Dear Author...

The world of self-publishing is becoming more and more crowded; especially on retailers such as Amazon.

I love Amazon as much as any other author, but there are a few challenges that come with it:

- Constantly chasing a better and better Amazon Bestseller Rank

- Continuously feeling like you need to feed the algorithm with new books just to stay visible

- Over-reliance on one retailer for all your earnings (especially if your books are in Kindle Unlimited)

- You don't know who your readers are and you can't connect with them

- Amazon take 30% - 65% of every sale you make

- The threat of Amazon closing down your KDP Account without warning

- Your only competitive advantage is price (and it's a race to the bottom)

Selling your books directly, on your own store, solves all of these challenges.

Whatever success looks like to you, one thing's for certain...

If you want to thrive as an author in 2024 and beyond, selling direct is the best way to diversify your income, connect with your readers and build a highly profitable author business.

To explain how I can help you, let me share our story of how my wife, Lori and I, built her direct sales store up to generating hundreds of dollars per day in royalties, in less than 6 months.

For the past four years, my wife Lori and I have relied almost entirely on Amazon as the sole distributor of her books, and it's where most of her royalties came from too.

Kindle Unlimited alone brought in over 50% of her royalties, but in 2023, we became very uneasy that Amazon could one day, out of the blue, close down Lori’s KDP Account, with no comeback - we’ve all heard the horror stories.

As an avid reader herself, Lori has always enjoyed connecting with her readers, and loves the direct connection to her audience.

But there is a limitation when selling books solely on retailers - you can’t connect with readers individually.

There's also the elephant in the room... retailers take a cut of your royalties on every sale.

Whilst Amazon’s algorithms are immensely powerful, relying on the algorithm to drive sales, and dealing with the instability of it, certainly gets a little wearing.

The peaks and troughs, the constant need to feed new books into the system (something we have resisted since Day 1), the almost weekly changes made to the algorithm; it’s an on-going battle.

While marketplaces such as Amazon KDP have opened up many doors for authors around the world, and, for us, has allowed Lori to build a six-figure author business, their priorities don't always align with ours.

There Has To Be A Better Way...

We knew there had to be a better way - one where we called the shots over Lori’s books' potential.

Taking back ownership over how Lori’s stories find readers.

By learning to market and sell directly through our own online store, we gain independence, higher profits, and richer insights into what draws readers to Lori’s work.

Originally, we started selling Lori's print books directly on her store. Sales were strong from day one.

We got a taste of the direct sales opportunity.

But in order to sell the eBook versions of Lori’s books, they needed to be removed from Kindle Unlimited.

That's why, in October 2023, we made the huge leap of removing her books from Kindle Unlimited (and the exclusivity agreement with Amazon) and we went all-in on direct sales; selling eBooks and print books on Lori's store.

Yes, it was terrifying at the time, but it's been 100% worth it. 

And if you're ready...

I'd love to show you how we've added an entire new stream of revenue into Lori's business AND how she now earns more from every sale, and has a deeper connection with every reader.

Still on the fence about whether direct sales is the way to go for your author business?

Here are a few of the (many) benefits you'll enjoy selling direct to your readers:

Get Paid On Your Schedule

No longer do you need to wait 60 days for your royalties to be paid into your bank account. Selling direct, you choose the payment cadence (e.g. twice a week, once a week, fortnightly, monthly, etc.)

Earn More Royalties From Every Sale

You determine the pricing of your books, PLUS, you receive 100% of every sale, minus some small transaction fees, equivalent to around 5%. 

Full Creative Control Over The Customer Journey

Take readers on a journey of your choosing from the moment they land on your store. Customize your book product page, the offers, the pricing, the upsells, the checkout experience. Every aspect of the customer journey is one you create. 

Create Exclusive Offers

Your store. Your rules. Bundle books together, create eBook and Paperback bundles, offer free shipping, sell signed copies, offer limited-time discounts, and design unique offers exclusively for your readers.

Ultimately, when selling direct, you have the capability to create offers that entice readers to act today, rather than tomorrow. 

Build And Segment Valuable Reader Data

Collect the email address of every single customer who makes a purchase on your store. Segment them into different categories and send personalized email automations based on their behavior.

Also collect email addresses of visitors to your store by offering something unique and valuable, then follow up through personalized email automations to entice them to make their first purchase.

Email is a hugely untapped marketing channel that can drive 10% - 50% of your store revenue.

Another Revenue Stream

Direct Sales doesn't need to your only source of income. In fact, I would argue that it shouldn't be your only source of income.

With Lori's books, we are still earning royalties from Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Ingram Spark, Audible, etc, on top of the direct sales. 

If direct sales is your only income stream from your books, you're not much better off this way than you are when you're exclusive to Amazon.

I like to think of direct sales as another revenue stream for your author business.

This revenue stream could make up the majority of your income as an author.

