A Little Advice Before You Self-Publish that Book

I was recently giving some advice to an author who plans to release his first self-published book in the fall. I’ve self-published three books already, and I’ve learned several hard truths and a few simple tricks that have made the process a little less discouraging. I thought I would adapt the email I sent my author friend into a blog post that I can share with other aspiring self-published authors. So if you plan to self-publish, read on:

First piece of advice:

Reach out to reviewers/bloggers. They usually have guidelines about requesting reviews. Don’t send the book until they agree to review it. Use the contact method they suggest on their site. You probably won’t hear back from most of them, but when one accepts, gift them a copy in the format they prefer.

I don’t recommend paying for reviews. The exchange should be a free book for an honest review.

I actually just discovered a database of reviewers on BookSirens that is really helpful: 

https://booksirens.com/book-reviewer-directory/

For my new release, Cuckoo Cuckoo, I’m not using their paid service. I’m just contacting reviewers through their free directory.

A few hard truths:

Tweets hardly ever translate to sales. I don’t care how big the Twitter account is…Tweets are next to useless for selling books. So I wouldn’t pay for a Tweeting service (I did originally, and got very little out of it). Mass emailings that feature your book have a better return on investment. However, it only really works when your book is discounted or free. Expect to give away a lot of free copies if you want to grow your readership. In the seven years since I published Do Not Resuscitate and The Maiden Voyage of the Destiny Unknown , I’ve made 1000+ official sales through Amazon (many of them discounted). But I’ve given away 9500 free copies of my books. NINE THOUSAND free copies. These giveaways translate to reviews and word of mouth sales.

The other horrible thing I’ve learned:

The people least likely to buy your book are your friends and family.

Of course mom or dad will buy a copy. But strangers are far more likely to take your work seriously. It’s sad, but true. Everyone you know will say, “Congratulations!” but will delay buying the book unless you put direct pressure on them. Even worse, friends almost never actually read the thing. You need to cultivate your own readership—people who like what you write (not people who like what you are).

Another cool resource that I’m using for the first time with Cuckoo Cuckoo:

BooksGoSocial. You pay this service to list your book on NetGalley where reviewers can download it for free and are compelled to write reviews. I just started, so I have no idea if it will pay off, but I think it will because my first two reviews are already in—both 5 Stars.

Go to https://bgsauthors.com/pricing/. Scroll down: I chose the Silver Package for $99.

One more thing:

Depending on how you plan to make your book available, a Goodreads Giveaway is also a good idea. I chose the $119 package to list 100 Kindle copies for free. Check out their packages here:

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show_create_options?ref=giv_creategiv

Finally:

Get your author profile up and running on Amazon and Goodreads ASAP!

Even now, with a dedicated readership, I’ve only *SOLD* 19 copies of Cuckoo Cuckoo in the first four days of publication, despite appealing to friends, family and 33,000 Twitter followers. It’s a very rough road. But as soon as that first 5-star review comes in, it’s worth it.