How To Optimise Your Book’s Listing on Amazon

You’ve prepared your manuscript and you’ve decided that you’ll publish it on Amazon.

You’ve completed the finishing touches to your manuscript; it’s been edited and formatted; you’ve uploaded the manuscript and cover to KDP; and, and you believe you’ve crafted a great title. 

So if you:

• Have arrived at that moment and you are actually ready to publish your book and to launch it out there into the big wide world, and you

• Are listing all the details pertaining to your book which Amazon will use to create your book’s detail page. However, you are feeling somewhat nervous, a bit scared, and worried you might mess up? 

• Feel that the listing process is easy and fast, and you know that you probably can have your book ready to publish within minutes. Yes?

• But someone has made the comment that if you want to join the ranks of thousands of other authors who have failed at self-publishing on Amazon and who have not made sales and who say that self-publishing on Amazon doesn’t work your confidence has been shaken. Right?

• Have heard that as a self-publisher your job when listing your book is to give the right metadata to Amazon to help readers find your book and so that you can make sales. However, you lack faith in your ability to go it alone and you don’t really understand the best practices needed to tweak the listing.

If any of the above describes you then I urge you to secure your program:  How To Optimise Your Book’s Listing on Amazon.

So, who am I to be sharing this information with you?

My career

I began my career in the book industry when I started off as a teacher-librarian in a top Queensland school, and then later I trained hundreds of other teacher-librarians for the Queensland Department of Education.

My writing career commenced over 30 years ago when I started writing non-fiction books for children and young adults.

Since then I’ve written over 65 books most of them having been published by mainstream publishers. In 2014 I entered the online space and discovered Amazon. Not only did I sell physical products on Amazon I started self-publishing on Amazon. 

I’ve also had 30 years of experience in marketing. As well as being very active in the direct sales industry I learned the value of the new way to publish, the alternative way to publish, with the advent of the internet. I learnt to blog, build websites, to do affiliate marketing, list building, automation and much more. 

Given everything I’ve learned, I now help others achieve the results they desire as writers, self-publishers, and marketers.

As a result of years of training and experience, I’ve learnt what works and what doesn’t.

The solution

Thanks to the How To Optimise Your Book’s Listing on Amazon you will be able to:

1. Get your book discovered on Amazon and start to make sales
2. Research the metadata so that even before you start writing your book it has some chance of being successful
3. Learn the steps for getting a Best Seller badge
4. Learn about tools to speed up your success  
5. Understand the fundamentals of becoming an Amazon bestseller

Take those first steps to self-publish your book on Amazon and reach millions of readers worldwide.

This home study program is just the beginning of your journey. By mastering the steps outlined in How To Optimise Your Book’s Listing on Amazon you will be able to build from here learning more of the ways about what you have to do to have your book discovered on Amazon and start to earn royalties.

Thanks to the How To Optimise Your Book’s Listing on Amazon you will be able to:

• Experience the ecstasy of having your first book published, a dream come true
• Realise the potential you’ve now created for future income opportunities
• Celebrate and enjoy that sense of empowerment because of your self-publishing achievement
• Finally, being able to unlock your true potential as a self-publisher and make your dent in the world?

With How To Optimise Your Book’s Listing on Amazon you’ll be able to leverage the exploding trend of doing things your own way by securing access to your home study program at the heavily discounted price of only $47.

And to make your decision a complete no-brainer, you also have my 100% no-questions-asked, 30-day money-back guarantee.

If How To Optimise Your Book’s Listing on Amazon home study program is not exactly what you’re looking for, you don’t pay anything. I will personally refund your full investment.

So you’ve got absolutely nothing to lose. The risk is completely on me.

Access the program

To access the program right now CLICK HERE

With How To Optimise Your Book’s Listing on Amazon you’ll be able to leverage the exploding trend of doing things your own way by securing access to your home study program at the heavily discounted price of only $47.

And when you “Access The Program” right now you get it for the special launch price of just $47.

PLUS to reward you for taking action I’m also including an amazing bonus.   

• Be part of a special coaching session with me where you can get all your questions answered (value around $500) 

And remember, if for any reason it’s not exactly what you’re after, you’re protected by our 100% 30-day money-back guarantee.

Imagine a few years into the future and you look back on the start of your self-publishing journey and realise that this was your beginning.

ACCESS THE PROGRAM HERE 

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

Do You Want To Profit From Self-Publishing Your Book?

