While nothing works like a secret weapon, there are things insiders use to effectively generate and maintain buzz. Its fast and easy to independently publish your print book with createspace, your digital book with kindle direct publishing. How to market a selfpublished book while youre living the. From choosing the right format to pricing and promotion, follow these steps to self publish an ebook successfully. Depending on how you price your book, you can receive from 35% to 70% royalty for each book sold the best thing about amazon is that it offers a lot of marketing. This program enables authors to submit their nook press book for consideration for distribution instore and even for inclusion in marketing programs on a local, regional or national level, and even get included in critical store. Boost your books success and sell more copies of your book by following 20 marketing tips and tactics for selfpublishing. This can be a great way to sell self published books. The whole ebook market took a giant step up at that moment. Oct 23, 2017 in the february 2017 author earnings report data guy estimated self published ebooks to total 34% of the us ebook market.
We wanted to add this section at the top in light of everything happening with the coronavirus sweeping the world. According to statista, the number of self published ebooks in the united states peaked at over 172,000 in 2014. Aug 15, 2018 how to increase your amazon kindle book sales by 600% in a week august 15, 2018 by sean ogle 366 comments this is a guest post from tristan king, an entrepreneur and writer who recently published his first book on learning langauges on the amazon kindle store. So we wanted to offer you a few pieces of advice that were also sharing with our paying students at this time. Selfpublished books now account for 30% to 40% of ebook sales. The 7 most popular platforms to selfpublish your ebook. Weve rounded up the top digital marketing strategies to help both new and savvy indie authors understand how to market selfpublished. The highest paid authors on amazon have a series of books and have spent years building that up. Easily publish textbooks, course materials, and research. Royal says, i founded regal house determined to do things differently. May, 2018 npd pubtrack digital tracks ebook sales but because it is a publisher datashare model, the data does not include selfpublished ebooks, writes npds allison risbridger by email. If your book is published by a self publishing or printondemand type of publisher, they may sell the book on their website, or market it for you. There are thousands of new books being published every day, but many. Top 10 selfpublishing companies for firsttime authors.
If you wrote a book and youre not getting the results you want, then this guide is for you. Dec 17, 2016 karen inglis is a successful selfpublished childrens author with close to 10,000 sales across five titles. Do you want to successfully selfpublish in ebook, print or audiobook formats. Nov 18, 2014 for self published books, you want more professional and less instagram selfie. Book marketing consultant tim grahl defines your platform as whatever plan and methods you use to connect with readers and sell books. Marketing selfpublished books explained in 9 basic steps. Debbie young, allis author advice center editor, distills key advice on the subject into 8 top tips. Amazon dont require your ebook to have an existing isbn, and most ebook publishing platforms e.
Many, if not most authors who self publish for the first time make mistakes. Where and how to sell your poetry books empty mirror. Technology has created a wide variety of ways to reach audiences all over the world. How to market your selfpublished book why selfpublishing is a longtail business the most important 15 seconds in the life of your book your biggest book marketing or platform building roadblocks and how to overcome them 10 ways to test market your nonfiction book idea before you publish 9 steps to getting your selfpublished books into. Five simple ways to promote your selfpublished book. However, if you dont get the following nine marketing strategy basics right first, you could be wasting a lot of your time, energy and money. They account for 10% of all ebook sales small, yes, but the popularity of apple products makes it an enticing platform. Jim kukral is a bestselling author and top internet entrepreneur. Your book or author website andor blog should be a. Learn how to how to market a self published book with these basic tips for marketing your book. Success comes from making a lot of small, focused marketing efforts over time.
But self publishing a book on amazon is not a home run play by any means. Kindle direct publishing kdp is amazons very own self publishing haven. Whether you are traditionally published or self published, you can benefit from these free opportunities to market your book. For a self published author, marketing the book can be more important than writing it. It is completely normal because you are trying to do something. How to selfpublish your novel as an ebook the verge. With amazons big pool of kindle owners and ebook readers, your book will have a solid market to fall into. But if you are publishing by yourself and wish to be read by as many among your target audience as possible, you will have to learn an additional skillhow to market your books. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Selfpublishing surging to 31% of ebook market, claims report. Once the ebookstores began carrying selfpublished ebooks, everything changed.
