/ ONEPAGE / 1

Own Your Self-Publishing Journey!

THE END! WHAT’S NEXT?

Discover the Steps You Need to Take

Now That You've Finished Writing Your Book!

By Nikki Jo Davis

www.PaceBendPress.com

www.Facebook/PaceBendPress.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information in it may be quoted from

or reproduced in any form by means such as printing, scanning, photocopying or otherwise

without prior written permission of the copyright holder.

The End! What’s Next?

First Edition. Amazon Edition.

© 2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

ScottsdaleWriters@gmail.com

Keep up with What’s Next in self-publishing news, delivered straight to your inbox.

Join the Own Your Self-Publishing Journey Newsletter at

www.PaceBendPress.com

Or click this link HERE to receive your FREE PDF Resource for joining!

We value privacy. Your contact information will not be shared with anyone.

/ ONEPAGE / 2

Written by Nikki Jo Davis

This book is dedicated to my mom, Martha Jo, who passed away too soon, earlier this year.

I love you. I miss you. Thank you for naming me Jo.

/ ONEPAGE / 3

Introduction

Have you poured your heart out on the page? Did you stay up late and wake up

early to finish the story that’s been talking to you for months or years? Amidst tears of

joy you typed —

T-H-E E-N-D.

Finally it’s finished! But —

WHAT’S NEXT?

It’s a valid question. One we all ask ourselves after finishing a big project. It’s also a

question without an easy, clear-cut answer. Writing a book is like baking a cake. You’re

drawn to make one of your own after enjoying a slice of one made by someone else.

You follow a recipe, add your own flair, and entice others for a taste with decorations.

You are ready to share the cake with others.

This is also the next step for your book. You must offer it out into the world for the

enjoyment of others. But you knew that. And you still have questions.

I was in your shoes not too long ago. I’d finished my first novel and pushed it into a

drawer. Well a virtual drawer. It was saved as a Word document on my laptop. It

collected dust for over a year. I was terrified to take the next step. But the book kept

calling to me. So I started asking myself questions. How did I want to go about

publishing my book?

Look for an agent?

Traditional or Self-Publish?

/ ONEPAGE / 4

Paperback or ebook?

Traditional publishing was out of the question. My independent nature pushed me

toward self-publishing. Many of my family members are small business owners.

Among us we’ve owned retail shops, hair salons, cafes, and construction businesses;

and my biggest influence, my mother, was a well-renown estate liquidator. We’ve

worked hard, harvesting our talents to earn our own living. We’ve chosen to do things

our own way, adjusting with demands of our customers, and keeping the lion’s share of

our profits. I knew I was an authorpreneur at heart. I had to self-publish. With that

decision cemented, I asked myself again, what’s next?

Would print books or ebooks be more successful?

What did I need to make either version?

Was it something I could do myself?

Where would I get a cover?

How would I format the pages?

Then I started to answer my own questions. I learned with an easy Google search

that .epub stands for Electronic Publication. I read the Author Earnings report and

discovered ebooks really were profitable for authors. I listened to podcasts, watched

video series, bought ebooks, and read blogs from top influencers in the self-publishing

industry. I spent over a year absorbing information and I haven’t stopped learning yet.

Over time, the path to publishing became clear. I could see a glimmer of hope of

profitability in self-publishing. Now I had to act on the knowledge I’d gained. I bought

Scrivener, the content manipulation system, downloaded Gimp, a photo manipulation

program, and struggled with the learning curves of both. Eventually, I had formatted

text and an acceptable book cover, but I still had many more questions before I could

publish my novel.

/ ONEPAGE / 5

Where could I find the right jargon for my copyright page?

Did I really need to buy an ISBN for my book?

What exactly was a Call to Action? And did I have one?

Lucky for you, I asked and answered all of the questions above and more. I’ll

answer everything mentioned above in separate chapters of this book.

Publishing helped me conquer many fears, starting with uploading my first ebook

on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing site. It was nerve wracking, even after I hit the

publish button. By the twelfth time I hit publish, I stopped refreshing the page every

hour to see whether the fateful change had happened.

Now I've watched the scariest words on Amazon,

change to the happiest ones,

over seventy times. With each book, I got a rush of joy. I got to experience that sense

of accomplishment when your link goes live over and over again. Random people all

over the world had access to my words, and, if they were interested, they could

purchase my book. They can buy yours, too. If you make it attractive, appealing and

available.

So how will you do that? Start with the steps I outline in this book.

• Learn how Scrivener can positively effect your manuscript.

• Choose what matters in the front and back matter of your books.

/ ONEPAGE / 6

• Gain readers attention by focusing on the smallest details.

• Know why your cover is the most important impression you’ll make.

• Take a walk through publishing a book on KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).

• Get organized for every book promotion by using my personal plan.

• Stay consistent with your author brand across all your platforms.

• Find encouragement to keep you going even after you hit publish.

With a few steps in the right direction, you can refine a system you’re comfortable

with, tailor it to increase your productivity and conquer the fears that are holding you

back.

Are you ready to take control and share your book with the world?

You’ve typed THE END.

It’s time to do What’s Next.

/ ONEPAGE / 7

Chapter One

Compiling Words into a Product

This first chapter focuses on your words. How do you get them from a word

document into an electronic file that can be sold to readers for their Kindle device?

I’ll tell you how I conquered this step with an amazing product. But first I want you

to know that in this book I’ll make some assumptions. One being that you have a

finished manuscript. You’ve written and edited your story and typed those final two

words. This isn’t an inspirational “get your butt in the chair and write” kind of book.

There are plenty of those available for you. This is a book to get you to the next step

after your novel is finished.

Second, I’m assuming you want to make money off of all your efforts. You know the

old adage “To make money, you have to spend money.” It’s true in self-publishing, too.

You can get by without much investment, but there are few key points along the way

where you should invest in proven methods. The first one, in my opinion, is an

invaluable tool called Scrivener.

On their site they describe it as;“Scrivener is a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to

concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult documents. While giving you complete control of the formatting over all drafts of your manuscript.”

Besides your imagination, it’s all you’ll need to compile your story into a finished

product. I couldn’t imagine where my writing career would be if I hadn’t purchased

Scrivener. You can find it on LiteratureandLatte.com. There is a free 30-day trial and it’s

reasonably priced.

/ ONEPAGE / 8

All this being said there are tons of features and a new writer can easily get lost

with all the choices. Take a day to explore what Scrivener can do for you. Watch the

tutorial videos. Learn one thing at a time. Then seek out courses from experienced

authors who have mastered Scrivener.

Scrivener Coach - Joseph Michael The Scrivener Coach offers a free three-part mini guide

that will help you to navigate this program.

Author Strong - Mat Morris Besides his informative industry podcast and dominating

NaNoWriMo, Mat has an excellent Scrivener Guide that I highly recommend.

There are other options to format your ebook, like Calibre ebook management

program. I’ve never explored this product, so I can’t give you advice on using it.

However, it is used by writers of all sales levels. Follow this link and watch the demo

video if you’d like more information.

My Tips for You

If you’re already familiar with Scrivener, congratulations! I’ve found that even in an

/ ONEPAGE / 9

application I’m comfortable using, I still have room for a tip or two. Let me offer you a

few tips that I’ve picked up. These are just a few things I pay attention to while I’m

formatting my manuscripts in Scrivener.

