This past September I taught a course to help authors self-publish their work. One of the tag-lines I used in the promotional material was “We’re putting the SELF back into SELF-PUBLISHING”. My goal was to show authors that you really can produce an e-book that stands spine-to-virtual-spine with traditionally published books. My partner and I showed the attendees that it is indeed possible to produce a professional product in a cost-effective manner.
As I was compiling the material for the course my very astute business partner, Kathrin Lake, suggested I turn the content into a book. So, I did. I published that book with the very long title, How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle-An Easy-To-Follow Self-Publishing Guidebook in September. And, we were able to use the book as a tool during our weekend workshop. The book has sold very well. In fact, I now sell more copies of it than any of my novels. Additionally, it’s been well-reviewed, which was actually one of my concerns. I’ve had a moderate amount of success with my books – but many others have been far more successful. So, there was a point before I published when I was beginning to feel wary that the information I was offering might not be what authors were looking for. I tried to do everything I could to ensure that wouldn’t happen. I even tailored the workshop content, and the book to specifically help the authors, and potential authors, who attended. We circulated a questionnaire a few weeks beforehand, trying to gauge where everyone was with their individual projects and what information we should include that would specifically help them. With their input, I was able to provide all that and more, covering everything from basic information that helps new authors to marketing strategies for seasoned writers. When the reviews were positive and the book continued to sell well, I knew I’d achieved my goals. Continue reading “Changing Your Title and Content AFTER Your Book Is Published”
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