I’m on deadline and in a crunch, but I am honored to have my dear friend, Elle James (aka Myla Jackson for a sexier read), as a guest at TKZ. She’s a USA Today & New York Times Bestselling author best known for her suspenseful military romances. She writes for Harlequin Intrigue, Romantic Suspense, and Nocture, as well as having her own successful indie projects. This woman is busy, but always generous with her time to support other authors. As a former member of the Army and Air Force Reserves, Elle has traveled across the United States and to Germany, managed a full-time job until she eventually quit to write full time. Ask her about what it takes to raise very large exotic birds in the Texas hill country. Take it away, Elle.
Is Kindle World right for you? If you are not familiar with Kindle Worlds, the stories are basically fanfiction you can get paid for. An author agrees to open his/her world, allowing other authors to write in that world and they split the profit.
So, why not just write in your own world and skip the splitting of profits gig? Keep it all to yourself. Here’s why you might want to dip your toe or pen into the Kindle Worlds of other authors.
You can write a crossover from the author’s Kindle World into your own series or world. What that buys you is a door into that author’s readership. The readers who love that author will buy books by other authors knowing they will catch glimpses of their favorite characters in those books. If they like the new author, they will find more of the new author’s books to read. It’s a cross-promotional effort that could expand your reader base.
I’ve written in two other authors’ Kindle Worlds for that very reason. Their stories were Military Romance and Military Romantic Suspense. The crossover made sense. The assumption is that their readers will like my books because they are in the same genre.
I expanded my reader base and now I have my own Kindle World. The beauty of Kindle Worlds is that you don’t have to stick to the same genre. Other authors from other genres can write in your world. An author might pick up readers who typically read other genres than what the author writes. But a good story is a good story and the readers might look for more of that author’s stories.
Writing in a Kindle World is not for every author, but if you’re still building your audience, you might give it a try. Brotherhood Protectors Kindle World is a Military Romantic Suspense genre. Authors writing in my world include young adult, thriller, contemporary romance, military romance and more genres. I hope they all pick up new readers because of their experience writing in my world. I invite you to write in mine! If you are interested, contact me through my website. I’d love to include you in an organized launch.
You can visit my Brotherhood Protectors Kindle World page on my website to see the books already written in my Kindle World or visit my Brotherhood Protectors Kindle World on Amazon to find out how you can participate in my Kindle World. Or read some of the books in my kindle world to get a flavor for what other authors have done. You can get them Here on Amazon. You can also read my original Brotherhood Protectors series. I’d love to have you join the Brotherhood Protectors Kindle World!
DISCUSSION:
1.) Would you consider writing for one of the Amazon Kindle Worlds?
2.) What experiences have you had writing shorter projects between novel length books? Did that experience of writing shorter, allow you the flexibility to try other genres?
3.) What genres have you attempted and enjoyed?
Jordan here: I wanted to add a couple of comments. Amazon Kindle Worlds sets the price for your project, depending on its length. You can write whatever length you have time for, between projects. HERE is a link for the details behind Amazon KWs and samples of their boiler plate agreements and exhibits.
Join my newsletter to hear about my latest releases!
Elle James’s Newsletter
Good luck with the deadline, Jordan.
Great intro to Kindle Worlds. Thanks, Elle.
I think of Kindle Worlds as a good way to explore genres or writing styles while earning money. It fills the time between longer projects and I gain exposure to the vast readerships of many great authors. I’ve learned a lot about promotion from each of my host authors. Thanks, Staci.
Thank you, Staci. I’ve written in a couple of other authors’ worlds and it was fun. I also tapped into their readership. People were willing to try my work at a low cost and picked up my other books based on what they’d read. I made sure to tie my stories to my existing series to draw readers to my world.
Welcome, Elle!
KW keeps popping up on my radar lately, but I didn’t understand how it worked until your clear explanation. Thanks for the overview. Also I didn’t know there was a military romance subgenre. Learned two new things before my second cup of coffee. Thanks, Elle!
And thanks, Jordan, for inviting Elle. Good luck on your deadline.
Hey Debbie. Great to hear from you. In Kindle Worlds you can pick from a good list of categories for your project. There’s a War & Military category that fits well. Action & Adventure is another that might work for military romances. I typically go for the Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller category which gives me a broad brush to paint pure mysteries with varying degrees of suspense.
If you decide on trying KW and enjoy writing military stories. whether they are romances or not, you should consider writing under Elle’s banner. She is a gracious host and has culled some wonderful authors into her corral. She also doesn’t host a huge launch with many authors. That gives each author more exposure and readers often buy the whole selection.
Plus you get to keep creative control of your covers and formatting with flexibility in how often you want to release. I’ve enjoyed my involvement with KW and have met some wonderful authors. Thanks for commenting.
I also wanted to mention that because of her military experience, Elle writes solid action scenes that reads as very authentic. She writes the male perspective very well.
