Guest post on ebook marketing by Scott Burtness

I am the author of two self-published novels and a published short story. Currently, my self-published titles are on a single platform: Amazon.
So far, managing a single platform has been a wise decision. It has provided a controlled environment to try different marketing tools. With all marketing and promotion driving traffic to the same platform, it is easier to determine what works well and what doesn’t. When something works, I have downloads. When something doesn’t, I can usually be found in a dark room crying into a pillow and saying, It’s just allergies, there’s just something in the air…

When evaluating marketing and promotion efforts, I measure success by number of downloads, not number of sales. To explain the distinction, here’s a little info about my progress thus far.

I published my first book, Wisconsin Vamp, in January 2014. Between January 2014 and June 2015 (when the sequel was released), I had 246 paid downloads of Wisconsin Vamp, which yielded about $500 in royalties. Not much to crow about, but I also had 6,047 free downloads via Amazon’s KDP Select “Free Book Promotion.” By opting-in to Amazon’s KDP Select program, you agree to offer your ebook exclusively through Amazon for 90 days. During that time, you can make your book free to download for a total of five days. Free downloads don’t pay royalties. However, they do build a fan base and *hopefully* get more reviews for your book. Reviews are important, and I wanted to build demand for the sequel and my future works. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint!

So. What I feel has worked.

Call for Submissions: Indie Ebook Marketing

Every Monday on Facebook and Twitter I post a few selected calls for submissions, usually from literary magazines or contests. But today I'm announcing my very own call for submissions. Que emoción!

The gist: I'm inviting authors who have self-published at least one ebook to submit a proposal for a 500- to 600-word blog post about their ebook marketing experience. I will choose up to 10 submissions to pursue, and the contributors will be paid upon delivery of a satisfactory post.

Please read all of the information carefully before submitting. Submissions that don't meet the criteria and/or follow the guidelines will be automatically disqualified. Yes, for realsies.

Project description

Over the next 6-12 months I'll be publishing a series of blog posts here on Sione Aeschliman, LLC that are geared toward writers who are considering self-publishing an ebook for the first time. (Examples of posts in this series: "7 Tips for Self-Publishing an Ebook, Part 1"; "Part 2"; and "5 Reasons NOT to Self-Publish.") This content will remain free on my site indefinitely, but I also intend to compile it into an inexpensive ebook for those who want easily navigable, offline access to the information. While I'll be writing most of the content for this project, I do want to invite other contributors to talk about their experiences, especially in regards to areas into which I have not yet delved extensively, such as ebook marketing. This is where you come in.

7 Tips for Self-Publishing an Ebook, Part 2

Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last week I shared my first three tips for self-publishing an ebook:
1. Start working with a cover designer early-ish
2. Ask your cover designer for a JPEG, not a TIFF or PNG file
3. Publish with both Smashwords and Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)

Today's post contains four more tips to help you have a smooth ebook publishing process (and avoid learning the hard way).

4. Format for Smashwords first.
You've finished the book, which is to say you have a finished manuscript that has gone through several rounds of editing and revision and has been copy edited. You are 99.9% sure you will not be making any further changes to the content of the manuscript. Does this describe you? Yes? Okay. Then you are ready, young Jedi. It's time to format your manuscript as an ebook.

7 Tips for Self-Publishing an Ebook, Part 1

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A couple of writers have approached me lately looking for advice on how to self-publish an ebook, so I thought I'd share what I've learned over the course of the last three years and five self-published ebooks (plus two for a client) here, available to all.

As I worked on this post, I realized I had more to say than I originally thought, so I'm breaking it up into two parts. This week's post contains tips about working with a cover designer and which publishing platforms to use. Next week's post will address the recommended order of operations.

Please note that these tips are not meant to be an exhaustive how-to, much less a step-by-step guide. My intention is to make your self-publishing experience a little easier by sharing some things I wish I'd known when I first got started.

1. Start working with a cover designer early(ish).
I usually start working with a cover designer about 3-4 months before I expect to release my book. Depending on your cover designer's skill and availability - not to mention your availability, when it comes to providing feedback on mock-ups - it can take anywhere from a week to several months to nail down a cover.