This month: Getting Started with Self Publishing

• Don't wait until your book gets done to start marketing. Do it now!
• Be patient. Everything happens at its own pace.
• The first year is the learning year. Read, ask questions, and absorb everything you can as you work on your first title.
• Don't rush the process. There's a huge learning curve, and you need to take your time to figure out the process. You won't learn everything in that first year, but soak up as much as you can.
• Treat it as a business instead of a hobby.
• Research everything.
• Learn advertising.
• Hire a mentor.
• Know your metrics.
• Learn, grow, try things, then do what works for you. This is a marathon not a sprint. Go easy on yourself. Don't compare your results with others.
• Do 3-5 things every day to market your books. Over time a good book with good marketing will sell.
• Take the full year to learn, research, talk to other authors/printers/artists, ask lots of questions and start to sketch a plan. Sometime in this year, write your first draft, stick it in a drawer and come back to it after you let it marinate.
• Research research research and build your audience way before you make any big decisions. Pay for the things you are not an expert at (illustrating, editing, typesetting). Creating a book is only half of it, then you have to sell it. Find your niche platform and run with it!
• Research topics or subjects that are in demand in schools and at home. If you know what the market needs it will make a difference in how you are received.
• Join Facebook author groups. Sit on the sidelines and take it all in.
• Once you're approaching publishing time - don't set arbitrary deadlines for a release date. It's great to have goals but everything WILL take a lot longer than you anticipate, and there will be delays. It's okay to push the release date back for your own sanity.
• You can never learn enough. Read and research constantly.
• Do your research and ask more questions.
• Collect emails.
• Learn more about promotion. Start an Instagram account.
• Nothing is personal. Don't let a rejection dull your spirit and vision.
• Keep networking and learning strengths from others where you have weaknesses.
• SUPPORT other authors/illustrators. Share their info or help support by commenting.
• Don't let someone else's accomplishments make you feel jealous/envious etc.You are running your own race! Don't compare yourself, your work or where you are in your journey.
• Do something every day for your book, whether it’s 5, 10, 15 minutes or more! One thing a day!
• Build an audience as early as you can.
• Read, research, absorb information.
• Don’t rush into it- it’s a lot of money.
• Don’t spend too much money on influencers, features on blogs, etc etc. a lot of this stuff you can get for free.
• Support others. Not only authors and people in this industry, but just be a generally supportive person. If your friend is raising money for charity, donate if you can. If someone starts up a small business, purchase something if you can. If you can’t, share their social media and help them spread the word. Encourage and support others when they release a book and if you have some knowledge to impart, try to be a mentor to someone else who is starting their journey.
• Don't launch until you have a solid marketing game plan. Also placing your book on Amazon is like finding a needle in a haystack. There is so much more to marketing than just publishing on KDP.
• Take time to learn what you can.You can learn a lot by reading and responding and sharing. You get to see some bits about how others work, gain from what they’ve learned through trial and error. Eventually, the time will come when you have to apply that learning, put it into practice, and continue to learn the things you can only learn by doing, failing, and hopefully, eventually succeeding.
• Trust yourself.

• Amazon ads. I first learned about them through KINDLEPRENEUR's free course. I also do Amazon ads coaching. SIGN UP HERE.
• Facebook (and other social media) ads
• School visits: I just ran an awesome and informative WEBINAR about this. Find out how to watch it HERE.
• Local events
• Selling to local stores
• Getting them into libraries
• Guerilla marketing: A car bumper with QR code, placemats for restaurants to hand out etc. Maximum exposure, innovative, outside the box.
• Targeted event marketing. Call library, school, or scout troops and do an in-person reading. Add a giveaway (coloring page or something the kids can take home). Have a sign-up sheet for parents to add their name to your email list.
• Influencer marketing: building relationships with people who have a following and asking them to post about your book.
• Email marketing
• Creating a "buzz"- word of mouth.
• Using your website.
• Contacting the media: read my newsletter all about it HERE.
• Social media marketing- posting and building an audience.

• Let people help you! Delegate. Hire out work that you're not good at. I hired someone to create my website and someone to help organize my finances, because those are two areas I'm not great at. I also pay someone to help with social media posts. That's something really anyone can do once you train them and it frees me up to do what I NEED to do: write and sell books and coach authors!
• Schedule posts. I connected my Instagram and Facebook business pages (you can connect Twitter too!) and I use Facebook creator studio to schedule posts.
• Involve your family. The photos show my 8 year old son Wyatt putting postcards in my neighbors mailboxes, while I drive along side him like a creeper and my dog whines anxiously the entire time. Maybe you're thinking, "my kids are too little to help like that!" Go live with them if they're awake and hanging around you! Take photos of them with your books! Bring them to events if you have to! When my kids were small, I had to bring them to school/daycare visits. Not ideal, and they were distracting, but you do what you have to do! People understand.
• Multi-task. I always keep books, business cards and postcards in my car. If we're running errands or going on a little road trip and I see a place that might be interested in selling my books (last weekend it was the apple orchard), I bring one copy of each and ask! My kids are so used to it, they don't mind anymore. Throw a few postcards in mailboxes every day while you're running errands. Give out bookmarks/business cards to people your chatting with at your kids' school or place of business if it comes up that you're an author (make sure it comes up).
• Work when and where you can. If that means, you bring your computer/phone/notebook with you and work while your kids are at piano lessons, that's what you do. Check emails while waiting at the doctor. Do a little Amazon ad marketing while the TV is playing in the background at night. Keep a marketing book in your car and read it while at the stoplight. I do all of these things!! Maximize your time.
• Know when to opt out. Sometimes you need to skip that offer to sign books for one person at a coffee shop or sit all day a festival that cost more than your time and book sales.