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    Strategic Self-Publishing
    Strategic Self-Publishing
    Strategic Self-Publishing
    Ebook193 pages2 hours

    Strategic Self-Publishing

    By Greg Strandberg

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    About this ebook

    This book is a guidebook for self-published authors. It has:
     

    • Ideas on how to write a book that people want to read 
    • Strategies for editing your book so people like it 
    • Tips for eBook marketing that get your book selling on Amazon 
    • Tactics for maintaining your sales momentum 
    • Tricks for getting onto the Amazon charts...and staying there 


    There's a lot more in this book, including tips for romance writers, opinions on Kindle Unlimited, and even how many self-published authors there are and what kind of money they make.


    This book takes the best blog posts from self-publishing websites from the spring of 2014 to the end of 2015. It's valuable information that's been organized in a way that makes sense.


    It will help you get ahead. Start reading it now and give yourself a leg-up for 2016.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGreg Strandberg
    Release dateFeb 15, 2016
    ISBN9781524275686
    Strategic Self-Publishing
    Author

    Greg Strandberg

    Greg Strandberg was born and raised in Helena, Montana. He graduated from the University of Montana in 2008 with a BA in History.When the American economy began to collapse Greg quickly moved to China, where he became a slave for the English language industry. After five years of that nonsense he returned to Montana in June, 2013.When not writing his blogs, novels, or web content for others, Greg enjoys reading, hiking, biking, and spending time with his wife and young son.

    Read more from Greg Strandberg

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      Book preview

      Strategic Self-Publishing - Greg Strandberg

      STRATEGIC SELF-PUBLISHING

      Greg Strandberg

      Big Sky Words, Missoula

      Copyright © 2015 by Big Sky Words

      D2D Edition, 2016

      Written in the United States of America

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

      Connect with Greg Strandberg

      www.bigskywords.com

      Fiction

      The Jongurian Mission

      Trouble in Jonguria

      The Jongurian Resolution

      The Warring States

      The State of Chu

      The State of Qin

      Tarot Card Killer

      Black Walnut

      Room 223

      The Hirelings

      Wake Up, Detroit

      Ale Quest

      Nine Amusing Tales

      G.I. JOE: The Dreadnoks

      G.I. JOE: JOE Team-13

      G.I. JOE: After Infinity

      G.I. JOE: To Its Knees

      Florida Sinkholes

      Bring Back Our Girls

      Lightning

      Fire

      Dulce Base

      Colter’s Winter

      Flight 370

      Colter’s Hell

      Soul Catcher

      Colter’s Run

      Selected Non-Fiction

      Write Now! 20 Simple Strategies for Successful Writing

      Write to the Top: A How To For Website Content Writing and Increasing Website Traffic

      Sell Your Book: 75 eBook Promotion Sites That Increase Amazon Sales

      Design Your Book: 75 eBook Cover Design Sites That Increase Amazon Sales

      Visit My Site, Bitch! Unconventional SEO Tactics for 2014

      Tour Your Book: 50 eBook Promotion Sites That Increase Amazon Sales

      SEO & 80s Movies: An Old School Approach to SEO and Content Marketing

      Google+ for Authors and Bloggers

      How to Write: Tons of Tips, Tactics and Tirades on Writing

      Stand Out: Your 2015 SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing Guidebook

      How to Write Fantasy

      Table of Contents

      Introduction – Looking Back to 2014

      I – Writing

      Writing Basics

      Outlining

      Plotting

      Dialogue

      Psychology

      Writing Speed

      Tips from Famous Authors

      II – Editing

      III – Marketing

      General eBook Marketing

      Author Platform

      Social Media

      Marketing Books

      Reviews & Trickery

      Pricing & Promotions

      Goodreads

      Author Earnings and Ideas of Success

      Bestselling Indie Authors

      IV – Amazon KDP, KU, KOLL and More

      Kindle Unlimited (KU)

      Kindle Scout

      The Business of Amazon

      Traditional Publishing & Other Retailers

      V – Sci-Fi & Fantasy Writing

      VI – Romance Writing

      Conclusion – Looking Forward to 2016

      About the Author

      Preview of Sell Your Book

      Introduction – Looking Back to 2014

      This is a compendium-style guide for self-published authors, one that lists what others have said on relevant subjects.

