Top $2.99 Book Promotion Sites – Success Guide for Authors & Publishers (WriteZero)

This is part of the WriteZero Top 10 Book Promotion Sites Guide for Authors & Publishers

This Top 10 List covers the best book promotion sites for promoting $2.99 ebooks

The Top 10 – Top 10 $2.99 Book Promotion Sites

Bookbub
1. Bookbub is the largest book promotion site with 10 to 15 million readers
2. Bookbub gets very good results in every category
3. It gets very good results for $2.99 ebooks
4. Please Note: We are recommending the Bookbub Featured Deal product
  1. We do not yet have a yes or no recommendation on their CPC Ads product or their New Releases product
5. The pricing for Bookbub Featured Deal is listed on the Bookbub Partners Pricing page
Books Butterfly
1. Books Butterfly is the 2nd largest book promotion site with 4 million readers
2. It gets good results for most $2.99 ebooks
3. Books Butterfly’s strongest book categories for $2.99 ebooks are
  1. Very Strong Genres – Romance, Steamy Romance, Mystery, Thriller, Christian Romance, Biographies & Memoirs
  2. Strong Genres – Fantasy, Business, Adventure, Historical Fiction, Lit RPG, How To, Cookbooks, Cozy Mystery
  3. Decently Strong Genres – Christian Mystery & Suspense, Christian Non Fiction, Science Fiction, Health & Fitness Non Fiction, Horror, Women’s Fiction, most other genres
  4. Weak Genres – Young Adult that is not YA Romance, Children’s Books, Humor, any very niche categories
4. Books Butterfly has guarantees when promoting $0.99 and $0 books. However, they do not have a guarantee when promoting books over $1
5. These are the packages for promoting $2.99 ebooks with Books Butterfly
6. Disclosure: Books Butterfly is our sister company which has sold $1.9 million of book promotion packages
eReader News Today
1. A very large book promotion site that has been promoting books since 2010
2. A very trusted and well known book promotion site
3. Strong in nearly all book genres
4. Prices are quite reasonable given the number of readers you are reaching
5. This page has the pricing for promoting $2.99 ebooks at eReader News Today
Book Sends
1. Book Sends is a large and effective book promotion site that has been promoting books since 2012
2. They have roughly a quarter of a million readers
3. They work well for most book genres
Bargain Booksy
1. Bargain Booksy is a large website with roughly a quarter of a million readers
2. They are decently strong in most genres for promoting $2.99 ebooks
To Be Finalized
1. Because some book promotion sites only promote $0.99 and $0 ebooks, our list for the best $2.99 book promotion sites is currently quite short
2. We are doing additional research and analysis and will update the #6 to #10 spots in the near future
To Be Finalized
To Be Finalized
To Be Finalized
To Be Finalized

We recommend the above book promotion sites very strongly

Please do keep in mind that promoting $2.99 ebooks is tougher than promoting $0.99 and $0 ebooks. Therefore, you might do well with 50% to 80% of these book promotion sites, and not do well with the rest

Very Good Book Promotion Sites that currently do not accept $2.99 books

Worth checking every few months as these are very good book promotion sites, and when they start taking $2.99 ebooks, they will jump straight to the Top 10 $2.99 book promotion sites list

RobinReads
1. A very good and fast growing book promotion site
2. At the moment they only accept $0 and $0.99 books
3. When they start accepting $2.99 ebooks they will probably go to #4 in the Top 10 $2.99 book promotion sites list

Robin Reads is perhaps the most selective book promotion site and they take only 10% of submissions

Perhaps because of that selectivity they hardly ever take any books over $1

Honorable Mentions – $2.99 Book Promotion Sites that missed the Top 10

Fussy Librarian
1. A very reasonably priced book promotion site
2. They do well with $0 and $0.99 ebooks for most authors
3. Results with $2.99 vary considerably. However, as their prices are very reasonable, you can easily test them out
FKBT – Free Kindle Books & Tips
1. A good book promotion site
2. Has a very good number of readers, including App readers and email subscribers
Genre Pulse
1. A good and very reasonably priced book promotion site
2. They do take $2.99 ebooks and do well with some of them
3. As it is very reasonably priced, and as they are very different in terms of readership (most of their readers are Android App based readers), it is well worth it to test out your book with Genre Pulse
Kindle Nation Daily
1. The oldest book promotion site which has worked with over 25,000 authors
Book Gorilla
1. Sister company of Kindle Nation Daily
OHFB – One Hundred Free Books
1. A popular book promotion site that works very well for some authors

The bar becomes quite a bit higher when promoting $2.99 ebooks

You will find that half of the book promotion sites don’t work for your $2.99 ebook, and half do. Which book promotion sites will work, varies considerably from book to book and from author to author

Detailed Insights on the Top 10 $2.99 Book Promotion Sites

To Be Updated

We will, later on, add detailed insights for the Top 10 $2.99 Book Promotion Sites

Increasing Your Chances of Getting Accepted at the Top $2.99 Book Promotion Sites

Getting good results is tougher at $2.99 than at $0.99. Therefore, the top $2.99 book promotion sites will usually be a lot more selective when deciding what $2.99 books to accept

