6 Simple Ways to Sell Your Self-published Book

Bruised and bloodied by my futile attempts to find a publisher, and encouraged by the new innovation, ePublishing, I set to and wrote my first novel.

I finished it, was enormously proud of it, uploaded it to Amazon, and there it sat…and sat…and sat.

My bubble had burst. I felt as bruised and bloodied as when I was constantly being rejected by publishers. This time I was being rejected by readers!

But was I? Not really. The problem was, they didn’t even know about my book.

It had landed on a slush pile of self-published eBooks on the floor of the Amazon kindle site. Just as my manuscripts had landed on a slush pile of similar artefacts on the floors of several publishing houses.

In the midst of my deepest gloom, I got to thinking of the advice given to me by a wise old friend years ago.

“Keep it simple,” he said. “Take every problem back to basics.”

So I did. I started by having a conversation with myself. Trust me, they can’t touch you for it.

“Why is my book not selling?” I asked myself.

“Because it’s not being marketed and promoted properly.”

“Why is it not being marketed and promoted properly?”

“Because it sits within a massive list on Amazon, and it doesn’t get in anybody’s way.”

“What do you mean it doesn’t get in anybody’s way?”

“Well, nobody, absolutely nobody, stumbles across it.”

“So what’s the answer, then?”

“Simple, make sure readers keep tripping over it.”

“And, how do you do that?”

“I’ve absolutely no idea.”

Some conversation that was. It got me absolutely nowhere.

But, heeding my old mentor’s advice, I applied my mind to how to make sure potential readers kept tripping over my precious book.

And then the simple answers came. First a trickle, then a torrent. I wrote them down as they came to me. All simple, all straight forward, all blindingly obvious:

1. Showcase your book,

2. Showcase your blog/website

3. Give an author interview

4. Get your book reviewed

5. Spread news about you and your book

6. Get your book into an exclusive Indie book store

Six glorious solutions. Oh joy of joys. This time next year Rodders, we’ll be millionaires!

“But wait a minute!” I shouted, starting a conversation with myself again, “How can I put all these things in action and tie them all in together quickly and at minimal cost.”

“I don’t know,” I replied, “Haven’t a clue.”

So, again in despair, I started to think simplistically, and embarked upon a ‘What-if’’ scenario.

“What if somebody set up a blog just for Indie authors, Indie readers and Indie books?”

“What if they offered all these six solutions to authors at minimal cost?”

“What if they attracted thousands of readers to the site to ensure there was always a captive audience in attendance for Indie books?”

That would do it, I thought. Trouble is, I wasn’t aware of such a blog.

So I created one.