You’ve prepared your manuscript for publication and you’ve decided that you’ll publish it on Amazon.

The finishing touches to your manuscript have been completed; it’s been edited and formatted; it has a stunning cover; and, and it’s got a great title. 

Now that moment has finally arrived. You are ready to actually publish your book and to launch it out into the big wide Amazon world.

Listing process 

Before you hit the Publish button you must start the listing process into the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) submission form.

As you list all the details pertaining to your book you are asked to provide information that describes your book. This information is used to create your book’s detail page on Amazon.

This information is known as metadata.

The listing process appears to be easy, and it is fast too, so you’ll have your book ready to publish within minutes.

But be ready for that moment of panic because it’s time to hit the Publish button.

But before you do, let me ask this question: do you want to join the ranks of thousands of authors who fail at self-publishing on Amazon and who do not make sales and who then complain that self-publishing on Amazon doesn’t work?

You are wrong if you think that you can simply hit the Publish button and become successful. You can’t just publish, hold your breath, and wait to see what happens.

This is where so many newbie self-publishers make the mistake thinking that they can quickly complete all the fields for entering the details of their book and then hit the Publish button. Yes, it is so easy to publish your book.

I’ve done that too and made that same mistake.

Learning to select the right metadata

As a self-publisher, your job when listing your book is to give the right metadata to Amazon and to help readers find your book so that you can make sales.

Metadata includes such things as title, keywords, categories, book’s description, price, author name, cover, reviews and so on.

As a self-publisher you have to optimise your metadata and doing this can be confusing even for the experienced.

Making simple choices and tweaking your metadata can result in hundreds of visitors to your book’s detail page and this can equate to more sales.

Crafting a title and sub-title, choosing the right categories and keywords, writing and formatting your book’s description – these things are fundamental to marketing your book on Amazon.

If your metadata has not been optimised you risk being lost forever in the Amazon system. Metadata that is accurate and that has been optimised for the Amazon algorithm is how readers are able to find what they are searching for. 

If your metadata is not strong and it hasn’t been optimised your book won’t be found.  If it is not discovered it won’t sell.

Keyword research

Like it or not, doing your keyword research to find the best keywords and selecting the right categories can make or break your book. One of the ways to accomplish this is by completing the keyword and category fields.

You need to think about categories and decide which categories readers might browse to find your book. Your book has to be positioned accurately. 

While in the listing you are asked to select two categories you can actually select another eight.

Choosing the right categories

Choosing the right categories takes considerable research. This is so important because categories influence whether or not your book becomes a best seller.

Like categories, keywords are just so important too. Again they can make or break your book.

In keyword research, you need to choose keywords with low competition and the way you discover this is to have a keyword with high search volume and a low number of search results.

Get your metadata right and Amazon will drive thousands of new customers to buy your product.  Get it wrong and Amazon will relegate you and your book to obscurity.

Amazon gives priority to books that sell.

In conclusion, the struggle is about turning what you write into something that makes a profit and this is where you must develop mastery.

For access to regular weekly training and tips on how to self-publish your book on Amazon join the Facebook community – Fast Self-Publishing Online.

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Fast Self-Publishing Online

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

 6 FAQs about ISBNs

At the moment I’m working with a client helping him self-publish his 700-page manuscript.  This is a real hand-holding exercise because, as he says, he is a dinosaur when it comes to doing anything online.

Part of the self-publishing process involves getting an ISBN. When he had to deal with the ISBN I realised that he didn’t understand anything about the ISBN so this prompted me to raise the issue here.

There are a number of questions newbie self-publishers ask relating to ISBNs because the ISBN is an essential part of the self-publishing process.

1. What is an ISBN? 
2. Why do we need ISBNs? 
3. Where can we purchase them?
4. What does it cost to purchase ISBNs?
5. How do we set them up?
6. Can you get an ISBN for free?

1. What is an ISBN?

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. The ISBN is a unique set of 10- or 13-digit identification numbers which identify a book. 

The 13 digit ISBN is for print books and the 10 digit ISBN is for eBooks.

ISBNs assist in helping to get a book discovered by publishers, booksellers, universities, wholesalers, libraries, distributors and readers.

2. Why do we need an ISBN?

An ISBN helps these organisations and individuals to easily find a book.

