I love to read and since I am trying to increase my success financially as a self-published/indie non-fiction author, I find myself reading a lot of books about the industry. Many of them are not worth the time and money I spent. Some of them are.
Here is the short list of books I found to be worth my time and money. Be forewarned, not everyone will agree with the list, but hopefully I will save someone some time and money with this list.
Book Marketing is Dead by Derek Murphy
Writing the book is just part of the work involved in being an author. The act of marketing and promoting the book is probably harder than writing the book. It is also the most confusing part to many authors.
Technology and social media are changing so fast it is hard to keep pace with the changes let alone understand how all this works in the book marketing process. Combined with the fact that the publishing industry is undergoing massive change, and it is easy to get confused.
Derek Murphy makes his living self-publishing books and has done so for over a decade. He has been through it all, made plenty of mistakes, and has a good idea of how to promote and market indie/self-published books.
He cuts to the chase and tells you what he has found to work, what used to work but doesn't now and what is a waste of time. The price, at least as I write, is a mere .99 cents, so not much risk in taking a look at what Derek has to say.
Their writing style might not be everyone's cup of tea. The authors have a podcast show about self-publishing, filled with inside jokes and their own version of humor. Write. Publish. Repeat. is written in the same style as they perform their podcast show.
Bad inside jokes and off-color humor aside, these three authors earn their living by being self-published authors and entrepreneurs. They love what they do and like so many others in this world who are passionate about something, they want to share their knowledge.
Unlike many books that target authors who have hopes of succeeding as a self-published author, this manual is not short. In fact, the print version of the book is 479 pages long. You won't be able to read this book in one sitting.
The most important concept in this book is the idea that creative writing, as well as non-fiction, needs to be viewed as both art and business. Books need to be written in such a way as to create on going sales, to generate constant business. The authors share how they have done this so they can permanently give up their "day jobs" and live as writers.
75 Ebook Promotion Sites That Increase Amazon Sales by Greg Strandberg
Nothing earth shattering in this book. In fact, you could find all 75 of these sites on your own. But why spend the time and effort when Greg Strandberg has already done it for you and provided all of the information in a single location?
Make Your Book Work Harder by Nancy Hendrickson and Michelle Campbell-Scott
This book covers the topic of diversification and how to broaden your sales platform as well as ideas on marketing your books for each of these platforms. It also talks about the smart use of outsourcing and social media.
Sell Your Book With An Ecourse by Jeannette S. Cates, PhD.
Since I want to expand my reach as an entrepreneur, and my "day job" is that of being a high school teacher, it makes sense to convert my non-fiction books into e-courses for sale in an online format. The author, Dr. Cates, has been involved in online education since its inception and has much to say about how this process works. Having taught online myself, I learned some things and some new resources available to make money by creating courses myself.
I am sure there are more books worth reading and I will continue to wade through the ever increasing number of books telling me how to make more money. As they say, "a sucker is born every minute."
By the way, I counted 29 books on my Kindle that I read, or attempted to read, on the same subjects these books cover that did not make my short list.
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