Read Time: 4.5 Minutes

The publishing world is changing.

Even since we started our own self-publishing journey back in 2020, things have changed and evolved faster than Linford Christie's legs.

Seriously...

→ Facebook Ads

→ Amazon Ads

→ The Kindle Store

→ Direct Sales

→ Other Retailers

→ I could go on...

The game has changed.

And it's got me thinking...

What would we do if we were starting again today, in 2024?

To set the scene of this hypothetical scenario:

We have no audience, 1 book ready to publish. I just know what I know now about book marketing.

As a guiding principle to everything in life, here's my high-level thinking that I would apply to what we'd do... question everything.

With that out of the way, here are the 6 things we would do:

#1: Focus on Writing Quality Books

To some extent, yes, self-publishing is a numbers game.

You need a handful of books to make the numbers work because advertising is a must if you want your books to actually, you know, sell.

And advertising costs money.

But ultimately, no amount of advertising is going to sell a wishy-washy book with no substance, reads like it was written by an AI Bot, and has all the quality of a Macdonalds Happy Meal toy.

And if you do make a bunch of sales with a book like this, when the reviews and ratings start coming in, they're going to be brutal and ruin any chance you have of turning things around.

If it takes 6-12 months to write a single book, there's nothing wrong with that, whatever differing opinions you read or hear about.

This is your business, build it your way.

Quality books will ALWAYS beat quantity, especially in the long run.

This also means I would invest in a professional editor and a proofreader. Worth every penny.

#2: Start on Amazon

I may get a bit of flack for this, but I 100% believe that Amazon is still the quickest way to get traction in 2024.

It has an algorithm that no other retailer can match, leading to an incredible amount of organic visibility and sales (provided you can use advertising to get the attention of the algorithm).

This isn't to say I wouldn't completely ignore other retailers or even direct sales, but in the beginning, getting your books out to the widest possible audience as quickly as possible will give you an idea of whether this first book or series has legs.

You'll start an almost instant feedback loop as soon as you make that first sale.

#3: Pick ONE Advertising Platform

There are a million and one advertising platforms available today for authors.

Choosing just one may seem like an impossible task, and also a risky one.

Who wants to put all their eggs in one basket?

But learning an advertising platform takes time, energy and dollars.

Dividing all of this currency up across multiple advertising platforms is a surefire way to burn out and run out of cash.

Knowing what I know now, I would choose Facebook Ads as my platform of choice.

Why?

It's the fastest way to drive a LOT of (low-cost) traffic to your books within hours of launching your first Facebook Ads campaign.

Amazon Ads is another popular option for authors, but it's more expensive than Facebook Ads and takes longer to see traction and results.

#4: Build An Email List

Your audience will become your second biggest asset as an author, next to your book.

The quickest way to build an email list?

With a Reader Magnet (a free book, sample chapter, prologue, epilogue, or bonus scene you give away to readers for free in exchange for their email address).

Add a short curiosity and excitement-building description of your Reader Magnet along with a link to where readers can sign up for it at the back and/or front of your book(s).

Then focus on driving quality, and relevant traffic to your book.

With your email marketing system built out in the back end, such as a landing page, email autoresponder and a weekly or monthly newsletter, your audience growth will almost take care of itself.

#5: Dedicate The First 90 Days To Building A Solid Book Product Page

Your marketing and advertising efforts will simply make people aware that your book even exists in the first place.

A reader's decision to buy your book happens on your book product page on Amazon (or other retailer).

If your Ads aren't converting, chances are it's not your Ads that are the issue.

It's your book product page.

This isn't always the case of course, because bad Ads can attract the wrong audience – but that's a whole other conversation.

So, what does a solid book product page look like?

Here's what I would focus on:

→ A quality book cover (yes, this requires investment)

→ A compelling, enticing and genre-focused blurb (book description)

→  A+ Content that helps to build your brand and presence as an author on Amazon

→ A well-formatted look-inside (or Sample) of your book (using a tool such as Atticus, Vellum or Reedsy Book Editor)

→ A well-thought-out subtitle that includes the genre and/or subgenre of the book

→ A system for collecting reviews/ratings of your books through your email list/audience (Amazon will also help you with collecting reviews/ratings)

Great Ads and a terrible book product page will not sell your book.

Terrible Ads and a great book product page have a significantly higher chance of selling some or a LOT of copies of your book

Yes, your book product page is that important and should not be overlooked.

During the first 90 days of publishing the book, I would be focused primarily on testing the blurb as this has the biggest impact on sales (that you can control and test quickly).

#6: Mindset

Despite the swathe of YouTube Ads I've seen over the past 12-18 months promoting self-publishing as a get-rich-quick scheme, it really isn't.

If you're going to be in this game for the long haul, you need to adopt a long-term mindset; think 3-5 years, not 3-5 weeks or even 3-5 months.

Sure, you may have a few quick wins along the way, but for anything sustainable, think in years.

And regarding investment and finances, I would go into this expecting to lose money, not make it.

Editing, book covers, advertising, website, email list, learning and education... it all costs money.

Mindset is more important in business and in life than many people think.

Without a solid, long-term mindset though, you're toast.

A slight wobble with Ads, royalties, profits, or anything else business-related, if you don't think about things with a level head, you're going to make emotional decisions that could cause you to throw in the towel or just not be able to function as a business (which is what you're building here) or even as a human.

Wrapping Up

Ultimately, my hope is that you will do all of this without burning yourself out, sacrificing family time or destroying your personal well-being.

Your business is here to serve you, not the other way around.

It's easier to build a business this way from Day 1, rather than wake up in 1, 2, 3 years time and discover you've built a business that can't survive without you.

That's a wrap for this week.

Thank you so much for reading and have an amazing rest of your weekend.

To Your Success
– Matt