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    The Self-Publishing Survival Guide
    The Self-Publishing Survival Guide
    The Self-Publishing Survival Guide
    Ebook69 pages1 hour

    The Self-Publishing Survival Guide

    By John M. Davis

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    About this ebook

    Do you dream of one day writing full-time? Are you in need of a solid marketing plan? This powerful guide will help you find your niche of readers, while delivering powerful tips that many best-selling authors currently use.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn M. Davis
    Release dateAug 4, 2012
    ISBN9781310606021
    The Self-Publishing Survival Guide
    Author

    John M. Davis

    John M. Davis is the bestselling author of Gunship, as well as Wicked, and the novelization of the motion picture REDD. Also known for his popular Book Commander Podcast, John is a former writer for the Legends Football League and owns a minority share of the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders. He currently lives in Virginia with his wife of 18 years and their two spoiled kids. When he isn’t writing or podcasting, John enjoys reading, studying history, and listening to his favorite band, Evanescence.bookcommander.wordpress.com#bookcommander

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      Book preview

      The Self-Publishing Survival Guide - John M. Davis

      Self-Publishing Survival Guide

      John M. Davis

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2014 Serenity Valley Publishing

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1: Needs And Need To Know

      Chapter 2: The Writing Process

      Chapter 3: Concrete Editing

      Chapter 4: Powerful Marketing

      Chapter 5: The Rest

      About the Author

      Chapter 1

      Needs And Need To Know

      Please overlook the casual style in which this short book is written, as I'm laying everything out. Just as if we were sitting in a coffee shop somewhere. I hope you enjoy!

      I know who you are.

      I may not know your name, but I know that by reading this novel you fall into one of two categories. Not yet a published author but dream of it one day becoming a reality, or already published and in search of the best way to market your work for maximum sales. I know that you fall into one of these two categories, because that's who I'm marketing this work to. You may have found this by accident, but chances are slim. Odds are, you found this through decent use of keywords, social networking and an aggressive marketing plan on my part. The same intangibles that you'll find within these pages.

      I also know who you are because I've been both. I remember the moment I decided it was time to stop fighting the urge to write full-time, and having absolutely no idea what to do next. I also remember feeling the high of seeing my first novel published, only to find myself clueless as to how I should market it. For a very long time, I watched authors compliment themselves for hitting the top ten in their respective genres, leaving me to wonder what I was missing?

      Over time, I've learned that success is part luck and part solid planning. I can't help you with the luck part. Nobody can. But I will leave you with a better understanding of target marketing by the time we're finished here.

      I have learned the hard way, but you don't have to.

      And yes, I know there are stacks of how to novels already available. But this one is different. If you are reading The Self-Publishing Survival Guide by way of free sample, I guess now is the time to throw in a sales pitch. I mean everyone else does, right? Guarantee you will become the next best-selling author or find infinite riches. Well, I'm not here to promise you any of that. I'm no witchdoctor, just a simple indie author. But this book is anything but simple. This book works, and I have the statistics to prove it.

      This survival guide will show you how to publish. Easily, and in terms that even the most novice author can understand. And when you are published, I WILL show you how to find your stride when it comes to sales. Real sales. Not the promise of overnight riches, but instead a blueprint that works when combined with hard work. I should know, I use the very same blueprint each day.

      I'm not rich(by any stretch of the imagination). That said, I write for a living. How many authors out there can say that? I mean, truly? I didn't find you by luck, I didn't find the target crowd of readers for my other books by luck – everything is planned. Before we dive into the thick of it, however, let me tell you who I am, where I came from and why indie writing is the future, the now and the only thing worth sinking your time into.

      I've written eight books(not including this one) and a short fiction story. All eight of the standard length books are in print, as well as eBook format across every major platform out there. At the time of writing this, I'm teetering near 51,000 followers on Twitter, many who follow each new release I publish. I've had two books strike the #2 overall spot in science fiction(Amazon Kindle), albeit briefly. In fact, at the time of writing this, four of my eight books sit within the Top 25. Oh, and I should mention the fact that I'm a decent writer at best.

      If you would have told me back in high school that I'd be doing this for a living, I would have either punched you out, or laughed it off. It wasn't for me. I loved reading, don't get me wrong, but writing for a living seemed out of reach. Truthfully, I grew up in a trailer park and saw everyone around me living miserably. Most adults seemed to hate life, hate their jobs and, simply put, I didn't have much of a chance to do anything. If you believe in statistics.

      Somewhere along the way, I decided I wanted more. I began working every minute I could after school and eventually attended college for fitness training. If I have two passions, they are fitness and reading. A single day in the local Barnes & Noble changed all of that, as I bought a book by Sly Stallone. But we'll get to that later on in the book.

      The important thing here is, I'm the absolute unlikeliest of candidates when it comes to writing for a

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