#advice on self-publishing

[rozmorris]

Not a fast writer? You can still build a successful publishing strategy - guest spot at @IndieAuthorAlli

The classic advice for authors, particularly indie authors, is to pump out a lot of books fast to build a big backlist and keep your readers interested. But that pace of writing and production doesn’t suit everybody. Exhibit A, the introduction to my newsletter. For a long time, slow-burn authors in the indie world weren’t getting seen or acknowledged. Most of the guidance was geared to fast…

[autumn2may]

GUYS DO NOT GIVE YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO AN AI THIS IS A BAD IDEA ON EVERY LEVEL DON'T DO IT

original tweet from @jamesjyu reads: "We launch Shrink Ray today on Sudowrite! Upload your manuscript and get loglines, blurbs, synopsis, and full outlines automatically. Takes a ton of legwork out of book marketing. Below the tweet are two images of the program."

original quote tweet from @sudowrite reads: "New in Sudowrite: Upload your whole novel/script, get instant longlines (sic), blurbs, synopsis, and outline!"

tweet from @FantasyFaction reads: "Oh jeez! Bad bad, very bad! Writers DO NOT willingly give your manuscript to an AI so it can "learn" by stealing your work! I know blurbs and synopses are hard, but PLEASE do not do this! - JI 🐉

(stolen from ML Brennan & Sravani Hotha so I can include alt text)"

[rinwritingcorner]

May I ask the software you use to write?

Congratulations on getting so much done!

Thank you so much. And, of course.

I use the Reedsy Book Editor for all of my writing projects, and I've been using it for about three years now. I also have experience with other amazing softwares, and I would love to create more tutorials on them if you need me to.

Here's a quick tutorial on how to use the Reedsy Book Editor.

When you visit the website, the first thing you'll come across is this page. It's a completely free writing tool with a fantastic interface. All you need to do is sign up with your Google or Facebook account.

After you've completed the sign-up process and provided some information about yourself, you will be directed to this page. Please locate the "Books" option in the website's header.

Feel free to give your book/WIP (Work in progress) a title. Remember, it's okay if it's not your final title, as you can always change it in the settings of your book later.

Once you've created it, you can take your time and when you're ready, you can click "Write.”

Once you click "Write," you'll be directed to the next page. There, you'll find your chapters, the space to write your manuscript, and a sidebar with various helpful features provided by Reedsy.

Then, you can choose any name for your chapter that feels meaningful to you.

You can also track your writing goals for your specific manuscript or book. This feature provides insights into your writing habits, such as the days you've written and the number of words you've written. You can also set a target word count goal for the manuscript, and you also have the option to set manual writing goals. Additionally, you can check the word count in your current chapter from the bottom of the widget.

You have the option to set a deadline and choose the days that work best for you to write. This will help Reedsy estimate a realistic word count goal for you.

Remember that on Reedsy, there's a new beta feature that allows you to plan and outline your novel without having to leave the website. It offers note cards for you to jot down the plot and scenes from your novel, which can serve as a helpful guide and provide a simple outline to support your writing process.

Also, don’t forget the various features available to you when creating your book in Reedsy. For instance, you have the option to include preset formatted pages such as a dedication page and an epigraph that resonates with your story. These features can add a lot of value to your book, and I encourage you to explore them further.

Hopefully this can help you understand the basics of Reedsy Book Editor. One of my favorite writing softwares that is completely FREE!

Hey fellow writers! I'm super excited to share that I've launched a Tumblr community. I'm inviting all of you to join my community. All you have to do is fill out this Google form, and I'll personally send you an invitation to join the Write Right Society on Tumblr! Can't wait to see your posts!

[writingquestionsanswered]

Just a quick reminder that I will not tolerate bad-mouthing of traditional, indie, hybrid, online, fan-fiction, or any other type of writing and publishing on my blog, in asks, in the replies, or in the reblogs.

Furthermore, anyone who feels the need to disparage any type of writing or publication should take some time to educate themselves and do some self-reflection. What insecurities are these feelings masking? Why are they not confident enough in their own writing or path to publishing to be supportive of all types of writing and publishing? Why do they feel the experiences of some are enough to invalidate the experiences of many?

