Today we have a sneak peek from How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle, the self-publishing guidebook by bestselling author Martin Crosbie.
In February 2012 Martin Crosbie’s self-published eBook My Temporary Life hit Amazon’s top ten overall bestseller list. The next month Amazon posted a press release revealing that Crosbie had made $46,000 in one month, with one book. Previously to this, his novel was rejected one hundred and thirty times by traditional publishers and agents.
How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle-An Easy-To-Follow Self-Publishing Guidebook tells the story of how he became a full-time writer, detailing the specific steps he took to find and connect with his readers. Plus, it describes how to adjust and tweak your strategy as Amazon changes their systems.
How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle is available from Amazon US and Amazon UK.
Here is an excerpt from How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle …
Because of a number of different factors, and luck was certainly one of them, in February of 2012 the book I wrote in the spare bedroom of my house, that over one hundred and thirty agents and publishers didn’t want, hit Amazon’s top ten overall bestseller list and stayed there for a week. It hopped over traditionally published books like The Hunger Games and the Twilight series. I sold about eighteen thousand e-books that month. And I made $46,000. It was a very, very surreal time. I totally felt as though I was living someone else’s life.
Because of my success all kinds of things started happening. Amazon mentioned me in a couple of press releases; in fact, later on, in their year-end release they called me one of their “2012 Success Stories.” Publisher’s Weekly gave me a mention, Forbes online magazine interviewed me, Canada’s second largest newspaper, The Globe and Mail, did a full-page article on me in their weekend edition, and other media outlets from all over the world were kind enough to write about my self-publishing journey. To date My Temporary Life, the book that’s been so good to me, has been downloaded as a paid e-book over twenty-five thousand times, and I’ve given it away over one hundred thousand times. The “giving it away” part requires further explanation, and in Chapter Nine, I will explain exactly how free promotions work and how to effectively utilize them.
I’ve self-published my second book now too, as well as a collection of short stories. Both are doing quite well, and I’ve been really fortunate to have gained an extremely supportive group of readers who follow my career. And I’m able to support myself as a full-time writer, something I’d only dreamed of doing previously. So I’m a very lucky guy. The self-publishing fair I attended told authors in the audience that you can’t do what I’ve done, and they said you certainly can’t do it with one book. Well, I’m here to show you that you can. And I’m going to tell you how I did it.
Can it be done again? Yes, it can. Do you need some luck, a good or even a great book, plus all the tools that are in this book? Yes, you do. I sell books every single day, and I have my ear closer to the ground than most Indie authors. There are no secrets; there is simply a process and a change in thinking if you are going to succeed as a small business owner/Indie author, because that’s what you are. You have a business that you can run any way you desire. If you follow the steps I’m going to outline, and you have a book that readers want to read, you can do it too. When I left that self-publishing fair knowing all those authors had been given the wrong information, I knew I had to write a book and show how it can be done.
For a sample of some of the great information in this book, check out this list of book promo sites.
I have it – haven’t read it yet but it’s time I did.
I just got it. Thanks.
It’s packed with great information!
It’s on my TBR list – maybe I need to move it to the top of the list. I would appreciate any comments when someone has read it.
I read it and used some of his suggestions already. More importantly, I left a review! Nice work Martin.
I have my copy now. Half way through and finding it friendly. Thank you Martin for writing what you didn’t want to write.
Wow, you guys are awesome! Thanks for all the positive energy, that was really nice. It’s interesting, the book has only been out just over a month and already there are changes in our little Indie world. As new information comes up I’m compiling it for a revised edition next year. Or, I write about it for Indies Unlimited of course. Thanks again!