My One Month Deep Dive Into Self-Publishing (A Journal)

Today I started what promises to be a month long deep dive into self-publishing, Amazon ads and the KDP platform. While I’ve had great commercial success with many of my titles published traditionally, my self-published books through Amazon have become stagnant. Given what I know of today’s publishing market, there’s no reason for this other than laziness on my part, so I’m ready to alleviate that pain and give a bit of a boost to my book sales. Time for reaching more people while creating a nice stream of recurring income.

Here's something fun

Download this FREE PDF poster and hang it on your wall to remind yourself each day: YOU'VE GOT THIS!

I’ve read blog posts and forum posts ad nauseam, and I’ve found they often contradict one another…many times because their post times are all over the map—some from this month, this year, some from the last.

To that end, I’ve decided to hire a guide, Mark Dawson, a well-known best-selling independent author. His course, Self Publishing Formula, is the ticket. I researched a long list of the (often self-proclaimed) “best” self-publishing courses online today as I love learning through online courses. Mark’s name consistently popped up. On the KBoards, Mark has a solid reputation among the forum members. Unlike an online “guru,” Mark is an author first and offers his course as way to fast-track other authors to success. (Another popular instructor has admitted to making more through his courses than through his book sales…not so interested in that…)

Weighing My Self-Publishing Guru Options

When I inquired about reviews of Mark’s course, fans came out of the woodwork, including a friend of mine I hadn’t heard from in years. He urged me to grab Mark’s course stating “you’ll easily earn your money back if you put this into practice.” We’ll see. I’m hopeful because I create courses myself and I know when great value is delivered and put into practice, magical things can happen.

So, off went my $497 to Mark through PayPal’s credit program, allowing me six months without interest. Debt! Whoo-hoo! Mark himself promises a 30-day money back guarantee that former students have said is 100% legit. One admitted to the content being a bit beyond where she was at since she was just starting her book, and Mark promptly refunded her investment.

Mark uses the Teachable platform, which is what I use when teaching online, and it couldn’t be easier. Just click play.

Mark Dawson’s Self-Publishing Formula Portal

When you log in, Mark provides a nice introduction, including how to watch the videos. I plan to watch straight through, pausing along the way to put what I learn into practice. I’ll be focusing on my Amazing Laptop series of books for middle graders, already on Amazon.

There is also a nice selection of “bonuses,” including ebooks and discounts for his preferred software. I was surprised to see several author resources I’d never stumbled across before, but look fabulous. Others, I won’t need at all. I’ve already got a website, web host and an email provider. And as I’ve been certified in several digital marketing courses, some of the material looks redundant to what I already know.

Still…

As I mentioned, I’m using this course as a step-by-step to setting up my self-publishing platform, so even though I may know something, that doesn’t mean I’ve effectively put it into practice. Yet.

So we’ll see how it goes. As I take the course, I’ll journal here about my progress, my successes and my challenges.

PS If you’re a writer, grab my free PDF on How to Get Noticed by Agents, Editors and Readers–just for the #writingcommunity.