The ISBN identifies a book and specifies its format, edition, publisher and a lot else besides. It helps to identify the:

• title
• author
• type of book  
• physical properties of that particular book
• the geographical location of the publisher

There are a number of reasons to purchase an ISBN for your book. It

• helps your book to be found
• increases the likelihood that if it is found it will be purchased
• links to essential information about your book
• enables more efficient marketing and distribution of the book
• most retailers require ISBNs
• helps you collect and analyze book sales data
• guarantees the book’s data will be held in the Books In Print database

When searching for data about a title Books In Print is the place that publishers, retailers and libraries go to.

The ISBN is an essential part of the self-publishing process.

3. Where to buy your own ISBN?

If you supply your own ISBN you will need to buy one through Thorpe-Bowker. The Thorpe-Bowker website is:

https://www.myidentifiers.com.au

Australia

For publishers physically located in Australia, Thorpe-Bowker is the official ISBN Agency that you go to for purchasing an ISBN.

It is advisable not to purchase an ISBN from any other agency because the ISBN may not be accurate which can have adverse implications for doing business in the publishing industry supply chain.

International 

If you are situated outside the Australian jurisdiction go to the International ISBN Agency.

4. What does it cost to purchase ISBNs?

Pack of 10  is AU $88.00

There is a new publisher setup fee of AU $55

Total AU $143  

New self-publishers wonder why they should purchase a pack of ISBNs when they are only publishing one book?

When you purchase an ISBN it is recommended that they buy a pack of ISBNs. 

Different formats of a book, for example, a paperback and an eBook, each need their own ISBN.

If you then decide to publish the book in a different language, you’ll need a new ISBN for that version as well. You need one ISBN for each edition and format of your book.

Any variation of a book requires the use of a unique ISBN to identify it properly.

You need to think about

• the number of books you are planning to publish
• the number of formats that each book will be created in
• any revised editions of these books that could be published in the future

So as a publisher it is advisable to acquire several ISBNs. It is, also, more cost-effective if you can buy them in packs of 10 or more.

5. How to set up your ISBN?

As I said earlier an ISBN allows libraries, publishers, and book dealers to locate and identify specific books. If you want to get your book into a bookstore, a library, or almost any book distribution channel you will need an ISBN number.

Here are the steps involved in setting up your ISBN.

1. https://www.myidentifiers.com.au
2. Open an account  
3. Purchase the ISBNs
4. ISBNs are added to your name as soon as you purchase 
5. Read and understand the instructions Title Assignment Instructions
6. Before you enter all the details make sure you know:

•   Title 
•   Selling price 
•   Subject matter of the publication 
•   Format 
•   Contributors (i.e., author)

7. You will be recognised as the publisher of all books associated with those ISBNs. 
8. If there are fields where you can’t supply the information leave these spaces blank.

There you have it. You have the steps you need to take to purchase your own ISBNs.

6. Can you get an ISBN for FREE?

But do you know that it is also possible to get your ISBN for FREE?

The implications for getting a free ISBN will be the theme of next week’s training video to be screened in the Fast Self-Publishing Online community.

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Marji Hill

Author & Coach

Is Kindle Direct Publishing Select Right For You?

As a beginner in self-publishing on Amazon, you have a major decision to make. Should you enrol your eBook in KDP Select? 

Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)

KDP is Amazon’s free, self-publishing platform for both Kindle eBooks and paperbacks. Authors can sell their books directly to Amazon’s readers in the Amazon worldwide market place. 

The Amazon platform is intuitive, it’s easy to use, and it’s fast. A book can be published and marketed within hours.

While KDP can put your book before millions of potential customers authors retain their rights, can make changes and revisions to their book at any time, and have all the promotional advantages of Amazon’s Author Central.

Kindle Direct Publishing Select (KDP Select)

KDP Select, on the other hand, offers self-publishers bonus incentives in exchange for granting Amazon exclusivity. Exclusivity means that for a limited period of time authors make their eBook exclusive to KDP.   

This period of time is just 90 days. During this time authors cannot distribute their book digitally anywhere else. This includes your website, in blog posts, or listing it with other retailers around the world. 

That said, authors during this time of exclusivity can continue to distribute their book in its physical format. This means they can distribute paperbacks or any format that’s not digital.

By agreeing not to sell the digital file of their book through any other retailers, authors are given access to a variety of promotional tools and the opportunity to earn higher royalties.

