I recently updated the archived material on the Hooded Hood's Homepage of Doom. I was impressed by the body of work you've done for this place.







The keys seem to be pricing and publicity. A "non-brand" author's sweet spot seems to be either with a $1.99 15-20k novella or a $2.99-3.99 30-40k novella. The latter price allows more options on Kindle but I don't recall exactly what; that stuff is usually done for me.

Marketing is really important for sales these days. An Amazon "Author Page" is free when you're selling work on their site. Mine is at http://www.amazon.co.uk/I.A.-Watson/e/B00E47RJFE There's also an option to do a short-life giveaway of, for example, the first volume in a series. Reviews noticably boost sales, those on review blogs vary from really effective to no difference - still worth sending a free copy in the hopes of a review (note some reviewers will only review a print edition). Interacting with sites like Goodreads also seems to work for some people.

Finally, an e-book needs a cover. Lots of people sweat about getting amazing art, but sometimes its better to go simple and have the title in big bold letters that show up in tiny sales thumbnails. Covers do count, though; I've had some less than fantastic experiences with shoddy cover production, including one that was so bad it has sold less than 70 copies.







If you want feedback for a specific purpose, like "does this serve as the first chapter of a standalone novel?" then you'll need to be clear when you post it. What makes a good PV story or even a good episode of an ongoing series is different from the demands of a grabber novel opening, so folks may review it differently if they know its intention.







In the middle chapter of the current UT trilogy, Liu Xi doesn't use her powers at all as far as I recall. Everything she does is intellect and character driven.







I don't know that I'll be returning to that series any time soon.







Noted.