Self-Publishing: The Secret Guide To Becoming A Best Seller by Richard McCartneyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
McCartney takes self published authors through all the steps of marketing their book. From the very best to the absolute wrong way to promote a book and everything in between. He is no fan of the social media route to making sales and convincingly proves his point, complete with the numbers to back up his position. He is honest by saying you get what you pay for so you're going to have to spend money on successful promotion.
Amazon is still the center of attention in the literary world and the author rightly puts a lot of focus there. You will find specifics on how to get on the Amazon list you need and want to be on. He provides solid advice about reaching readers and reviewers while stressing the importance of quality reviews. McCartney also helps to explain Amazon's algorithms, categories, and even search features which is oddly fascinating.
While Amazon is a major avenue, the author does give plenty of non-Amazon alternatives such as ebook subscription services and paid book promoting sites such as his own KindleBookPromotions.
A book about book publishing could have easily been boring, mundane, and difficult to get through but not this one. There's a lightness and a positive overall tone even when delivering somber news to those who were so sure their book's Facebook page was going to translate into a million sales.
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