• Scrutinize your file names in the Binder. Look for misspellings. They will show

up as you typed them in a Table of Contents on the reader’s device. This

happens automatically regardless of your choice to add a Table of Contents in

the compile stage.

• Keep font sizes of titles and subtitles small. Anything larger than 16pt looks

enormous when viewed on a phone.

• Importing a picture for a book cover is a different function from inserting

pictures on pages within your text. You can do both.

• For a book cover use; File>Import>Files.

• To add a picture on the page like this one . . .

Use; Edit>Insert>Image from File.

• Start with a larger photo. After insertion you can scale the image by right

clicking on it. The picture above is scaled to approximately 250 x 200 pixels.

/ ONEPAGE / 10

• When compiling, I cheat on formatting the text. Type your text on the page

exactly the way you want it to appear, then check the as-is box during the

compile step.

Always, always double-check your work. Open your .epub or .mobi file and reread all

of your titles. Click on your call to action links. Look at every page for mistakes. If

you’re as human as I am, you’ll find at least one. I have a folder on my desktop where

all the bad files go. I’ve been known to forget to bold a title, leave the copyright page

unchecked, and even compile a book with the wrong cover. It’s not the end of the

world. I title everything with the same system BookTitle-1. After the first mistake is

corrected, it’s retitled BookTitle-2. I’ve made it all the way up to BookTitle-6. But it’s the

last one that counts. Everything can be fixed. Only the final version is the one that’s

published.

My favorite part. You can’t finish a project without taking action. I’m going to give

you action steps at the end of each chapter. These are just little tasks to keep you on

track, so by the time you reach my “THE END,” you’ll have taken some necessary steps

to further your goals.

Action Steps:For this chapter, I ask that you increase your knowledge of the Scrivener

application. Download the free trial, watch an informative tutorial, import your

manuscript, and try out one of my tips.

Hit the compile button, make a mistake, try to correct it, and remember what steps

/ ONEPAGE / 11

you took to achieve an acceptable result.

/ ONEPAGE / 12

Chapter Two

It Matters! Calls to Action

In this chapter I’m going to cover several different types of pages that every book

needs. From the copyright page to the last call to action in the back matter, you need

to engage your readers all along the way and keep their attention on each and every

page.

First, I want to explain that all you really need besides your manuscript in a book is

a statement of copyright. You’ll want to claim within the text that you are the author

and hold all rights to the book’s content.

Some writers choose to be minimalist and add only the basics, so the reader can

get right to the book. But I’m not alone in believing that you could be making a mistake

if you leave your front matter too bare.

Amazon offers a “Look Inside” feature with all ebooks. It contains about ten percent

of your book and starts with the first word in the ebook file. Everything before Chapter

One will be available to potential customers. And all the links contained on the pages

will be live. That means a reader doesn’t have to buy your book to visit your website,

like you on Facebook, or follow a link to sign up for your mailing list. The front of your

book is valuable real estate. Why not use it to your advantage?

Call to Action

The big question. What is it and do you have one? Of course you do.

It’s simply you the author asking the reader to take action before or after they’ve

read your book.

You influence the action they take by what you choose to tell the reader about . . .

/ ONEPAGE / 13

• Your book,

• Your other books,

• And yourself as an author.

• Anyplace where you have links to your website,

Visit me on

www.PaceBendPress.com

• Your mailing list signup,

Click Here to be added to my Own Your Self-Publishing Journey Newsletter and receive

updates in your inbox from Pace Bend Press.

• Your bonus content,

Here’s a Free download for you!

• And everywhere else readers can find you online. These are also calls to action,

you want to add any of them that apply to your social media profile.

/ ONEPAGE / 14

Like me on Facebook!

Tweet me on Twitter!

I’m on Goodreads!

Check out my blog!

Buy my books on Amazon!

Read a free chapter on Wattpad!

Connect with me on Google+!

Pin it on Pinterest!

Subscribe to me on YouTube!

Follow me on Tumblr!

Email me!

Readers who follow your links enjoy your writing. They want to read more of your

books. They want to get to know the author behind the words, and they want to

support you. Make it easy for them.

You don’t have to be a marketing whiz to know how to craft a call to action. I’ve

given you a few examples, but they may not be tailored for your genre.

The Amazon Best Sellers list has a wealth of information. Look inside of the books

that are selling well. Don’t copy calls to action verbatim, but use them as guides to

hone your own style.

/ ONEPAGE / 15

They don’t all have to be in the front of your book. Most are in the back for after a

reader has finished your book. I’d suggest keeping the social media links on your About

the Author page, which is usually in the back. But let’s back up to the pages in the front

of the book.

Copyright Page

Usually, before any call to action and typically the first page of any book is the

copyright page. Besides claiming your rights of publication, this is the page where, if

this is a work of fiction, you’ll want to say that the characters are completely fictional.

Something like this:

This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are the

product of the author’s own imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to

actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is coincidental.

Copyright © 2015 by (Your Author Name)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information in it may be

quoted from or reproduced in any form by means such as printing, scanning,

photocopying or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.

If you prefer to keep the copyright page bare, you could move the extra jargon to the

back of the book. This simpler take would look something like this:

Title of your Book

www.yourwebsite.com

Copyright © 2015 by (Your Author Name)

All rights reserved.

/ ONEPAGE / 16

My copyright page has minimal rights claimed and more links for the reader to

follow. On the last page of the book, I restate the information from the front and

expand on it by adding the fictionalized characters paragraph, too. Here’s an example

of my copyright page without my links attached.

Title of the Book

By Author Name

www.yourwebsite.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information in it may be

quoted from or reproduced in any form by means such as printing, scanning,

photocopying or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.

Title Again (With Subtitle)

First Edition. Amazon Edition.

© 2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Email Address

A Call to Action for my Mailing List

Written by Author Name

Some important facts to consider when structuring your copyright pages are:

• Your genre. Will your readers respond to a call to action? Children’s fiction,

probably not. Romance, most definitely.

• How big is your catalog? You may not have a website, social media links, or a

mailing list on your first book.

• How important is stating that your characters are fictionalized? In fantasy,

/ ONEPAGE / 17

readers will assume it’s all fiction and this paragraph can be moved to the back.

Front or back, you will need to state it somewhere in a work of fiction.

Other Front Matter

Other pages you may want in the front of the book are: Title Page, Dedication,

Forward, Adult Content Warning, Excerpt, or Introduction. Match the top sellers in your

genre and add what you feel is necessary.

Use these front pages wisely. Everyone word before Chapter One must work in your

favor to gain reader trust and loyalty. And they’re working before the reader has a

chance to peruse your well-crafted book.

Back Matter

Again after “THE END,” you can't just stop the book. You’ve kept the readers

attention and they want more. You’re doing them a favor by adding in call to action

links. Pages with headings like this:

Thank You For Reading!

Want more stories like this one?

Or this:

Join My Mailing List!

Be the first to be notified of and able to review

all of my New Releases as they are published.

Are informative. They’re not spammy.

You’ll want to customize this section to fit your readership and your catalog. Even if

this is a stand-alone and your only novel, you’ll want to thank the reader and give links

/ ONEPAGE / 18

to where they can contact you for more information.

Besides thanking them, you’ll want to ask them to:

• Review the book,

• Join your mailing list,

• Like you on social media,

• Visit your website,

• Buy more of your books,

• Or read a teaser chapter for your next book.