There is room for everyone in the world of writing and publishing. There's no reason not to be inclusive of everyone, all types of writing, all paths of publishing, and advice from every background and level of experience.

~ with love, WQA

[novlr]

I'm self-publishing but have no idea how to format my book. Any tips?

Absolutely!

If you'd like a deep dive into book formatting and what you need to know, we've got a whole post dedicated to it in the Reading Room at the link below.

[linkablewritingadvice]

How much should it cost to be a writer?

It depends what route you’re taking. If you are planning to go for traditional publishing, which looks like you finishing a manuscript and then querying agents who will then take your book to publishers, you should be paying for basically nothing. One exception would be if you decide to hire an editor to get a pass over your manuscript and/or query package before sending it off, but this is not required.

If you are in the process of trying to get your manuscript traditionally published, you may be approached by a “publisher” offering to publish your manuscript for a fee. THIS IS A SCAM! An author should never be paying for “publishing services.” Anyone asking you to pay for your own printing, marketing, etc. costs is taking advantage of you. These are called vanity publishers and they will not turn you a profit, help you attract readers, or provide you the prestige of being published. 

Always check on Writer Beware - search for the name of the person or company. You can also just google that name along with the word “scam” or “reviews.” In general, don’t let yourself be blinded by dreams, or let yourself be convinced that something is a good idea because you really want it to be true. Never, ever, ever pay a publisher.

If you are going the self-publishing route, you will be paying for certain things, but none of those should be payment to be published. You are the publisher. Uploading your manuscript to Amazon or other marketplaces is free. However, you will be paying for things that a publisher typically pays for. This could include:

-Cover art - you could do this yourself, though this isn't recommended. A good cover is key to a book's success, so budget to purchase a pre-made book cover, or hire a professional cover artist.

To find pre-made book covers, you can just Google "premade book covers," or check one of these sites: BookCoverZone RockingBookCovers Beetiful

And here's a list of places to buy both custom and pre-made cover designs that's a good start. You can also check Reedsy and Etsy for people listing cover design services. If there is a self-pubbed author whose covers you love, try asking them what artist they use.

-Formatting - you could do this yourself using a formatting program like Atticus, or you could hire someone who does professional e-book formatting.

Here's an article on the turbo-DIY route. Here's a list of formatting programs you can use. To hire someone, you can simply search for book formatting services or look at places where people list such services for hire, like Reedsy, Fiverr, or certain Reddit boards.

-Ad campaigns - you may want to pay for ad campaigns on platforms like Meta or Amazon. More niche, author-specific platforms like BookBub, Book Funnel, or Book Sirens also come with certain costs. 

-Author services - you may wish to hire an expert in things like marketing, blurb copy, social media metrics, newsletter management, etc. You can find information on that here.

Be aware that scam publishers might try to pitch themselves as "author services" - you should be paying someone to help you with specific aspects of your self publishing work, NOT paying to be published.

-Software and platforms - whether it's a subscription to Duotrope, a paid Scribophile account, access to pro Canva features, etc. you may decide to pay for tools that you will use to do your work well.

-Expert advice - some people offer courses, books, or other resources on how to do specific things like write a compelling blurb or run an effective ad campaign. You may notice that a lot of the links I shared here will include upsells from people doing exactly this!

Be very cautious about this, as most of these people claim that they make tons of money on their self published books, but really, they make their money selling this stuff to people like you. Always check out a person’s free resources first, and wait to invest in this sort of thing until you have a specific question you need answered or are trying to do a very particular thing that you need granular guidance on. 

One thing you should NOT pay for is a review, feature, or interview. Self-published authors will be approached by a lot of scammers who claim that, for a nominal fee, they will share information about your book to their huge audiences. These are completely useless and a waste of money. Never spend money on this.

Always keep track of what you are spending on all of this. You may be able to deduct it from taxes you pay on your income from writing, and you will want to really understand what your profit margins look like.

