So, how are you supposed to work out algorithms when you really have to think about how to spell the darn things?
Well, there are all kinds of books on how to market self-published work. The main problem seems to be that your traditionally published books have the benefit of marketing departments and organisational skills, and a whole load of money, behind them, where the self-publisher has to do everything themselves.
And maybe that’s true. In any case, for what it’s worth, I don’t think you need to know absolutely everything when you first start. A lot of these things can only be learnt with experience. That said, it doesn’t hurt to give yourself a bit of a leg-up and with this free guide, you might get some ideas of how to make ‘free’ pay the bills.
Book Review – The Unofficial Author’s Guide To Selling Your Book On Amazon: The Top 5 Cheat Sheet for Self Publishing Authors by Richard McCartney
First published, 2016
⭐ ⭐ ⭐
A good starter guide for the new writer. I knew a lot of the techniques here, such as – making your first book in series free, increasing your book’s categories from the standard two to ten via Author Central, and looking at ways to get positive reviews better exposure to drown out the trolls (if, indeed, trolls they are).
Unfortunately, I struggle with any writing guide or marketing book that contains spelling errors and there are a decent handful here (‘use to’ instead of ‘used to’, ‘advise’ for ‘advice’ – basic stuff that spellcheck won’t pick up and, okay, it might seem niggly to pick out these mistakes but this is a book about giving your book the best possible chance. It should be well-written).
However, if you find the algorithm frightening, and free books don’t make financial sense to you, this may be the marketing book for you. It has been updated to deal with the new ways Amazon shows its reviews, and the hideous topic of ratings (I can’t bear ratings, I like a bit more detail than can be provided by a clicking the stars and moving on).
Petrina Binney - Author 