After all of my calls to action, I like to leave the reader with my About the Author

page. I structure it with my profile pic, a short bio, my social media links and a final

request for a review of the book. At the bottom of this page, I attach a duplication of all

the necessary copyrights. Consider it the credits for my book.

Action Steps:Gather the information and links you need and create your copyright, dedication,

introduction, and the other pages you may want in the front of your book.

Now, add a call to action for both the front and back of your book. Give the reader

that extra opportunity to contact you for more information.

Finally create your “About the Author” page and leave the reader with a sense of

who you are.

/ ONEPAGE / 19

Chapter Three

Gain Attention Through Details

Descriptions, Categories and Keywords. These three small sections on the Kindle

Direct Publishing New Title page can make a big difference in your sales.

Each affects sales in different, but important ways. If you hover over the (What’s

this?) link of each one, you’ll see the following Amazon definitions.

• Descriptions: Your book description is what customers see as they shop

the Kindle store. Think of it like the inside flap of a hardcover book. The

description is a reader's first experience with the content of your book. A

well-written description assures readers that the book itself is of similar

quality.

• Categories: A browse category is the section of the Kindle store where

users can browse to your book. Think of the browse category like the

sections of a physical bookstore (fiction, history, and so on). You can

select up to two browse categories for your book. Precise browse

categorization helps readers find your book, so identify the most

appropriate categories for your book.

• Keywords: Search keywords help readers find your book when they

search the Kindle Store. You may enter keywords or short phrases that

describe your book and are relevant to its content. The best keywords

are those that do not repeat words in the title, category, or description,

as these are currently already used to help readers find your book. Some

types of keywords are prohibited and may result in content being

removed from sale.

/ ONEPAGE / 20

Allow me to expand a little more on these topics.

Descriptions

Behind your cover, the description is the second-most important aspect of your

book. This one little box,

can paralyze the best of writers.

Descriptions are terrifying because they’re a shift in thinking. While writing your

manuscript, you worked hard to show the reader every detail of your world. Now you

have to pull back and boil down 15,000, 40,000, 70,000, words to just under two

hundred words. It’s maddening, but you can do it!

Trigger the readers interest with an attention-grabbing opening line. Engage them

with your main hero/heroine. Pull them along with the peril, romance, or complications

your character will endure in your book.

Finally remind them to buy the book. If you don’t ask, readers won’t take action.

Your objective here is to really sell your book.

You can add a line like, “To find out for yourself, take a look inside or borrow it with

Kindle Unlimited.” to the end of your description. I’ll explain more about the Kindle

Unlimited program in a later chapter.

Remember, you’ve hooked them with your cover. They're reading your description

because they’re interested. Let them know your book will satisfy and entertain them.

Purchases on Amazon are often impulse buys. Stop thinking like an artist and start

thinking like a retailer who wants to sell a product.

/ ONEPAGE / 21

Categories

Authors often select categories without much thought. Don’t just choose two on a

whim. There are simple principles you can apply to pick more effective categories for

your book. In the KDP New Title page, the categories looks like this:

Most books will have an obvious parent category and possibly a clear sub-category.

For example Stephen King’s novel Finders Keepers is in the following categories:

The parent categories King has chosen are “Literature & Fiction” and “Mystery,

Thriller & Suspense.” He’s able to get into sub-categories with keywords. I’ll say more

about keywords a few paragraphs down.

Start broad and narrow down into a niche. Don't be shy about picking something

out of the box. Notice that Stephen King is in “Literature & Fiction > United States.”

That category is used for novels set in the United States. It’s very broad, but if that

/ ONEPAGE / 22

applies to your book, why not choose it?

Amazon’s goal is to sell products. They want readers to find the books that

interests them. The more categories you can position your book in, the greater the

chance that you will gain the attention of a reader. Which is a win-win for everyone.

If you use a keyword and the book ends up in the wrong category, Amazon will fix it.

They removed my book from a category after it was published. I used “fantasy” as one

of my keywords. Amazon placed it in the fantasy category. My book was a

contemporary romance and the heroine was fantasizing about a love interest. Not a

single dragon or fairy in the book. Amazon quickly put two-and-two together and

yanked my book out of the fantasy category.

They're the distributor. They can and will decide how products appear on their site.

But if you truly believe your book is in the wrong place, you can email them.

Keywords

In my opinion, and many other writers agree this is the most important of the three

sections you can use to gain readers attention. Unfortunately this may be the most

misunderstood box on KDP:

Writers who have studied and cracked some of its secrets hold them close to their

soul. I believe this subject is guarded at all costs because we're all guessing at the

effect these 400 characters really have on our sales ranking.

Amazon allows authors to use seven keywords or short phrases, up to the 400-

character limit. This is important. Do not just type seven words. Use ALL 400

characters as short phrases, spaced between commas.

For example, on this book the seven “words” I could’ve used are:

/ ONEPAGE / 23

“Writers, help, publishing, author, writing, market, self-published,”

The seven “short phrases” I did use are;

By choosing to use more keywords, I’ve stretched out my influence over the readers

searching for books like mine on Amazon.

Your keywords will differ from mine because you’re looking at a different audience.

To find the keywords that work best for your book, think like a customer. If you were

searching for a book on Amazon, what words would you type in the search field? Try

several out and see what happens.

Did this happen?

Amazon keeps track of searches on its site. When you type in a word, it will try to

anticipate your next word and suggest some top results. Use this to your advantage.

Here’s an example. Say you’ve written a hot new Billionaire Romance. Go to the

search bar on Amazon, type in the word “billionaire,” and see what Amazon suggests

you follow it up with.

/ ONEPAGE / 24

In my example, I narrowed my search to just the Romance ebook category and this

is what Amazon provided. They’re telling me that people who search “billionaire” also

search, “romance,” “obsession,” “with a twist,” “series,” “bachelors,” etc.

You can use all of these words as keywords if they even remotely describe your

book. Your string will look something like this:

“Billionaire romance obsession bachelor series twist”

The phrase, “with a twist,” was new to me, but now that I’ve seen it I’ll add “twist” to

my keywords. I omitted “with a” because they’re common words. They will take up

character space without adding any value.

The words I’ve chosen are only 51 characters. There are plenty more to come up

with. You can describe your setting, character type, plot theme, genre, story tone and

product specifics.Let’s continue our romance keywords. We have:

“Billionaire romance obsession bachelor series twist,”

Let’s add:

“Contemporary big city high rise penthouse wealthy single alpha male stranger

spontaneous lover love romantic date dating first kiss strong control possessive

heroine young female brunette submissive innocent forgiveness forgiver humor”

If I highlight the words above, I’ll see that I added 234 characters. And I’ve only

scratched the surface. You’ll want to dive into your story to find those extra 100-plus

characters for your keyword string.

Amazon is on the authors side with keywords. They’ve organized a ton of browsing

categories to aide customers in their search. You can find “Selecting Browse

Categories” in their help section.

Take advantage of this feature and gain more attention by getting your book listed

in every possible sub-category that matches your book. By following the list of required

words and adding them to your keywords, you can narrow down where your book is

/ ONEPAGE / 25

located on Amazon. This will make it easier for readers to find.

From the list above:

“Billionaire” or “wealthy” will allow my book to appear in the “Romantic Heroes/Rich

& Wealthy” category.

“Humor” will get me in the “Romance/Romantic Comedy” category.

