There is nothing simple about being an Indie Author trying to make a living from selling your books on kindle. You have to write your Book, edit it, format it, create a cover, publish it and then the hard work begins, you have to market it. If you happen to be an indie author with no no money, like most of us, then marketing your book is going to be tough. If you hope to sell any books then here’s a helpful list of things you need.
- You need a blog.
- You have to have a social platform to build your audience.
- You need time. Be prepared to wait, it takes a long time to achieve any success.
- You need to give your books away for FREE.
“What? FREE! Are you crazy?”
I can hear the resounding call for a trip to the asylum from my home in Cyprus. Yes, I mean FREE and no, I don’t mean all your books.
If you haven’t got a ton of money to throw at advertising (some say even that won’t work, me included) then you have to be creative in trying to sell your book. So, what is the one thing you, as an indie author, have in abundance if you have no money for marketing your book?
WORDS
That’s what you should have plenty of, lots and lots of words. Words that make sentences, that make paragraphs, that make chapters that make books. Books that you can give away for free, that carry adverts to your other books you want to sell. Simple! Well, no, that’s only part of the answer. Your writing has to be good in order to make people want to buy your books. So make sure you write well and engage as well as entertain your audience.
Your Blog
Blogging is the life blood for an Indie Author. The work you produce on your blog is a showcase to the world for your talent. All you have to do is build an audience that wants to read what you write and no, that’s not simple either.
Build Your Audience
Here’s the hard part. There are, I’m assured by many comments on my blog and emails I receive, quick easy and simple ways to increase your audience. It’s not true. Nothing about writing is quick and easy. Writing and marketing are kissing cousins and both take time. So you need to investigate what’s good for you. I’ve tried guest blogging, interviews and writing multiple blogs with links to each other and none have worked for me. What does work for me is writing good content (well, I think it’s good, but I’m biased) and then sharing my posts via Twitter and Stumbleupon. I’m also listed on Blogarama which brings in a constant stream of new readers. Once you have the readers coming to your blog or visiting you via social media then you can start telling them about your free books, such as my free books below.
These books are free, click on any of the pictures and you will be taken to the Amazon page. Each carries advertising inside for my other books, in much the same way I advertise my books at the end of each posting on my blog. Since I started using this strategy my book sales have more than doubled in a matter of months. Yes, I’m giving away a lot of books, well in excess of 200 a month but I’m also selling a lot more.
It also helps if you have a steady stream of books being published and making sure they are well priced. My Living in Cyprus ebooks are all $0.99 and other titles range from $1.99 to $2.99.
When you think about it, giving someone a free gift puts them in a good frame of mind about you from the get go. Making it easy and inexpensive to buy books from you keeps you in your reader’s good books – forgive the pun. At the end of the day, your job is to entertain your audience, to make them want more from you and to make it easy for them to decide that you are a good author worth investing in.
Good luck.
Tom Kane © 2018
My Books on Kindle & Paperback
An Indie Author Guide to Blogging – Helpful advice, hints and tips for bloggers – FREE
A Pat on his Back – Lifestyle humour
Living in Cyprus: 2013 to 2017 – an English expat’s life in Cyprus
Living in Cyprus: 2013
Living in Cyprus: 2014
Living in Cyprus: 2015 – FREE
Living in Cyprus: 2016
Living in Cyprus: 2017
Diary of a Debt Collector – True life humour
Operation Werwolf – WW2 action adventure fiction
Hitler’s Secret Atomic Bomb – The evidence for Hitler’s atomic weapon program – FREE
Ciao Roma – A guide to short stays in Rome
How to Start Your Own Embroidery Business – Home working
The Eternal Man – Science Fiction short stories & flash fiction
On Kobo
An Indie Author Guide to Blogging – Helpful advice, hints and tips for bloggers – FREE
The Eternal Man – Science Fiction short stories & flash fiction
Hitler’s Secret Atomic Bomb – The evidence for Hitler’s atomic weapon program – FREE
On Smashwords
The Eternal Man – Science Fiction short stories & flash fiction
Hitler’s Secret Atomic Bomb – The evidence for Hitler’s atomic weapon program – FREE
An Indie Author Guide to Blogging – Helpful advice, hints and tips for bloggers – FREE
Visit my website by clicking here http://tom-kane-author.website
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