Or it may just add an additional 10% - 20% to your monthly revenue.

Or somewhere in between.

Either way, when you sell direct, you're reaching a whole new audience of readers who want to support authors directly, along with all the other benefits we've discussed.

The Direct Sales Blueprint For Authors is a 100% self-paced video course with one ultimate goal:

To build and scale your very own online store, where you sell your books directly to your readers, keep 95% of the royalties and no longer need to rely on retailers to earn a full-time income as an author.

The course is designed for busy authors - it's fluff-free, highly actionable and follows a simple system to get your store up and running quickly and effectively.

Here's How It Works

We'll cover all of this, and more, inside the course, with over-the-shoulder walkthroughs, and examples of how we're implementing all of this on Lori's store.

The course is broken down into separate modules, each containing lessons from 2-15 minutes in duration; so they're bite-size, easy to consume and actionable.

Here's a quick video tour of the members area you'll receive access to as soon as you sign up:

When Lori and I first started dipping our toes into the direct sales waters, building a course about direct sales wasn't even on my radar.

But when I casually mentioned in my newsletter that we were starting to sell books on Lori's own store, I was inundated with requests to build a course focused on direct sales.

My problem with this was, we were still learning direct sales ourselves.

But then, I thought, why not build the course in public? Build with other authors who are building their stores, or who want to build along with us?

So that's what I did...

Over 160 self-published authors, who are on their own direct sales journey have been helping me craft, shape and refine The Direct Sales Blueprint For Authors course.

They've provided feedback every step of the way, from the content they'd like to see in the course, the topics they'd like covered, tools and resources they'd like access to, as well as technical feedback on the lesson videos themselves.

We've also had monthly live Q&A calls to discuss the course content, shared new learnings and insights and it's been an opportunity for authors to ask me questions about all things direct sales.

It's been an incredibly eye-opening process to go through, and without these 160+ authors, the course wouldn't be where it is today. 

The ideas and insights gained through this experience has helped me build a course that authors actually want to learn - not what I think they want to learn.

Big difference.

I don't want to waste your time on this page, so it's worth spending the next 5 minutes or so reading if: 

> You have at least 3 books published (ideally a series, or multiple standalone books)

> You want to have a deeper, more personal connection with your readers

> You want to earn more royalties from every sale you make (90% - 95%)

> You'd like to have full control over the sales/distribution process of your books

> You want to distance yourself from over-reliance on one or more retailers

> You want to add another revenue stream to your author business

> You are committed to playing the long game (direct sales isn't easy, but the potential is huge)

> You have at least $20 per day to spend on advertising

> You're prepared to get your hands dirty building and maintaining your store

> You're comfortable handling customer service

> You're committed and ready to take action on what I share in the course

I'm sure you now have a couple of questions:

1. Why should you listen to me?

2. Will my advice work for you?

I think it's about time I introduced myself...

👋🏻 Hi, I'm Matt

I'll be completely upfront with you here:

I'm not an author.

But, I have been advertising books for 4 years.

And together with my wife, we turned her fantasy series of books into a six-figure author business.

We've been all-in on selling my wife's books direct since October 2023, and in that time we've learned many lessons (the hard way).  We've been through the pain of 0-1 sales per day, losing money hand over fist, and to be 100% honest with you...

We've nearly packed it all in (on multiple occasions) and done the walk of shame back to selling Lori's books on retailers only.

But we persevered, educated ourselves and haven't looked back since.

I'd love the opportunity to help you thrive with direct sales, too.

We really started getting traction with Lori's direct sales store when we made the decision to go all in.

For us, all in meant pulling Lori's books out of Kindle Unlimited and dedicating ourselves to learning everything we could about direct sales.

We went from making $10-$15 per day to over $500 per day, all in the space of less than 6 months after making our all-in decision.

We've gone through various iterations of the website, the offers, the page layout, how we're building the email list by 100's of readers per week, but we've now got it to a stage where it's generating hundreds of dollars per day in royalties, with very little maintenance. 

We're consistently learning new things, working on improving conversion rates, communicating with customers, etc, but if we just left it run, it would continue to bring in hundreds of dollars per day.

Inside The Direct Sales Blueprint For Authors course, I'll share exactly what we've done, how we've done it and what you need to know to build your direct sales store to the point where it's making $500+ per day in royalties. Here's what we'll cover:

It's tempting to add all the bells and whistles to your store before you launch. To make it absolutely perfect. 

This is a mistake, in my opinion.

Why?

Because there's only a few essential functions you need on your store to get moving. 

Don't overcomplicate things too early. 

I'll show you how to build a minimum viable store, what you need, and what you don't need, so that you can start selling your books directly to readers in a matter of days, not months. 

For me, Shopify is the best platform for authors to sell their books directly to readers.

It's simple to setup, very customizable and there is a ton of support, resources and expert guidance out there if you need help with any task on your store, big or small.