And “dating” will land my book in the “Women’s Fiction Themes/Dating &

Relationships” category.

Look at every possible searchable aspect of your book and expand outward from

there. Go with your gut, choose from Amazon dropdown suggestions, and use the

browsing categories required keywords. Don’t loose readers, gain them by using all 400

characters that are available.

If you still want more help on keywords, there are services such as:

Kindle Spy The Ultimate Amazon Kindle Spy Tool "New Unique Software Application 'Reverse

Engineers' The Kindle Marketplace & Reveals Lucrative Kindle Niches - In Seconds!"

And

Google Analytics Turn insights into action. Improve performance across your sites, apps, and

offline marketing. Google’s analytics solutions can help you turn customer insights into action for your

business.

These services can be purchased if you feel you need them. Many writers find both

helpful.

Action Steps:Write your description and show it to your fellow writers for critique. Take the time

/ ONEPAGE / 26

to capture your story in a few perfect concise paragraphs.

Consider which categories will best fit your book. Research popular search

keywords on Amazon and use your results to stretch out your keywords to the 400-

character limit.

/ ONEPAGE / 27

Chapter Four

You Will Be Judged By Your Cover

It’s tough to hear, but potential readers will judge your book by its cover. They’ll

scroll past it on Amazon amidst hundreds of others. In an instant, they’ll notice the

thumbnail-size image you’ve chosen to represent your words and make a snap

judgement on your ability to write. In seconds, you can stand out or fade into the

background.

This small glimpse is the first promise you’ll make about your book. It must convey

the tone of your novel, solidify your genre, pique interest in your characters, and brand

you as an author. A lot of responsibility for an inch-sized image.

Your aim for your cover is to look professional alongside the top 100 best sellers in

your category. Your goal is to convince readers that you have what it takes to entertain

them as well as a Stephen King, Nora Roberts, James Patterson, or J. K. Rowling.

The best covers attract attention, create a need and sell books to consumers. You

want to stand out, in a good way. Study covers that are selling books in your genre and

emulate them.

If you can afford to pay for a designer, I highly recommend it. Most designers have

studied composition, balance, fonts, filters, and color theory. They know how to

capture attention at the scale of only an inch.

Having said this, some authors just can’t afford a designer. But before you make a

cover, ask yourself “Can I afford to stop writing and learn a new skill?” If you answer

yes, than you’ll want to check out the following tips.

/ ONEPAGE / 28

Applications

Start with a photo-manipulation application like Photoshop or Gimp. Each one has

a learning curve. They both have pros and cons. Search their sites and decide for

yourself which one is best for your abilities and needs.

Photoshop The world's leader in digital imaging. Photoshop has several products in a variety of

price ranges for monthly plans.

Gimp The GNU Image Manipulation Application. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such

tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating

systems, in many languages. Unlike Photoshop, this is a FREE downloadable App.

Photos

It’s best to use photos from a high-quality stock images website such as:

Deposit Photos - Amazing Royalty-Free Stock Photos.

Or

Big Stock - Images and Videos for everyone.

Study the top sellers in your genre and pick images that represent your book and

stick to the tone that’s been set by the books that are selling.

You may want to start out with one photo on your first cover. But eventually you’ll

want to learn how to merge two together, apply a filter, and manipulate colors. These

advanced techniques can be learned by watching video tutorials online.

Fonts

/ ONEPAGE / 29

Just like photos, the font you choose for your title can drastically affect the look of

your cover. Below are some popular fonts that look very different. Fonts should be

selected carefully to match the tone of your cover.

Though these fonts are the same size and easy to read. Each has a different

presence on the page. I’d suggest using one font for your author name and one or two

different fonts for your title and subtitle.

Spend an afternoon searching for fonts on some of these free font sites:

Font Squirrel

DA Font

1001 Free Fonts

When picking out and downloading fonts, make sure your selections are for

commercial use or in public domain.

Consistency

Covers also need to work together. On your Amazon Author Central page, they’ll line

up in a row. You’ll want them to look like they belong together. Even the slightest

changes in details can cause you as an author to look unprofessional.

Which one of these rows of covers displays a positive cohesive author look?

/ ONEPAGE / 30

Notice the titles and the black bar with the author name line up on the covers in the

bottom row. The smallest of details can gain you a follower or turn off a reader. You

can copy or drag layers of images and text from one file to the next to stay consistent.

Another tip is to just “save a copy” of your cover file. Then only change the necessary

layers, like the image, and titles. Leave the author name layer untouched from file to

file.

Designers

If you do go with a designer for your covers, select one whose work you admire and

who has good references. Communication is key to a healthy author - designer

relationship. Provide clear guidelines for the cover you envision. Be specific.

/ ONEPAGE / 31

Remember, the designer has not read your book and probably won't take the time to

read it.

Create a “design brief” for your designer. Include a copy of your blurb, your genre,

target audience and/or categories on Amazon. Then add two or three sentences that

clearly explain the focus you want for your cover. Keep the concept simple and be

flexible. Most designers only allow two, maybe three revisions before they charge for

the extra work.

Most importantly, trust your designer to know what will work best to sell copies of

your book. If they’re good, they’ll know how to create a cover that will set off a chain of

events, starting with provoking Amazon customers to click on your title. If the reader

likes what they see, they’ll scan your description, check out the “look inside” and finally

buy your book. And all because you have a professional-looking cover.

Another note: not all matches are made in heaven. Some author-designer

relationships just don’t work out. Stay professional in your communications.

Before you throw in the towel, I would suggest you show your cover to friends and

other writers for opinions. Finally, if after the revisions you’re still not happy with the

outcome, part ways.

Action Steps:If you're choosing to create your own cover, study the top sellers in your genre and

match their covers element by element. Pick a photo manipulation application and

explore the basics of making a cover.

If you're choosing to hire a designer, check out their previous covers and client

/ ONEPAGE / 32

references to make sure you have the right person. When you’re settled on a designer,

gather your info for the design brief.

/ ONEPAGE / 33

Chapter Five

Behind the Publishing Curtain

This chapter will pull back the curtain and walk you through all the details laid out

on the KDP Create New Title page.

After you sign up for a Kindle Direct Publishing account, you will be able to access

your dashboard. Along the top are the following clickable links: “Bookshelf” “Reports”

“Community” and “KDP Select.”

To publish a book, you need to choose Bookshelf.

Once you do, the following box will appear near the top of the screen:

Before you click the “Create new title” square, you’ll want to gather the items listed

off to the right:

• Your formatted book file,

• Your cover jpeg,

• Your description for the book,

• And your keywords.

You’ll also need to decide on categories for your book, the price, and whether you’re

/ ONEPAGE / 34

enrolling in KDP Select.

Enrolling in KDP Select is a personal choice. If you enroll your book in the

program it will be available for Kindle Unlimited subscribers to borrow. Per the

agreement, you cannot offer your book for sale on any other distribution sites. The

enrollment period is for 90 days, but your book will be automatically re-enrolled in the

program if you don’t change the settings after it’s published.

The terms are outlined in this tiny print on the page and on a separate KDP Select

FAQ’s page.

Check the radio box if you’re choosing to enroll in KDP.

Step 1. Enter Your Book Details.

These are pretty simple.

/ ONEPAGE / 35

Enter your title.

Enter your subtitle. ( I recommend having a subtitle. They’re an excellent resource

that allows you to add in extra keywords for Amazon’s search results.)