An author enrolling in KDP Select has access to:

1. Kindle Unlimited
2. Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL)
3. Kindle Countdown Deals
4. Kindle Free Promotions
5. Increased royalties for sales in select countries.

Kindle Unlimited

Kindle Unlimited is a monthly subscription program that allows Kindle owners to borrow books as they would from a library. This would have to be the most attractive benefit of enrolling in KDP Select. 

This subscription program for readers allows them to read as many books as they would like.

The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library(KOLL)

KOLL allows Amazon Prime members, who have access to a Kindle reader, to choose one book from each month with no due dates. 

The KDP Select Global Fund is for the author payments. Each month Amazon puts aside a vast amount of money that can be paid to authors whose books are read by members of Kindle Unlimited and KOLL.

When you enrol in KDP Select, the books are automatically included in both programs. 

Kindle Countdown

Kindle Countdown is another promotional program where for one week every 90 days, authors have the ability to discount their book by putting it on a “countdown deal.”

Kindle Free Promotions

This program allows authors to promote their book for free for a limited number of days in this 90 day period. Readers worldwide can access these free books.  

Within this time, authors cannot offer their eBooks on any other site whether it be Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Ingram Spark, Walmart, Apple or any other site. Once that three months is up, authors can then, if they so choose, opt-out of the program and return to the basic KDP program.

Increased royalties

There are increased royalties for book sales in select countries. When customers read books from Kindle Unlimited and KOLL there are more royalties plus authors can earn 70% royalty for sales to customers in Japan, India, Brazil and Mexico.

Making the decision to go with KDP Select is a business decision.  It comes down to an author’s marketing plan and having to weigh up all the benefits that KDP Select offers.

For someone just starting out in self-publishing, KDP Select is an advisable route to take. It’s an author’s opportunity to experience first hand the benefits of KDP Select.

Once an author becomes experienced at self-publishing on Amazon the other option of switching to wider worldwide distribution is a decision that can be made down the track.

If you haven’t already done so I recommend you register for my FREE ONLINE CLASS at www.fastselfpublishingonline.com 

Discover How To Write A Book Within 30 Days, Publish It On Amazon For Less Than $200, and Get it to Market within 24 Hours.

And if you’d like to receive daily tips – LIVE videos, training videos, discussions, articles and inspirational posts – then join the Fast Self Publishing Online community.

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Marji Hill

Author & Coach

Has Anyone Found Success With Self-Publishing?

The other day I came across a post in a Facebook group in which an author asked the question:  “Has anyone found success?”

The author, who had self-published on Amazon, said she did everything she was meant to do in the self-publishing process. But she was not making enough money. 

This author was only making US$100 month and she was wanting to make a lot more. Some of the things she had done included:

• building an email list of 6000 people with a 50% open rate    
• setting up an ARC (Advanced Review Copy) team so that she had plenty of positive reviews    
• online book promotions 
• professionally designed covers  
• carefully optimised book listings
• a profitable niche
• 12 books published on Amazon

So where was this author falling down? What was she not doing right?

Her mentor analysed the publications and this is what he found:

1. In the Descriptions on the listing pages, there were Warning Disclaimers which prospective customers may have found off-putting.
2. Each of the multiple short books were stand-alone copies which would have been much better presented as a series.
3. There were no links in each book driving the reader to the next book. 
4. The email list needed to be cleaned up to get rid of the inactive users.
5. The titles were long and contained too many words.
6. Release dates were inconsistent – some were 3 weeks apart while others were just one week.
7. There was no brand consistency – all the books were going everywhere and nowhere.
8. Each book cover looked different as if the books had been written by different authors and even belonging to different genres.
9. Books were not in the right categories.

It’s not always easy self-publishing your book, is it?. There are so many moving parts, and somehow, you have to get them all moving in unison.

Here is what you can learn from this analysis.

OPTIMISE BOOK’S LISTING

Master how to optimise your book’s listing to ensure it is optimised for success. Even before you write and publish your book a sound idea is to work out all the metadata you need to maximise your book’s discoverability.  

• Use keywords in your title but make sure you do it in a way that sounds natural and that you are not criticised for keyword stuffing
• Come up with multiple keywords that relate to your book idea choosing high potency keywords ie. words with high search volume and low competition. Use long tail specific keywords and fill in the 7 keyword slots that are available for your book’s listing.
• Choose 10 categories. While you’ll only choose 2 categories when you first list your book you’ll eventually choose another 8 categories
• Write a compelling description which at the end of the day is really a sales page for your book. Try to use HTML formatting as this helps the customer read through the Description more effectively.