      Most of the articles referenced in this book will have a date, either from 2014 or 2015. Those articles are divided into sections so they make sense and you get as much advice as possible on one subject, at one time.

      Some sections are larger than others. For instance, editing just didn’t have enough for me to break things down into smaller sub-categories. That’s not to say you won’t get lots of advice, it’s just that most of it pertains to one thing – editing.

      Now, why is this advice important to you?

      It’s important you know what’s come before. That way you can know what to pursue and what to avoid.

      The year 2014 was nearly a complete waste for me in my self-publishing career. I say that because I wasted a lot of time on things that never paid off.

      Things like Kindle Worlds and writing four books in that – wow, big waste of time! Yeah, the books are cool, but no one buys ‘em.

      Writing a book comparing movies to content marketing might have been another mistake that year, and I have the sales to prove it.

      The point is, lots of authors have gone down dead-end roads before. Many of them are happy to tell you of those journeys, and how wasteful they were.

      Well, not completely wasteful. After all, they did learn something.

      I put this book together so you can learn those ‘somethings’ from those authors. That should save you a lot of time and heartache.

      I feel that’s valuable, and once you begin reading their advice you’ll think so too.

      The content in this book stretches from April 2014 to November 2015, a total of 20 months.

      Lots of things happened in that time, lots of ideas were discussed, lots of industry changes took place. What’s more, you can use this information to get a good feel for what’s to come in 2016.

      Some of the things I’m keeping my eye on for 2016 are based on Amazon.

      First, I’ll be real interested to see what big name authors do in regard to Kindle Unlimited...which they’re ‘benefiting’ from by being enrolled in KDP Select.

      Many of the big name authors that were getting the special monthly bonuses from Amazon began to complain around the end of November. Many say that they’ll have to change tactics, taking some if not all books out of KDP Select.

      KU Crushed My Sales was a November 2014 post off of Kboards that was started by H.M. Ward and then picked up by The Passive Voice curation site. We’ll discuss it more later, but it decries KU. I have a feeling we’ll see the same soon with KU 2.0.

      That could have huge repercussions on the eBook market, and whether you go exclusive with Amazon or not.

      My take? I’m putting a couple under-performing novels into KDP Select for at least a quarter if not two, mainly to have something to measure my non-exclusive novels against.

      To take it a bit further, I’d like to have monthly marketing plans for those novels, both inside and outside of exclusivity. All in all, I feel that 2016 will be a big year for measuring things, gauging results, and figuring out a longer-term strategy for the future. So in that regard, this past year was a transitional year, or even a rebuilding year.

      Another thing I’ll be keeping my eye on are the disparate Amazon offshoots, specifically the newest one, Kindle Scout.

      With that program you can offer up a 50,000 word novel with a good cover and have readers vote on whether it should get an Amazon publishing contract or not. Even if it’s not selected, you’re getting feedback on your work and perhaps developing a thicker skin in the process, too.

      I’ll also be looking at underperforming Kindle Worlds as well as what kind of content Amazon begins building for Prime, as I feel they’ll need to go with some original TV-show programs to compete with HBO and Netflix.

      Again, if they have a contract with a writer through one of their other programs, a longer-term potential could be created where some authors benefit because of their intimate involvement with Amazon.

      Trends, they come and go and people are always chasing them. What will 2016 hold? We’ll get into quite a bit of what last year held so we can answer those questions.

      You’ll learn all about them in this book. So without further ado, let’s dive right in.

      I – Writing

      1: Writing Basics

      This section contains some basic writing advice that’s anything but.