[the-erato-anthology]

welcome! we're the 'erato anthology', a small, independently run literary magazine dedicated to creating a safe space for all emerging writers looking to share their passion and art with the world.

the theme for our first issue is 'performance', and the theme is completely up to your interpretation. let your imagination run wild!

we accept prose (up to 1500 words), poetry (up to 30 lines), flash fiction, essays, critical analysis of television shows or books (because i know people like to share their theories, i know i do), fanfiction (up to 1500 words and sfw only, please), essays and book reviews. we also absolutely adore reposting details or advertising about any books you're writing, so feel free to send those through!

you can also submit your work directly to our blog, and we will queue it to be posted.

we know how daunting it is sharing your work with the world, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence in creative writing and the commercialization of literature in places such as booktok (it seems like their is a 'recipe for success' and if your writing doesn't fit that, it doesn't get recognised), so we created the 'erato anthology' as a safe space to share your unique ideas that don't necessarily fit into mainstream literature.

submit your work here (submissions close january 16th (EDIT: they now close by february 1st) for the first issue of the anthology but the blog submissions are open all year round)

some of our wonderful staff writers include @angellekookie, @inspirationallybored, @that-cameo and @xaliaver! if you want to apply, please send an ask.

see the FAQ post here

[bonefall]

post/734733274896809984/do-you-ever-worry-your-own-writing-might-come-off that makes sense. i was asking because i'm afraid of accidentally writing misogyny myself and i kind of admire what you do

Hmm... I wish I had better advice to give you on this front, but honestly, the only thing I can tell you is to consider the perspective of your female characters.

Women are people. They have thoughts and feelings of their own, so like... just let them have their own arcs. A lot of the worst misogyny in WC comes from the way that the writers just don't care about their girls (or, in the case of tall shadow, actually get undermined and forced to rewrite entire chapters), so they're not curious about their lives, or WHY they feel the way they do or what they want, or any direction for their character arcs.

Turtle Tail as an example. She'll often just end up feeling whatever Gray Wing's plot demands. She's gotta leave when Storm dumps him to make him feel lonely. She shows up again to love him in the next book. Lets her best friend Bumble get dragged back to Tom the Wifebeater, but is sad enough about her death to be "unreasonably angry" with Clear Sky, and then calms down and accept Gray Wing is right all along.

And then she dies, so he can have his very own fridge wife.

In this way, Turtle Tail's just being used to tell Gray Wing's story. They're not interested in why she would turn on Bumble, or god forbid any lingering negative feelings for how she didn't help her, or even resentment towards Clear Sky for killing her or Gray Wing for jumping to his defense. She isn't really going through her own character arc.

She does have personality traits of her own, don't misunderstand my criticism, but as a character she revolves around Gray Wing.

So, zoom out every now and then, and just ask yourself; "Whose story is being told by what I wrote? Do my female characters have goals, wants, and agency, or are they just supporting men? How do their choices impact the narrative?"

But that's already kinda assuming that you already have characters like Turtle Tail who DO have personalities and potential of their own. Here's some super simple and practical advice that helped me;

Tally the genders in your cast. How many are boys, how many are girls, how many are others?

And take stock of how many of those characters are just in the supporting cast, and compare that to the amount you have in the main cast.

If you have a significant imbalance, ESPECIALLY in the main cast, fire the Woman Beam.

It's a really simple trick to just write a male character, and then change its gender while keeping it the same. I promise women are really not fundamentally different from men lmao. You can consider how your in-universe gender roles affect them later, if you'd like, but when you're just starting to wean yourself off a "boy bias" this trick works like a charm.

Also you're not allowed to change the body type of any girl you Woman Beam because I said so. PLEASE allow your girls to have muscles, or be fat, or be old, or have lots of scars. Do NOT do what a cowardly Triple A studio does, where the women all have the same cute or sexy face and curvy body while they're standing next to dwarves, robots, and a gorilla.

Or this shit,

If you do this I will GET you. If you're ever possessed by the dark urge, you will see my face appear in the clouds like Mufasa himself to guide you away from the path of evil.

Anyway, you get better at just making characters girls to begin with as time goes on and you practice it. It's really not as big of a deal as your brain might think it is.

Take a legitimate interest in female characters and try not to disproportionately hit them with parental/romance plots as opposed to the male cast, and you'll be fine. Don't think of them as "SPECIAL WOMEN CHARACTERS" just make a character and then let her be a girl, occasionally checking your tally and doing some critical thinking about their use in the story.