Selfpublishing boom lifts sales by 79% in a year the guardian. Also offers a specific ability to promote box sets. May 19, 2018 the future of ebook publishing may increasingly belong to the independent author, especially as traditional publishers charge a premium for their traditionally published product. Self publishing packages includes 25 printed books 300 pg, 6x9, softcover, black interior, which are perfect for author signings. Jun, 2014 self published books share of the uk market grew by 79% in 20, with 18m self published books bought by uk readers last year, according to new statistics. Regal house publishing was founded in 2014 by jaynie royal as a result of her experiences trying to get her book published as an author. Digital marketing is constantly changing, and it can be tough for authors to keep up with the top trends. She regularly goes into primary schools and has held many book signings in waterstones and independent bookshops across southwest london. Amazon offers two royalty structures for its kindle direct publishing program. Ebooks themselves make up close to 40% of all books sold, and in 2018 they are set to outsell print books in the us. How to self publish and market your book books for writers 1 kindle edition by penn, joanna. Nearly all of my q1 and q2 speaking gigs have canceled, but most of them are converting to online events which is a fabulous idea.
This short book top tips for how to market your book on amazon and facebook is a howto to quickly and correctly start using amazon and facebook as part of your book marketing efforts. Sales decreased for a few years leading into 2016 but then peaked at 266,000,000 units in 2016. Pricing self published ebooks can seem especially perplexing when trade publishing houses often price their authors ebooks. The following is our list of sites which support self publishing and marketing. They do sell self published books, complete their online application to get started.
Book marketing for authors during the covid19 pandemic. All this bodes well for selfpublishing authors, for whom ebooks. Here are five tips on how to promote your selfpublished book. There are hundreds of ways to market selfpublished books. While the number of ebooks written, published, and sold each year varies widely, there are lots of ebooks self published every year. However, if you dont get the following nine marketing strategy basics right first, you could be wasting a lot of your time, energy, and money. The more you can connect with your community and niche of fellow selfpublished authors, the better marketing potential you have. The title of this post should be credited because i have been asked how to market a selfpublished book or how to promote a book, so many times. How to self publish an ebook, print book and audiobook do you want to successfully self publish in ebook, print, and audiobook format.
Paid options include the ability to be promoted to. But if youre willing to do the work, theres plenty of potential for success. However, amazon isnt the be all end all of the self publishing. After all, some of you make a living from your book. You can publish your ebook on the following sites, which host your ebooks for free. It takes is a little thinking outside the box and you can market a self published book in creative, affordable and impactful ways.
Would you like to make your ebook stand out from the crowd. Publishing takes less than 5 minutes and your book. How to market selfpublished books in the digital world. Self publishing is now a serious business and is the main source of income for many bloggers such as darren rowse from problogger and the digital photography school. I wont, however, because it would end up being a very long list of credits.
Authors choose to selfpublish for different reasons. Here are some tips for book marketing during the covid19 pandemic. Many, if not most authors who selfpublish for the first time make mistakes. Fiction and nonfiction writers alike can create, print, and sell their books through all major retail channels. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading successful selfpublishing. Five tips on how to promote your selfpublished book. Price is a major advantage self published authors have over published authors. There are thousands of new books being published every day, but many self published. You can use them to market and promote your book, too. In this interview with jim kukral, youll find tips on how to market ebooks successfully. Apr 02, 2020 for selfpublished authors, this is a huge problem. Truth be told, both books and ebooks pretty much amount to nothing if the author fails to market and promote it properly.
So i apologize to all those who have asked me these two. Bookstat estimates that in 2017, there were half a million selfpublished authors who sold at least one book, and a total of 240 million selfpublished ebook units sold. Once the ebook is written, the marketing plan in place, and the work ready to release to the public, self published authors find themselves with an unexpected challenge. Mar 25, 2020 want to know how to market a selfpublished book when your events have been cancelled. We looked at the sales numbers of publishers signed up to the platform. He teaches the internet marketing certificate program at the university of san francisco and is one of the top experts on ebook marketing. How to increase your amazon kindle book sales by 600% in a week. Jul 18, 2014 a new report claims that self published authors have surged to 31% of ebook sales on, and are now earning more ebook royalties than writers published by the big five traditional. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading successful self publishing. But if you want to customize your order and get more bulk. Theres no single trick that will make your book go viral.
