What I did differently self-publishing in 2020

As we near the end of the first month to a new year, I want to take this time to reflect on the events and lessons learned from 2020.

To say 2020 was an unprecedented year is the understatement of the century. While many were forced to quarantine during March and April I was busy getting ready to launch my most recent book, “How to Self-Publish Without Going Broke.” Despite all the obstacles happening in the world or in my personal life I believed that I had learned enough about self-publishing to share something meaningful to those who wanted to take the plunge into self-publishing after finding themselves at the crossroads of their careers.

Reflecting back to when I first self-published back in 2013, I didn’t know what I was doing before taking the plunge. I knew the basic steps but I did not plan on how to execute those steps like a professional would. Nor did I have a clear picture of who my audience was until months after the book was released!

As you can imagine, I was reluctant about self-publishing again after my first attempt seemed like a failure. There was many things I wish I knew before self-publishing which I covered in an earlier post. But I told myself if I was going to self-publish again I needed to have a game plan. I needed to understand how publishing companies get books ready for a successful launch. That meant following a systematic plan to get the book polished and professionally edited. It meant understanding my target audience and where to find them. What questions would they want to see answered? What steps would they need the most assistance with? What options would be cost-effective and still get the job done?

So I buckled down and did my research. I gathered advice from seasoned indie writers including Cara Stein, David Gaughran, and more. I made a note of all the things I was going to incorporate into my plan the next time I self-published including some of the points I mentioned here and tailor it to my liking.

My goal in my 2nd attempt at indie publishing was to show that self-publishing is still a viable option even in the age of COVID. Even when you just lost your job and living off your savings it can still be done…without going broke.

Here’s a breakdown of the key things I did differently from the 1st time I self-published.

Created a plan

I knew if I wanted to have a successful launch, I needed a concrete plan. In my plan I needed to answer the who, what, why, how, where, and when to my approach. I needed to understand who I was writing to (my target audience), what I wanted to cover in my guide, the reason why I was publishing. I also needed to figure out how I was going to self-publish (e.g. go wide or go exclusive with KDP Select). Since I decided to go wide I needed to decide where my book would be published and when it would become available. Having all of this in writing with a timeline of when I needed each step completed by, helped me to stay on track and make adjustments as needed.

Made my book available for preorder

This is a marketing strategy used by many trade published books. Even indie writers have followed suit. Since I didn’t do it the first time I self-published I saw this as an untapped opportunity to get a head start on sales which would help me land on important lists such as hot new releases. For those not familiar with that list it is a distinction given to rising books on Amazon. If your book does consistently well in its first 30 days of its release date you are likely to be recommended to readers by Amazon for free.

I worked with a graphic designer on my book cover

As I learned the hard way people will judge a book by its cover. Covers not only have to be pretty but they need to fit at least some basic conventions for the genre it belongs to. However paying a professional book cover designer can be pricy. The cost to hire a cover designer varies and can run as high as $4000! I was fortunate to find a friend of a friend who happens to do graphic design as a side venture. He was instrumental in giving me advice and helping to bring my vision to life after weeks of brainstorming. He played a critical role in designing the front cover for free.

Created an audiobook

This was my first time creating an audiobook. As many authors and readers know, audiobooks are the fastest growing market in books! I saw it as an untapped goldmine waiting to be uncovered. So after searching for the right voice narrator, I chose Elliot Bales who’s done other narrations in the past.

Got reviewers lined up before the book went live

This was suggested by a fellow self published writer, Cara Stein who’s helped other indie writers have successful launches. She put together the Bestseller Launch Blueprint, a PDF comprised of insightful tips for a successful book launch. In the Blueprint she actually recommends getting at least 5-10 the week the book goes live. Many authors including myself realized I needed get as many reviews right out the gate when you first self-publish. Why? Reviews are very important to any writer but especially if you are an unknown writer and don’t have an established fanbase numbering into the thousands. Early positive reviews are critical because they can sway readers to take a chance on your book. And if the reviewer has a following (e.g. YouTube or Goodreads) they can create early buzz for your book.

Sent advanced reader copies.

Having early reviews is important but finding willing reviewers can be tricky. No you don’t want to ask just anybody. Asking a close relative like your momma or a sibling may actually backfire when Amazon finds out the reviewer is related to you and takes the review down! Even your close friends may not be the best choice either especially if they don’t read your genre. Another caution against choosing your friends and family is that their reviews are more likely to be biased because they don’t want to hurt your feelings (unless they are brutally honest). Having a bunch of 5 star glowing reviews saying “This book is great” may evoke suspicions among readers browsing on your sales page. As an author you want people to view you as credible. That includes your reviews.

In the Blueprint the author even recommends reaching out to people in your writing circle or mailing list (if you have one). Ideally you want to come up with a list of people who could write an editorial review. This is more of an in-depth review that is featured under the Editorial section of your sales page or on the flap of your book. Ideally you want to find similar authors, editors, or other influencers that could add credibility to the review.

She even demonstrates how to reach out to reviewers and even what to include in your email message which could work for possible editorial reviewers. You’re at an advantage if you have connections to big names in the industry (e.g. book blogger or a person that runs a popular podcast) or belong to an active writing community. But don’t overlook the people that supported your book whether it’s an editor you worked with or a writing critique partner. Chances are if you have a good rapport with them they would be more willing to write a good review for you (but don’t pressure them).