MULTIPLE SHORT BOOKS

A strategy for promoting sales is a series. Customers can become loyal not only to a series but to you, the author. 

Create multiple, short books which would be suitable to be part of a series.  Use the first book in the series as the lead book and keep referring customers back to that first book. 

After you’ve published other books in the series you might drop the price to .0.99c for that first book. Keep on promoting that first book.

BRANDING

Create brand consistency. You may do this by having a common element in the title. 

For instance, there may be one word that you can use in each of the titles, for example, “In Paradise,” “Naked in Paradise” Buried in Paradise.”

The book’s cover can have a similar style and maybe with linking colours. Make it easy to see that each book belongs, or is connected to the others.

You can do this with fonts, colours, and where you place the author’s name. There are lots of things you can with the covers to create stylistic unity.

TIMING

Plan in advance the timing of your book releases. If you have 5 books in your series decide if they will be released every month, every three months, or twice a year.

TRAFFIC

Have your books drive traffic from one book to another. At the back of each book have links to the other books in the series so that you are driving your customers from one book to the next one and also, always to that first book in the series.

EMAIL LIST

To have an email list would have to be the most important asset any author could have, and this would have to lie at the heart of any author’s marketing campaign. Keep building your email list and keep it up to date.

At the end of the day, never stop learning. Keep on learning to be a better writer and mastering the craft of writing. And remember if you are planning to write fast, and produce lots of books to publish on Amazon, don’t sacrifice your writing quality for speed.

For more tips on how to self-publish on Amazon join the Facebook group – Fast Self-Publishing Online.

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Marji Hill

Author and Coach

Do You Want To Speed Up Your Writing?

Do you find that you are so slow at writing anything? It takes such a long time to get a piece written.

You struggle with writing, and you find that the writing process is hard.  You keep reading and re-reading, then editing what you write – and keep going over it, trying to find the right words.    

The good news is your writing doesn’t have to be like this. You can change and learn to speed up your writing but it will take focus and discipline.

Writing is a skill and practice will make it better.

The easier it gets, the more you like it. The more you like it, the less you’ll procrastinate. 

Exercise the writing muscle

Writing is just like a muscle. It’s got to be exercised otherwise, you will not have the ability to do it. 

Writing requires practice.

Practising your writing is just like doing a physical workout at the gym. The repetition of exercises helps you to improve and get stronger. 

The muscles get stronger. You start at a certain level, let’s say, for example,10 repetitions. 

Then over time, you increase these repetitions. 

If you started out with 2-kilogram dumbbells, you then over time increase the weight of the dumbells. You monitor your increasing strength. 

The exercise of writing is just the same. Practise makes you better. Practise makes you stronger. 

You become more experienced at writing and you master your craft.

Write every day

Every day!  If you suffer writer’s block and you have nothing to write about? Don’t worry.  

Describe what you see in front of you. Don’t wait for creativity to come to you. Don’t wait for the muse to magically appear. Just write, write, and write.

Creativity will come when it comes.  

I want to tell you a way to practise your writing. It may be new to some but not to others.  

It’s the concept of the writing sprint that has been explored in depth by Chris Fox. He says that he can consistently write 4,000 words an hour and sometimes spike up to 5,000 words an hour.

Incredible, hey?

The writing sprint concept

The idea is to allocate a set amount of time, and then within that time, you write as fast as you can.

For example, set your alarm for 10 minutes. Within that time you will write. 

As soon as the alarm goes off you stop. The length of your sprint is up to you.  

In the first week practise writing for 10 minutes each day just as you might do some physical exercise.

You start off gently, but as you get more strength and get better at doing it your ability improves.

• Just pour out the words.  
• The faster you write, the more you write.  
• The more you write, the better you write.
• The faster you write, the sooner you’ll edit.

At the end of your first week of doing these short, daily writing sprints review your progress. 

Keep monitoring your progress.

You are exercising your writing ability and your mind.

In the second week increase your writing time to 20 minutes. As the weeks go by keep increasing the length of writing time.

As you write you will need to be focused, determined and exercise the discipline to perform the task. Let the words come out. Make sure you refrain from editing and don’t even think about the words you write. Just write!

Your outpouring may be rough but that doesn’t matter. It’s just a very rough draft.

