During the first seven days of January, I released one new book or new edition each day — seven books in total. Then I got sick, and the last fifteen days have seen no new book releases. Alas.
But I would have had to stop sooner or later, not because I would run out of books to release (I have about 60 books still to release), but because releasing one book a day is insane. Even if you have most of the books already finished or almost done, it takes time to publish and release a book.
Here are a few of the steps I took to release each new book:
Editorial: I reviewed each book, edited it, added images, etc. Adding images for some of the books took the most time.
Interior Design: I made sure that the interior of each book was typeset properly in Word and ready to be uploaded via Kindle, etc.
Cover Design: I had to design the cover for each book. And, because of the way Kindle print words, I often had to design a second cover for the Kindle print edition.
PDF Creation: From the Word document for each book, I published a PDF version of the book.
Kindle Uploads: I had to upload the book to Kindle and then separately (in another format) to Kindle print. Kindle could upload books as a PDF or a Kindle Create file, but Kindle print required a Word document.
Keywords, etc.: When uploading to Kindle and Kindle print, you have to add the key bibliographic information: Title, subtitle, series, edition, author, description, keyword tags, Amazon categories (which are horribly inappropriate for many books), and pricing.
Kindle Covers: I had to upload the Kindle cover for the ebook version. And then use Kindle Print cover creator to create a Kindle print cover for the paperback book. Alas, the Kindle Print cover creator has very few options and makes for poorly designed covers as well as many covers that look way too similar.
Blog Post: For each book, I had to write a custom blog post featuring the book cover, the title, the book’s description (ideally some great sales copy), an excerpt from the book, testimonials (if I had any), plus buying options for Kindle, Kindle print, and PDF download.
Paypal Button: I had to create a Paypal buy button for each book so people could buy the PDF version of the book directly from me.
Download Page: I had to create a download page for each book’s PDF version. This download page had to be secured and hidden so people couldn’t find the page unless they paid first (through Paypal).
PDF Upload: I had to upload the PDF to my website so I could add the download link to the download page.
Social Share: Each book I shared via a Facebook post, but I did not always share it to my other social networks (which I should have done and will do).
Sadly, that social sharing is all the time I had for marketing the books because of all the time it takes to edit, design, and publish each book. It’s insane to publish a book a day if you are doing no marketing for those books. Yes, you might get a few people to discover the book on Amazon or your website or via your social shares, but you won’t make many sales that way.
So, some time in the next few weeks, I’ll do some of the following to promote those books: Facebook ads, more social sharing, Amazon ads, email newsletter promos, Pinterest ads, some author interviews, perhaps some media pitches.
Even without doing those things, I’ve been getting some traffic to each book page. But few sales. Sales come from great promotion. Promotion, as with publishing, takes time. As many writers have discovered, writing the book is only the first step (and often the easiest). Editorial, design, publishing, and promotion are all required in addition to writing a great book to begin with.
Are you ready to do what it takes to make your book a success? Comment below if you like this article.
By the way, here are the first seven books of the new year of 2019 produced and published by me (two were written by my wife Gail Berry), the rest by me).
Blogging 105: 105 Ways to Blog as an Author, an Expert, and a Real Person – Meanwhile, you can get the book as a Kindle ebook or a paperback on Amazon. Here’s the paperback link: https://amzn.to/2Sx1imn.
R Is for Red: An ABC Alphabet Book – https://www.myincrediblewebsite.com/r-is-for-red-an-abc-alphabet-book. It’s a simple A to Z alphabet book focused on things that are red and illustrated with beautiful red illustrations. Great for children to learn their ABCs.
Little Fox and the Golden Hawk by Gail Berry – https://www.myincrediblewebsite.com/little-fox-and-the-golden-hawk-by-gail-berry. A new update of this children’s book previously published 20 years earlier. Check out this wonderful testimonial: I just finished reading the book for the 10th time because it’s so good. — Joy Elliott (9 years old)
Crazy Horse by Gail Berry – https://www.myincrediblewebsite.com/crazy-horse-by-gail-berry. This is a wonderful story by my wife. Short and sweet (28 pages). I love this story. It’s a great story to read for yourself or to read to your children (you’ll have fun reading it aloud!).
The Art of Living: Artists, Photographers, Architects, Designers, Cartoonists, Poets, Writers, Novelists, and Critics on Art and Life. – https://www.myincrediblewebsite.com/the-art-of-living-quote-book. Check out the sample quotes from this quote book via the above link. Some real snappy quotes!
Romance in 501 Words Or Less: All you need to know about love, romance, relationships, sex, and living happily ever after. – https://www.myincrediblewebsite.com/romance-in-501-words-or-less. Yes, the book is less than 501 words (with wonderful illustrations), but full of great insight. It makes a great gift for someone you truly love.
Marketing in 501 Words Or Less: All you need to know about selling, marketing, publicity, promotion, and giving people what they want! – https://www.myincrediblewebsite.com/marketing-in-501-words-or-less. Yes, the book is also less than 501 words (with wonderful illustrations), but full of great tips on how to market and promote. You’ll be amazed at what you will learn in this short book.
About John Kremer
John Kremer is author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, the Relationships Matter Marketing program, and many other books and reports on book marketing, Internet marketing, social media, and book publicity. -- John Kremer on Book Marketing.