(Also remember I'm not a professional or anything, I'm just trying to give advice)

[tychodorian]

Hey writers! 📚✨ Welcome back to Manuscript Monday, where I answer your burning questions about writing and self-publishing. Today’s question is one we’ve all faced: ‘Do you have any advice on writer’s block?’

Absolutely! Here are my personal tips to break through that block:

Set a Writing Schedule: Consistency is key. Even if it’s just 10 minutes a day, setting aside dedicated time can help you push through those tough spots.

Write with Friends (Body Double): Writing with someone else can boost your motivation. It’s like having a workout buddy—except you’re flexing your creative muscles!

Listen to Your Characters: If you’re stuck, focus on your characters. Ask yourself, ‘What would my characters do in this situation?’ Character-driven stories often work best, so let your characters guide the plot.

Character Generata/Questionnaires: These tools can help flesh out your characters and give you new insights, which might just be the key to pushing through writer’s block.

So, if you’re feeling stuck, give these tips a try and see if they help you find your flow again!

Happy writing, and remember—your story is worth telling! ✨📝

[physalian]

On self-publishing, and why I did it

Based on the research that I have done, following other indie authors across multiple platforms, I think I've made an approach to this that is a lot less... shall we say, *intense* than people make it out to be? I've seen some YouTube videos acting like picking one route or the other might be the worst mistake of your author career.

I mean, I guess?

Back a few years ago I had a manuscript I was querying around and couldn't find any takers. Couldn't find any publishing houses that were accepting open submissions to pick up my manuscript either. So many of them had clauses in the application verifying that you were submitting to them and only to them and to expect a reply within 8-10 months. Coooool.

I did not have time for that.

—

The manuscript I had was 120k words. Baby’s first novel sitting at 120k words is not attractive to publishing houses. It’s a risk. I was younger and didn’t know much about finding an agent and all that jazz, so I had looked into self-publishing and was staring down an editor bill of about $3k minimum because of my word count. I did not have the money for that.

So that manuscript got shelved, meanwhile I wrote the sequel and got halfway through book 3 before writer’s block took hold.

Enter February 2024. I have an idea for a new book. 31 days later, I have that book’s first draft done—Eternal Night of the Northern Sky, on sale from draft to publication in seven months.

This time, I didn’t consider for one second trying the traditionally published route. ENNS is 111k words, it’s a doorstopper of a book, but the bulk wasn’t the only reason I decided to bootstrap myself to the finish line.

I wanted complete, absolute creative control every step of the way

If I have to market myself anyway, why am I splitting profit with a publishing house?

I *really* don’t have time to wait around hoping the right person sees my manuscript. I have a new job coming that’s going to eat up all my free time and could either delay ENNS a year or more, or get it out while I still had time to do so

I didn’t do this for money

I think that’s what makes so many of those rather intense arguments for one or the other so harrowing—the pressure is a lot higher if you invested all this time, money, and effort expecting returns to break even, if not actually turn a profit. Publishing with a publisher doesn’t guarantee people will buy your book, mind you, but it’s a helping hand nonetheless. If I even want to break even, let's say just on royalties from the ebook, I'd have to sell over a thousand copies.

Breaking down my above points:

I’m a firm believer in “if you want something done right, you do it yourself,” which does bite me in the ass from time to time, this I know. I didn’t want to get caught up in contracts or editors telling me what I could and couldn’t do or what I had to change. If ENNS fails, I will have no one to blame but myself, and I am at peace with this. If ENNS fails, and I’d gone through the trouble of signing my book’s soul away to a publisher, then I’d probably be a little resentful. 100% of ENNS is mine, even the cover. I had an image in my head of what I wanted the cover to look like, and I sat down and I drew it and it matches perfectly. Aside from the feedback implemented from betas and editors, my story is told the way I wanted to tell it. If it fails, I am at peace with this.

On marketing, I am not a person who does well with social media. Maybe it’s autism, idk, but trying to keep up with an Instagram is exhausting. I just don’t get anything from tiny text posts and blurbs and doomscrolling through influencers and advertisements. Social Media is, for me, exhausting. Tumblr is different, because writing is my strong point and this blog exists to share and curate something useful. But either way, I’d have to market this book alone, so why not do so with full creative control? If it fails, I am at peace with this.

