Self Publishing Questions (the Archives)

Michal has a great question about what Steve would do if he only had five dollars to start his book business. In this episode, Steve outlines a 10-step plan for launching his first Kindle book and explains how he would bootstrap the entire process.

Chris just published his first book and wants to know if he should use a five-day promotion (via KDP Select) or break it into two different campaigns.

Stan is about to publish his first book for his website, TheHiringTips.com, and he wants to put a link at the bottom of each page of his Kindle book. In this episode, Steve talks about using links in books and offers suggestions on how to find a good balance between promoting your brand and giving readers a quality book experience.

Kamal is a new author, and he's stuck on deciding which market to enter: fiction or nonfiction. In this episode, Steve weighs the pros and cons of each market and offers tips to help with this crucial decision.

Lawrence wonders about the process for making a modest income with self-publishing. He wants to know how to generate $1,000 to $2,000 per month. In this episode, Steve breaks down his one-hour book marketing plan for authors who have a limited amount of time.

Marie asks how you balance marketing activities with writing new books. In this episode, Steve explains the importance of building a book catalog while you market your existing books.

In this episode, Catherine asks Steve about his decision not to continue with his line of children's books. She asks him to explain why children's books are so difficult to sell and share any lessons he learned in what turned out to be a failed Kindle niche experiment.

Tobias asks if it's possible to outsource Kindle books and have the quality remain at a high level. In this episode, Steve gives his opinion on outsourcing the production of Kindle books, plus a few strategies for hiring people.

It's time for another Five Questions segment. In this episode, Steve covers a variety of topics including finding your international reviews, if the Author Follow button works, media liability insurance, formatting, and putting a product on Udemy.

Daemon is interested in doing a free book promotion, so he's wondering if it's worth spending the money on advertisements. He also wants to know which sites generate the best return on investment. In this episode, Steve covers a few paid advertising options (and free ones) that can maximize your book launch.

William is just getting started with Kindle ebook publishing. He asks about how to research a topic when it’s an area where he doesn’t have a lot of personal experience. In this episode, Steve covers three strategies for creating a compelling book—even if you aren’t familiar with the topic.

In this episode, Steve answers a question from Thomas about his preferred tools and resources for authors. He lists marketing tools, websites, and apps that can help anyone running a self-publishing business.

Gregg asks a great question about building a staff around a book-based business. In this episode, Steve talks about the specific team members he employs, what they do, and how this business evolves.

Zach wants book one of his series to be perma-free, but he doesn't know if that means the rest of the series should come out of KDP Select. In this episode, Steve talks about perma-free, its impact on KDP Select, and how to use it to get more brand visibility.

Dekel has three books he would like to launch. He wants to know if he should do them together or launch them a few months apart. In this episode, Steve talks about how to launch a free book for maximum exposure and to generate the greatest number of email subscribers.

Chris asks if he should take his free PDF and convert it to a Kindle book as well. Steve discusses the difference between the two and explains how to use each to build an email list.

Tim asks about Facebook advertising and how it can be used to sell books. In this episode, Steve goes over five Facebook strategies he’s currently testing and talks about how to try this platform without losing a lot of money.

Adam is a first-time Kindle author, so he's wondering what common pitfalls he should avoid as he's getting started. In this episode, Steve goes over six mistakes many authors make and explains how to avoid them.

Both Nicholas and Josiane asked about the word count of a Kindle book. In this episode, Steve discusses his experience with writing different word counts, how customers receive books of different lengths, and his plans moving forward for the length of his books.

Not only will street team members leave those important initial reviews, they also help build buzz for your new books. In this episode, Steve talks about how to cultivate your street team and get members to take action for your next launch.