These are the 9 main criteria they look for

Is the Book a Good Fit for the book promotion site’s readers
1. This is absolutely critical once you start looking at $2.99 books
2. The readers have to be interested to pony up $2.99
3. So, the most important acceptance criteria is whether or not your book is a good fit for the $2.99 book promotion site’s readers
4. Unfortunately, there is not very much you can do about this
  1. It either is a good fit, or it is not
5. The remaining factors, thankfully, are things under your control
  1. Things which you should improve
Does the book have a very good professionally designed book cover?
1. This is absolutely critical when promoting $2.99 books
2. A lot of ‘cutting corners with your book cover’ you can get away with, when promoting $0 and $0.99 books, you can’t get away with when promoting at $2.99 (and other higher prices)
3. You absolutely MUST get a professional book cover designer with 5 to 15 years experience of designing ebook and book covers
4. You must stay out of their way and let them design WHAT WORKS FOR YOUR BOOK CATEGORIES
  1. Please don’t harass them into designing something that makes you happy
  2. The book cover must make readers happy
  3. The book cover must SELL THE BOOK
5. Please don’t underestimate your book cover – If you don’t have a professionally designed book cover, it is almost impossible to sell your book at $2.99
Review Rating over 4 stars and a decent number of reviews
1. To get accepted, you generally must have a review rating of 4 stars or higher
2. Some book promotion sites require a minimum number of reviews (usually 10)
  1. Some don’t
3. Please Note: The reviews must be REAL reviews and of decent length
  1. Fake reviews (even one) will usually be an automatic rejection
  2. Having only ‘one line reviews’ will also lead to an automatic rejection
Quality of Editing and Proofreading
1. The promotion site will usually go through the first chapter or first few chapters and check for the quality of editing and proof reading
2. If the book does not flow well, or if there are spelling mistakes and typographical errors, your book will not be accepted
3. You need a professional book editor because a good book editor MASSIVELY improves the readability and flow and quality of a book
4. You need a professional proof reader because mistakes and typographical errors pull the reader out of the story and greatly diminish their enjoyment of your book
  1. Imagine if you were watching a movie and every 5 minutes someone turned the TV off
  2. That’s what it feels like when a reader is in the story world you have created, and enjoying the story, and suddenly an awkward spelling mistake or typographical error pulls them out of the story world completely
Quality of the Writing
1. You need to have a very well written book
2. As simple as that
Are the Book Categories and Sub Categories right?
1. This is really critical in every aspect of your book writing, book marketing, and even for your career as an author
2. It is also really critical when submitting to the top $2.99 book promotion sites
3. The author, more so than anyone else, is responsible for knowing EXACTLY what book categories and sub categories the author’s book fits into
Is the book Good Value for Money?
1. So, you’re a self published author or an author with a small press
2. You don’t have a big brand yet
3. You don’t have a big reader base yet
4. Why should a reader pay $2.99 for your book?
5. You have to make it clear to the reader that your book is good value for their $2.99
Is the book good enough to compete with traditionally published books from big brand authors and very large Publishers?
1. At $2.99 you are no longer in the $0.99 tier of ‘much cheaper than traditionally published ebooks at $7.99 and $9.99’
2. Now you are beginning to ask for a decent amount of money ($2.99)
3. Your book quality must match, or be very close to, the quality of traditionally published books
  1. Yes, that means you should be able to compete with Stephen King and Game of Thrones and Twilight
  2. We don’t just mean in terms of the writing quality
  3. Also, and perhaps more so, in terms of quality of book cover and quality of editing and amount of polish your book has gotten
Does the author have a history with the book promotion site?
1. If a book promotion site has a good history with you, they are far more likely to approve your $2.99 book

These are 7 additional factors the top $2.99 book promotion sites will look at

Is the Author a Bestselling Author?
1. The only ‘bestseller’ lists that matter to the book promotion sites – New York Times Bestseller List, USA Today Bestseller List, WSJ Bestseller List
2. If you or your book have reached one of these bestseller lists, then you have a very high chance of getting approved
3. Simply because bestselling authors sell 2 to 4 times more than non bestselling authors
  1. Please Note: Only applies to bestselling authors who have hit one of the three lists mentioned above
Have the author’s books done well with the book promotion site in the past?
1. If the author’s books have done well with a book promotion site in the past, then it is almost always an automatic approval
2. Most book promotion sites much prefer working with existing clients
3. If you have a good history with a book promotion site, and especially if your book does well with the site, then you will keep getting approved
Is the Author an award winning author?
1. If an author has won a big award, then that author’s books will most likely get approved
2. The awards that matter are big awards such as
  1. Romance – RITA, Holt Medallion, Golden Leaf, Golden Quill, etc
  2. Mystery & Thriller – Shamus Award, Agatha Award, etc
  3. Horror – Bram Stoker Award, Edgar Allan Poe Award, etc
  4. Fantasy & Science Fiction – Hugo Award, Nebula Award
  5. All Genres – Nobel Prize, nominated for the Nobel Prize, National Book Award, Booker Prize, Man Booker, Pulitzer Prize, PEN Faulkner, etc
Is the writing exceptionally good?
1. While this is a very subjective thing, if the book promotion site feels your writing is exceptionally good, they will usually accept your book
Are the reviews very strong? Or are there a very large number of reviews?
1. If the reviews are very strong it will usually be an automatic acceptance
2. If there are a lot of reviews, that will slightly increase your chance of getting accepted
3. Please Note: 5 to 10 reviews that are well written and praise the book, are worth a lot more than 100 reviews that don’t share much detail
  1. Please Also Note: Any ‘over the top’ reviews are a big red flag and will usually get your book rejected
  2. Example: Reviewer saying you are better than Dickens and Twain put together
Is the book cover exceptional?
1. If your book cover is exceptional the book has a very good chance of getting accepted
2. An exceptional cover will often sell the book on its own
3. Sometimes, an exceptional cover will sell a book that doesn’t even have reviews
Are there zero or close to zero mistakes in the first chapter of the book?
1. It is very important that your book is well edited and proof read
2. As most book promotion sites don’t have the time to read every single book that is submitted, they will usually read the first or first few chapters
3. If there are zero mistakes (or just a few mistakes) then there is a very good chance your book will get accepted
Is the author a first time author, or does the author have a lot of history and experience?
1. Most book promotion sites are reluctant to work with first time authors as they tend to not know how tough selling books is and have very unrealistic expectations
  1. It is not uncommon to run into new authors who want to sell a million books but think that editing is something Word Spell Check does
  2. No book promotion site in their right mind will work with such authors because you don’t want to be present when reality shatters their ‘million books sold with my first book’ dream
2. On the other hand, an experienced author is likely to get accepted as that author has a much more realistic and seasoned set of expectations
How many books does the author have available to purchase?
1. An author with one book has to do very well with that book to make back the money they spend on advertising
2. An author with 5 to 20 books will make money not just from sales of the $2.99 book being promoted, they will also make money (usually) from follow on sales of their other books
3. Therefore, an author with a decent number of books available to buy has a much higher chance of getting approved

It’s quite tricky deciding what books to accept when promoting at $2.99. While the author makes more per book ($2 per book), it is considerably more difficult to get sales at $2.99 than at $0.99

You have to make it very clear to the book promotion site that you have a high quality, well polished book, and that the promotion site’s readers will be willing to purchase the book even at $2.99