I have a new job coming very quickly. My current job allows me about 5 hours of free time during my 8 hour shift on a good day not including the time outside work, and I work from home. ENNS was written in 31 days thanks to this job. The new one? Not so much. Seeing “please allow 8-10 months” and “please ensure this is an exclusive submission” on so many little publishing houses, and I did search far and wide, was incredibly disheartening. For me, personally, it wasn’t worth the gamble of waiting all that time, following the rules, and being told no or just being flat-out ghosted. Nor did I want to sit around querying agents into the void. This time, I didn’t have time to sift through agents. ENNS had to get out on the shelves as quickly as I could get it, and all that time (five goddamn months of editing, 500% of the time it took to write it) was spent perfecting the manuscript that it is, *not* waiting around trying to find an agent. If it fails, I am at peace with this.

And lastly, I don’t care if I make absolutely nothing from this book. I didn’t do it for the money, I did it to say I could. I have a day job, and I’m about to have a much higher paying day job. Maybe I’m lucky enough to have that, but I am under no illusions that putting in the hard work guarantees success. Success as an author is a crapshoot and being an amazing book is not the metric sales are measured in, if no one wants to read it. I’d like to make money, I didn’t do it for charity. It’s going to be priced exactly the same as another fantasy book of its caliber. But if only one person buys it, and finds something good from it, something in it that changes their life, then I will have succeeded, profit be damned. If all else fails, I am at peace with this.

—

This is not a post meant to sway people one way or the other. I know I didn’t do enough research or scour the internet hard enough to find a good agent. All of this is irrelevant when time was the most important factor in my debut novel. I was in a position where I could drop that $3k on an editor, so I did. I’m a capable enough artist to draw my own cover, so I did. I might be abysmal at managing social accounts, but less than a year ago this blog didn’t exist and it has over 5k reblogs and 950 followers and I think that’s pretty swell.

I’m 25 years old. I was not about to let it keep sitting around waiting for the golden opportunity with the perfect publishing house that might not have been coming. I had the means and motive to get it done, and by god, I did it.

If it fails, at least I can say that I failed trying. I am at peace with this.

—

Eternal Night of the Northern Sky is available now on Amazon in ebook and paperback! It is also available through your local bookstore.

Check it out on Goodreads!

[rozmorris]

Your first pages - 4 more book openings critiqued at @Litopia by literary agent @agentpete author @anniesummerlee and me!

I’ve just guested again at Litopia, the online writers’ colony and community. Each week they have a YouTube show, Pop-Up Submissions, where four manuscripts are read and critiqued live on air by literary agent Peter Cox @agentpete and a guest, or sometimes two. This time the other guest was longtime Litopian Annie Summerlee @anniesummerlee , who has published short stories in a range of online…

[maelancoli]

ima say something controversial but not brave. the problem with writing around tropes is a lack of payoff. for example, the one bed happens because of the plot itself and the bonus is building the romantic subplot tension. the story does not revolve around trying to reach the tropes. tropes are the filler, they are the spaces between the major beats which deepen the whole tapestry.

[clairelsonao3]

Any Writers tried BookTok?

As some of you know, at some point in the New Year, I plan to self-publish a romance ebook. Over the next few months, I hope to start putting some more infrastructure in place to promote it for when the time comes to send out arcs, etc. I already have friends and supporters on Tumblr and A03, which is a great start. But of course, everyone says BookTok is the place to be, especially for romance writers. But I'm hesitating for a few reasons, which are:

Will I get canceled? To make a long story short, the book deals with topics that are not only dark but could be seen as controversial -- and are liable to be attacked by people who don't care that the book is the exact opposite of what they think it is and simply like canceling things based on certain phrases in titles, blurbs or loglines. Tumblr and Ao3, with a few unfortunate exceptions, have been mostly, blissfully free of these people, but BookTok strikes me as someplace that might have a lot of them. Idk, maybe I'm wrong. And if someone does try to cancel me, will I be able to handle it by simply refusing to engage?

