Daily

Welcome to Kindle Nation's Sponsorship Info Page for authors and publishers. Over the past few years we've built a special relationship with some of the greatest readers in the world, people who read on Kindle. If you have a good book that is available on Kindle, sponsoring Kindle Nation and our partner sites can be an excellent way to bring it to the attention of readers. The purpose of this web page is to explain how sponsorship works and to provide you with direct access to sponsorship sign-up via PayPal as well as all the information you need to choose your sponsorship options wisely and make the program work as well as possible for you.

Just to be clear, we don't promise that your sponsorship will "pay for itself," and we don't even consider it an ad in the usual sense, because what we write about each book, or even whether we accept it as a sponsor, is entirely up to us. But we do guarantee that when you sponsor Kindle Nation you'll get a great deal of exposure, and we believe good exposure can give a good book a chance to connect with readers.

The only rigid requirement is that your Kindle edition must be priced at $9.99 or below, since the Free Book Alerts are all about helping our readers find great reads that are also great bargains. However, we strongly encourage you to take further steps -- title, cover image, product description, reviews, price, and of course the quality of the book itself! -- to make your book as attractive to readers as possible so that you don't waste your money, our time, or our readers' attention.

After you sign up and send us information and materials on your book, we'll respond within 7 business days with a schedule for your sponsorship to appear. (We appreciate your patience with our response time, which is a result of our time-consuming effort to make sure that all sponsored titles meet Kindle Nation Daily standards. We reserve the right to reject any sponsorship and will refund a prospective sponsor's full payment immediately upon make such a determination.)

We do make editorial decisions based on our sense of our readers' interests. If for any reason we choose not to provide you with a sponsorship opportunity we will refund your payment in full. Please be aware that we must occasionally make small changes to sponsorship schedules -- usually involving no more than 2 or 3 days -- due to our efforts to provide the best possible reading experience for readers and subscribers.

CONTENTS:

1. CHECK OUT OUR TRACK RECORD
   
2. SELECT A SPONSORSHIP OPTION
   
3. CHECK ON AVAILABILITY AND SCHEDULE IN ADVANCE
   
4. SIGN UP AND PAY WITH PAYPAL OR A CREDIT CARD
   
5. SEND YOUR EBOOK INFORMATION AND MATERIALS AND AWAIT OUR SCHEDULING EMAIL
   
6. TIPS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION

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CHECK OUT OUR TRACK RECORD

We update these public spreadsheets daily to show complete, fully transparent results for our sponsors:

• April 2011
• March 2011
  
• February 2011
• January 2011
  
• December 2010

Please be aware that we provide valuable exposure, but it's up to you to make your book attractive to prospective readers. You may find it helpful to click on the links above to see how different sponsoring titles have performed depending on price, genre, title, reviews and ratings, cover art, and other factors.

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SELECT A SPONSORSHIP OPTION

• Option 1 - Free Book Alert Sponsorship - 1 Day: Kindle Nation Daily Free Book Alert sponsorship live on web and pushed directly via Whispernet to over 6,000 Kindles owned by paid subscribers.

• Option 2 - Free Kindle Nation Short Excerpt Email Sponsorship - 1 Day: Free Kindle Nation Shorts excerpt and sponsorship to be emailed to 5,000 opt-in free email subscribers and pushed directly via Whispernet to over 6,000 Kindles owned by paid subscribers. It's your choice whether to sponsor another author's Free Kindle Nation Short or your own, but the most powerful option is to sponsor your own.

• Option 3 - Free Book Alert Sponsorship - Weekly Newsletter Email Blast: Weekly Kindle Nation newsletter email blast sponsorship emailed each Tuesday to 5,800 opt-in free email subscribers. This is one of our most powerful sponsorship options because the free opt-in newsletter with live web links to your book achieves a very high level of engagement and response. This option tends to be sold out 6-8 weeks in advance, so schedule early if possible!

• Option 4 - Gold Sponsorship: This is a powerful medley of sponsorships that includes Options 1, 2, and 3: the Free Kindle Nation Short Excerpt Email Sponsorship, the Free Book Alert Sponsorship - 1 Day, and the Free Book Alert Sponsorship - Weekly Newsletter Email Blast. Since the Weekly Newsletter Email Blast option tends to be sold out months in advance, it is important to plan ahead for the Gold Sponsorship. (If you sign up for a Gold sponsorship, please specify whether you prefer to have all of your sponsorship days occur in the same week, or to have your daily and excerpt sponsorships occur as soon as possible rather than being held to occur in the same week as your weekly sponsorship).
  
  
  
• Option 5 - Silver Sponsorship: The Silver Sponsorship combines options 1 and 2 and allows a savings of $10 on the package.

