Join the Ranks of Amazon Authors Who Are Earning Profits Long After Their Book Launch

According to the New York Times, only 62 out of 1,000 business books sold more than 5,000 copies. However, there is success to be had as a self-published author on Amazon, and it starts with one small word, marketing.

Here are some ways to promote your book like a marketer.

1. Build Your Email List

Marketers around the world understand the power of the email list. That’s why they have dedicated years to understand what psychological buttons to push when creating sales funnels.

What works for marketers can work for you. Building an email list through a reliable sales funnel can, over time, create a loyal fanbase of readers who buy your books.

If you’ve never heard of Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 true fans column, it’s goes something like this:

• A true fan buys everything you’ve ever made and shares your work with everyone they know.
• A true fan has a dedication to your purpose and your message.
• If you had 1,000 true fans who bought products worth $100 from you each year, you would make $100,000
• You could have 500 true fans who bought $200 in product from you each year, you would also make $100,000

So what does this mean? It means that while most people will not become the next J.K. Rowling, the good news is, you don’t have to be. You just need 1,000 true fans, which starts with building an email list.

By building an email list of fans, you can spread your earnings over multiple projects in one year. You could turn a book into a course.

2. Create Multiple Products Off of One Book

Every year, authors watch movies come out in theaters then turn that movie into video games, board games, merchandise, toys, and more. We never think we could do the same thing with our books. Why is that?

Marketing companies know the power of a brand and utilize it to create multiple streams of income. If you’re asking yourself, what is my brand?

It’s you, your book, and your work.

You may be saying, that’s all well and good, but I can’t make movies, toys, and board games from my book. Maybe not, but you can create courses, novellas, short guides, a video series, or something else.

If a quarter of these things made you money, it would be worth it. You wouldn’t have to put the pressure of success on one book launch but on the power of multiplied launches. Who is to say that one format doesn’t drive the success of another.

To build a brand, you must find several ways to get your ideas to the marketplace. Think outside the box.

3. The Power of Freebies

Look at any successful brand, and you’ll see one thing in common. Besides the fact that they are well known, they have customer loyalty.

Loyalty comes from bringing value. Many times, that value comes in the form of freebies. How many companies have rewards memberships? Ever heard of buy one get one (BOGO)?

By offering free content, you can build trust and loyalty with your fans to make them true fans. Have you ever recommended a company based on a free sample? Have you ever tried a brand from a giveaway?

Put Them Together and You’ve Got a Winning Strategy

These tried and true marketing trends are popular because they work.

You could give away a smaller product in exchange for an email. That provides value to your customer while piquing their interest. You could then turn them into a true fan when they purchase your book, then your course, then your video series, and so on.

Begin with the End in Mind

Marketers plan out their strategies by beginning with the end in mind. If you create projects with the end in mind, you’ll be on your way to creating a brand, and not just a book. Books are great, but they are only one of many ways that people consume content.

Becoming a content creator gives you the right to diversify and reach more people than ever before. Before long, you won’t have to count the number of true fans because you’ll be busy counting your blessings and earnings.