Down the track, your writing can be refined.

Once you develop the writing habit and practise it on a daily basis you will surprise yourself at how well you are improving over time.

Not only are you exercising your writing skill you are exercising your mind.

Keep documenting your progress – when you started, the end time. How many words did you write during your sprint? Keep a track of this. It is vital to measure your progress.

The more you pour out the words the more you’ll get experienced and the more you learn about the craft of writing.

Give it a go!

SOURCE

Fox, Chris  5,000 Words Per Hour: Write Faster, Write Smarter. 2015. Kindle eBook.

Marji Hill

Author & Coach

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Oops! Mistakes First-Time Authors  Make When Self-Publishing

Mistake No. 1 – The Cover

When I published my first book on Amazon I created a Kindle eBook and a Paperback. 

At the time I used Cover Creator to build my book cover.  It was easy to do, and I felt proud that I had made my own cover. 

Before too long, I was criticised from someone online who said I needed to do something about the cover. The book really needed a professional cover better than I was able to do myself.

So I revised the book and had a new cover made. I outsourced to a cover designer on Fiverr. My cover was dramatically improved and it now looked professional.

Most people do judge a book by the cover. If you screw up on the cover either your book won’t sell or your sales will be low.

The cover creates the first impression, gives a clue as to what your book is about, and from that first glance a reader decides whether or not to take a closer look at your book.

Creating your own cover can spell disaster for a first-time author.

Mistake no. 2  – The Title

Recently, I was given a manuscript to assess and the first reaction I had was, what a terrible title. It was bland, lame and ordinary.  

There was nothing distinctive about the title, nothing to entice a reader to buy the book, there was no sub-title to explained things further, and nothing to indicate the benefits of the book. 

It was a title that would have relegated the book to the sales prevention department.

Mistake no. 3  – Editing

I meet many highly educated people who believe that their text does not need editing. 

If there has been some editing they may have done a couple of self-edits and family and friends might have done their bit too.

Because you can publish a book for very little cost on Amazon – even no cost – the temptation is to prepare the manuscript yourself for publication and risk having an end product looking like the job of an amateur.

Don’t compromise the quality of your book. Your goal as a self-publisher is to make your manuscript as good as it can possibly be, so seek the services of an independent, professional editor.

Mistake No. 4 – Formatting

I’ve seen the results of amateurs formatting their books for Amazon either as Kindle eBooks or Paperbacks.

If a Kindle eBook is not formatted according to the Kindle Direct Publishing(KDP) guidelines it can end up with a lot of formatting mistakes, and if published, it will need to be withdrawn from sale and done again.

Whether you are publishing on Amazon, Ingram Spark, Lulu or whoever, make sure that you understand the technical requirements needed for the formatting. 

Follow the relevant guidelines closely, and understand the type of file that is necessary for publishing the book.

Formatting is something that I would definitely outsource to a professional. First-time authors who are new to the self-publishing process should engage the services of professionals to help them with producing their books. 

It is possible to get professional help and it is possible to do this on a budget.

For regular free tips and access to the Masterclass on writing and self-publishing, tune in to the Fast Self-Publishing Online community each week on a Thursday.

Marji Hill

Author & Coach

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4 Excuses That Can Derail A First-Time Author?

You know, so many people say they want to write a book. Many talk about the book they are going to write and then for one reason or another they will talk themselves out of it or just let their book idea fall by the wayside.

Many would-be authors get stranded at the start. They just don’t seem to be able to begin writing their book. 

Some are waiting for the ideal time. Others are searching for the perfect place to write, and there are those who believe that they must be in a place which they will think is their inspiration nook. 

Or there will be something else.  Another excuse. Anything.

Time

Time is a big problem for many. Well, let me tell you something. 

You have all the time in the world to do everything that is truly important to you.

Now let’s say you are planning to start, and this is the day, but next a friend or partner interrupts your plan and says let’s meet for a coffee and you do just that.

At that point in time meeting for a coffee is what’s important.

Meeting for a coffee has become more important than writing your book. So the coffee meeting gets a higher priority in your time allocation than actually working on your book.

Prioritising your obligations is the major principle behind managing your time and being more productive. You need to identify the elements that make up the core of your existence and then rank those commitments.

Working out your priorities is what will help you to see where you can find time for your creative pursuits. The task of writing will need to be ranked highly on your list of priorities.