$2.99 Book Promotion – Biggest Mistakes to Avoid

These are the biggest mistakes to avoid when promoting your $2.99 book –

Promoting a book that is not worth $2.99
1. Ideally, you want to have a book that is well written enough and polished enough to be worth $9.99
  1. And promote and market it as a $2.99 deal
2. If that is not possible, make sure it is at least worth $4.99 in value and polish and quality
  1. Then promote and market it at $2.99
3. Promoting a book that is worth $2.99 at $2.99 is no great incentive for the reader
4. Promoting a book that is worth 99 cents, at a price of $2.99, is not a good idea
5. Every author has a blind spot when it comes to their own books
  1. Find someone, anyone, who will give you a honest assessment
  2. Is your book worth $2.99 of the reader’s hard earned money?
  3. Is your book worth 3 to 5 hours of the reader’s priceless time?
Writing a book for the wrong market or writing the wrong book for the right market
1. Make sure you do your market research and find The Right Market to write for
2. After that, make sure you do the due diligence to figure out what is The Right Book to write for This Right Market
3. If you skimp on either step, you are destined for heartbreak and frustration
Promoting your book before it is ready
1. Your book is a product
2. Firstly, you have to create it (write it) and polish it (rewrite it for readability and flow)
3. Secondly, you have to have it edited and proof read (polished and finished)
4. Thirdly, you have to package it with a great book cover (great packaging)
5. Only then can you start promoting it
  1. Please don’t promote a book that is unpolished, or unedited, or unpackaged
Promoting your book in the wrong book categories
1. People in a particular book category or a particular book sub category
  1. Only read books in THAT book category
2. This might seem like the most obvious thing in the world
  1. Romance readers read romance novels
  2. Historical Romance readers read historical romance
  3. Shifter Romance readers read shifter romance
3. Yet, over 50% of authors put their books in the wrong categories and promote it in the wrong categories
  1. We don’t even mean that 1 of 5 categories is wrong
  2. We mean that these authors get all/nearly all of their book categories wrong
  3. These 50% of authors put their books in completely wrong categories
4. Please don’t be the author who puts their mystery novel in Horticulture and then spends 5 years wondering why no one is buying the book
5. Please don’t be the author who doesn’t even know what categories their book fits into, and therefore doesn’t even know what category to put their book into
Breaking conventions for your book genre
1. Book genres, and even many book sub genres, have very strong conventions
  1. You must follow those conventions
2. If you’re not a romance reader, you might know that cheating is an absolute no-no in romance novels
  1. So, if you are writing romance, you should make 100% sure your hero doesn’t cheat on the heroine
  2. This is a very obvious genre convention
    1. No romance reader looking for love and romance, would want to see cheating and heartbreak instead
  3. Every genre has its obvious and non obvious genre conventions
    1. Please find out what they are
    2. Please follow them
Promoting a half baked book that is not fully written
1. Your book goes through three phases before it is finished (we’re only talking about the ‘writing of the book’ part)
2. First, is the first draft
  1. At this stage, only completely new author think ‘the book is finished’
3. Second, is the book after a few rewrites for better readability and flow
4. Third, is the final draft after the author adds more polish and flourish
5. After this stage, the book is ready to be edited and proof read
6. Some authors, especially new ones, completely skip the second and third stages, and send their very first draft for editing and proof reading
  1. That book is not ready
  2. It’s half baked
7. If you start thinking that book is finished you are wasting
  1. Your editing and proof reading budget
  2. Your marketing and book promotion budget
  3. Your time and the readers’ time
Putting all your marketing budget into your first book
1. 99% of the time an author’s first book is their ‘least good’ work
  1. It is not as good as Book 2
  2. It is far, far worse than Book 3
2. You have your entire life to write more books, write better books, and improve your writing
3. Should you spend all your marketing budget into what is likely to be the least impressive book of your life?
  1. No, you should not
Not having reviews, or using fake reviews
1. Not having reviews is a big issue
  1. A review is a reader saying – I bought this book. I read this book. I liked it enough to leave a review
    1. It’s social proof and preselection and the human factor all rolled into one
  2. Readers trust readers above everyone else
  3. That means readers trust reviews more than anything else
2. Having fake reviews is even worse
  1. A fake review is very easy to spot
  2. A fake review will make that reader quit your books FOREVER
  3. Whatever advantage you think you get by having people write fake reviews for your book, is completely imaginary
    1. Most book promotion sites will never work with an author if they find even one fake review
    2. If the book stores find out you are using fake reviews, they will ban you
Assuming it is all easy and straightforward
1. Books and Publishing is the ONLY industry we’ve ever seen where 90% of people come in thinking they know everything there is to know
  1. That everyone already in the industry are complete idiots
  2. That it’s all easy and a piece of cake
2. The large publishing companies have been in business and doing well for over a hundred years
  1. That’s 4 to 7 times longer than companies like Tesla and Google
  2. Would you go into building search engines and think success is guaranteed? That Google knows nothing and just because you slept at a Holiday Inn you are now set to teach them how to really do technology?
  3. Then why go into writing books thinking you just have to put pen to paper and you’ll be the next Rowling or King? That you have some magic formula that the Publishers and big brand Authors don’t?
Forgetting to discount the book to $2.99
1. A common mistake is to forget to discount your $9.99 book to $2.99
2. It’s completely avoidable – make sure that for the duration of your promotion your book is discounted to $2.99
Using low quality book covers
1. The book cover is the packaging of the book
  1. If it does not catch the eye of the reader
  2. If it does not get the reader to click on it
  3. Then your book might as well not exist
2. The book cover is also one of the most important sales tools
  1. Readers most definitely judge a book by its cover
  2. If the cover is beautiful they assume the writing will be beautiful too
  3. If the cover has great attention to detail, they assume the writing will be well thought out
  4. If the cover is nice and bright and makes them happy, they think the writing will be very satisfying
  5. If the cover matches genre conventions, then they think the book will also meet genre conventions
3. The Book Cover is literally and figuratively the most important aspect of your book promotion and marketing
  1. Yet, people willing to spend $5,000 to market and promote their book
  2. Will try and save money by ‘designing’ their book cover themselves
    1. You’re not saving money, you’re sinking your entire career as an author
  3. Will think that a $10 book cover is good enough
    1. It’s not
Not using a professional editor and a professional proof reader
1. Professional Editor – only way your book will reach its true potential
  1. In terms of being a great read
  2. In terms of being a polished product
2. Professional Proofreader – absolutely critical
  1. Mistakes kill the reader’s reading experience
  2. Say goodbye to getting good reviews and getting word of mouth sales
3. Stop drinking coffee at Starbucks if you have to. However, you cannot skip on a professional editor and a professional proof reader
  1. That coffee will taste much better if you have a highly polished book that you can be proud of
Thinking they are buying the Story in Your Head, when they are actually buying the Product (Book) on the Shelf
1. The Story in Your Head
  1. Is Perfect
  2. Is Flawless
  3. Brings readers to tears and stays with them their entire lives
2. The Book on the Shelf
  1. That is what they are really buying
  2. How many times did you rewrite the book to match the beautiful story in your head as closely as possible?
  3. Did you get a professional editor to bring the story to life and make it jump right off the pages?
  4. Did you get a professional proof reader to make sure the story does not get interrupted and the reader can truly immerse themselves into the story world?
  5. Did you get a world class book cover designer to create a beautiful book cover that reflects accurately the love and polish and care you put into your book?
3. Readers are not telepaths
  1. They have absolutely no idea that you have a flawless, once in a lifetime story in your head
  2. They can only see the Book on the Shelf
Not knowing who your Perfect Fit Readers are
1. Who are the readers who will really, really connect with your book?
2. It’s your job to know
  1. Ideally, you figured this out BEFORE you started writing the book
  2. If not, at least find out AFTER you write the book and BEFORE you start marketing and promoting the book
3. It is the author’s job to figure out The Perfect Fit Readers for the author’s book
  1. And, of course, it is the author’s job to market and promote the book to these exact ‘Perfect Fit’ readers
A Lack of Patience
1. You have to be patient
2. There are no shortcuts that work
  1. None whatsoever
3. There is a very good reason that most of the very successful authors are rather old
  1. There might be a few young 20-somethings that might get lucky
  2. Those are exceptions to the rule
  3. Most successful authors have 20 to 40 years of writing experience
    1. Why do you think that is?
    2. Why is it that it usually takes 10 to 30 years of writing books before authors become superb at their work?
A Lack of Persistence
1. To be fair, being successful in any line of work takes persistence
2. It’s still important to remind authors that it takes persistence because lots of people and lots of companies are selling you the hope and the dream that writing books is different
  1. That it has quick success
  2. That it has guaranteed success
  3. Neither is true
Not measuring accurately what marketing methods work for you, and how well they work
1. The reason we very strongly recommend you spend very little of your marketing budget at the start is simple
2. Your first 6 to 24 months will be spent figuring out what works for your book and what doesn’t
  1. It is much better to spend only 20% to 30% of your marketing budget, to find out what works for you
  2. Than to spend 100% of your marketing budget. If you spend it all in the first 6 to 24 months, then by the time you figure out what works and what doesn’t. You don’t have any money left
3. Spend slowly. Measure what works and what doesn’t. Measure what works very, very well and what works decently
  1. All this data will be priceless when you have your 3 or 4th book ready, and it is a masterpiece and worth heavily promoting
A Lack of Focus
1. You have to figure out what you want from being an author and from the Books and Publishing industry
2. You have to focus relentlessly on it
3. You have to avoid all distractions

These mistakes are quite dangerous. Almost every author will make some/most of these mistakes during their author career

Avoid as many of these mistakes as possible. Making a few of these mistakes is fine. That’s human and you can recover

You should make sure that

You don’t make too many of these mistakes
1. A few mistakes you can recover from
2. If you start making a lot of these mistakes, it is hard to recover
You don’t repeat mistakes
1. If you make a mistake, please learn from it quickly
2. If you are stubborn and keep repeating a mistake because ‘you want to do it your way’, then you are committing career suicide

Improving the Results of Your $2.99 Book Promotion with the Top 10 $2.99 Book Promotion Sites

These are the most effective and most important things you can do to improve the results of your $2.99 book promotion

Write for The Right Market
1. Ideally, you want to write for a market that is the Intersection of
  1. A very good market where readers are dying to buy books
  2. A market with very little competition
  3. You are passionate about writing for this market
  4. You are skilled and gifted at writing for this market
  5. In Western Strategy Studies they call this the IAPP theory (the ‘Intersection of Aptitudes and Passions and Product Market Fit’ theory)
  6. In Eastern Cultures you have the Japanese concept of Ikegai
2. You have to do a lot of market research to find The Right Market for yourself as an author to write in
3. After that, you have to do further due diligence and figure out what is The Right Book
Write The Right Book for The Right Market
1. Please see above for finding The Right Market
2. After finding The Right Market, is another big test – finding The Right Product
3. You have to figure out what Product (Book) this Right Market is going to respond very well to
4. You have to see both
  1. What is already selling well in this market
  2. What is becoming hot and is growing in this market
5. Finding The Right Market is like qualifying for the Olympics – you’ve achieved a once in a lifetime dream
  1. However, if you don’t find The Right Product for this Right Market, that is like coming in 4th
  2. People only remember the Medal Winners
  3. There is no list of ‘got to the Olympics and came 4th’
Let the Game Come To You – Don’t Force Things
1. 99% of the problems authors run into, are the results of trying to force things to happen
2. Please don’t try to ‘buy success’ or ‘shortcut your way to success’
  1. It doesn’t work
3. If you don’t do the hard work to find the right market and write the right product for it, you won’t succeed
  1. You cannot force the wrong market to be the right market
  2. Neither can you sell the wrong product in the right market
4. If you don’t create a very high quality book, you won’t be able to sell it
5. If you don’t do effective marketing, and don’t reach the right readers for your book, then you won’t be able to sell your book
6. Your primary aim should be to get the fundamentals right and then everything will fall into place – The Game will Come to You
Figure out Exactly what Genres your book fits into
1. As the author, you should have a very clear and precise understanding of what book genres and sub genres your book fits into
2. You should also understand what the expectations of readers in those genres and sub genres are
3. It’s your job to make sure that you know what readers your book is best suited to, and that it actually satisfies and delights those readers
Place your Book in the Exactly Right Book Categories & Sub Categories
1. In the real world, if you told an author to take their Cookbook and put it in the Horror section of a bookstore, they would refuse
  1. Surely, they would say, it must be placed in the Cookbooks section
  2. That is where readers who read cookbooks will look for it
2. Yet, in the online world, authors insist on putting their cookbook in every single category possible, except for the Cookbooks section of the ebook store
3. Please don’t try to ‘outsmart the algorithms’ and don’t try to ‘think outside the box’
  1. Just place your book in the EXACT categories and sub categories it should be placed in
Promote Your Book in the Exactly Right Book Categories & Sub Categories
1. Hopefully, you have your book in the right categories
2. Now, all your book promotion and marketing should be aimed at the EXACT sets of readers who read books in those categories and sub categories
3. You have to make sure you are promoting your book to The Right Readers
  1. Those who actually buy and read exactly the type of books that your book is
Your Book Cover, Book Title, Book Description, Author Profile, and Book Page and Website must match the book genres you write in
1. The job of your book cover and book description are not to make yourself happy
2. Their job is to SELL THE BOOK
3. A big part of that is convincing readers that your book is in the Category they read, and matches the conventions of the Book Category they read
4. So, every single thing they see on that book page (book cover, book title, book description, your author profile, book categories) should do two things
  1. Sell the Book
  2. Convince the reader the book is right for them
    1. This assumes that you have placed the book in the right categories and sub categories
Make it Crystal Clear to Readers what your what your book is
1. You should clearly list the book genres and sub genres
2. You should clearly list what similar books are i.e. If you liked Book A or Book B, you will love this book
3. You should clearly list what similar authors are i.e. If you like Author X or Author Y, you will love this book
4. You should be very clear about book length, who the book is aimed for, what the book is about
5. Please don’t make it a mystery
  1. If it is not clear to readers, they will walk away
Get the Best Book Cover you can afford
1. It’s really that simple
2. A book cover is the most important sales tool you have
3. You should get the best book cover you can afford
  1. Please make sure it is designed by a professional book cover designer who has extensive experience of designing book covers in your exact book genres and sub genres
Get the Best Professional Editor you can afford
1. Without a quality editor your book will never be polished enough to sell well
2. You should get the best professional editor you can afford
3. Please make sure it is a professional book editor who has experience in your book’s genres and sub genres
Get the Best Professional Proofreader you can afford
1. A professional proofreader is perhaps the most underrated of all the people who help make your book a polished product
2. The absence of spelling mistakes, typographical errors, and grammatical mistakes is essential to maximize the reading pleasure of your readers and is also essential to get good reviews
3. Therefore, is it critical you get an experienced professional proofreader
  1. Experience in the exact genres your book is written in, is critical
Make sure you are selling a High Quality Product – though you sell it for $2.99, it must be worth $10 or $20
1. For most readers, you are a completely unknown author
2. To convince them to buy your book is one challenge
3. A bigger challenge is to convince them to become lifelong readers
4. The best way to do this is to give them $10 or $20 worth of value for the $2.99 they spend on your book
5. This includes
  1. A very well written book
  2. Rewriting the book until the flow and immersion is very strong
  3. A well polished book that is well edited and proof read
  4. Putting the book in the EXACT right categories
    1. A book’s value is highest to those people who love reading books in that exact book category
    2. This is yet another reason you need to get the book’s categories and sub categories perfectly right
  5. Promoting it to the right readers
    1. Those who love books in that exact category
What Gets Measured Gets Managed – Gather Lots of Data on What Works for Your Book and What Doesn’t
1. One of the main aims of all your book promotion and marketing must be
  1. Figuring out what works and what doesn’t work
2. This is critical so that gradually you can focus 90% of your marketing on those marketing methods and marketing channels which work very well for your book
Rewrite your book until it flows very smoothly and reads very well
1. Your book is a PRODUCT
2. Just the way you love products that are polished and polished until they are very high quality
3. Readers love books that are polished and rewritten until they flow very smoothly
Find out and Learn as much about your book and yourself as you can
1. During the process of writing your book and polishing it
  1. You will discover more about what you like to write and what you don’t like to write
  2. You will understand more about your book
2. During the process of marketing and selling your book
  1. You will understand what aspects you like and what you don’t like
  2. You will understand who your book appeals to, and who your book doesn’t appeal to
3. All of this is very valuable information, which you should use to decide what you do with your career as an author
4. Perhaps you like writing books and don’t like marketing and selling them?
  1. Perhaps that means you hire someone to do all the marketing
  2. You focus 100% on the market research of what to write, and on the writing of the book
5. Perhaps you enjoy marketing and don’t like writing quite as much
  1. In that case you find a co-author or a ghost writer and focus on the marketing
6. Perhaps you like to write only in categories that have very little financial reward
  1. That’s OK if you’re happy writing as a hobby and don’t need to make it a career

Doing even half of these will significantly increase your book sales

If you can do 70% to 90% of these, then, in most cases, you will greatly increase your book sales

$2.99 Book Promotion Sites – You MUST Pick the Correct Book Genres and Sub Genres for Your Book

Authors tend to think of the book stores as a County Fair

That readers are walking around in the midst of chaos
That all sorts of food stalls and attractions are all placed next to each other
That it doesn’t matter where you put your stall
1. Lots and lots of people will walk by it
2. Lots of people will buy what you have to offer

The truth is very far from that assumption (that everything happens magically and everyone buys everything)

It’s not that every reader considers every book. Readers only read books from the book categories they love

The ebook stores are almost exactly like a physical book store

Readers will go to the section of the book store they are interested in
1. They will not even look at any other section
2. If a reader likes Mystery, that reader will go to the first floor, at the back, where the Mystery Novels are
3. That reader is not going to look at the Romance Novels on the first floor, and is definitely not going to go to the second floor Non Fiction section
Even if your book is placed in the exact right place, if your book jacket says the wrong category, readers will not buy your book
1. You put your Mystery novel in the Mystery aisle
2. However, some ‘marketing genius’ told you that you should say it is ‘True Crime’
  1. The ‘Marketing Genius’ claims – Then both Non Fiction readers and Mystery readers will buy it
3. Well, the mystery readers find it in the Mystery aisle. However, by saying the book is True Crime you confuse them and they don’t buy it
  1. Meanwhile, the Non Fiction readers only go to the Non fiction section on the second floor
  2. They NEVER go to the Mystery section
  3. By trying to pursue this ‘two birds with one stone’ strategy, you’re missing both birds

When deciding what categories to put your book in, think of it exactly as a physical book store

Your book needs to be placed in the EXACT categories and sub categories it is actually in
Your book needs to CLEARLY SAY what book categories it is in
1. And these should match the ACTUAL book categories it is in

Just keep it very, very simple. Readers have had authors trying to make fools of them for the past TEN years. At some point it just gets very frustrating for readers

Please treat these readers the way you would want any company or person to treat you – with common courtesy and human decency

They are not going to change what category of books they read just because some author thinks it’s a brilliant idea to put their book into the completely wrong category

Please use the CORRECT categories and sub categories for your book

$2.99 Book Promotion Sites – If you’re charging $2.99, you need to deliver A LOT OF QUALITY

Here is a quote from Henry Ford which all creators should take to heart

The Man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar

Instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed

– Henry Ford

Authors at the beginning of their careers need to have the same mentality

At the beginning

The reader does not know who you are
The reader doesn’t know whether the $2.99 they pay for your book will be worth it
The reader doesn’t know whether the 3 to 5 hours of their life they give to reading your book will be worth it

You control the outcome

Sell the reader a lousy book and they will never buy anything from you ever again
Sell the reader a book worth EXACTLY $2.99 for the $2.99 they pay
1. Well, how does that make you stand out?
Sell the reader a book worth $10 to $20
1. That reader will be a reader of your books for life

What authors massively under-estimate is how difficult it is to find a new reader client

It is roughly SEVEN times tougher to find a brand new client
Than it is to sell a new product to an existing client

So you can keep burning through readers by selling them books worth $0.99 to $2.99 for $2.99

Or you can sell them books worth $10 to $20 in quality for $2.99, and have them keep coming back for more

Deliver A LOT OF QUALITY in your $2.99 book and delight the reader. The reader will become your customer for life

If you want to build a career as an author, if you want to sell a million books, if you want to become a bestseller, the One True Path to making that happen is to turn new reader clients into LIFELONG reader clients by giving them great value for their money

Can $2.99 Books be used to Become a Bestseller?

No, not really

If you are a self published author, for all intents and purposes, your only way to Become a Bestseller is to do it using books discounted to $0.99

There are a few rare exceptions. These are authors who invented an entire new category or built up a very large reader base. Even for these authors look back at what they did in the start of their careers. They almost always used one or both of

Free Books ($0 ebooks) as Marketing and Building a Reader Base
$0.99 books to Become A Bestseller and generate sales

It is a very common dream among self published authors that they can compete at prices like $2.99 and $4.99 and $9.99 and stand beside Stephen King and J. K. Rowling at the top of the bestseller charts

Take a look at the charts. There are no self published authors standing there. A few will make the jump for a day or two and then drop. No self published author is staying at the top of the charts, at any price

If you want to become a bestselling author as a self published author, the odds are very low EVEN with a $0.99 book

Trying to do it with a higher price point like $2.99 is madness

How to Increase the Number of Reviews you get after Promoting Your $2.99 Book

The good news is that readers who buy books for $2.99 tend to give better reviews than those who buy books for $0.99 or get them for free

The bad news is that the percentage of readers who will leave a review is still very low, and at $2.99 you will be getting fewer sales than at $0.99

Here are the 4 most important things to do to increase the number of reviews you get

Make sure your book is very well written and very polished
1. Readers like to give reviews to books that they really enjoy
  1. They are putting their reputation on the line
  2. It might not seem that big a deal to you
  3. However, no reader is going to make themselves seem untrustworthy by saying a mediocre book is ‘very good’
2. The easiest way to get readers to actually review the book is make sure it is a very high quality book
3. The first aspect of this is to write a book where the story flows very smoothly, it reads very well, and the story world is very immersive and enjoyable
  1. To ensure this you will have to understand exactly what readers in this book genre like and deliver it
  2. You will have to keep improving your writing skills
  3. You will have to rewrite the book a few times to make the flow and story telling very smooth
4. The second aspect is to polish the book very well
  1. You need a professional book editor with solid experience in that exact book genre
    1. That editor will help you create a better book and a more polished book
  2. You need a professional proof reader with very good experience in that exact book genre
    1. That proof reader will help you add shine and sparkle to your book
5. The better written your book is, the more reviews it will get
6. The better polished your book is, the more reviews it will get
Sell as many books as you can
1. A very, very good book will get 5 to 15 reviews per 1,000 book sales
2. A very good book will get 3 to 10 reviews per 1,000 book sales
3. A good book will get 1 to 5 reviews per 1,000 book sales
4. If you are unwilling to massively improve the quality and polish of your book, then your best option is to sell more and more books
5. You can increase the number of reviews by brute force method – selling a lot of books
Ask for Reviews politely and The Right Way
1. Firstly, you MUST Ask for Reviews
  1. Readers are generally unaware that reviews help authors sell books
  2. They tend to think of reviews as – MAYBE if I like the book and I remember, then I will add a book review
  3. You can help yourself greatly by making it clear to readers that
    1. They should please leave a review
    2. You would really appreciate a review
  4. BOTH Aspects are critical
    1. Make sure to be CLEAR and ASK FOR A REVIEW
    2. Make sure to ask politely and let them know you would appreciate it
  5. Something such as – Thank you for reading my book. If you like it, please leave a review. Thank you very much!
    1. Or – If you like the book, please leave a review. I would greatly appreciate a review. Thank You!
2. Secondly, you Must Ask for Reviews The Right Way
  1. Always ask the readers most likely to leave a good review
    1. Don’t ask readers who are quitting after 1 chapter
    2. Instead, ask readers who are finishing the entire book
    3. How? Ask on the very last page of your book
  2. Always ask readers who are invested and ask them at the point of highest reading satisfaction
    1. How?
      1. Ask people who buy the 3rd or 4th book in a series
      2. Ask readers who contact you and are happy
      3. Ask readers who finish the entire book
    2. Why?
      1. It makes sense to ask readers who like your book
      2. It also makes sense to ask them at the point they are happiest
  3. Figure out what The Right Way is for your readers
3. Please keep in mind that the author who politely asks for reviews, will usually get two to five times more reviews than the author who does not ask for reviews
  1. The total number of reviews will still be low, compared to the number of books you sell
    1. However, you will outpace authors who don’t ask for reviews by 2 to 5 times
  2. This is not an optional thing
    1. If you want to succeed as an author you must ask for reviews
  3. You must also find out what works for you and use that particular method of asking for reviews
Promote and Market your book to the right readers – those who LOVE books matching your book’s categories and sub categories
1. Author 1 thinks categories doesn’t matter and promotes and sells his book to all manner of readers – romance readers, fantasy readers, mystery readers, biography readers
  1. Firstly, the number of sales is low with this scattershot approach
  2. Secondly, many of the readers buying the book are never going to finish it because it is not in their favorite genre
  3. The number of reviews will be very low
2. Author 2 promotes and markets her Historical Romance novel to Romance readers, and in particular to Historical Romance readers
  1. The number of sales is very healthy with Romance readers
    1. It is even healthier with Historical Romance readers
  2. The number of reviews is good with Romance readers, because they all love romance novels and are more likely to review a novel in the genre they love
    1. The number of reviews is very good with Historical Romance readers
      1. It’s right up their alley
      2. Provided it matches Historical Romance genre conventions, and is well written, it gives them EXACTLY what they desire
3. While the overall percentage of reviews will still be very low (1% or so), promoting and marketing the book to readers who love that particular book genre, will lead to more reviews and better reviews

Get 3 or 4 out of these 4 right and you will start getting a steady stream of reviews

Here are some additional things that help

Focusing on taking your writing to The Next Level
1. The better your writing the more reviews you will get
2. This is something you control 100%
Focusing on giving more value for money
1. Give readers $10 of value in your $2.99 book
  1. Not only will they become lifelong customers, they will also leave good reviews
2. If possible, give readers $20 of value in your $2.99 book
Get people deep into your story world and deep into your characters
1. The stronger the immersion into the story world, the better
2. The stronger the relationship with your characters, the better
Have an ENJOYABLE book
1. The more they ENJOY the book, the more likely they are to review it
2. Please Note: In some categories it is hard to add ‘Fun’. In such categories, instead add Quality of Writing

Reviews are absolutely critical to make your book a success. Please look at the 4 points listed at the beginning of this section. Ideally, you want to get all 4 of those nailed down

Avoiding Negative Reviews when Promoting Your $2.99 Book

In general, people who spend $2.99 on an ebook will not give bad reviews

You have to make some very big mistake for them to leave a negative review

These are the main things to do, to ensure you don’t get 1 star or 2 star reviews for your $2.99 book

Above everything else, Please make sure you put your book in the right categories and sub categories for the book
1. 90% of all your problems as an author get solved if you place the book in the perfect right book categories
Don’t sell a book until and unless it is professionally edited and professionally proof read
After finishing the first draft of the book, please make sure you do 2 to 5 rewrites to improve the readability and flow of the book
Don’t sell your book for $2.99 if you are not 100% sure it is worth $2.99
Don’t sell your book for $2.99 if you are not sure it’s worth readers’ 4 hours of reading time
Make things crystal clear to the reader
1. Put the book genres in the title and in the book description
2. Put the book in the right book genres at the ebook stores
3. Clearly list the length of the book
4. Clearly list similar books and similar authors, so readers know what to expect
5. If your book has things such as ‘triggers’ or sex or violence or swearing, then indicate it clearly
Put yourself in the reader’s shoes, and then look at your book
1. Are you being very forthright and reasonable in how you are presenting your book?