I don't want to and can't really show my face for mostly professional reasons. (I like my face just fine, just not for TikTok!) I can use my own voice and, like, my hands or, something, but face is a no-go. Will I be severely hurting my chances of getting any eyeballs on my posts?

Is the culture toxic or likely to harm my mental health? No amount of promotion is worth something that's going to traumatize or hurt me (see above about cancellation). And if my work and/or my characters are hurt, I'm hurt. I've encountered toxicity on social media before and have largely stepped away from it, with Tumblr being the main exception because the community here is so wonderful.

Will it be too much of a time commitment? I know they suggest posting once a day, which seems like a lot, especially if it involves creating and editing original posts. And really anything that's going to take more than, say, 20 minutes out of my day (unless of course I really enjoy it, like I do Tumblr) is too much of a time commitment, in my opinion.

So, that said, I would love to hear from anyone who has experience with BookTok, especially writers of romance and ESPECIALLY writers of "dark," edgy, and/or controversial romance. Should I just try it for, say, a few weeks and see how I like it? (I have never used TikTok before, ever, so it would mostly just be getting a feel for it). Is that even possible?

Thank you for any opinions, anecdotes, or nuggets of wisdom anyone can offer!

[hyacinthusmemorial]

writing the third chapter and honestly I dont know how to make the story interesting, I am writing nonsense.

I think I will answer this publicly because writing advice is universally loved and adored (right?). This is more about motivation than mechanics. It's about telling a story rather than about grammar, POV, verb tense.

The first thing to do is just write. Don't think about plot, don't think about characters, don't think too hard, just write. Sometimes you have to spew out absolute garbage to start writing gold. Start somewhere in the action, then describe the surroundings, then describe the character, why are they there, what about them is making them act this way. A fun tip: write what you want to read. I daydream all the time, I go on walks--long walks--I listen to music, and I just daydream. Usually, what you enjoy imagining, other people will too. Slip tidbits of your life in, they don't need to be blatant, just little pieces of yourself to add humanity to it.

The second thing is to have a goal in your writing. When I start writing a chapter, I always have an "idea" of what I need to accomplish according to an internal map of where my story is going. Then I just write (The first point) until I accomplish it. Another goal I have when writing a chapter is that I usually give myself a word count to accomplish. For me, my word count is 3,000 for a chapter minimum, unless its a prologue or epilogue. This word count encourages me to fill in gaps, describe scenes better, but it also keeps me in-line with pacing of action.

Third thing: re-rewrite it all. When I wrote Anele and Forgotten Age, I erased whole chapters, I trashed it (I kept it in a separate compilation document that is multiple chapters long). I went back to the blank page, I said, I can write this more subtly, I can write this more succinctly. I can write this better. Sometimes, you have absolutely NO IDEA what is going on until the characters have taken you to the end of it all, and you have to go back and write it all again BETTER. And sometimes, you have to write it all again.

And, one last thing: Allow yourself to be mediocre, accept mediocre. I have seen more people stop writing because they feel like they suck than any other reason. Put the shitty words to paper--it is absolutely the greatest thing a human can do. Everything we write is a written record that someone existed. And when I write, well, sometimes, sometimes its absolute garbage, and sometimes its fine, and sometimes I feel like there are spirits touching my fingers to the keyboard. No one is good 100% of the time, and that's okay.

I think you said you were a teen somewhere, I can't remember. When I was a teen, my mom told me I needed to "Hurry up and write my novel, so we can get out of here." She had complete and utter faith that I would write something brilliant one day, and she thought that it would save us both from a pretty shitty situation, but I didn't write anything long or brilliant because I just didn't have it in me yet. I had all these ideas, thoughts, concepts, but there was something missing. My mom ended up dying when I was seventeen, and she was sick for awhile. It's been nearly ten years now, but she shows up in my writing--she's a ghost in the background. Sometimes, we can't write our story until we figure out what's worth keeping alive, and that's okay. You don't need to experience tragedy to be a writer, but living experience is necessary. You don't have to know what it feels like to be stabbed to write about it, but you probably know what it feels like to be betrayed by someone. You may not know what its like to kiss someone, but you know what its like to love someone. Sometimes we can't write until there's life there, and like I said, that is okay.

