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self-publishing

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The land of mastering

This week I’ve been attending Chandler Bolt’s online Self Publishing Success Summit, with 37 speakers on the topics of writing, marketing, and publishing your book. It has been excellent training, and I’m learning so much. I have only been able to catch a few of the replays, but the ones I’ve watched are so inspiring.

Some takeaways I’ve had with self-publishing your book/eBook on Kindle for Amazon (some of these I already knew):

  • Know your audience and what they really want-you can find this out by asking your subscribers in your ezine, through a survey, or by studying Facebook analytics;
  • Offer value, such as a permafree ebook or your reader lead (freebie at your website in exchange for their name and email address) and valuable content with your ezine;
  • Create a series on Amazon, because series do great and Amazon begins promoting them for you if the book does well;
  • What are your competitors offering on Amazon and at what price;
  • Make all you do align with your mission;
  • Have a specific, laid out marketing plan;
  • Get beta readers for reviews before your book launches (reviews and endorsements from influencers are great);
  • Think outside the box and offer something unique;
  • Create Facebook targeted ads (even $5 a day ads) to get the word out and to build your subscriber list;
  • Repurpose your content into videos, podcasts, webinars, teleseminars, self-study courses-think beyond the book (It’s a business, not a book!);
  • Make your larger eBook into smaller Kindle eBooks;
  • Love what you do;
  • and much more.

I believe that we should be life-long learners, learning something new every day. I personally find learning FUN. Some of the guests that Chandler has interviewed have included speakers/authors/entrepreneurs I already follow, such as Best Selling Author Jeff Goins, Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn (I don’t read her fiction books, but she has a lot of wisdom about being a successful author), and Entrepreneur on Fire podcaster John Lee Dumas.

Storm Tossed ecover Copyright 2015 Beth Jones www.BethJones.net

Storm Tossed ecover
Copyright 2015 Beth Jones www.BethJones.net

The summit is timely, as I just released my first ever fiction book, Storm Tossed, which became an Amazon Best Seller the first day in its category and sub-categories. I’ve been surprised and so encouraged to see 5-star and 4-star reviews about it. You can check it out for your Kindle at Amazon here.  The price right now is just $2.99.

Our daughter Leah and I are reading a great book right now called Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters by Jon Acuff. In today’s reading, Jon shares about starting out his public speaking career by speaking to only 12 people at a rehab center (not, as Jon says, the place someone typically aspires to speak at, to those who are in one of the worst seasons of their lives, and having to speak for free), and by joining finance whiz Dave Ramsey‘s team versus being on his own.

Why did he speak at the rehab center? Why does he want to learn from Dave Ramsey?

“Because I want to be led. I want to learn from a master. I want to admit time and time again, “I don’t know the best way to do this. Will you teach me?”

Jon encourages you and me: “Be led. Be taught. Remain a learner.”

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I desire for God to lead me in this exciting, and unpredictable and challenging, journey called life. I want Jesus and other smart, successful people to teach me what I need to know. I want to learn new things. 

What about you? What are you learning lately? Leave your comments below.

 

 

 

Blog, Coaching, Faith, Spiritual Gifts, Writing

Shelley Hitz’s Author Audience Academy is open!

This year I joined my writing/business coach Shelley Hitz‘s writers’ training course, Author Audience Academy. Shelley is an amazing coach and instructor. The other students and I in the class are learning SO much from her.

My writing/business coach, Shelley Hitz

My writing/business coach, Shelley Hitz

I’m blown away by the amount of valuable content she’s offering through this course! Her own Amazon eBooks’ success, as well as the great achievements in her personal life such as completing the Pike’s Peak Ascent, inspires me.

The Cinderella Story: The Power of Shoes Design by Christine Dupre Copyright 2015 Beth Jones www.BethJones.net

The Cinderella Story: The Power of Shoes
Design by Christine Dupre
Copyright 2015 Beth Jones www.BethJones.net

In just 2 1/2 weeks with Shelley’s coaching and instruction, I got my book idea, wrote the book, and published the eBook on Amazon. It became an Amazon Best Seller the first day! It is only $2.99 You can find out more and buy it at Amazon by clicking here.

You can do this, too!

I am part of the beta test group for Shelley’s training, Author Audience Academy. It is now open to the public! I want to strongly encourage you to enroll. You will get more than your money’s worth just from the first month of training, and the price will be going up. 

Seating is limited to just 50 people, so I wouldn’t wait!

Just click on the graphic below to find out more info and to save your spot.

(This is an affiliate link. I only recommend products and services that I have personally used and/or highly recommend.)

Author Audience Academy

 

Blog, Business, Ebooks, prayer, Speaking, Spiritual Gifts, Writing

Getting closer to launch!

I’m SUPER excited as it’s getting closer to my eBook launch time for my new eBook, The Cinderella Story: The Power of Shoes! My amazing graphic designer, Christine Dupre, finished the cover and did a BEAUTIFUL job!

I took an informal vote on Facebook and the cover below won the most votes. What do you think of it?

The Cinderella Story: The Power of Shoes Design by Christine Dupre Copyright 2015 Beth Jones www.BethJones.net

The Cinderella Story: The Power of Shoes
Design by Christine Dupre
Copyright 2015 Beth Jones www.BethJones.net

I’m using the other cover option Christine designed for my next eBook in this series called The Cinderella Story: The Power of Dreams. It was so hard to choose between the two, as they are so amazing and the vote was close. So I’m using BOTH!

The Cinderella Story: The Power of Shoes Design by Christine Dupre Copyright 2015 Beth Jones www.BethJones.net

Cover for my next eBook
The Cinderella Story: The Power of Shoes
Design by Christine Dupre
Copyright 2015 Beth Jones www.BethJones.net

My editor/formatter, Hanne Moon with Heritage Press Publications, has my manuscript. She’s waiting on the efile from the converter and it’s being converted into an eBook now and in mobi format for KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) on Amazon. You can independently publish on KDP to reach potentially millions of readers!

This is one of the fastest books I’ve ever written. I wrote it in 4 days!

Although I already had a lot of content from my signature talk with the same  name, I had to do research, find Scriptures, write more and pull it all together. I didn’t think I could write it that fast, but God helped me and I did it! Woot!

My writing/business coach, Shelley Hitz

My writing/business coach, Shelley Hitz

I’m in my writing/business coach Shelley Hitz‘s Author Audience Academy 3-month writers’ training, and she has motivated us to write our books quickly.

Shelley is a successful Christian speaker/author, who’s written over 35 books and her husband CJ has written books. She said together, they earn enough in royalties for their eBooks on Amazon to pay their basic bills! You can find her books at Amazon here.

Shelley did say during the summer, sales tend to slow down so she has other income streams, such as speaking and coaching. But when I heard she had this much success from eBooks on Amazon, I knew she was onto something and that I had to take her training! And I LOVE it! She’s an amazing instructor and coach.

Some of the other students in Shelley’s training program already have their eBooks live on Amazon, such as Lucille Zimmerman’s What Does God Say About Suffering, Ruth Snyder’s Learn Twitter: 10 Beginning Steps, and Mel Edwards’ The Bold Way: Find, Claim, Live Your Truth.

I can’t wait for mine to go live to share it with you! I’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready!

What favorite books/eBooks are you reading right now? Leave your comments below.