How to Self-Publish 100+ Books
10 Lessons: It’s Easier Than You Think
Introduction
Before we get started, here’s a little background info….
In 2004, I published my first book. In 2006, I published my second book. Between 2007–2015, I did not publish a SINGLE book. In 2016, I published 2 more books. In 2017, I published 10 books. In 2018, I published 3 books. In 2019, I published 18 books. In 2020, I published 200+ books.
And I just KEEP GOING. Writing is my passion. Writing is MY THING!
It is a priority for me to give back and share my knowledge along my journey. And I am excited to share all of my ideas, experience, and knowledge with the world, which is why I wrote this article.
Since you’re reading this, writing is most likely your thing or something you are amply interested in.
But back to my story….
I started writing when I was a kid, and I published my first book in elementary school at age 11. To this very day, nothing gets me high like writing does.
Writing is my thing!
One of your questions might be: “Do I have to publish 100+ books to be a successful self-published author?” And the answer is: “NO.”
BUT, I will say, as a self-published author, it is critical to publish consistently to build momentum, gain readership, grow awareness of your books, and increase sales.
Now, let’s jump into the article overview…..
Overview
In this article, you will cover the nine components needed to successfully self-publish 100+ books.
If I can do it, YOU CAN do the same!
Spread your impact through your books while earning money doing it, AND work from anywhere.
Five incredible things self-publishing offers:
1. Consistently gain readers over time 2. Maintain FULL control of what you publish 3. Work from anywhere 4. No cap to your income 5. Make an impact
And I will continue to stress this one thing:
The more you publish, the more traction you gain. Furthermore, the more you publish, the better you become as a writer.
Outline
- Introduction
- My Story
- Overview
- Lesson 1: The Self-Publishing Game (Publish Often)
- Lesson 2: Constantly Write & Jot Down Your Ideas
- Lesson 3: Share Everything (Almost)
- Lesson 4: Short & Sweet — Not Every Book Needs to Be A Novel
- Lesson 5: Stick to What You Know
- Lesson 6: Amazon Is King
- Lesson 7: Reviews
- Lesson 8: Make E-Books AND Paperbacks
- Lesson 9: Be Your Number #1 Fan
- Lesson 10: Giving Back
- Questions — leave in the comment section or reach out to me directly
Lesson 1: The Self-Publishing Game
There is no other way to put this. In the self-publishing game, you need to publish OFTEN to gain traction, readership, resources, money, and knowledge.
It’s a CONTINUOUS cycle:
Write. Edit. Publish. Repeat. Write. Edit. Publish. Repeat. Write. Edit. Publish. Repeat. Write. Edit. Publish. Repeat.
If you do this, you will be successful. In fact, your success will be inevitable.
When I first started publishing, I didn’t have anyone consistently reading my work, but now I never have a day that goes by that someone doesn’t read, buy, or download my work. And the same will go for you!!
Maybe you’ve already started self-publishing. Maybe you haven’t, but once you get started with the self-publishing game and KEEP GOING, you will experience RESULTS!!
A good publishing schedule is to publish 1 book per week, which amounts to 52–53 books per year, or you can publish at least 1 book per month, which amounts to 12 books per year.
In the beginning….
When you first start publishing, your work might be absolute perfection, but for most of us, we got to work at it [becoming a better writer].
Your work will most likely be a little sh*tty in the beginning phases when you first start publishing.
And by sh*tty I mean, the graphics might suck, the content might not be as eloquent and cohesive, there might be more spelling and grammatical errors, etc. But as you continue to publish more and more books, your books will gradually become better reads.
You will start to notice that your work is well received, your covers look better, your writing flows, and overall you will be putting out better products.
Lesson 2: Constantly Write & Jot Down Your Ideas
First Things First
Successful writing and publishing boil down to consistency.
You don’t need to write daily, but writing daily or almost daily will ensure you stay in a flow and consistently improve your writing skills.
And let me tell you something, YOU WILL NOT ALWAYS FEEL LIKE WRITING; please know, this is okay and very normal. The best thing you can do as a writer is to push through these types of feelings. Once you become a master at this, you will be unstoppable.
Most dreams never happen because people don’t feel like being committed and putting in the work, day in and day out.
Be an outlier. Be someone that goes against the grain and chooses to work on your goals no matter how you feel, what you are going through, or how much doubt you have about publishing the content and products you create.
Ideas
Another thing, as you continue writing, you will notice that ideas continuously flow into your mind.
WRITE YOUR IDEAS DOWN!!!
Don’t expect yourself always to remember things, because we do forget some of our ideas. You’ll be surprised at some of the doubtful ideas that end up working. So don’t leave the execution of this idea to chance by forgetting to jot it down.
Keep a place, whether digital or physical, where you can freely access your book ideas, writing ideas, marketing ideas, publishing ideas, etc.
Lesson 3: Share Everything (Almost)
We are content (not the state of being), and the experiences that we go through are also content. You see this in the identity age we live in with reality tv, documentaries, autobiographies, social media, etc.
Use everything (that you are comfortable sharing) as part of the content you release into the world. Some of the content will be based on others’ experiences; this is also valuable content that you do not want to waste.
As a writer, everything is content. In each day, there is a lesson to learn, reflect upon, and improve upon.