This is a warning: don't treat novel writing like a career option because quite frankly, its not. I'm in nursing to support myself, but writing is my Netflix. Its free. Its fun. I get to make the show I want, and share it with people free of charge on AO3. Unless you have an incredible entrepreneurial spirit to you, writing for a career will eat your soul and your pocketbook. Unless you plan to be an English teacher, don't get a college degree in english (it is literally useless, Stephen King, Rick Riordan--they all had English degrees because they were teachers). The best thing about English is you can read books, and learn grammar, and write on your own and become proficient at it without a teacher telling you what to do or paying tuition or other fees other than library fees for all those books you didn't return. There are obvious exceptions: you have rich parents who let you live in their house and feed you, you have a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a trust fund, or you already signed a $14 million book deal with Disney Hyperion Books.

[linkablewritingadvice]

Self Publishing Promotion Advice

Once you’ve self-published a book, it can be frustrating to try and get eyes on it. How do you direct traffic to your book on Amazon or any other platform?

What NOT To Do

Never pay for “book promo” accounts or reviews.

These accounts do not attract followers that want to buy or read books in any specific genre, and they don’t curate the books they post. They do not send meaningful traffic to your book. They are a scam and a waste of money. 

More info:

Questions To Ask Book Promoters on Instagram

Book Promotion Instagram Scams

Never post a link to your book in an online group or forum without EXPLICIT permission.

The vast majority of forums, subreddits, discords, etc. for writers are constantly getting spammed by people promoting their books. Typically, this is against the rules of that community. Posting in a community in a way that violates their rules is not a good way to build recognition for your name and work. Also, you are not likely to find people who want to read your specific book by shotgun blasting your link around the internet. 

Many places do have weekly self-promo threads or other specific opportunities for writers to self-promote. Look for those and be sure to read and follow all their rules. But know that there is still a very small chance that you will find a meaningful number of readers in the population of people who happen to be skimming these self-promo threads, especially ones that are not genre specific. 

Don’t push friends and family to buy and review your book.

If people who don’t frequently read and buy books in a certain genre all visit your book’s listing right when it launches, it can confuse the algorithm and keep your book from being shown to the right people. Any money you make off people buying your book out of personal obligation will never amount to much and is not a good use of people’s time, money, or good will. 

What TO Do

Make sure your book is attractive

Good cover art and a strong tagline and blurb are critical. No amount of ads, links, swaps, etc. will help you if, once you get that visibility, people don’t like what they see. 

Look at the books that are the top sellers in your categories on Amazon. Notice trends and patterns in their covers and blurbs. Do research on what makes a strong blurb. Many online writing communities will give feedback on blurbs (be sure to read and follow their rules before posting!). 

There are a lot of free resources and courses out there on how to write a compelling blurb. Here are a few to get started:

Reedsy article

Fix My Story

Blue Ink Review

You can also hire a professional cover artist or someone with expertise in your genre to help you with your blurb.

Learn Amazon and Facebook/Meta ads

Amazon and Facebook ads are some of the most powerful ways to get your book seen by people who are likely to be interested. Like any powerful tool, there is a learning curve when it comes to making them work for you. But time spent learning this tool will ultimately be MUCH more effective than just about anything else you could try.

There are lots of people out there selling courses and books on how to use Amazon and Meta ads. My recommendation is that you start with freely available resources and then decide whether you have specific questions or want professional advice in specific areas. Some people understand the data and analytics dashboards but need help writing ad copy that drives clicks while others might need help understanding how to target ads or evaluate their success.

You can watch videos about it, like this one from Michael La Ronn or this one from David Gaughran. 

Or you can follow written tutorials, like this one at Kindlepreneur, this one from Jane Friedman, or this one from Written Word Media.

Start reading and searching around and learn as much as you can. When you are confused about something or find a gap in your knowledge, search for videos or articles that address that particular issue. 

When it comes to paid courses, I have personally enjoyed the Ad School course from Bryan Cohen, and I’ve also heard good things about Mark Dawson’s courses. The Self Publishing Titans have pretty great SEO, for what that’s worth. Always check out someone’s free resources and look at reviews of their course on other platforms before dropping big bucks.