If your book is part of a series, check the box and a text box will pop up for your

series name. It will also ask for a volume number. You do not have to enter one.

The next box, “edition number” is an optional text field. It identifies to the reader if

this is an updated version. You would use this if you were republishing and your book

has had significant revisions.

Another optional feature is the “publisher” box. If you’re self-publishing and don’t

have a publisher, you can leave this blank.

These next steps follow just below the ones above.

“Description” is where you type your blurb. After reading the “Gain Attention

Through Details” chapter you should be ready for this box. Remember to really sell

your book here.

Under “Book Contributors,” click the “Add Contributors” button and a box will pop

up. Fill in your first and last names. Then select the title “Author.” If you’re using a pen

name, enter it here. Unlike the name on your KDP account, this name can be fictitious.

/ ONEPAGE / 36

Another note on author names: whether legal or a pen name, search Amazon to see

if someone is already publishing under yours. Amazon will only allow one person to

claim an Author Central page. My name, Nikki Davis, was taken, so I chose to publish

with my full, straight-from-the-South, country name, Nikki Jo.

The next box, “Choose your Language” is self-explanatory and English is pre-filled

as the default.

The “ISBN” box is optional. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number.

Unless you’ve purchased ISBNs, you do not need to enter a number here. They are not

required on Amazon. If you have a number for a print version, it cannot be used on the

digital book. Each format needs its own unique number.

Step 2. Verify your Publishing Rights

Pretty straightforward section here. Check the radio button next to, “This is not a

public domain and I hold the necessary publishing rights.” Unless of course this is a

reprint of a public domain piece of work.

Step 3. Target Your Book to Customers

/ ONEPAGE / 37

This is where you choose the two categories you’ve picked out for your book. You

can only pick two and you should find two different parent categories to list your book

under. For example; a contemporary romance book can be under: Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Contemporary WomenBooks > Romance > Contemporary

The parent categories obtained for the book above are “Literature & Fiction” and

“Romance.”

“Age Range” is optional. This section is geared to authors publishing children’s

books. If this is your situation, you’ll want to read the help pages and choose the

correct age and grade for your readers.

If you’re publishing adult material, you can leave all the age range buttons

untouched.

The next section, “Search Keywords,” should look familiar.

/ ONEPAGE / 38

You have 400 characters and seven commas. Follow the advice I gave in the “Gain

Attention through Details” chapter to extend the value of this field. Use your keywords

wisely to get your book to show up in more search results and get listed in sub-

categories.

Step 4. Select Your Book Release Option

“I am ready to release my book now” is pre-selected.

Unless you’ve researched and decided on a pre-order, leave this filled in, so your

book will be published right away.

Step 5. Upload or Create a Book Cover

In the last chapter, we discussed cover photos. It’s important that they attract

attention and convey your books intentions at a glance. Whether you made one

yourself or worked with a designer, your cover should be about 1600 x 2500 pixels. You

want to start with a big cover for the best resolution. Size does matter in this situation.

Bigger is better.

Click on the “Browse for image” button and pick your file. It could take a few

/ ONEPAGE / 39

moments to load. Be patient.

Step 6. Upload Your Book File

Again, Amazon pre-selects the field that is most commonly chosen. It is widely

believed that it is best to select the “Do not enable digital rights management” button. I

agree and always leave this the way it is.

To learn more about DRM, read the information provided by hovering over (What’s

this?) on the page.

The next step is one small button, but it’s the most important.

“Book Content File:”

Click the “Browse” button.

This is where you pick the .epub or .mobi file of your book to upload. Again, be

patient. It may take a few minutes to load.

When it does load and the screen changes, it’s time to preview your book. This is a

step you shouldn’t skip. Click the “Preview” button.

A new page comes up that will look like a Kindle viewer. Whatever page your book

preview starts on, I suggest hitting the back arrow all the way to your cover. Check to

make sure the image is right, then double-check everything else as you go through

/ ONEPAGE / 40

your book.

Personally, I don’t reread my work, but I do click through every page. It takes some

time on longer books, but it’s the only way to find mistakes. Once you reach the end,

you’ll need to return to the Book Details.

This was hard for me to find at first, but the button will be in the upper left corner.

Click the words “Return to Book Details” and you’re back.

Now you can hit this magical button.

It will save your changes and load the next page.

Step 8. Verify Your Publishing Territories

The radio button for “Worldwide rights” is filled in. Attracting buyers from all the

world markets is a good idea. You have the option to change it if you prefer.

/ ONEPAGE / 41

Step 9. Set Your Pricing and Royalty

Your royalty percentage is based on the price you have set for your book. Choose

35% only if you’re pricing at $0.99 or above $9.99. If you choose any price between

$2.99 and $9.99, then select 70% royalty.

Readers of different genres expect different prices on books. Because romance is

so heavily populated, $0.99 is an accepted price for a stand-alone short book. Other

genres, like fantasy, expect higher word counts and are more willing to pay a higher

price such as $3.99 for a first-time author’s book. Study your competitors and price

your book accordingly to maximize profits.

It’s not shown in the image, but all the worldwide territories are listed, on the page

and will fill in the expected royalty, after you pick a price.

Steps 10 and 11 Kindle Matchbook and Kindle Book Lending

The first is optional. Check the radio box if you wish to enroll your book in the

program.

/ ONEPAGE / 42

The second will fill in as checked, if you’ve chosen to enroll in KDP Select.

The Final Step is super tiny.

You’ll need to check the radio box that says you have all the necessary rights for

your content and that you are in compliance with the KDP Terms and Conditions.

One last button. Hit “Save and Publish!”

Hurray! You did it!

Once the book is live and after you do your happy dance, you have one more task:

Claim your Author Central Profile Page.

This is so important. You’ll need to sign up for it here.

AuthorCentral.Amazon.com

With less than an hour of your time, you can give yourself and your book a

professional look. You’ll need to claim your book, then add your profile pic, author bio,

and mention where readers can find you on social media.

I’ll touch on social media and discuss your author brand in upcoming chapters.

Action Steps:

/ ONEPAGE / 43

Just one here in this chapter. Publish your book!

/ ONEPAGE / 44

Chapter Six

Organize Your Promotion Process

The next step after publishing is marketing your book. If you don’t tell the world,

then the world won’t read your book. No one but you will spread the word about how

awesome and wonderful it is. You’re not alone. You can find help on how to tell readers

about your book on the internet.

Promotion Leaders

Several entrepreneurs have built their platform on providing information to authors

about how to market their books. The following links are some of the best.

Nick Stephenson’s Your First 10,000 Readers

Joanna Penn’s The Creative Penn Blog & Podcast

Bryan Cohen’s Selling for Authors

Jeff Goins Tribe Writers

Simon Whistler’s Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast

Shelly Hitz’s Podcast & Author Audience Academy

Tim Grahl’s Your First 1000 Copies

Talented individuals and many more offer answers online to writers who are asking

the unanswerable question, “How do I gain attention for my book?” Most of the links

provided above offer free resources. They all have products for sale. I’m not telling you

to purchase any or all of them, just do the research and find what will work best for

your writing career.

From the links, you could buy a course, watch a video series, read a book, sign up

/ ONEPAGE / 45

for webinars, follow a blog, or listen to podcasts. After all of your research, you’ll know

how to gather information about yourself and your book to submit to recommended

promotional sites all over the web.

