Market Your Book Before Publication

Don’t wait until your book is published to market it. Market your book before publication and start this action before you even put pen to paper.

Promoting your book before its release is crucial for building anticipation and generating interest among potential readers. 

Here are 6 marketing tips for creating a groundswell of interest in your book.

1. Validate your idea

If you want to make sales the very first thing to do is validate your idea. Are you planning to write on a topic that will interest readers and more specifically interest your target audience sufficiently so that readers will want to buy?

 2. Plant the seed

In the early stages of writing your book start planting the seed. Let people know about your forthcoming publication. Share your writing journey, insights, and updates about what you are doing.

Establish a strong online identity by building your author platform. An author platform is your presence as an author both in the internet space and away from the internet. It’s about your name, your reputation, your brand, and the connections that you have.

Set up an author website. Write blog posts and create promotional material about your book and yourself as the author.

Be active on social media. Promote yourself and information about your book on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tik Tok and LinkedIn. Connect with potential readers.

Consider setting up a YouTube channel and maybe even get into podcasting.

Create a mailing list. Start building an email list of interested readers who want to be notified when your book is released.

Have a lead magnet on your website. This is an incentive to attract subscribers.

3. Book cover

A stunning and compelling book cover will grab a reader’s attention. It needs to communicate the essence of what your book is about.

Part of the book cover design is the book’s back cover, which contains the author’s photograph and blurb about the book. A blurb must pique curiosity and inspire a potential reader to want more.

4. Metadata

Something that can easily be overlooked is the importance of your book’s metadata for promoting your book prior to publication.

When listing your book on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), for example, you need to do considerable research to choose the best title and sub-title for your book, select the 3 most appropriate categories, and come up with seven keywords for the keyword slots.

In addition, craft a book description that’s going to sell your book.

All of this information is metadata. 

5. Networking

Make connections with other authors in the publishing industry. Join writer’s groups, attend book festivals and conferences, and participate in online author communities to share experiences and learn from others.

6. Advanced Review Copies (ARCs)

Prior to the release of your book establish a launch team. This a group of people who would be happy to read your book before it is published and when it is published they submit a review. 

About two weeks before publication provide your launch team with Advanced Review Copies (ARCs). This group of people are the select few who would love to read your book, and who might want to recommend it to others.

Provide them with free digital copies of your book.

As soon as your book is published notify the launch team members so that they can then submit their customer reviews.

Another method of getting reviews is to collect Editorial Reviews. On your Amazon Author Page, you can add these reviews or use them as endorsements for promotional publicity.

Reviews from experts on a subject, reviews from librarians, or reviews from influencers can be a huge boost to your credibility.

Start to promote your book early so don’t hold back on building a marketing strategy prior to your book’s publication. It’s in this early phase that you can build a groundswell and inform people about what you are doing.

To learn more about self-publishing and marketing your book register for my free, live masterclass. Get your ticket now by clicking the green button below.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

Changes with Amazon’s KDP

In recent months there have been a number of changes with Amazon’s KDP which affect the way you publish your book on the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform.

These changes have to do with

• Increased publishing costs
• Categories
• AI disclosure, and
• Limiting the number of books you can publish in a day.

Increased publishing costs 

Publishing on Amazon is free. There is no cost to joining Amazon and there are no up-front fees when publishing your book.

But when Amazon publishes your book there has been an increased cost to the publishing process which means when you sell your book you will either have to accept lower royalties or you will need to increase the price of your book.

Categories

At the end of May 2023, Amazon’s KDP made a change to the way you selected categories.

What are categories? Categories are the sections of the Amazon website just like when you go into a bookshop you see the sections of the bookstore where customers can go to find a book. For example: fiction, history, cooking, reference, adventure, and children’s books.

Categories are the big broad terms that describe your book. If you put it in the wrong section readers won’t be able to find your book; in which case you won’t make a sale.

Categories help readers find your book on Amazon, they help to make sales and help your book become a Best Seller.

In the past when listing your book you selected just 2 categories. These were 2 BISAC categories. But then once your book was published you could write to KDP Support and request your book be put into 10 categories.  

Now you select 3 categories and not 10. This change has made it easier for self-publishers as you just have to do the research for 3 categories and not have to do all the painstaking research to find the best 10.

Dave Chesson, a self-publishing expert, highlights the point that you must select keywords that reinforce the categories you pick in KDP and that you need to make sure that you’re selecting the right categories to start with.

To assist self-publishers he developed the Publisher Rocket software that helps you to see which keywords and categories are the best for your book, so you can rank higher and get more people to see your book.