The two biggest things to watch out for, when promoting a $2.99 book, are – making sure the book is in the right categories; making sure the book is worth $2.99

As long as you cover these two areas, you will easily avoid negative reviews

$2.99 Book Promotion Sites vs Facebook Ads

For $0.99 and $0 books, the book promotion sites are a slightly better choice as Facebook Ads have a hard time giving positive Return on Investment for low priced books. Additionally, only book promotion sites can create big sales spikes for $0.99 books

However, for $2.99 Facebook Ads start becoming as good or better than the $2.99 book promotion sites

With a $2.99 ebook most authors will be making $2 per sale
1. That is significantly higher than the 35 cents to 70 cents they make on a $0.99 ebook
2. That allows for a lot more Facebook Ad clicks
3. Which in turn gives much more room to become break even on cost, or even positive return on investment
As opposed to the book promotion sites, where most readers expect $0.99 and $0 and $2.99, most Facebook readers are very open to all book prices
1. To them $2.99 seems a low and reasonable price
Facebook has close to infinite traffic. There are 2 billion people (supposedly)
1. In comparison the two largest $2.99 book promotion sites are Bookbub with 10 to 15 million readers and Books Butterfly with 4 million readers
2. Those two combined are still 100 times smaller than Facebook

Of course, there are two things to consider

Can you make Facebook Ads work for your book?
1. Can you get those people who are clicking on your Facebook Ads to buy your book?
Can you make Facebook Ads give you positive return on investment?
1. Can you get clicks at a low enough bid price, such that you make more from book sales than you are spending on Facebook Ads

If the answer to the second question is Yes, then you should keep using Facebook Ads for as long as they work for you. You can add on some of the top $2.99 book promotion sites to further enhance your marketing

If the answer to the first question is Yes, then you would have to combine the top $2.99 book promotion sites with Facebook Ads and use the combined push to market and promote your books

If the answer to both questions is No, then you have to go with the top book promotion sites

$2.99 Book Promotion Sites vs Amazon Marketing Services

Amazon Marketing Services is not as good as Facebook Ads and it is tougher to figure out than Facebook Ads

Ideally, you want to use a combination of Facebook Ads and the top $2.99 book promotion sites

If one of those two are not working for you, then it is worth it to test out Amazon Marketing Services

You want to look at three things

Are you able to get Amazon Marketing Services Ads to give you consistent clicks?
Are you able to turn those clicks into sales?
Are you making back the money that you spend on Amazon Marketing Services Ads?

If the answer to the third question is Yes, then you can add Amazon Marketing Services Ads to your marketing toolkit

Amazon Marketing Services is pretty hard to figure out, so don’t be hard on yourself if you can’t get it to work

Should you go for $2.99 or Full Price?

If you’re a new author

The answer will almost always be – Go with $2.99

If you are a somewhat established author

Go with a pricing that gives you an advantage, given what your market is like, and how many books you have
If you have a lot of books, then having 1 or 2 books at $2.99 is a very good price
If, on the other hand, you only have one book, then you have to see what the expectation in your market is, and go with $2.99 or $4.99 or full price, depending on what the market will respond to

If you are an established author

$2.99 is a good price point to have on one book
While having others at a price point the market supports
You can also have $2.99 or $0.99 or $0 for the first book in a series
1. That book is your loss leader and the other books in the series are the ones that make you money

The Market you are in will tell you whether you have your book priced right or not

If the book is selling well normally, and very well when discounted, then the price is fine and doesn’t need to be changed
If the book is not selling well normally, and starts selling well when discounted, then your price is too high
If the book does not sell normally, and does not sell when discounted, then the book needs more polish, or the book might be in the wrong book categories

$2.99 is a very reasonable price for both readers and authors. Unless you have a very good reason to go higher, stick with $2.99

The 3 Core Skills for Authors

The 3 Core Skills are the most important skills authors need to learn and master. They are

Knowing What to Write
1. Figuring out what market to write for
2. Figuring out what book to write for this market
3. Doing all the market research and due diligence to make sure you are writing the right book for the right market
Writing Very Well
1. Developing the writing skills to be able to write a very high quality book
Marketing Very Well
1. Learning the marketing and sales skills to market your book very well

These 3 skills are the absolutely most essential skills for authors

Becoming very good at all three of these will usually ensure success as an author
Becoming very good at two of the three and a master at the third will ensure a very successful and long career as an author

As an author, you must at all times be focused on these three skills and be improving your skill level in these three skills

Please also read this post on Levels of Mastery of The 3 Core Skills to better understand the 3 Core Skills for Authors

Do the 3 Core Skills apply to $2.99 Book Promotion?

Yes, very much so

Knowing What to Write
1. This skill is critically important regardless of what price you sell your books at
2. If you write for a market that doesn’t exist, you can’t sell your book
3. If you write for a good market, but write the wrong product (book), your book won’t sell
Writing Very Well
1. At $2.99 your writing needs to be considerably better than if you were selling at $0.99
2. Writing Very Well is a skill that becomes more and more important, the higher you go in price
Marketing Very Well
1. This is EXCEEDINGLY important at $2.99
2. Unless you are a well established author, you are coming in to readers as an unknown author
  1. You must convince them you are worth their reading time
  2. You must convince them you are worth their hard earned money
3. At $2.99 your marketing needs to be very effective and very persuasive

The 3 Core Skills become even more important when you start selling your ebooks at higher prices like $2.99 and $4.99

The 7 Golden Rules of $2.99 Book Promotion

These are the Golden Rules to follow when promoting and marketing your $2.99 book