Promotion Options

The list of sites available for promotions changes frequently. The markets vary

according to genres, and the numbers of readers who subscribe to the sites fluctuates.

Do the math of reach versus cost before paying for any ad. To gain the most return on

investment, you’ll want select sites with high numbers of readers who like your kind of

book.

I’m no mathematician, but let me give this a try. Lets say a site claims to have

25,000 subscribers:

• If 10% of their subscribers see your ad, that’s 2,500 people.

• If 10% clicked through to Amazon, that’s 250.

• If 10% of those bought your book, that’s 25 people.

• To simplify, that’s 0.1% of their followers. And the 10% rates are generous.

• If you make a 70% royalty of a higher price book, it might be worth it.

• If your ad is for 30% of a $0.99 book, in most cases, you lose money.

• Purchase promotions wisely.

Of course residual sales for other books in your catalog can factor in to your

decision. As hard as it is to hear, it’s best to wait and purchase higher-priced ads after

you have several books published.

I can offer you a short list of proven promotional sites:

Bookbub (Unquestionably the leader.)

My Romance Reads

Fussy Librarian

Pixel of Ink

/ ONEPAGE / 46

Bargain Booksy

A simple internet search will lead you to other links of sites where you can add your

title when you run a free or discounted price promotion.You could fill in your

information on each individual promotion site or choose to use an effective resource

such as:

• The Book Marketing Tools Ebook Submission Tool

• Author Marketing Club Book Submission Tool

These two sites will submit your book to a list of sites their creators have

aggregated themselves. Both are worth investigating. This kind of service will save you

time, but for a price.

If you’re a member of a forum or Facebook group of writers, search for a

promotions list that’s already been started by other members and proven with results.

Promotion Organization Plan

Once you find your sites, you’ll need to get organized before submitting listings. I’ll

point out the information you’ll need to promote your book and show you my plan for

formatting it into a document. All you have to do is gather your specifics and copy my

method to make submissions a breeze.

First, create a text document in the document creation program of your choice.

Save it on your desktop or another convenient place. Title it something along the lines

of, “Promotions/Book Title” or “Blurbs/Pen Name.” It needs to signify at a glance that

this is your author info document.

At the top of your new document, type in your pen name and/or book title.

Next comes your author info section. Below it add:

• Links to your social media sites.

• Your author bio.

/ ONEPAGE / 47

This section will stay constant throughout your author catalog. Add links to

additional social media sites as you grow as an author. See example below:

Renee Dalton - YA Magical Realism AuthorAmazon Author Pagehttp://www.amazon.com/Renee-Dalton/e/B016MTE05SFacebookhttps://www.facebook.com/AuthorReneeDaltonWebsite - www.ReneeDalton.comhttp://www.reneedalton.com

Author Bio

Telling stories is in my soul. Each character is close to my heart, from Nel and Teagan in Under the Fresh Turned Earth to Hannah and Marianne in my next series, According to Legends. I love creating new characters and worlds, writing their stories and sharing them with you. I hope you enjoy immersing yourself in my imaginings.

The second section is for your published or TBA titles. Skip a line in the document

and enter the info for your first book. I’m a visual person, so I like to add a thumbnail

image of the cover before the title. Beneath the image:

• List out the title and subtitles.

• Add a line that includes your book link and publication date.

• Type out just your ASIN number. The ASIN is a ten digit alpha-numeric

identification, assigned to your book by Amazon and can be found in the link for

your book.

• Finally, input your book description, and a short list of descriptor tags. Here is

another example:

/ ONEPAGE / 48

The Carte Dorare SeriesUNDER THE FRESH TURNED EARTH

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016LLTXQS Published October 13th B016LLTXQS (ASIN #)

If you were given a magical book that could grant your deepest truest wish, what would you wish for? Do you think you know your true wish?

Nel does and she has a diary in her pocket that will lead her on a quest to find the most sought after treasure in Drutherton, the Carte Dorare.

To find it and fulfill her true wish, all Nel has to do is keep reading.Follow along with Nel. Read Book One of the Carte Dorare Series, Under the Fresh Turned Earth, a

humorous and original young adult tale of magical realism, by Renee Dalton.

(A few descriptor tags. Some promotion sites will ask for these.)YA, Young Adult, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Paranormal, Coming of Age, Cemetery, Ghosts,

Humor,

Book Two in the Carte Dorare SeriesPLUCKED FROM THE STRAWBERRY TREESPublication Date ETA March 2016

When you’re ready to submit promotions, open the document, copy and paste as

you need the information. Some sites will request a full link to your book on Amazon

and some will only want the ASIN number. That’s why I have it both ways in the

example. If your book is published across other platforms, such as Barnes & Noble,

Kobo or Apple, add those links, too.

/ ONEPAGE / 49

You also may want to have a short “elevator pitch” for your book, in which you

describe it in a sentence or two. This will be helpful when you encounter sites with a

word limit for book descriptions.

Promotion Tracking Plan

To keep track of your online promotions, you’ll need a system. It can be as simple

as a running sheet that track:

• Book title

• Promotion site

• Submission date

• Run time of promotion

• Verification of listing

Or as complex as including all of the above and plus any of this additional data:

• Sales before promotion start date

• Sales during promotion

• Ranking before promotion start date

• Highest ranking achieved

• Reviews gained

• Social media followers gained

• Email subscribers gained

• Website traffic

• Estimated return on investment

How much time you devote to this is up to you. It’s good to know how many views

your promoting efforts are gaining for your book, and where if you can determine which

sites proved profitable, so you’ll know the ones to use in the future. Just don’t let the

/ ONEPAGE / 50

number watching get in the way of your writing schedule.

If you want to take your tracking to another level, you can sign up for an Amazon

Associates account. This is Amazon’s affiliate marketing program. It allows you to

make different links that all point to your book. Amazon will keep track of which link is

bringing in the traffic and pass the information on to you. This is helpful for emails and

social media posting, but most submission sites do not allow affiliate links.

Promotion strategies for authors are as varied as the kinds of books that are

written. Search out and learn from leading authors who have had success in their

promotion efforts.

Action Steps:Organize your Author Profile/Book Information and type it into a document. Study

promotion websites you want to try out and run a test promotion.

Don’t forget to schedule your price change on Amazon. Take the time to record a

few details of your promotion and keep track of your results for future reference.

/ ONEPAGE / 51

Chapter Seven

Be Consistent with Branding

Developing an author brand or author platform may sound overwhelming, but it's

easier to create a brand than it is to not have one. The secret is consistency.

Select and keep one author profile picture, one logo, one avatar, one font, one color,

one banner image, and one tagline. Make decisions on what represents you and keep it

the same across all of the online sites where readers might interact with you or your

books.

Be consistent.

Be recognizable.

Typically, humans remember pictures and faces better than they remember words

or names.

You may be this to someone and not this .

Images

You may have noticed the lightbulb images that appear on this book’s chapter

headings. They’re cut out from the image I chose to use for my publishing company’s

website and social media logo:

/ ONEPAGE / 52

This same lightbulb image also appears in the background of the covers for the

books in this series.

And I’ve used it on banners for my social media.

They’re not everywhere, just enough places to give readers a mental clue that

they’ve found the right spot.

