1.       Get customer reviews

You need to have customer reviews for your book on Amazon.  Reviews establish that your self-published book is credible and enjoyed by someone besides the author.  If you don’t have any reviews on Amazon, it is unlikely that anyone will purchase your book from Amazon.

Get family members and friends to write reviews for you on Amazon.  When you give away a free copy of your book to one of your friends, do it on the condition that, if they like the book, they will write a review for you on Amazon.  If you have to, pay to have a review written and posted on Amazon.  Your goal is to have at least three reviews on Amazon for your book.

2.      Review other books

You should write reviews for other books on Amazon.  This establishes your credibility as a published author, it increases the exposure of your book, and it allows you an opportunity to showcase your expertise and/or writing ability.

You should write reviews for other books similar to yours on Amazon, and reference your book in your review. For example, if you wrote a book on white water rafting you might write a review about another book on white water rafting and add, “I really liked this book on white water rafting. It is my favorite along with my book, [TITLE OF YOUR BOOK], and I think both are essential reading for the white water rafter.” The key here is to create awareness of your book among the people who will be the most interested in it.

Please keep in mind that your reviews should always be signed with your name and the words “Author of [TITLE OF YOUR BOOK]”.

3.       Set up an Amazon Author Page

An Author Page on Amazon will allow you to share the most up-to-date information about yourself and your works with many potential customers.  Setting up an Author Page is free and easy.  At a minimum you should include an author photo and a short author bio in your profile.  You can also include a book video trailer, blog, and tour events to the Author Page.

Go here to set up your Author Page: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/

4.      Set up a Listmania

Listmania is another free tool on Amazon that allows you to post a list of book recommendations on a related topic.

Your Listmania should be a list of books similar to yours and should include your self-published book. For example, if you wrote a book on white water rafting, you should create a Listmania of your favorite white water rafting books, being sure to include your new book on the list. This will allow customers who are already reading the other white water rafting books to become aware of your book. You can create a Listmania here: www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/createpipeline?

With self-publishing, you take control of your own destiny. Make your book a success yourself!

Here are a few questions you may want to ask yourself before you self-publish:

1. What is your motivation and purpose for publishing your book?

Writing a book is a lot of work. Publishing one is even more work. Is your purpose clear and sufficiently well conceived to sustain you through the experience? If profit is a motive, then the venture must be treated as a business. Typically, from start to finish, a writer will spend 10% of his or her time writing the book, 15% publishing it, and 75% marketing and promoting the finished book. Keep your purpose clear!

2. Is your book written for a specific market niche or group of people?

It is more expensive to promote a book to a wide general audience. Marketing costs are less when the target audience is specific, definable, and accessible.

3. Do you have a way to sell books direct?

Selling books direct (at retail price to your target audience) is the most profitable way to recover your initial self-publishing investment. The standard heavy discounts to wholesalers and bookstores can be costly for slow-moving books. In fact, without a solid marketing plan, selling books to bookstores can be the least profitable way to distribute your book. Think of alternative ways to distribute your book: Organizations, associations, corporations, conventions, fundraisers, and back-of-the-room sales after lectures or workshops, to name but a few. These are known as special sales markets.

4. Are you willing to go out and promote your book?

A general rule for authors: A book stops selling when the author does. No matter who publishes your book, you are responsible for creating the demand for it. A book will not sell well sitting on a bookstore’s shelf, unless interest is generated for your book. Don’t forget: Writing a book is about 10% of the effort, publishing it is about 15%, and marketing it is 75%!

5. How many copies do you think you will sell?

Beyond your friends and family, who will be interested in your book? Knowing your market and how to reach those people are important questions to answer before you invest in self-publishing. The fact is that 95% of all books published sell fewer than 7,500 copies. With print-on-demand publishing, though, you will not incur the added expense of printing thousands of copies of your book, only to stockpile them in your garage.

6.  What is Print-on-Demand (POD)?

At its simplest, print-on-demand (POD) publishing means that whenever a book is demanded (ordered, bought, requested), a copy of the book is printed to fill that specific demand.  The relatively recent advent of print-on-demand technology is what makes self-publishing such a great option for many authors.   You can now publish your book without a big upfront investment.

In this video I discuss the differences between traditional publishers and print on demand publishers.