And of course the most common reviews people read on a sales page are customer reviews. A great place to find ones to write a customer review are your followers. If you have a mailing list like on Mailchimp, you could kindly ask them to leave a review when your book comes out. Another way to find reviewers is sending an advanced reader copy to readers before the book goes live. Even with a mailing list I only had a few people interested in my nonfiction book (since most subscribers were there for my fiction works). That’s when you need to reach out to sites specifically catered towards readers looking for upcoming books.

Sites like Bookfunnel and BookSprout are good choices if you are having trouble finding reviewers. I personally used BookSprout as it was more suited for nonfiction as well as fiction. How it works is that you fill out the details about your book, upload the electronic formats your book is available in, provide the deadline for the review, check off the sites you want the reviews posted and voila the site does the rest to put your advanced copy in front of readers! I personally recommend BookSprout because you can spell out where you would like your reviews posted. It will even send automatic reminders to the participants when the review deadline is drawing close so you don’t have to chase people down.

Waited two weeks before running a 99 cent promo after the official release date.

This was advice I’ve heard after reading the Bestseller Launch Blueprint. One thing that was stressed was waiting a few weeks before discounting the book for your official launch. While some people make their books free when it first goes live it’s important for the official promotion to raise the price to at least 99 cents. While free downloads help, it’s the sales that will have a direct impact on your sales rank. Your sales rank is what moves your book to the top of the list for its respective category. A higher rank = more visibility. Having your book discounted will also encourage new readers to take a chance on your book and hopefully generate some excitement.

While you should still promote your book in those critical first weeks, I saw the wisdom in waiting before reaching out to sites to promote my heavily discounted book because 1) it gave me time to fix any formatting issues or errors missed during the vigorous rounds of editing and 2) gave me time to rack up enough reviews before you do any marketing. Again this is important because it’s hard to promote a product with no reviews!

Without giving too much away, here’s a breakdown of the strategy in the Blueprint:

3-6 months out: Build relationships with editorial reviewers, people in groups you belong to online3 weeks out: Research competitive categories that fit your book Write a compelling sales copy Send requests for reviews Schedule different days your book will be promoted and on what sites (e.g. Bookbub, BookSends, etc.) Night before:Drop the price from full price to 99 centsRun your launch!

Obviously there’s more to this list but you would have to check out the Blueprint for yourself!

So did it work?

For any launch to go well you have to get the packaging right. That meant having an eye-catching cover, good sales copy aka your blurb, professional editing and formatting to name a few. Once I got all my ducks in a row, it was time for the official launch. But would it actually work? Did I rise to the top of my respective categories.

For a period of time, yes!

Granted I had no help from presales. So in my case I had to bank on having a strong official launch. Having early reviews trickle in those first two weeks was a major confidence booster. Although I didn’t get enough reviews in time to be accepted by BookBub, I was able to find other promo sites (BargainBooksy) with the few reviews I managed to get thanks to BookSprout. More than half of the readers left reviews which is impressive considering most reviewers tend to forget to leave a review when launch time comes.

On the first day of my official launch I made 11 sales. And for a hot minute I even claimed the #1 spot in hot new releases for authorship reference on Amazon which was one of my two categories! It was surreal seeing myself on the hot new release list even if it only lasted a day. While the sales rank dropped towards the end of my promotion I could say this promotional launch strategy helped me far exceed the launch of my 1st book. A more detailed breakdown of my official book launch is covered here.

Overall not getting reviews on time hindered me from using the promotion sites that had larger segmented mailing lists that your book could be sent to. A number of the ones she list needed at least 5 or more reviews such as BookSends. Bookbub doesn’t specify on their site the exact number of reviews but they have high criteria on what books get accepted be promoted request (e.g. high star rating, editorial reviews, etc.). While I reached out to numerous interested people and had automatic reminders sent for my ARC, you cannot control if or when people post reviews.

In theory, the principles outlined in the Blueprint are logical and produce results when followed closely. The variables that involve people (aka reviews) though are unpredictable. The success of your launch hinges on making it lists such as “New Releases” to continue the sales momentum, which is something that I struggled with after the promotional period.

It then becomes critical to even double the amount of people you reach out to even if that means and waiting a little later to promote when you do have at least 5 or more reviews. Even then I still believe the points she makes are spot and there are enough gems that you’ll find useful when it comes to launch your book.

Thankfully when I went to promote my how-to book during Black Friday weekend, I sold more than double what I sold during my official launch in July not to mention over 1200 downloads during the free days. Having a few more reviews, and using book promo sites like Bargain Booksy and BookSends, was an investment that paid off!

Overall I stand by the steps in my book because they helped me deliver a stronger, polished manuscript the first time around vs. having to redo things months later. When writing I thought about how I was helping others but in turn I ended up helping myself. I plan to take what I learned during the process of writing and publishing How to Self-Publish Without Going Broke and apply it to my next book coming out this year!

Stay tuned for future posts as I reveal more info about my upcoming project!

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Want to learn what I’m working on next? Are you looking for coming up with creating your own plan? Join today and you can get my free eBook Before the Legend and a copy of this exclusive publishing planning guide.

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