Stock Images

A fiction series may not have a logo image to reproduce, but you can use your cover

photo in many ways that work to your benefit. An author friend of mine has done this

for her novel. She purchased this stock image:

/ ONEPAGE / 53

First it appeared on her cover.

Then she used it for a Facebook ad.

And on her website landing page.

One photo has provided a recognizable consistent brand for this author. Your cover

image can do the same.

Tagline

Can you sum yourself up in a short, snappy sentence? How about the reason you

write or your type of writing?

/ ONEPAGE / 54

These are all directions you can take when creating an author tagline. Play around

with what you want to communicate and think of five to ten descriptor words. Ask

yourself:

What is my niche?

Who are my readers?

What do I want to convey with my books?

Answer these questions and form a tagline from them. Here are a couple of

examples:

Jo Henley - Romance thrives one lover at a time.

Abbey Caine - Arousing Amusing Romance Reads.

Your website, blog, and social media sites are all places where you have chance to

communicate your brand to your readers. A good tagline is a quick and easy way to do

this. Just like your cover image, author headshot and logo, a tagline can remind the

reader of your book, that they enjoyed reading it, and that they want to read more from

you.

With everything you do, you’re creating a reader experience.

/ ONEPAGE / 55

Action Steps:By this point you should have an idea of your author brand. Revisit every site you

have a presence and update it to be consistent.

Commission or create an ad graphic for your book. Use your book cover or image

and add a tagline that describes your style.

/ ONEPAGE / 56

Chapter Eight

Don’t Publish and Forget

Don’t stop at the publish button. Tell everyone about your book. If you don’t, no one

will do it for you. Have a marketing plan, write email announcements to send to your

contacts, post your book links on social media and talk about it everywhere you go.

Selling your book is as important as any nine-to-five job you have.

The best marketing is not always writing the next book. I learned from

experience,that it’s best to slow down and take the time to focus on a true marketing

strategy to keep your book climbing the charts.

Book relevance times on Amazon have a thirty-day “cliff.” After a month, your title

falls off the New Release charts. And unless you continue to promote your book, it

keeps falling down the charts. You can prolong book sales if you can give readers a

reason to continue talking about your book.

Some ways to do this are:

• Publish the next book in the series.

• Offer a free or discounted novella in the series.

• Launch the paperback or audio versions of your book.

After your initial blitz of promotions and free days, you’ll still need to talk about your

book. The easiest place to do that is social media.

Social Media

This is where you can interact with the readers who will become your true fans. You

don’t have to be everywhere. In fact, it’s better if you only have a presence where you’re

/ ONEPAGE / 57

comfortable. You should pick one or two sites that feel natural and get involved.

I had a list of social media sites earlier in the book for Call to Action prompts. Let

me add a few more to encourage you to seek out multiple places you feel comfortable

interacting with your readers.

Like me on Facebook! Tweet me on Twitter!

Find me on Goodreads! Check out my Blog!

Available on Amazon! Pin it on Pinterest!

Read a chapter on Wattpad! Friend me on Reddit

Subscribe on YouTube! Follow me on Vine

Find me on Google+! Follow me on Tumblr!

Follow me on Instagram Join a local Meetup

Follow me on Periscope Follow me on Vimeo

Find me on LinkedIn Follow me on Ello

The options for interacting with your fans online are practically endless. Besides

these top sites, you can get involved in a forum specifically tailored for your genre,

attend local writer/reader groups in your area, and join Facebook or Goodreads groups.

Anywhere you do get involved, I encourage you to be yourself.

You can also put your social media networking on auto-pilot while you continue

writing. Schedule everything ahead of time with this handy author tool:

Hootsuite Get serious about social! Join the 10+ million professionals who trust Hootsuite. Social

/ ONEPAGE / 58

media management for any organization. Manage social networks, schedule messages, engage your

audiences, and measure ROI right from the dashboard.Get started for free with their 30-day trial.

Reviews

Obtaining reviews are important for your book. Amazon likes honest reviews for its

products. DO NOT BUY THEM! If you do hand out a copy of your book, either a physical

book or an eBook link, be sure to ask for an honest review.

Be prepared for reviews of all types. Two and three-star reviews are hard to read,

but they’re actually good for your book. They give balance to your four- and five-star

reviews. A book with all five-star reviews appears contrived to readers. Let nature takes

its course on reviews.

Finding reviewers takes time. Don’t rely on your aunt, best friend, critique partner or

neighbor to review your book. It’s not that important to them. But, it is to you.You need

to do the legwork of obtaining email addresses and offering free copies to readers who

like to give reviews. You could search through pages of reviews on similar books to

yours on Amazon and contact the reviewer, if they are open to contact. Or you could

use a site that will aggregate these reviewers for you. Here’s a link to one site:

Book Razor With one click, transform the KDP Sales Dashboard into something incredibly useful.

It's packed with features, but the important thing is this: you get the data you need to see if you want to

work smart.

Do your research and only use a site like this that has proven results and is trusted

by other authors. You don’t want to get involved in a review buying scam.

Mailing List

There’s no shortage of authors singing the praises of starting your own mailing list.

Having readers trust you enough to allow you into their inbox is invaluable. Because

this topic is so well covered by others, I’m only going to touch on it by giving you links

/ ONEPAGE / 59

to some top email sites:

Mailchimp Join more than 9 million people who use Mailchimp to design and send 600 million

emails a day.

Aweber All the tools you need to send emails the right way. Join the community where email

automation began, you get access to all features and a team that is 100% devoted to your success.

MailerLite All the email marketing features you really need. Build beautiful email newsletters. Get

organized and track everything.

As with other aspects, this is an area where your author career is worth an

investment. Automation services are usually only included with the monthly fee option

and will save you time and headaches. Because they are so widely used, these sites

will add a recognizable feel to your sign-ups and emails.

The possibilities with email marketing are endless. How invested you become in

communicating with your readers is up to you.

Action Steps:This is the fun one. The step where you get to be yourself.

Blog, tweet, post, pin, and talk about your recently published book. Give links, share

your cover, and offer free copies for reviews. Be honest and genuine.

Then start writing your next book.

Well, that’s THE END!

Here's What's Next.

/ ONEPAGE / 60

• Open a new Scrivener file for your book

• Fill out your front and back matter

• Write your description

• Generate keywords

• Commission or create a cover

• Publish your book

• Organize your promotions

• Solidify your author brand

• Keep spreading the word about your book

Now ask yourself these questions:

Have you enjoyed the publishing process?

Do you want to continue with self-publishing?

If you answered yes to both questions, you have two more jobs to do. First, plan out

your 30-, 60-, and 90-day marketing plans to keep your book alive and in front of as

many eyes as possible.

Second, start your next project. What you chose to do to keep eyes turning your

direction will depend on your book and your abilities. But I know you can do it.

Marketing one book and writing the next one is your daily routine now.

Keep writing

Keep spreading the word

Keep publishing

And keep selling books!

You can take control of your publishing career by working hard at your craft,

following the advice of industry leaders, and adapting a proven system to meet your

/ ONEPAGE / 61

needs. Success depends on you.

THE END!

/ ONEPAGE / 62

Thank You for Reading!

Did you enjoy this book? I hope it helped you in your author journey. I’m thrilled to

have been able to take you this far in the process. It certainly helped me to write the

book.

If you received some good information here, would you be willing to leave me an

honest review? As an Indie Author reviews from readers like you help out

tremendously. You can leave a review by returning to the Amazon page of the book.