Life gets in the way

People’s lives are full of all the things they are obligated to do. The people who repetitively say they are “gonna write their book” lead active, busy lives. 

Life gets in the way, however. For many would-be authors, they never sit down long enough to focus on their writing and produce a manuscript. 

They overload their time and do everything else except what they say they want to do, and that is to write.

Procrastination

Do you fritter your time away pursuing meaningless activities and do you sabotage yourself by letting time slip by? 

Those who suffer from procrastination tend to put all their energy into tasks that have lesser importance? 

If you have a job you will show up for work every day otherwise you’ll be sacked. You are not likely to say “oh’ I really don’t feel like it today” and so don’t go to work. 

If you have a job you’ll show up or else suffer the consequences.

As a writer, you must show up at the appointed time to write. You need to make that commitment to yourself otherwise you’ll be a victim of procrastination. 

Procrastination will become more important than writing your book. 

You must manage yourself by making an appointment with yourself. You must allocate time to write – maybe 30 or 60 minutes a day or longer. 

Set a goal for writing “x” number of words each day and go for it. It does come down to discipline, and your motivation for doing it.

Self-limiting beliefs

I believe that many suffer doubts about their ability to write and they fear that they are not good enough? They doubt their knowledge and worry that they don’t know enough. 

They fear what others will think and worry that their friends and family will not be supportive.  

Try this exercise. Write down all your self-limiting beliefs.  

Once you’ve identified these write a positive statement beside each self-limiting belief. Put them in the form of a positive affirmation that will demonstrate to you that you do have what it takes to be a successful author.

As you write down these 5 limiting beliefs and then counter these with positive statements you say to yourself that you’re knocking out those self-limiting beliefs that are pulling you down.

Turn those self-limiting beliefs into positive affirmations. 

For example,

I’m very knowledgeable about my subject matter.

I have great writing ability.

I never worry about what others think of me.

I forge ahead and do what I want to do.

I am a successful author.

Once you identify the negative beliefs and turn them into positives read them each day, and better still, say them out loud every day.  You will become unstoppable. 

You’ll then find the time to sit down and write that book!

The solution

The problems of getting organised, managing your time, procrastination, and self-doubt will resolve when you crystallise your reason to write. 

Some writers, just like artists, say they write when they get the inspiration – so they wait for the muse to magically appear. 

My experience is that when you embark on some creative pursuit, inspiration will spring from the sheer act of systematically working on what is in front of you. The repetitive act of creating a piece of writing or artwork will, in turn, result in inspiration. 

You can make it happen. If you develop the habit of writing daily, even for short bursts of time, productivity and creativity will advance.

This, in turn, creates momentum.

How big is your why? 

Your inner drive will propel your creativity and you will be compelled to move forward. Nothing will stop you. 

Nothing will get in your way. When you examine the reason for wanting to create a book many of the challenges will resolve if the “why” is big enough. 

When the “why” is big, you are driven internally and you will pursue your goals relentlessly.

Don’t wait for success to happen because, if you do, it’s going to be a very long wait. You have to take the initiative, seize control, create opportunities, and make things happen. 

Hill, Marji. How Big Is Your Why?: An Author’s Guide To Time Management And Productivity To Achieve Transformational Results (Fast Self-Publishing Online, Book 1). The Prison Tree Press. Kindle Edition.

Marji Hill

Author and Coach

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Fast Self-Publishing Online

An Authors’ Dream Come True With Self-Publishing On Amazon

Key benefits

There are nine key benefits to publishing your book on Amazon:

1. It is inexpensive to start the publishing process
2. Self-publishers can start earning income quickly
3. It is possible to earn up to 70% in royalties
4. There is a worldwide distribution
5. The listing and publishing process is simple and easy
6. Authors maintain creative control over their book
7. Earn additional income from customers borrowing books
8. Get a marketing boost for up to 5 days from time to time
9. Amazon gives you the option to fix errors if you spot them after publishing.

To avoid major mistakes and risks associated with poor publishing outcome it’s important to learn the fundamentals of listing and marketing your book within the Amazon ecosystem.

Rejection from mainstream publishers

No longer do you have to find a mainstream publisher to publish your book. Gone are the days of receiving reject letters and feeling frustrated, discouraged and disappointed that a mainstream publisher has rejected your book.

Instead, you can now replace these feelings with excitement, a buzz, and even euphoria when you make that first sale. A dream come true!