      You see, so few follow it. What’s more, much of it pertains to self-publishing so those coming over from traditional publishing might not recognize it.

      The posts in the section are designed to acquaint you with the accepted way of doing things. It’s often harsh, but always honest.

      ––––––––

      Important Writer Qualities

      The 10 Most Important Qualities for Writers was an April 2014 post by Marie Jaskulka on Written Web Design. Those 10 qualities are:

      – Talent;

      – Backbone;

      – Discipline;

      – Humbleness;

      – Time;

      – An appreciation for books like yours;

      – Persistence;

      – The ability to spot metaphors in real life

      – Patience

      – An understanding of reality.

      You’ll get about a paragraph on each, though some just have a sentence for explanation. If you’re wondering if you have what it takes then this post is a good one to look at.

      ––––––––

      Writing Like It’s a Movie

      Cinematic Writing was an April 2014 post by Sarah Chauncey on her site. I like it because it offers these techniques for getting and keeping a reader’s attention. These include:

      – Grabber;

      – Establishing Shot;

      – Time and Location Anchors;

      – Panning;

      – Cross-Cutting.

      There’s more, but for each you get ideas on how you can do things with your book. For instance, Grabber puts the reader right into the middle of the story first thing, like an opening chapter that’s apart from the beginning narrative but grabs readers.

      Cross-Cutting is jumping between scenes occurring at the same time. If you these ideas sound interesting, this post is good to check out.

      ––––––––

      Sure Signs You’re a Newbie Novelist

      10 Things that Red-Flag a Newbie Novelist was a September 2014 post on Anne R. Allen’s Blog. Some of those things are:

      – Show-offy prose;

      – Head-hopping;

      – Info-dumps;

      – Mundane dialogue;

      – Tom Swifties;

      – Mary Sues.

      A Mary Sue is a charter who’s a stand-in for the writer’s idealized self, Allen writes. I encourage you to check out the other items in this list.

      That second one is something I’ve gotten bad reviews on, so think about keeping your POV (point-of-view) in order when you’re writing a chapter.

      Yep, I’d check this one out for ideas.

      ––––––––

      What Qualifies as Literature?

      Can any kind of writing become literature? That’s the question Caleb Pirtle III had in October 2014 on Venture Galleries.

      This post pretty much speculates on the life and career of Raymond Carver. It’s kind of a writer rant on past greats that they think are important. If you dig that stuff, give it a look.

      ––––––––

      Terrible Rules for New Writers

      8 Bogus Rules New Writers Tell Each Other was a November 2014 post by Anne R. Allen on her blog. Those 8 rules are:

      – Telling something exactly as it happened;

      – Novels can not contain contractions;

      –Said is boring and don’t use it;

      – Give everyone equal time in memoirs;

      – Head-hopping is necessary;

      – All internal monologue must be in italics;

      – Good writers never use sentence fragments.

      So remember – most of these ideas are not good to follow. I like that you get links to other articles on the subjects. The POV ones are particularly interesting. Give ‘em a look by checking out this post.

      ––––––––

      Attributes More Important than Talent

      Is Talent Overrated? 8 Things that are More Important than Talent for Writing Success was a November 2014 post by Anne R. Allen on her blog. Those 8 things are:

      – Drive;

      – Passion;

      – Listening Skills;

      – The Desire to Learn;

      – The Ability to Be Alone;

      – Understanding of the Marketplace;

      – Gratitude;

      – Persistence.

      If you can have those 8 things, or at least be working on them, then you’ll eventually reach your goals. I think passion and persistence are the most important, mainly because you can’t really learn those. Drive falls into that category as well.

      Still, maybe you can learn them if you don’t have them. We all approach subjects as newbies at one time or another and something sparks that passion in us. Find what that is and how you can benefit from it. This post has ideas.

      ––––––––

      The Importance of Finishing

      Why It’s Important

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