AI disclosure

The other major change when publishing on Amazon’z KDP is that you must declare if you’ve used artificial intelligence in your books and this applies to both text and illustrations.

Given the huge impact of AI in the publishing world Amazon is making authors declare if the text, images, or translations have been generated by artificial intelligence (AI). This applies to new books and to existing books that are being republished.

Limiting the number of books per day

Amazon has created a new rule limiting the number of books authors can self-publish on its site to three a day. This three-book limit announcement came shortly after the AI-generated announcement.

This is a good move to put off those spamming the system.

With the popularity of publishing low-content books with some authors publishing numerous books in the space of one day (even as many as 100 books), Amazon has tightened this up with the rule of only 3 per day.

Remember, that with the Amazon business model of book publishing

• you can get started for free
• there is no cost to publishing
• storage fees are non-existent, and you
• don’t have to worry yourself with customer service

Amazon’s KDP business model is a business about lifestyle. It will attract those who want to work from home or travel wherever they want.

To learn more about self-publishing and The Self-Publishing Genius register for my free, live masterclass. Get your ticket now by clicking the green button below.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

The Use of Artificial Intelligence on Amazon

In recent months Amazon has been inundated with books that have been created using AI-generated content. As a result of this Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) announced that all account holders must declare the use of artificial intelligence on Amazon. 

New content guidelines

When listing your book for publication on KDP be aware of the new content guidelines.

This is a MASSIVE change to the publishing process. 

When you list your book on KDP there is a section devoted to artificial intelligence. You must declare if you’ve used artificial intelligence to generate your content.

In Amazon’s KDP Forum, they state:

We are actively monitoring the rapid evolution of generative AI and the impact it is having on reading, writing, and publishing, and we remain committed to providing the best possible shopping, reading, and publishing experience for our authors and customers. To that end, beginning today, when you publish a new title or make edits to and re-publish an existing title through KDP, you will be asked whether your content is AI-generated.

AI-generated content

Amazon says that you need to declare if the text, images, or translations have been generated by artificial intelligence (AI). This applies to new books and to existing books that are being republished.

Amazon says it includes AI-generated images for the cover and interior images and artwork. 

AI-assisted content

But with AI-assisted content the situation is different.

If you created the content yourself and used AI-based tools to edit and refine  your manuscript then it is considered “AI-assisted” and not “AI-generated.”

Similarly, if you used an AI-based tool to brainstorm and generate ideas, but ultimately created the text or images yourself, this is also considered “AI-assisted” and not “AI-generated.” It is not necessary to inform Amazon of the use of such tools or processes.

Amazon states that you are responsible for verifying that all AI-generated and/or AI-assisted content adheres to the content guidelines.

KDP Content Guidelines

As always, whether publishers make use of AI technologies or not, all books in the Amazon store must adhere to their KDP Content Guidelines.This includes the requirement that you accurately inform them when content is AI-generated.

Self-publishing expert, Dale Roberts, believes this new directive is probably a PR move by Amazon since so much AI content has been hitting the market and a lot of it is considered “garbage”.

Full disclosure

So Amazon wants full disclosure. For instance, in the drop-down boxes you have to indicate the degree to which you have used AI.

There is currently a vigorous debate going on as to whether this directive is a positive move or a negative one.

But it is creating transparency between the publisher and the marketplace and is getting the author to be truthful.

The bottom line is that AI can be great for providing assistance to authors. It can help with the self-publishing process such as with editing, grammar, and refining the text.

While AI can be leveraged to assist you, it may be prudent to exercise caution if using it to generate content.

To learn more about self-publishing your book register for my free, online, live class. Get your ticket now by clicking the green button below.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Business Model

Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) business model allows authors to reach a global audience. 

Authors can publish their books in digital format (Kindle eBooks) and with the KDP print-on-demand technology they can produce paperback and hardcover books. With Amazon, it is also possible to publish audiobooks through services like Audible. 

The KDP interface is straightforward and user-friendly making it easy for authors to format and upload their books to the publishing platform.

9 Benefits

The digital aspect of Amazon publishing is an appealing business model. Here are nine benefits:

• You can work from anywhere in the world and travel at the same time so long as you have an internet connection

• You can earn a passive income

• There is no need to hold inventory

• There is no need to physically ship books to customers

• You do not have to worry about customer service

• The entire business model is online

• Profit margins are high and you can earn up to 70% in royalties

• There are no start-up costs. You publish your book for free and then you earn royalties based on sales
• You control the pricing of your book.  

Print on demand

In addition to publishing digital products KDP provides a print-on-demand service. Copies of books are printed as they are ordered so you don’t need to invest in large print runs and hold inventory.  

Authors can upload their print book files, set the pricing, and make their books available in all the various Amazon marketplaces around the world.