• Option 6 - eBook of the Day Sponsorship - 1 Day: This package includes several elements: a one-day Planet iPad Free Book Alert Sponsorship; a small linked mention of title and author near the top of the Kindle Nation Daily website for at least 18 hours; a single "Kindle for the Web" sample post on the Kindle Nation Daily website at some time between noon and 8 pm Eastern, with brief linked mention of title and author; one Facebook status post and one Twitter tweet linking back to the "Kindle for the Web" sample post; one sidebar "eBook of the Day" box on the Kindle Nation Daily website for at least 18 hours, with linked title, author, and cover art; and an "eBook of the Day" box on key pages of the Kindle Lending Club website for at least 18 hours.

• Option 7 - Platinum Sponsorship: The Platinum Sponsorship combines options 1, 2, and 6 and allows a savings of $20 on the package.

• Option 8 - Kindle Lending Club Sponsorship - Weekly Newsletter Email Blast: Weekly Kindle Lending Club newsletter email blast sponsorship emailed each Wednesday to over 12,000 opt-in free email subscribers. Since this option is available for just one sponsorship each week, you may wish to schedule early if possible.
• Option 9 - Ruby Sponsorship Package: The Ruby package combines options 1 and 6 and allows a savings of $20 on the package.

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CHECK ON AVAILABILITY AND SCHEDULE IN ADVANCE

Our sponsorships are very popular with authors and publishers and are booked well in advance. Check here to get a rough idea of the availability of different options and packages before you sign up. Please be aware that we update this availability information manually as we are able, so at any given time actual availability may extend a week or two further out on the calendar. Once you sign up, we will be in touch with you within seven business days to schedule your sponsorship formally. Signing up holds your place in the scheduling queue, provided that you send us required information and materials promptly.

As of April 5, 2011 the closest available dates for the several sponsorship options are as follows:

• Option 1 - Free Book Alert Sponsorship - 1 Day: JULY 25, 2011
• Option 2 - Free Kindle Nation Short Excerpt Email Sponsorship - 1 Day: OCTOBER 5, 2011
• Option 3 - Free Book Alert Sponsorship - Weekly Newsletter Email Blast: JANUARY 31, 2012
• Option 4 - Gold Sponsorship (The Gold package is composed of options 1, 2, and 3, so each component's availability is based on its specific options' availability. The decision, then, when someone signs for a Gold sponsorship, involves whether she prefers to have all of her sponsorship days occur in the same week, or to have her daily and excerpt sponsorships occur as soon as possible rather than being held to occur in the same week as her weekly sponsorship.If you sign up for a Gold sponsorship, please specify whether you prefer to have all of your sponsorship days occur in the same week, or to have your daily and excerpt sponsorships occur as soon as possible rather than being held to occur in the same week as your weekly sponsorship).
• Option 5 - Silver Sponsorship (The Silver package is composed of options 1 and 2, so each component's availability is based on its specific options' availability.)
• Option 6 - eBook of the Day: JUNE 25, 2011.
• Option 7 - Platinum Sponsorship (The Platinum package is composed of options 1, 2, and 6, so each component's availability is based on its specific option's availability.)
• Option 8 - Kindle Lending Club Weekly Newsletter Email Blast: JUNE 22, 2011.
• Option 9 - Ruby Sponsorship (The Ruby package is composed of options 1 and 6, so each component's availability is based on its specific option's availability.)

We are always happy to schedule a sponsorship in advance to help you reserve a date and plan a campaign for a book that is yet to be released. Please request an appropriate earliest sponsorship date and email us and tell us when we will receive your materials: at least 10 days before the sponsorship date. It is important to schedule a sponsorship date at least 10 days after the book will be uploaded to the Kindle platform in order to optimize the effects of the sponsorship. (In such instances it is essential that you provide us with your title and latest possible publication date immediately, and then you must forward all other materials at least 10 days before your sponsorship date. There may be a $25 change fee in instances where we are forced to reschedule your sponsorship because your publication date or materials are delayed beyond the deadlines for your sponsorship date.)

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SIGN UP AND PAY WITH PAYPAL OR A CREDIT CARD

Please use the pull-down menus and buy button on this page to select an option that works for you.

Please select an option from the pulldown menu:

1. Free Book Alert Sponsorship - 1 Day $99.99 2. Free Kindle Nation Short Excerpt Email Sponsorship $119.99 3. KND Weekly Newsletter Email Blast Sponsorship $229.99 4. Gold Sponsorship - (Options 1, 2, and 3) $329.99 5. Silver Sponsorship - Save $10 on combo of Options 1 and 2 $199.99 6. eBook of the Day Package: See Text Description on this Page $119.99 7. Platinum Package - Save $20 on combo of Options 1, 2, + 6 $299.99 8. BookLending.com Sponsorship - Weekly eMail Newsletter Blast $159.99 9. Ruby Sponsorship - Save $20 on combo of Options 1 and 6 $199.99

If you have any difficulty using this feature, please email us at hppress@gmail.com or free to simply PayPal the indicated amount to hppress@gmail.com and follow up with an email stating the option you have chosen and providing the material on your book as specified in the next section.

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SEND YOUR EBOOK INFORMATION AND MATERIALS AND AWAIT OUR SCHEDULING EMAIL

Once you have signed up for a sponsorship, it is important that you send an email to us immediately at hppress@gmail.com with the following information:

• your title, 10-digit Kindle Store ASIN, and Kindle Store link;
• up to 150 words to help us describe your book to Kindle owners (but please note that we generally will take descriptive text and cover art from your book's Kindle Store page);
• any preferences regarding dates (although we are not always able to honor such preferences);
• and an e-copy of the entire book, as a review copy for me, in any format (MOBI, DOC, TXT, RTF, HTML, PDF but NOT EPUB, AZW or DOC-X) that I can easily send or convert to my Kindle; this may help me to provide a personal testimonial as well as your sponsorship copy. Please send the actual copy rather than a gift coupon or that sort of thing.
  

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are selecting the Free Kindle Nation Short Excerpt Email Sponsorship (Option 2), the Gold package (Option 4) or the Platinum package (Option 7), you will also want to email us the excerpt that you would like us to run as a Free Kindle Nation Short.

For Free Kindle Nation Shorts submissions, I recommend at least 5,000 words and no more than 20,000. When sending a Free Kindle Nation Short excerpt, use DOC, TXT, RTF, HTML, but NOT MOBI, PDF, AZW or DOC-X. Try to make the submission substantial enough to differentiate it from the "free sample" that is available on every Kindle book page. (The FKNS feature does not have to be an excerpt, but that often works well. Something else that might work in some cases would be a discrete short story that observes one or more of the same characters in a different situation....)

Please note the following when sending your ebook information and awaiting our response:

1. If you send your sponsorship materials from an email address other than the address associated with your PayPal payment, it is essential that you include the PayPal-associated email address in the subject line of your email. Otherwise we will not be able to link the two emails and schedule your sponsorship.
2. If you sign up for a sponsorship, please expect to wait about 7 business days (10-12 days overall) before you hear from us. We generally vet submissions before scheduling them, and even if we have already vetted yours, we schedule on a first-come, first-served basis.
   

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TIPS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• Remember that the combination of a $2.99 price and a well-targeted marketing campaign may help to turn your book into the kind of easy impulse buy that can help it to climb the bestseller list in its category. For more information on the real effect of prices in the Kindle Store, see this inexpensive ebook on pricing and royalties for Kindle books.

• A $2.99 price may not seem like much, but with the 70% Kindle Store royalty it could earn you over $2 per each copy sold, which compares favorably with paperback royalties from Big Six publishers.

• A Kindle Nation sponsorship will do a lot to shine a positive light on your book, but you can also help to make the most of that if your book has received some genuine positive customer reviews before the sponsorship occurs.

• Please pay close attention to file formatting specifications, or you will end up wasting significant time for both of us. When sending a review copy for me, use MOBI, DOC, TXT, RTF, HTML, PDF but NOT AZW or DOC-X. When sending a Free Kindle Nation Short excerpt, use DOC, TXT, RTF, HTML, but NOT MOBI, PDF, AZW or DOC-X.

• Sponsorships are generally posted by 12 noon Eastern time. Sometimes sales and sale rankings can take a few hours to update on the Kindle platform and in the Kindle store, so be patient. Most of our sponsors see a positive bump in sales and sales rankings about four to six hours after their sponsorships go live.

• While the vast majority of our sponsors have experienced dramatic short-term and long-term results, please be aware that we can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear here, and we can't even make a silk purse of a silk purse if the Kindle page for it makes it looks like a sow's ear. When a sponsor submits an erotica title with a full-color cover photograph of a model's hindquarters and 0 customer reviews (or poor customer reviews), there's a fair chance that the thousands of avid readers among our thousands of very discriminating subscribers will feel more insulted than inspired.

• We generally send you a link and a copy of our first tweet when we've posted your sponsorship, and you should feel free to use social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to pass the word along and retweet our message.

• A number of our sponsors have asked me how they could best keep track of their sales rankings over time. I use free services called NovelRank and Title Z and they do a good job of tracking historical patterns.

• I should say here that although $9.99 is the maximum price we will allow for a sponsored title, our experience says that most authors sell so many more copies in the $2.99 to $4.99 range that it is well worth their choosing the lower price point in order to attract readers and maximize royalties.

• Please be aware that some of our sponsorships, including eBook of the Day and Free Kindle Nation Shorts sponsorships, actually post very late in the day and tend to have more impact the day following your scheduled date.

• If you request a cancellation or postponement of a sponsorship date after it has been scheduled, please understand that we may charge a change fee of $25 based on the time involved in processing your changes.