The Game is Won or Lost in the Selection of Thriller Book Genres to Write In & Promote In
1. If you pick a book category you can write well in, are passionate about (will work hard in), which has lots of readers, which has low competition, which is an eternal/evergreen market or is a growing market
  1. Then everything will be straightforward
2. If you pick a book category that doesn’t have readers, or which has very high competition, or which you can’t write well in, or are not passionate about (and hate writing for)
  1. Then you are very unlikely to succeed
3. Firstly, this applies when deciding what book categories to write for
  1. Let’s be clear – If you pick the wrong categories to write in
    1. Then no matter how well you write or how good your marketing you can never do well
  2. On the other hand, picking the right categories to write in, greatly increases your chance of succeeding
4. Secondly, this applies when promoting and marketing your book
  1. If you promote it and market it as the right categories (the one it actually is in), then marketing will work (provided it is good quality marketing)
  2. If you promote it as the wrong categories, then no amount of marketing can make your book a success
5. Please note that this is by far the most important Golden Rule
  1. The Game is, quite literally, won and lost in the selection of genres
Product Market Fit is more important than Book Quality and Quality of Marketing combined
1. There are Two Critical Steps when finding a market
2. Step 1: Finding the Right Market
3. Step 2: Finding The Right Product for This Right Market
4. When you succeed in BOTH, then you have Product Market Fit
5. Product Market Fit is more important than everything else combined
6. 50% of Authors think ‘how well written their book is’ determines whether or not they succeed
7. The other 50% of Authors think ‘how good my marketing is’ determines whether or not they succeed
8. In reality, both of those things are far less important than – Product Market Fit
  1. Writing The Right Product (Book) for The Right Market
Knowing What to Write is the Single Most Important Skill
1. Following on from the Massive Importance of Product Market Fit, we get a surprising insight
2. Knowing What to Write is the single most important skill for an Author
3. It’s not how well they write
4. It’s not marketing
5. It’s not contacts
6. It’s not financial skills
7. The single most important skill is – Knowing What to Write
  1. Being able to do the due diligence and market research
  2. Figuring out what is The Right Market to work for
  3. Figuring out what is The Right Product for this Right Market
The easiest way to Sell your $2.99 book is to polish it and craft it to be a $9.99 value book
1. Give your clients (readers) MORE value than they expect
2. Give clients MORE value than they pay for
3. 99% of creators (includes authors, artists, musicians, etc) try very hard to sell their product worth $1 to clients for $10 or $100
  1. It’s human nature to value your work more than it is actually worth
  2. Step out of that blind spot and correctly assess the value of your work
  3. Then improve the value
  4. Then sell it for LOWER than what your product is worth (while still keeping things economically feasible for yourself)
4. It is far simpler to sell a $10 product for $2.99, than it is to sell a $2.99 product for $2.99
5. Because of the Internet and mobile phones, you can reach so many clients that even with the lower price ($2.99 or $0.99) you will still make a good amount of money
  1. However, the magic is to give clients MORE value than they pay for
  2. Turn them into lifelong competitors
Readers trust other Readers more than anyone else
1. Reviews are absolutely critical to the success of your books
2. Why are Reviews so powerful?
  1. Because readers trust other readers more than they trust anyone else
3. What are Reviews?
  1. Reviews are basically readers vouching for the quality of your book and the value for money of it
4. Authors often think of ‘getting reviews’ as an annoying thing, or a dark art
  1. It’s actually a super simple thing
  2. It’s getting readers to ENDORSE your book as a good purchase to other readers
5. Which brings us to the simplest way to get reviews (please also read the section above on Increasing The Number of Reviews you get)
  1. Have a very high quality book that is also very good value for money and time (reading time)
  2. Then ask readers to review it
  3. They will gladly vouch for your book if it is well polished and good value for money and time
The Market Always Wins
1. The Market Always Wins
  1. There is absolutely nothing you can do to overpower the market
2. The people who earned the money, and have it in their wallets, decide how they will spend it
3. They are the Market and they ALWAYS Win
Authors who LISTEN to the Market usually win
1. The Market (people with their hard earned money in their pocket) are constantly telling authors
  1. What they will buy
  2. What they would like more of
  3. What they would not buy
2. Unfortunately, it is like real life
  1. Everyone wants to tell you what they want
  2. Almost no one is willing to listen to what you want
3. If you can be in the 1% of authors who LISTEN TO THE MARKET
  1. Instead of trying to Chuck Norris their way to success as an author
  2. Then your chances of succeeding go up dramatically
4. You can get 10 times more readers if you write what readers want to buy
  1. In reality, sometimes it can be 100 times more readers
5. Please listen to the market
  1. Set aside all your ‘beliefs’ and ‘assumptions’ and ‘prejudices’
  2. The market is literally and figuratively telling you exactly what you need to write to sell well
  3. Just listen and follow. Let them give you their money
It is Easier to Succeed in the Right Market than it is to Fail in The Wrong Market
1. If you pick the right market
  1. Succeeding takes hard work
  2. However, it is somewhat straightforward
  3. Additionally, you will keep getting positive feedback (reviews, sales, little wins, big wins)
2. If you pick the wrong market
  1. Firstly, it is almost impossible to succeed
  2. Secondly, everything will be very tough
  3. Thirdly, even after working incredibly hard you will see very few rewards and not see any real success
3. So, finding The Right Market is absolutely critical
  1. It is MUCH better to spend 6 to 12 months to find the right market
  2. Than to jump into the wrong market after a few days of thinking
  3. And then realize after 5 to 10 years that you jumped into the wrong market
Picking a Market you are Passionate about greatly increases Your Chances of Success
1. If you are passionate you will work more, you will work harder, and you will outpace everyone else
2. If you are passionate you will do a lot of market research voluntarily and happily
  1. What books are selling in this market?
  2. Why are they selling?
  3. What do they read like?
3. There are tens of millions of authors. Even small categories have tens of thousands of authors
  1. If you go into a market where you have no interest, the authors who are passionate about the market will out-hustle you
    1. To you – it will be work and after 40 or 50 hours you won’t have energy to compete
    2. To them – it will be pleasure and they will gladly work 50 to 90 hours a week
  2. If you go into a market you are passionate about, you will be one of those ‘crazy authors’ who lives, sleeps and dreams the market all the time
You have to be willing to Fail Repeatedly if you want to Succeed As An Author
1. While there are lots of small wins when you are an author
2. There are also lots of Failures
3. If you are not the type of person who can handle Failure, being an author is a bad decision
4. Additionally, you have to constantly learn from your Failures
  1. If you are unable to think of your Failures as ‘Feedback’ and learn from them, then being an author is a bad decision
5. You must be (or must transform into) the type of person who treats Failure as Feedback and learns the lessons and moves on
  1. The person who constantly thinks of ‘failure as feedback’ and ‘every failure brings me closer to success’
Your Book is a PRODUCT and you must treat it as a product
1. You are selling A PRODUCT
2. You are not selling your sense of self worth or your identity
3. You are not selling some ethereal thing. You are selling a concrete product that is supposed to provide some value
4. If the product doesn’t sell, don’t take it personally because it is a PRODUCT
  1. It is not your personal failure
5. If the product starts selling, stay focused on the fact that it is a PRODUCT that is selling
  1. That you have to keep improving it
AFTER you find Product Market Fit, the Quality of your Book becomes critically important
1. Before you find Product Market Fit – It doesn’t matter how good your book is
  1. There is no market for it, so who cares?
2. After you find Product Market Fit – Quality of your book will determine the Extent of Your Success
3. The corollary to this is that you should worry about ‘perfection’ and ‘marketing perfection’ only AFTER you find product market fit

These are Golden Rules which you should try your very best to follow

Please remember that other mistakes can be remedied and recovered from. However, if you don’t follow the Golden Rules, it makes it almost impossible to succeed. Please take them to heart and follow the Golden Rules as much as possible

September 2020
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Aug				Oct »
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30

Leave a Reply Cancel reply