Shopify is the platform we use for Lori's store, and there's zero chance we'll be switching to another platform.

I'll show you how to get everything set up in your Shopify store; from website domains and themes to payments, taxes and shipping.  We'll cover it all.

I'll even walk you through, step-by-step how to add books to your store, and deliver them to your customers automatically (even print books, which we can have printed on-demand).

Product Pages, Home Page, Policy Pages, Collection Pages, Checkout, Shopping Cart, About Page... I'll show you step-by-step, how to build every single page your store needs.

Watch over my shoulder and follow along as I build and customize each page. I'll even show you some advanced techniques to make your pages pop, and really speak to your ideal readers.

The emails you send to your customers and your subscribers should account for anywhere from 10% - 30% of your overall store revenue. In some cases, email marketing can be responsible for up to 50% of your store revenue.

That is, of course, assuming you have the right strategy in place. 

Fortunately, I'm going to share the email marketing strategy we're using on Lori's store with you. I'll even share examples of the exact emails we send to Lori's customers and subscribers.

Like it or not, when you're selling your books directly to readers, you're competing with retailers, such as Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, etc.

So, the question arises... how do you stand out? How do you make it a more appealing proposition to readers to buy from you directly rather than from one of the retailers?

Supporting an author directly is definitely one big reason that many readers can relate to.

Aside from that though, your biggest differentiator is your offer structure.

What can you offer to your readers that they can't get anywhere else on the internet?

I'll show you how to craft irresistible offers that readers can't refuse. 

Once you've got your store to a good place, it's driving consistent daily sales, profitably... then what?

It's time to scale things up. 

But how do you do that?

What benchmarks should you be hitting before you scale?

How do you know what to scale? 

I'll walk you through the answers to all of these questions (and more) inside the course, so you know exactly what to focus on and when.

A hotly-requested topic for this course was Facebook Ads, and how the strategy differs when running Facebook Ads to books you're selling on retailers.

I've put together an entire module on Facebook Ads for direct sales to help you start making sales from your store within a matter of hours of launching. 

We'll cover everything from setting up the Facebook Pixel, connecting your store to Facebook, my direct sales Facebook Ads strategy, a full campaign build-out, calculating the numbers, tracking your results, and much more besides.

I'm sure you've taken courses in the past for multiple different aspects of your author business. 

If you've enrolled in courses, like I have in the past, that promise big outcomes yet fail to deliver value, and you end up feeling more confused than when you started...

You may be hesitant to join another course.

But The Direct Sales Blueprint For Authors course is different. 

For starters, it's been hand-crafted by authors, just like you. Some of whom are already selling direct, others who are just starting to get their feet wet with direct sales.

It's also highly actionable. 

Every lesson is focused on one specific outcome, helping you get your store up and running quickly, efficiently and avoiding the costly mistakes we've been through with Lori's store.

I'm also in the game myself. We're actively selling Lori's books directly right now, in 2024. 

If you're looking for a clear, focused, step-by-step roadmap to building, launching, optimizing and scaling your own direct sales store, this course is for you.

And it won't cost you a small fortune either.

I've put together 2 packages for you to choose from below. Each package includes lifetime access and all future updates to the course (at no additional cost). 

The Members Only Facebook Group

Included in both packages is access to a private, members-only Facebook Group, where you'll have access to myself and other authors in the course building their direct sales stores.

Inside, you'll be able to ask questions (technical or not), ask for feedback on a product page, a home page, anything at all. It's a community that is here to help you with your direct sales.

You'll receive an invitation to join the group as soon as you sign up.

The Store Review Video

If you decide to go for Package #2, which includes the Store Review Video. When you've finished building your store, I'll record a 30-45 minute video critique looking at every aspect of your store.

You'll walk away with a personalized action plan that details exactly what I recommend you do to take your sales to a whole other level. 

You can request your store review video anytime within 6 months of purchasing the course; giving you plenty of time to go through the course and build your store.

You'll receive an invitation to book your store review video as soon as you sign up for Package #2.

What Happens Next?

The buttons above take you to a checkout page. Once you've completed your details, you'll receive immediate access to the course and can start learning.

I'm also including a few additional bonuses to help you on your journey into direct sales:

You're still reading...

Looks like you're still here. So, either you're like me and do your due-diligence before investing in a course, or you're just not sure if this is for you.

I'm not going be a pushy salesman here; you'll know if this feels like a smart move, a smart investment in your author business.

If not, perhaps it's just not the right time for you.

And that's ok.

I've invested in coaches, courses and mentors to help me get as far as we have with Lori's store. It's already racked up to well over $10,000, not to mention the costly mistakes we've made with the store itself.

I'd like to help you avoid all that. This course is the resource I wish I had when we were just getting started with Lori's store.

So if you do decide to join me, I'd be honored.

If not, no worries. Please continue to enjoy my free content.

Thank you so much for reading.

To Your Success
- Matt