Self-Publishing

Three Things That Can Help You Sell Your Self-Published Books on Amazon

And potentially turn your words into an income stream

A whopping 90% of self-published books sell less than 100 copies.

In 2015, I self-published a book, and I was part of that 90%.

Apart from a few friends and family members, the book went largely unnoticed. Definitely not what you would call a bestseller.

I’m not trying to discourage you. Writing a book has plenty of benefits, far more than the royalties you’ll make from its sales. It can establish you as a thought leader, act as a lead magnet for your business, open coaching, and public speaking opportunities, and so on.

But book sales still matter. And if you want to avoid the same fate I had when I first self-published a book, here are three things you’ll want to do to improve your chances.

Write in public

I wrote my book the traditional way.

That means no one but my biased eyes looked at it until it was finished. Back then, I thought my writing was pure creative genius. My mind was deluded into thinking that the world was anxiously awaiting my literary talents.

I was wrong.

I never bothered to validate my ideas nor tried to solicit feedback.

If I were to write my book today, I would start by sharing bits and pieces online platforms like Twitter, Wattpad, or Medium where people might see it.

Their feedback would be my signal of whether I am heading in the right direction or not.

Writing in public is the complete opposite of traditional writing.

When you write in public, you write with others. You know that your book will make an impact because people will tell you exactly what they like and don't like.

Build a platform.

Many of us writers are romantics.

We think marketing is icky. But we have to do it.

The world of publishing is changing. Even if we somehow catch the eyes of traditional publishers, we would still have to do a lot of the leg work to get the word out about our books.

So what must we do? Build a platform. And build it before you finish your book. It’s difficult to rush yourself into creating a platform after you’ve written your book.

If you’re already writing on social media, you already have one piece of the puzzle. And that piece is having a place to get discovered.

The other pieces of the puzzle include an email list, a product/or service (in this case, your book), and a simple webpage.

A webpage doesn’t have to be this fancy thing. You can use platforms like LinkTree and Bio.Link to create your one-page website in minutes.

The other piece of the puzzle you need to focus more on is your email list.

Emails build relationships, and that's important. The simplest way to start an email list is by creating a Substack account. You don't need fancy software or equipment to do this.

An email list keeps your followers engaged, making them more likely to buy your book.

You can read more about how to get your creator business set up in this guide:

Pay more attention to Amazon categories.

When you self-publish on Amazon, you get to choose categories.

When I self-published my book, I treated categories as an afterthought.

Big, big mistake.

With billions of books on Amazon, your best chance of being noticed is if you put it in categories where it’s more likely to be seen.

I've always wondered how some authors I've never heard of claim they're "bestselling authors."

The answer is that they’ve thought about which categories to place their book in. They picked categories that weren’t overly saturated and then proceeded to dominate those categories.

For guidance on how to research the best Amazon categories for you, I recommend reading this article from Kindlepreneur.

Final Thoughts

Not everyone who writes a book has the goal of making money in mind.

And there's nothing wrong with writing for writing’s sake.

I was going through some personal issues when I wrote my first book. What I wanted was an emotional outlet, and I found that in book writing.

So even though I failed to turn my book into a moneymaker, it helped me overcome a turbulent period in my life. That’s a benefit no amount of money can match.

However, if you want your book to be a reliable income stream, you must wear an entrepreneur’s hat.

If you want to be a self-published author, you aren’t just a writer.

As a self-published author, you’re also a marketer. You’re also a project manager. And you are the CEO of your publishing startup.