Join the amazon associates program to earn an additional 4% on each sale you drive. Self published authors often create video trailers to advertise their books online, and amazons author pages give you a place to feature them. A 2015 survey by library journal found that 94% of public libraries offer ebook checkouts and 39% of libraries either purchased or planned to purchase selfpublished ebooks. While you can absolutely sell your ebooks on a marketplace like amazon, there are serious upsides to selling your work directly from your own site. Ebooks are a quick and easy way for anyone looking to become a self published author to get their book out into the world. Having all of your self published books available for sale.
Marketing your self published book involves a lot of focused work, typically as much work as it took to write the book in the first place. The benefit of selfpublishing most ebook formats is the ability to reopen the file at a later date and make edits if you spot a typo, but the ideal scenario is to get it right first time. Marketing your book for selfpublishers and indie authors. The future of ebook publishing may increasingly belong to the independent author, especially as traditional publishers charge a premium for their traditionally published product. Remember, the average selfpublished author is lucky to sell about 100 books. How to selfpublish and market your book books for writers 1 kindle edition by penn, joanna. For authors, marketing essentially involves drawing and engaging your target. Create custom links to your book and professional interactive widgets. With that playing field set, we are going to take a look at a few marketing strategies you can implement to help your self published book shine. Jul 25, 2019 if youre selfpublishing a printed book, the best action you can take is to get your own isbn as a selfpublished author.
With a few key steps, an author can build a loyal following, get the word out about his or her work, and get. Big publishing houses are losing steam, and self publishing is rising to the top. Limitless virtual shelving, your marketing partner, prime is in over 54% of the households in the usa and with the gamechanging kindlethe playing field is even. This statistic provides information on the number of selfpublished books in the united states from 2008 to 2018, broken down by format. Publishing takes less than 5 minutes and your book appears on kindle stores worldwide within 2448 hours. Theres a big difference between making your own book and marketing it. Amazon is the biggest retailer of digital and print books and owns 2 selfpublishing service companies kindle direct publishing kdp for ebooks and createspace for print books. But if youre smart and persistent, you could make enough to live off of for a while. Click promote and advertise under kindle ebook actions or paperback.
Marketing plays a huge role in any books success, but this is especially true for selfpublished books. What does it take to promote your selfpublished book. Although ebooks have been around for a long time, many indie authors still puzzle over how to price their ebooks to optimise sales and profitability. There are hundreds of ways to promote a selfpublished book. Selfpublish ebooks and paperbacks for free with kindle direct publishing, and reach millions of readers on amazon. Top tips for how to market your book on amazon and facebook.
Use a pro camera or hire a professional to make sure youve got a photo that looks as good or better than the top authors, and also matches the style of your writing if its casual writing, wear a tshirt, if its formal, wear a suit or sleek black dress, etc. Selfpublishing selfpublishing companies publishing a. How i sold over half a million books selfpublishing youtube. In the case of english titles, only 39% of the sales volume came from the amazon ebook market. Self publish ebooks and paperbacks for free with kindle direct publishing, and reach millions of readers on amazon. Regardless if a book was selfpublished or traditionally published, every printed book needs an isbn, and securing this number is a big step in your publishing endeavors. Sep 12, 2019 20 book marketing tips and tactics for self publishing get 20 effective book marketing tips and tactics that will help you sell more books and make more money as a self publishing author.
But if you are publishing by yourself and wish to be read by as many among your. Sep 03, 2018 it was a time when self published authors were shut out of bookstore distribution. Use the search listing tools amazon gives you so readers can find your book. Banding together with a few other self published authors from the area, so that the stall is really inviting. The reality is that most self published ebooks are lucky to hit 100 sales sorry for that splash of cold water. Check out these tips and discover how to promote your book successfully. How to market your kindle ebook in 10 steps business 2. In the mid2000s, options such as printondemand and digital publishing that were easier and more affordable than traditional vanity publishing, increased the number of self published books. How to self publish an ebook in this article, ill go through why self publishing an ebook is a good idea, how to format an ebook for publication, exclusivity vs going wide on multiple platforms, the specific sites available for self publishing ebooks and what information you need, thoughts on pricing, and piracy. Mar 12, 2018 how i sold over half a million booksmy self publishing story and my top tips for success i am so excited to be talking about this today, because i know a lot of you have been asking about. Self publishing with amazons self publishing services you can reach millions of readers worldwide and keep control of your work. Often the first form of marketing turned to by self publishing.
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