I've provided you with a link to my author page. Just click the picture below.

Thank you so much!

Nikki Jo Davis

/ ONEPAGE / 63

Suggested Website Links

In the book, I gave you loads of links to helpful self-publishing websites. I’ve

gathered them here by chapter for your convenience:

Introduction

Author Earnings A website for authors, by authors. Their purpose is to gather and share

information so that writers can make informed decisions.

http://authorearnings.com

Chapter One: Compiling Words into a Product

LiteratureandLatte.com The parent company of Scrivener, the powerful content-generation tool

for writers that allows authors to concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult

documents.While giving them complete control over the formatting of their content.

http://literatureandlatte.com

Scrivener Coach - Joseph Michael The Scrivener Coach offers a free three-part mini guide

that will help you immensely with learning to navigate this program.

http://scrivenercoach.com

Author Strong - Mat Morris Besides offering an informative industry podcast and dominating

NaNoWriMo, Mat has an excellent Scrivener Guide which I highly recommend.

http://authorstrong.com

Calibre A free and open source ebook library management application developed by users of

ebooks for users of ebooks. It has a cornucopia of features.http://calibre-ebook.com

/ ONEPAGE / 64

Chapter Three: Gain Attention Through Details

Kindle Spy The Ultimate Amazon Kindle Spy Tool "New Unique Software Application 'Reverse

Engineers' The Kindle Marketplace & Reveals Lucrative Kindle Niches - In Seconds!"

http://www.kdspy.com

Google Analytics Turn insights into action. Improve performance across your sites, apps, and

offline marketing. Google’s analytics solutions can help you turn customer insights into action for your

business.

http://www.google.com/analytics/

Chapter Four: You Will Be Judged by Your Cover

Photoshop See what's possible with Adobe Software Products. The world's leader in digital

imaging. Photoshop has several products in a variety of price ranges of monthly plans

http://www.photoshop.com

Gimp The GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such

tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating

systems, in many languages.

http://www.gimp.org

Deposit Photos Amazing Royalty-Free Sock Photos.

http://depositphotos.com/home.html

Big Stock Images and Videos for everyone.

http://www.bigstockphoto.com

Font Squirrel Free fonts have met their match. We know how hard it is to find quality freeware

that is licensed for commercial work. We've done the hard work, hand-selecting these typefaces and

/ ONEPAGE / 65

presenting them in an easy-to-use format.

http://www.fontsquirrel.com

DA Font A website with fonts presented as authors' property, and are either freeware, shareware,

demo versions or public domain.http://www.dafont.com

1001 Free Fonts The Ultimate Font Download is the largest and best selling font collection

online. The fonts are licensed for personal and commercial use.

http://www.1001freefonts.com

Chapter Five: Behind the Publishing Curtain

Kindle Direct Publishing Independently publish on Amazon to reach millions of readers.

https://kdp.amazon.com

AuthorCentral.Amazon.com Reach more readers and share your most up-to-date information

about yourself. Track your sales data and receive author help for your questions.

https://authorcentral.amazon.com

Chapter Six: Organize Your Promotion Process

Nick Stephenson’s Your First 10,000 Readershttp://noorosha.com

Joanna Penn’s The Creative Penn Blog & Podcasthttp://www.thecreativepenn.com

Bryan Cohen’s Selling for Authors

/ ONEPAGE / 66

https://www.sellingforauthors.com

Jeff Goins Tribe Writershttp://goinswriter.com/tribewriters/

Simon Whistler’s Rocking Self-Publishing Podcasthttp://rockingselfpublishing.com

Shelly Hitz’s Podcast & Author Audience Academyhttp://www.shelleyhitz.com

Tim Grahl’s Your First 1000 Copieshttp://timgrahl.com

Bookbubhttps://www.bookbub.com/home/

My Romance Readshttp://www.myromancereads.com

Fussy Librarianhttp://www.thefussylibrarian.com

Pixel of Inkhttp://www.pixelofink.com

Bargain Booksyhttp://www.bargainbooksy.com

/ ONEPAGE / 67

The Book Marketing Tools Ebook Submission Tool

http://bookmarketingtools.com

Author Marketing Club Book Submission Tool

http://www.authormarketingclub.com

Amazon Associateshttps://affiliate-program.amazon.com

Chapter Eight: Don’t Publish and Forget

Book Razor With one click, transform the KDP Sales Dashboard into something incredibly useful.

It's packed with features, but the important thing is this: you get the data you need to see if you want to

work smart.

http://www.bookrazor.com

Hootsuite Get serious about social! Join the 10+ million professionals who trust Hootsuite. Social

media management for any organization. Manage social networks, schedule messages, engage your

audiences, and measure ROI right from the dashboard.Get started for free with their 30-day trial.

https://hootsuite.com

Mailchimp Join more than 9 million people who use Mailchimp to design and send 600 million

emails a day.

http://mailchimp.com

Aweber All the tools you need to sed emails the right way. Join the community where email

automation began, you get access to all features and a team that is 100% devoted to your success.

http://www.aweber.com

MailerLite All the email marketing features you really need. Build beautiful email newsletters. Get

/ ONEPAGE / 68

organized and track everything.

https://www.mailerlite.com

/ ONEPAGE / 69

Thank you for purchasing and reading to the end of this book!

HERE’S A FREE DOWNLOAD FOR YOU!

I want to help you own your self-publishing journey !

On the previous page, I listed websites mentioned in this book. I’ve compiled some

of these and other influential website links for authors in a FREE PDF.

Get “What’s Next? 60 Website Links for Authors,” a list of sixty influential websites

that could positively influence your self-publishing career as a thank you when you

sign up for the Self-Publishing Journey Newsletter.

Get started here.

/ ONEPAGE / 70

About the Author

Nikki Jo Davis

As my name suggests, I’m just a simple Southern woman. I publish books, raise

my kids, and enjoy life. Currently, I serve as the volunteer coordinator for the Indie

Publishing Roundtable at my public library.

Most of my online profiles start with “I Am A Writer!” and I am. I’ve found recently

that I love the business of being an indie author as much as I like to write books. This

is good news for you, because my daily routine involves listening to self publishing

podcasts, posting on writers forums and reading good books about marketing,

promoting, and creating brands for authors and products.

You’ve typed THE END, but the real challenge is just beginning. Own your self-

publishing journey. Embrace What’s Next, by staying informed. I’ll help you, join my

mailing list HERE, and I’ll keep you up to date and notify you of each book launch.

So there you have it. All of me and what I'm publishing.

Please visit my website: www.PaceBendPress.com

Like me on Facebook

Tweet me @DimpDavis

/ ONEPAGE / 71

Finally, I want to thank you again for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, please leave a

review. If you found it useful, and I hope you did, I’d love if you’d spread the word to

your friends and on social media. Writers become stronger one book, one review and

one satisfied reader at a time. Did I gain strength today? Let me know.

Amazon Edition License Notes

© 2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International

and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is

prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information

storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Disclaimer and Terms of Use: All effort has been made to ensure the information presented

in this book is accurate and complete, however the author and the publisher do not warrant the

accuracy of the information, text and graphics contained within the book due to the rapidly

changing nature of the industry on the internet. The author and the publisher do not hold any

responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein. This

book is presented solely for motivational and informational purposes only.

First Edition, Amazon Edition.

© 2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Written by Nikki Jo Davis