Use Author-Specific Platforms To Attract Readers & Get Reviews

There are a number of websites that cater specifically to self published authors trying to connect with readers. Many of them work by letting you offer free review copies to readers who are interested in your genre. They read your book for free, then post a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or wherever else you want them to do so.

These sites do not guarantee readers or purchases just by doing the bare minimum - they are tools to use, and you need to learn how to use them effectively for your purposes. Read their documentation. Join the site as a reader to see what things look like from the other side.

These types of websites often cost money for premium features. Try noodling around with their free version before deciding whether it will be worth it. 

Some websites in this vein to check out:

BookSprout

BookSirens

NetGalley

Reedsy Discovery

Run a BookBub ad or promotion

BookBub is a specific website that lets people browse for books on sale. You can run ads on BookBub or use their platform to promote a sale on your book. More here: BookBub Promotion Tools

Use A Free Reader Magnet To Build A Mailing List

The website BookFunnel lets you upload a free book (or novella, or short story, etc.) that people get to download in exchange for joining your email list. This is called a lead magnet or a reader magnet. If you have a good reader magnet with an attractive cover and blurb, and you join the right swaps and promos, you can very quickly build a mailing list. 

Fun tip: Since having a cool, genre-appropriate cover is key for this, one thing I like to do for a lead magnet is browse through pre-made covers, buy one I like, then write a novella that fits that cover!

Once your lead magnet is up on BookFunnel, you can use their platform to join “swaps” or “group promos,” where your book is promoted by other people or in conjunction with other similar books. You can also post a link to your mailing list signup/book download page on your own social media or wherever else makes sense.

There are other websites that let you do this too - many of the author promo websites linked above have similar features - but I’ve only used BookFunnel, and I find it very easy to use. 

You will also need to use a general newsletter platform like MailChimp to connect to your account, but I find it pretty simple to understand once you’re setting things up. And then, of course, once you’ve built a mailing list, you have to use it effectively!

Resources:

The Ultimate Lead Magnet Guide

How To Use BookFunnel Like A Boss (video)

How To Start & Grow Your Mailing List

Grow An Organic Social Media Presence

This is a tough one, but for some people, can be pretty fun. Figure out which social media platform has the most active readers in your genre - Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, probably, but different genre readerships tend to congregate on different ones. Look at the social media of successful self published and traditionally published authors in your genre. See what they’re doing and figure out what’s working. Then do that. 

Follow and interact with readers and writers in your genre. Create catchy content that fits the vibe of what is working on your feed. Use analytics tools to improve. 

There are lots of tools and guides out there to using social media, from gaming the algorithm, using the best hashtags and keywords, posting at the ideal times, and creating the most ‘viral’ content. You can use a program like Canva to create images and videos. 

You can go deep down the social media rabbit hole. There are third party services and platforms that let you post different content and compare its performance. The best thing to do is tons of research, then noodle around with the different dashboards and tools available.

How Successful Authors Use Social Media

The Ultimate Social Media Guide for Writers

Social Media Writer Guide

Of course, those links above just scratch the surface of what’s out there. Start working on this, and you’ll soon discover what you need to figure out. Then search for tutorials or guides on that. 

Hire Marketing Help

If you are struggling with marketing your book and want to hire a marketing professional specifically to help with this, there are people out there who will lend their expertise to you in exchange for some money. 

Know exactly what you want to hire for - design and copywriting to create effective content? One-on-one coaching and tutoring for you on understanding the back-end of running Amazon ads? A pre-packaged ad campaign they’ll run for you?

Be careful that you are hiring a professional with credentials in exactly what you are trying to do - run Amazon ads, build an Instagram following, create frequent click-worthy videos, etc. Do not fall for scammy “publishing services.” Check someone out on Writer Beware and/or look for reviews on other websites (not just theirs!) Ask to see work they’ve done for other clients and their data on how well it worked. 

You could look for a social media marketing company like this one or this one  - search for digital marketing or social media marketing -, or an author-specific one like the ones listed here. These are all just examples - I don’t vouch for any of these and have never used any of them.