Reviews

When starting out with Amazon sales may be slow but as you get reviews you are likely to get more sales. And more sales can mean more reviews. 

Positive reviews can significantly enhance your book’s credibility and visibility, potentially leading to more sales. 

There are many benefits to publishing on Amazon but while there are many benefits, competition in such a giant marketplace can be fierce.

Authors must develop an effective marketing strategy in addition to just publishing on the platform. 

The Amazon KDP business model is second to none and will appeal to many who desire a lifestyle of freedom in which you can work from home or travel the world.

To learn more about self-publishing your book register for my free, live class. Get your ticket now by clicking the green button below.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

How To Write A Book In 30 Days

Writing a book within a month’s timeframe is a challenging but achievable goal. Here are some tips on how to write a book in 30 days but it will take strict time management and a lot of discipline.

Research

Do your research before taking on the 30-day challenge. Have your research information at your finger tips.

As you do your research take note of your source material and document this. You will need to acknowledge the sources and then list them in your Bibliography at the end of your manuscript. 

If your book requires further research, set aside a specific time to do this. Avoid getting caught up in excessive research during your actual writing sessions.

Word count

Decide on the total word count for your book. Then work out how many words you need to write each day.

Make a decision on how long your book is going to be. If crafting a book for the first time consider writing a straightforward, short book. It could be just 10,000 words.

If typically a non-fiction book is 60,000 to 80,000 words and you want to write a book in 30 days then make it a short book.

An A4 page can easily fit 200 words so a 10,000-word book is 50 pages.

But if you factor in the size of the font, the physical size of the book – the trim size – adding illustrative matter, and the book’s layout it is possible that a 10,000-word book can be as long as 100 pages.

Set milestones

Decide when you plan to complete your manuscript and make a commitment to have it finished within a 30-day timeframe.

To help you reach that deadline decide the length of your book and then a daily word count. It could be 500 or 1000 words a day.

For a 10,000 word manuscript if you produced 500 words a day your first draft could be completed in 20 days. By increasing your daily word count to 1000 words your first draft would be done in much less time.

Outline

A non-fiction book consists of an introduction, a number of chapters and a conclusion, so create an outline for your book. 

Create chapter headings. Think in terms of 10 chapter headings and allow 1000 words for each chapter. Break the manuscript down into even smaller units with sub-headings under each chapter heading.

Once you have a rough outline, set out the book’s content in the form of bullet points. Estimate the number of words you will need for each bullet point. 

So if you have 5 sub-headings in the form of bullet points each sub-heading could be 200 words. That will give you a 1000-word chapter.

Spend time outlining the content of your book. This will give you a clear structure and a direction to follow during the writing process. 

Writing Schedule 

Establish a daily writing schedule.  Decide the best time of day for you to write and stick to that time.

Consistency is key to completing your book on time so aim to write your quota of words each day. If you write approximately 1000 to 1500 words a day you should complete a first draft within a couple of weeks.

When I’m writing a book I write every morning seven days a week. Each writing session is about 3 hours and I do this each day before breakfast.

It is simply amazing how if you consistently do a quota of writing each day, how you can move forward exponentially. My daily word count goal was approximately 1500 words.

Writing

Once the planning has been done start writing the first draft. This first draft can be very rough.  

Embrace imperfection. Give yourself permission to write badly and trust that you can refine your work later. Refrain from editing your writing; that comes later.

Consider doing timed writing sprints. Set up a timer for a specific amount of time. This could be  25 minutes. Write as much as you can during that time and take short breaks between each sprint to recharge.

Minimise distractions. Put your phone away, and focus solely on your writing during your scheduled writing times. 

Next draft

Once you’ve created that first very rough draft plan some time for editing, revising, and refining your manuscript. You have a couple of weeks to do this.

Writing a book in 30 days is an ambitious endeavour, so be kind to yourself and celebrate your progress along the way. 

The key is to stay focused, motivated and committed to the process.  

By maintaining a strict schedule there is then time each month for the rewriting and reworking of the manuscript.

These steps may seem very mechanical, even mathematical, but as an author who has produced many non-fiction books I find it an excellent method to achieve productivity. It is far less overwhelming to do your planning and then chunk the contents of your manuscript down into small bits.

Will this method work perfectly for you? Maybe, maybe not? 

The important take on this is to have a plan of action that will help you focus and provide you with direction. 

Sure, you may not be perfect and you may deviate at times from the plan. But this gives you a course to follow, and like a sailing boat, the sails can always be adjusted.

To learn more about writing and publishing your book access my free, live class. Get your free ticket by clicking the green button below.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach