Self Publishing Formula 101 – Mark Dawson
Hello from Salisbury,
I hope you had a great weekend. It’s been busy here. We are – literally – working up to the last minute on the 101 course. We’ve incorporated the improvements from our team of beta testers and added new content (the session very kindly prepared and presented for us by BookBub is a case in point, and well worth the wait). Good news, though. We’re pretty much done.
Details below, but if you’d prefer to actually have a look inside the course itself, allow me give you the guided tour…
And if you prefer to read… here you are:
Module 1 – Build your Platform
We’ll kick off with a look at the basic building blocks that will comprise your author platform: your website, your mailing list and your social media presence. We’ll move on to consider how best to communicate with your new list subscribers.
Module 2 – Pre-publication
Everything you need to know in order to give your book the best chance of success, including: front and back matter (what you need and don’t need); formatting; book cover theory (with my designer, Stuart Bache, who has worked for John Le Carré and Stephen King); writing killer blurbs with Bryan Cohen; metadata tips for improving your book’s visibility in search; pricing; effective Amazon author pages; polishing your book’s product page; choosing a reader magnet; building a high converting landing page for your mailing list; delivering the read magnet; the cost of publication.
Module 3 – Amazon Exclusive or Wide?
Do you go exclusive with Amazon or maximise readership by going wide?
Module 4 – Go Exclusive
If you are with Amazon (and you will be, in some capacity) you’ll need to know about: KDP Select bonuses and benefits; the algorithm; a timetable for the first 90 days of an exclusive book’s life.
Module 5 – Go Wide
How to leverage a catalogue of books; permafree, why and how you should do it; merchandising opportunities at the other retailers; a timetable for the first 365 days of your book’s life.
Module 6 – Generating Traffic
How to send thousands of potential readers to your books’ pages and offers, including: the equation to turn a browser into a superfan; organic traffic, and how to maximise it; paid traffic with simple Facebook list building ads; paid traffic from the email service companies I use and trust; how to use instaFreebie to build your mailing list; and a session presented by BookBub on how to use their amazing Featured Deals and Ads.
Module 7 – Advance Teams and Launching
We will look at what an advance team is, and how they can revolutionise your career; due to popular demand, a detailed look at my launch sequence (with a couple of tricks I’ve never revealed before); and a walk-through the precise emails I use when I’m launching.
Module 8 – Getting Reviews
The perennial question: how do I get reviews? I’ll lay out how I do it and the services I recommend.
And then, if that wasn’t enough…
The Tech Library
Detailed, step-by-step screenflows where you can watch my screen as I take the platform and book of my intrepid guinea pig, James Blatch (my co-host on the SPF podcast) and the tools that I use to get him the essentials that he’ll need:
– uploading.
– building a website, from start to finish (including hosting and building with SquareSpace and WordPress)
– setting up MailChimp (beginner level) and ConvertKit (intermediate)
– BookFunnel and instaFreebie
– setting up your FB page and ad account;
– formatting with Vellum, the Reedsy book editor and Draft2Digital.
All sessions are fully transcribed and come with downloadable PDFs cheatsheets.
And that’s not including the bonuses – more on those later.
But it’s one thing for me to tell you about the course. You need to see it. If you want to learn from me, we’re going to be spending a lot of time together. You’ll want to make sure I’m the kind of teacher you can learn from. The best way I can think of doing that is to give you a free session, on me. And not a throwaway one that no one would be interested in receiving, either. Something valuable. Stick around, because tomorrow I’ll have Module 7, Session 2 – the precise sequence I use when I’m launching a book.
FB Live
Finally, I’ll be broadcasting live in our private 101 FB Group today at 2pm UK / 9am Eastern. I know that’s not perfect for those of you in the States, but the replay will be available on the page immediately afterwards. To watch live (and to ask questions), or at your convenience, just click here and apply to join the group.
Best wishes,
Mark
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