Another author I’m reading now, Ilsa Bick, has her first KW with Elle under the Brotherhood Protectors series and her novella – A Soldier’s Heart – has amazing military voices in a new series that will continue the story lines. I’m captivated by it and will be first in line for the next installments. Ilsa is a former psychiatrist and writes about PTSD in our warriors.
Elle has a network of other authors she’s cultivated over the years of her vast writing experience and they are top notch.
Hi Debbie,
Glad to help clear up things on KWs. Military romance is a hot genre. Readers love military heroes and strong heroines. Because of my connection with the military, I love writing about men and women in uniform. They are true heroes.
Thanks, Elle and Jordan, for even more good info.
And, a special thank you, Elle, for your service!
I, too, hadn’t understood much about KW before this post. Thank you for taking time from your deadline to write it. Good luck!
Glad we could help shed a little light on other platforms on which to write and garner new readership.
Thanks, Rhonda. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
I am fascinated to hear about this new venue for collaborative writing, if that’s an accurate way to describe it. Thanks for providing the link for more information about the mechanics of how it works, Jordan. I’ll check it out!
Let us know if you have further questions. Always glad to answer.
If you care to chat in more detail, call or email me, Kathryn.
I’ve written in Kindle Worlds as well. In High Howey’s post-apoc world of Sand.
Terri
It’s so nice to see you on TKZ, Elle! I can hardly wait for my September release in your world. Working on KW projects are so much fun. They’re also a nice break from full-length novel writing.
Jordan, good luck with your deadline. It’s crunch-time for me too.
Sue,
I know what you mean about a break from full-length novels. I’m so blessed to have some great authors writing in my world. Can’t wait to read your story!
I found a new cover designer that I’m loving – Fiona Jayde Media. Her design process is great & she offers diff services. Ck her out.
Thanks for such an interesting guest post, Elle and welcome to TKZ. I’d never even heard of Kindle Worlds but it certainly sound intriguing!
If you check out the many worlds, you might find names you recognise, like Joe Konrath & CJ Lyons & other crime fic thriller writers. Thanks, Clare.
Thank you, Clare! KWs can be a fun little challenge.
Thank you for this information. It’s new to me.
Thanks, Augustina. Thanks for commenting.
Hi Augustina. I’m always happy to share information about KWs.
I have written in Hugh Howey’s dystopian post-apoc world of Sand. It’s called Salt. It was a lot of fun to write. I made the novella self-contained enough that even if you haven’t read Sand you can still get into the story. I really enjoy Kindle Worlds.
Terri
I didn’t realize you wrote for KW What you write sounds interesting. I’m familiar with his original series. There are many worlds & genres to write. Thanks, Terri.
Salt caught my eye, too. I have a lot of respect for Howey’s skill, and I loved Wool. But the thought of mastering his full canon is daunting. How much of an expert did you feel yourself to be before attempting your own story?
In answer to your question, Doug, on my experience. You do a lot of reading in the world & work on devising your take on it. These worlds have guidelines that can vary. The best fit that works for BOTH authors (promotion wise) is to merge a series that you’ve cultivated that can work as a crossover. I find it best to do real justice to the world “bible” they share & blend the storylines well. Pick a character or two to blend INTO your plot or utilize their world & bring your characters into it, to interact with established characters. It’s a lot of fun. I bring my crime fiction series characters into different Kindle Worlds, because it’s my voice & my comfort zone, to bring something different to a military romance world for example. My favorite project was to answer a “what if” question for one of the worlds.
What if a very popular Navy SEAL avenged the killing of his little sister by taking down a serial killer, but got the wrong man? I saw a fit for my psychic FBI profiler who investigated a brutal killing of a young girl and found a mass grave. The killer hadn’t stopped. That left the grieving SEAL questioning what he’d done & back to ground zero on avenging his baby sister. A very emotional story. It became a favorite of the host author & it’s still selling well.
The respect you have for Howey’s world will go a long way for you to do him justice.
Sand is a more compact world because there is only the first novel in the series. He is still working on the second. I took the basic post-apoc premise and stepped about 25 years into the future. I also just took a tiny corner of it. Two guys looking for a job. Sand diving has changed since their daddies’ days. And then, another question that is always a tantalizing trope in a post-apoc world . . . did anyone else survive?
The cool thing about KW and novella length, is that the world is built. You select a small corner to populate. My guys, Jones and Cane, they don’t care about the war or the political climate or even the future. They care about getting work and fed and laid and not dying in the sand. And . . . of course, we all know how well that usually works out.
Terri
Very creative, Terri. It’s amazing how many different ways you can adapt a story in a great world. Thanks for sharing your thought process.
Thanks for being our guest today, Elle. I just saw where your 13 launch authors are all in the top 22 for total Kindle Worlds for all genres. That’s an impressive start. Thanks for your leadership.
I’ll see you on Facebook.
Pingback: Writing Links 6/19/17 – Where Genres Collide