I mean, how will I find the time to do everything I want to do? How will I find the time to create a series of books that gives authors super specific information on the book marketing topics and tasks they’re struggling with the most? Kristen assures me that she can help me with that, so right now, I’m focusing on the ideas.

On tomorrow night’s Kindle ninja webinar — it’s Wednesday, May 14, at 8 pm Eastern so register now — Kristen is going to show you 10 ways to dominate your niche on Kindle — and that niche can be nonfiction or fiction, to be honest. (As we went through everything, I had so many ideas for novelists that I wished I could write fiction, too.)

One simple idea = many books

One of her genius ideas is to simply interview somebody! How easy is that? And how many of you interview people on a podcast and could convert those audio conversations into the written word for a Kindle series? Just that one idea blew me away (you know, as in “Why didn’t I think of that?”)

If you’re interested in ways you can turn your existing content into Kindle books that will sell . . . and sell . . . and sell . . . then you’ll want to register for this free one-hour webinar. The content is so good that I would have paid for it — but I’m glad that none of us have to. And don’t worry if you can’t attend live. We’re recording it and will send a replay link to everyone who registers.

Register now at http://www.sandrarecommends.com/kindlewebinar.

(This is an affiliate link. I only recommend products and services that I trust and like already.)

What question do you want Kristen to answer on tomorrow night’s webinar?

Does quality matter in self-publishing?

By Kristen Eckstein

I’ve heard it from dozens of authors, “I just can’t seem to understand why my book isn’t selling. It sold well at first, but after the first 100 copies sales just… stopped. What can I do to market my book?”

Let me be frank. Marketing will only take your book so far if you’re lacking a quality product. Think about Amazon reviews for products people rave about (5 stars) vs. similar products in the same category people complain about (1 star). Most of those one-star reviews are complaining about the quality of the product.

If you cut corners in quality, you open the big fat door to failure after your family and friends all have copies of your book. The average self-published book only sells 75 copies. Average. Honestly, at first I didn’t believe that statistic since most authors I’ve worked with sell way more than that. And after seeing many poor quality self-published books, now I know why.

Benefits of quality

A high quality book reaps great benefits:

1. More sales—Books that look good and feel good make people look at them longer. You have seven seconds to convince someone to look further at your book after they see your cover. Make the most of that time!
2. More credibility—If you hope to get leads and new clients with your book, don’t cut corners. Cutting corners attracts the crowd who like to cut corners themselves. To attract higher-end clients, you have to show them a higher-end product. Think about the types of people who shop at Lexus vs. Kia. Lexus markets themselves as having a high quality product and Kia markets themselves as cheap. Who do you want to be?
3. More marketability—You can market a horrible book until the cows come home and sell a few copies. Or you can market a great book until the cows come home and become a New York Times Best Seller. The choice is yours.

If you’re on a tight budget and can only hire a professional, here are three things to make sure you outsource:

1. Editing—At bare minimum, hire a copy editor to look at your manuscript. Every book needs another set of eyes.
2. Cover design—People do judge a book by its cover. Studies have been done that prove this fact! Hire an experienced professional who specializes in book cover design and you won’t regret it!
3. Interior layout—MS Word is not a page layout program. This is one of the primary reasons self-published books get poor reviews or fail to sell, because books formatted in MS Word scream, “Look at me! I’m self-published!” Get yourself a professional book interior layout designer and give your readers a memorable experience.

Your book is your dream. It deserves to be treated with the highest respect and given the chance at a long and successful life, so give it that chance and watch your reputation and reach expand to new horizons and open doors to new possibilities!

Do you agree with Kristen? Why or why not?