Self Publishing - My Story So Far

Part Four

Four

Release and Marketing.

The big day was finally here!  Wizards One: Search for the Seer was ready to go and so was I!  I followed the bouncing ball on Amazon’s site, signed up for KDP, uploaded my files and artwork, pressed the go button and hey presto!  I was a published author!  Or so I thought.  The Kindle process was actually fairly simple and needed a surprisingly small amount of work to get it off the ground.  The paperback with Createspace was another thing entirely.

The paperback version required me to select what size and colour I wanted the book and then I had to buy a proof version.  I selected what I thought was the right thing and they sent me out, via express post at my expense.  One proof copy.  The parcel came in the mail and I eagerly opened it to find that it was not what I was expecting.  I had chosen the size 6 inches by 9 inches which made the book 191 pages long.  The original manuscript was 750000 words long and what I had in my hand was a flat skinny paperback with teeny tiny writing that even I struggled to read.  Back to the drawing board and I produced my second proof.  This time 5 inches by eight inches with a much larger font size inside.  I put in my order, paid for a second express post and waited again.

The second paperback was much better.  This time it actually looked like a paperback that I would pay for if I saw it the shops.  The final paperback copy is a much more respectable 365 pages long and much easier to read.  I was happy and put it up for sale.

Then came marketing.  What’s that I hear you cry?  Doesn’t Amazon do that?  The answer of course is yes…..for a price.  I didn’t want to spend large amounts of money on this untested, unreviewed first book so I didn’t buy Amazon’s packages.  With one exception.  I have mentioned KDP before and I used that. 

KDP stands for Kindle Direct Publishing.  It means that if you give Amazon sole rights to the electronic version of the book they will give you certain services in return.  The services that KDP gives you is the ability to give your book away for nothing in book promotions.  I forget how many they let you do (I think it’s about one a month.)  And they enrol you in the kindle lenders library, which is where you can get paid if people in America borrow your book through Amazon prime.  I signed up for both services.

I did several book give always through KDP.  Made a Facebook page for the book, made my own website, filled out my Amazon authors profile.  Urged my Facebook friends to promote my book and enrolled it a Google adds click promotion. And messaged heaps of reviewers on Goodreads and Amazon trying to get a book review.

The result?  I gave away about 1000 copies of the kindle for free and didn’t seel enough books to actually reach the threshold for Amazon to send me any money.  The book got two reviews.  One two stars out of five and one Three.  Was I impressed after all this hard work?  Not really?  Had I learned a lot?  You bet.  Am I glad I did it.  You bet.

Next up:  Things I’ll do better next time.