What happened in your day today? Who did you interact with? What went wrong today? What went right today? How did you respond to different situations? What stories did you listen to? What new information did you acquire? What area of your life today needs to be improved upon?
The list goes on and on. You never need to look for content; it’s always here. This goes for non-fiction and fiction writers. Use everything for inspiration. Once you start doing this, you will note that ideas and inspiration start to come from both the strangest and normal occurrences.
Lesson 4: Short & Sweet
Not all of your books need to be a novel.
In fact, if you want to have a high publishing rate, much of your content needs to be short, sweet, and easily digestible while still holding quality.
Remember, some book projects will take a long time, but that does not mean you cannot work on short pieces to publish in the meantime.
The length of your book does not give you legitimacy.
What gives you legitimacy is putting forth your best effort into each product you put out to the world. Give it your all and call it a day. Don’t lead yourself to believe that you aren’t a real writer because you publish shorter books and pieces.
Lesson 5: Stick to What You Know
What do you know? What are you good at? What subjects are you passionate about (this includes writing)? What have been your experiences? When people ask you for advice, what type of advice do they ask for? Where do your mind and imagination go (for all of you fiction writers)?
The answers to these questions (and questions like them) can help guide you in determining what type of content you should publish.
Writing is not always easy, but it sure is a lot easier when you stick to what you know and enjoy. Now you can always become educated and informed on many topics, allowing you to deliver a more quality product if you decide to write about it.
Lesson 6: Amazon
Let’s face it, Jeff Bezos really did it right. People can hate on the billionaire all they want, but I will be eternally grateful for what he created for self-publishing authors.
Amazon offers a fantastic platform to publish all of your books for FREE. If you are not taking advantage of this platform, please do so! This is the place to connect you with millions upon millions of readers across the globe. All you have to do is help people find your work, and when they find your work, make sure your content is worthy.
Now, I will not be going into the minute details of how to publish on amazon because it is very self-explanatory after you get started. I learned how to use the platform as I went and on my own.
If you have questions about this platform, please feel free to reach out to me. Happy to offer help and assistance as I can.
Many other free platforms allow you to upload your work for free as well. Check them out to see which one works best for you and your goals. You might even want to upload your work to every single platform, which will assist in increasing your visibility:
- Scribd
- Substack
- Medium
- Inkitt
Remember, every piece of content you publish is another seed compounding into a big tree that will bring you out of obscurity. So spread your seeds and publish often to bring awareness to your art.
Lesson 7: Reviews
If you are self-publishing on Amazon, you will get reviews for your books.
In the beginning, you might receive no reviews.
Don’t worry. The reviews will come (reviews do seem to have a way of legitimizing our work and conveying to potential readers that our work is being read).
And remember, not all of the reviews you receive will be positive, and this okay. You do not want ALL of your reviews to be positive BECAUSE you need to grow and get better as a writer. Often there is valuable feedback and takeaways from the 1-star, 2-star, and 3-star reviews.
Don’t take negative reviews personally!
Encourage people to review your work and leave feedback (positive, neutral, or negative).
EVERY review counts and means that your work is being read (which is a writer’s dream, RIGHT?).
At the beginning AND end of each book, you self-publish, be sure to leave a note that encourages your readers to leave a review. You want to keep reminding them, so they are more inclined to follow through on submitting that review for your book.
Lesson 8: Make E-Books AND Paperbacks
Always use multiple formats when you are publishing content; this helps increase your reader base. Some of your readers will prefer e-books, and other readers will have a preference for paperbacks. Lastly, some readers will prefer audio. Choose the formats that work for both you and your readers to ensure you offer a wholesome experience.
The Amazon self-publishing platform allows you to publish your work in all of the formats listed above.
Lesson 9: Be Your Number #1 Fan
The journey of a writer never ends. The journey of a writer is often spent alone. The journey of a writer is sometimes fun. The journey of a writer is sometimes not so fun.
Through it all, though, you need to be your #1 fan through the: good days, bad days, 1-star reviews, 5-star reviews, no-sale days, high-sale days, low-sale days, the days where no one reads your work, the days where you’re still an obscure artist, the days where you don’t feel like writing, and the days you do feel like writing.
You have to be your biggest support system.
My two biggest pieces of advice to any writer are the following:
1. Publish frequently 2. Enjoy the journey
It’s that simple.
Lesson 10: Giving Back
Something that has helped me gain readership, sales, and exposure is giving away free books on amazon daily.
A couple of years ago, I was trying to find a way to give back every day to society — outside of my blogs — and I finally came up with an idea: I would give free books away daily on amazon.
I utilize my voice, my words, and my thoughts to give back to the global community.
Free Books
Each day you will find free books when you visit my Free Amazon Book Page on various topics. Some days there will be a handful of free books available, and other days, you will lose count of the free books available.
It’s essential for me to give back positive words and vibes into the lives of many.
Questions
Hopefully, this article was helpful to you in at least one way.
Please feel free to reach out to me (anytime) on here by leaving a comment or directly with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have about self-publishing.
Thank you for reading this article!
Grab your FREE books — Here. Wanna keep in touch? Connect with Destiny S. Harris on IG: @textdestiny, FB: @textdestiny, or destinyh.com