Print on demand

Self-publishing on Amazon means you can archive those days of the past when if you self-published you had to invest in a large print run. Publishing on Amazon is free.

With the Paperback platform, it’s Print on Demand. Simply buy one copy, 10 copies, 200 copies, whatever.

There is no upfront investment or risk to investing in your book as you don’t have to sell to recoup the money by selling lots of books.

There are no upfront costs so when a Paperback is sold, Amazon ships it to the buyer and you the author receive a royalty. This is passive income.

Passive income stream

When you start to see the sales you realize the potential for developing another income stream. – a passive income. This means that your book royalties may help fund the lifestyle you so desire.

Revisions

Have you ever feared to publish a book only to find that the cover design is terrible, there are mistakes in the text or other errors? Well, you can relax.

There is no need to stress. Amazon has a process for revision.

After publishing, it is possible to make changes to your manuscript, to fix any errors, refine your content to the best of your ability, or to update the cover.

Millions of potential customers

Finally, by publishing on Amazon authors are exposing their book to millions of potential customers. This is an amazing opportunity to create brand awareness to the thousands if not millions of people who could become their customers, and authors are promoting their brand for free.

A dream come true

The best part is that the process for publishing on Amazon is simple but to maximize the results you desire, authors need a coach to guide them. They can say goodbye to feelings of being lost, suffering frustration, and procrastination.

Instead, an author can experience the ecstasy of having their first book published, a dream come true, and realize the potential of a gateway to future income opportunities.

Marji Hill

Founder of Fast Self-Publishing Online

JOIN: Fast Self-Publishing Online FACEBOOK community

Self-Publishing On Amazon

Self-Publish On Amazon

The process of self-publishing your own book can be very simple. Publishing it on the Amazon platform is a breeze and is easier than ever.

It can also be very challenging and complex.

While self-publishing on Amazon is relatively easy it is not all that easy to do it well or to build your customer base.

It requires a lot of work and effort.

My First Self-Publishing Experience

I published my first book both as a Kindle eBook and as a Paperback. The Paperback was published on what was formerly CreateSpace.

Now both Kindle eBook and Paperback versions are published on the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform.

Once I had finalized the manuscript and had it professionally edited, I outsourced the formatting to a professional. I found the outsourcer on Upwork and he was situated in the Czech Republic.

The outsourcer prepared the two files according to the guidelines laid out by KDP and CreateSpace. As I was totally inexperienced at self-publishing online and hopeless at the techie side of things, he helped me by uploading the files to my Amazon account.

I used the KDP Cover Creator to design the book’s cover. Eventually, after the book had been published for some time, I realized this cover was very average and ordinary.

My next step was to outsource the design of another cover. I went to Fiverr and chose an outsourcer from India. He made a new cover for me and he uploaded the cover file to my account and for this, he only charged me a few dollars.

Need for professionalism

While it is relatively easy to list your book both as a Kindle eBook and as a Paperback on Amazon there are certain areas where mistakes can be made and you risk having a badly published book.

This is where professionalism comes into play.

Unless you are expert yourself outsource the services of professionals to help you with

1. the cover
2. editing
3. formatting

It is possible to find professionals to help you with these services and to get the help you need that is affordable.

Do not risk publishing a book that looks amateurish and unprofessional. It can result in bad reviews and little or no sales.

You must produce a professional looking publication.

The process of listing your book for sale on the Amazon platforms is fairly straightforward. You just need to follow the prompts.

The Amazon market place

And it is quick to do. You can have your book published and listed for sale on the Amazon market place within 24 hours.

Just think how you will feel seeing your book published and out there in the market place, listed for sale, and for all the world to see.

It’s certainly exciting! It’s a time for celebration!

And into the bargain when you make that first sale, experience the most incredible feeling of euphoria. It’s sensational! What a high!

No longer do you need to go through painstaking efforts to land a book deal with a mainstream publisher that can lock you into tough deadlines and where you can only generate around 5% or 10% in royalties.

Self-publishing on Amazon means you are in control. You control the content, the interior design, the cover, the price, the marketing, and the distribution. And you can generate up to 70% in royalties.

But it is at this point where the next and challenging part of the self-publishing process starts. To become a successful author and a successful seller you must master the fundamentals of publishing and marketing on Amazon.

Marji Hill

Founder of Fast Self-Publishing Online 

Facebook group:  Fast Self-Publishing Online