You can see the inspiration of my book muse in these images:
I’ve recently been very inspired by Amie McNee’s book launch for We Need Your Art.
Her wardrobe is giving me life! Photos crossing the street in NYC, holding up love letters, and posts showing pages of her book.
10 out of 10 stars! ⭐
Just a reminder as we move into this section that my focus is on heart centered marketing. Telling people bout your book so the right people will find you.
If you want more strategic support for marketing I’d highly recommend taking a course from Leonie Dawson.
Their course 40 Days to a Finished Book (affiliate link) includes practical tips on how to become an Amazon Bestseller. And their Marketing without Social Media workshop (affiliate link) is full of creative ideas to market your work outside the algorithm.
I made a lot of statements about book sales in this podcast. Here are my references.
Authors as multi-hyphenates (Writing Excuses Podcast 18.26)
42 Percent Decline in Authors Earnings in Last Decade (Authors Guild, January 2019)
How Much Do Authors Make Per Book? (Book Riot, 2021)
Book Advances (paid post from Anne Trubek, 2022)
It’s really important to remember that only a fraction of a fraction of your audience will buy your book right away,
“1.1% of her audience preordered or bought her book as soon as it hits the shelves. Read that again: ONE POINT ONE PER CENT.” via Nicola Washington
And words of wisdom from a literary agent…
Melanie Jackson, Percival Everett’s literary agent (Source: Everett’s acceptance speech for the PEN Award)
Consider including a call to action at the end of your book. A clear ask for the reader to connect with you, hire you, or sign up for your newsletter.
You can even mention a free download, resource library, or perks specific to book readers.
If you’re publishing print books you’ll need to take care to make these links evergreen so your book isn’t quickly outdated. If you’re publishing Ebooks you can include links directly to your newsletter opt in. Make it as easy as possible for people to keep in touch.
Here’s my book nerd’s tour of the copyright page…
There’s a lot going on on copyright pages. Any questions?
What element of the books you examined stood out to you?
How do you want the design of your book to feel?
Here are some vintage examples from the public domain:
Weird Tales Volume 10 (1927)
Horto (1910)
Through a Glass Lightly (1897)
What marketplaces & formats are you considering?
.mobi – Amazon’s standard ebook file type (required to sell through Amazon)
.epub – most common outside of Amazon’s marketplace
.PDF – cheapest DIY option
Distribute on Audible with ACX
Libro.FM (which partners with local bookstores)
My podcasting & audiobook gear *
Ferrite Recording Studio (app for iPad)
Austin Kleon, How I recorded an audiobook during a pandemic.
And an alternate opinion about when to record the audiobook that is especially relevant if you’re hiring professional narrators.
* I’ve used different microphones in the past (including a Blue Snowball, MOVO, and AT 2020). The Blue Snowball broke. The MOVO had a headphone jack and started to have compatibility issues with newer Apple devices. I struggled with the AT 2020. I was using a cardiod condenser version (not a USB) which had to be recorded with a Zoom H4N. I’m not sure if it was postpartum baby brain, but it was a giant headache and I wanted to go back to a simple USB mic.
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
Creatively Conscious by Philippa Stanton
Learning by Heart by Sister Corita Kent
Google Fonts (free open source fonts)
Creative Market Fonts (a good source for purchasing fonts for your book cover or headers)
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (known as Amazon KDP)
Barnes & Noble Print on Demand
48 Hour Books (Considering this for my next book.)
I am not endorsing any of these companies. I am sharing the information I have at hand about your options. My personal experience is limited to print on demand through Amazon KDP.
I’ve written about the complexity of choosing whether or not to publish through Amazon here:
Now that you know the costs you’ll need to decide how to price your book and what investment is required.
Here are a list of possible costs for you to consider:
Considering your costs you’ll need to consider where to price each edition of your book. How many books will you need to sell to break even? How many to turn a profit?
Ingram Spark’s How Much Should My Book Cost?
Bear Hebert’s Anticapitalist Guide to Pricing Your Work