“Guerrilla Publishing” by Derek Murphy is the bible on how indie writers and publishers can become success stories. This is my second time reading this book because I read the pdf version one year ago was the first time.
I decided to buy the book and reread it. Trust me; it’s even better the second time. This should be your first stop if you are even considering writing a book or becoming a self-published author.
About 95% of authors lose money on their books. There are many costs associated with publishing, such as editing, creating a book cover, building a manuscript, and advertising.
It is easy for an author to spend upwards of $1,000 to get their book into stores. For reference, that is about 500 book sales just to recoup their money. That is a lot of books! I have sold roughly 450 books over my 15 months of self-publishing.
However, my books cost nothing for me to produce because I do everything myself. I released my first book in January 2021, and I read this book in February 2021. So, I learned most of my publishing chops from reading this book.
1) The two things authors need to consider are visibility and conversion. Visibility is getting your book in front of readers, and conversion is making the sale.
2) It is difficult, if not near-impossible, to get a traditional book deal. Even if you succeed, you will still have to market your book. The chances are that if you are not a mega-writer, you’ll be better off learning how to self-publish.
3) The number one goal of a self-published author is to build your own community. This should be in the form of an email list. From there, you can have a social media platform. However, your email list is something no one can take from you.
4) Writing books that sell is hard for many authors because they have to “write to market.” This means that you may not write 100% of the content you want to write. Some people define this as “selling out.” However, if you write a book no one reads, did you truly win?
5) It’s tough for indie writers to mimic the style and grace of traditionally-published authors. Indie readers don’t expect that from indie writers. You need a simple, professional cover and a good description—that’s how you get sales.
It’s been a fantastic ride for me publishing a book every day for 15 months. I am growing my Facebook and blog platforms. I don’t have time to grow my email list right now, which is a problem.
Guerilla Publishing helped me get on track and wrap my head around the publishing world. I won’t sugarcoat it; it’s tough out there. To sell even one book on Amazon is an amazing feat!
I don’t pay for advertising, so being able to publish and market my book for free is a great feeling. I give this book my highest recommendation for aspiring authors. If I can sell books, anyone on this green Earth can as well.
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