Congratulations! Your Fiction Empire awaits...

Publishing is simple, easy and fast. These videos will not be long. You're getting the "meat" only - seriously. Do NOT make the publishing process harder than it should be.

Amazon is nothing more than a machine to sell your content.

Reports... Documents... Research... How-To...

Stories... Worlds... Philosophies.. Advice... Characters... Comics... All of those things are simply made into "books." When it comes down to it: Book = Word Document The ultimate goal is simple - take great content from other people, and then market it yourself. Amazon does most of the work for you. I just do little things to help it out. When you help yourself, Amazon loves you even more... (the Rich get Richer) Well written, compelling content sells. It's your job to make it compelling, and to make it sell. No, you don't have to be a well-known Fiction writer to sell books. I have several books with several pen

names.

Researching Your Fiction Niche

Fiction research is a little different than traditional research... The goal is simple: Find out what genres and themes are selling best, then follow the money The biggest reason for failed books...

Lack of compelling storyline Unbelievable characters Poor/amateur cover Rather than looking at book titles or keywords, you need to analyze story lines and genres My process...

Type in a keyword and look at the top 10 books. Do at least 3 of the 10 books show a bestseller ranking below 40,000? (The lower the better.) If yes, use this keyword and look at the themes in the bestselling books for this keyword. Repeat this for all 7 keywords...you can use related/plural keywords as long as they meet the above criteria

(e.g., student and students) Identify elements that people liked from the books and build them into your story.

Take notes on...

Cover Design Descriptions Storylines eBook Niche Explorer...great tool READ the following...

Table of Contents Report Fiction List Research Report Theme and Plot Template Between these reports and templates, you should have no problem coming up with a great storyline.

Divide & Conquer Technique

Your book should be broken into PARTS...

Non-fiction: One problem, one solution Fiction: Stories broken into 40 to 100 page "parts"...

Hire writers for stories of 10,000 words or more. DO NOT hire for a full-length novel! Higher risk, limited returns... You can always combine into a larger novel later. Story writers are creative, but they need direction Use the Theme and Plot Template to help develop your plot line

"Open-ended endings..." Begin with the end in mind...have future books planned! This works well because you can combine parts of your book into entirely separate books... Example: You've written 6, 10,000 word stories...

You not only profit from the 6 stories... You can combine parts 1 to 3 into a book...

You can combine parts 4 to 6 into a book... You can combine parts 1 to 6 into yet another book... 9 books from 6 stories!

Timeless Story Themes

See what is HOT right now...

Visit Barnes and Noble, what's near the front? Visit Department Stores that sell books Look at trailers for current and upcoming movies Read synopsis of movies/books/TV programs Watch TV Review Hot Fiction Niche List for tons of ideas based on what's hot right now... Story Essentials:

Setting

Present day? Past? Future? Where? Characters

Who? How many people? What is their relationship to each other? Theme

What sort of "angles" are you going for in the book?

Loss and Redemption Hometown Boy Makes Good Reluctant Hero Plot

What happens in the story? What are the major events?

How to Find and Hire Great Story Writers

Great writers can be a priceless asset, so treat them well No matter how hard you try, some writers will flake Judge them by...

Quality of the Writing Timely Response Amount and Quality of Feedback, References, Resume You are NOT looking for article writers - you are looking for story writers Add a qualifier to each job posting You are a FIRM/BUSINESS/PUBLISHER - not an individual Be the good guy...

Play the "my boss needs this" card Sources:

oDesk eLance Craigslist Literary Forums

http://www.big-boards.com/ Directly contact frequent, well-spoken posters Local Community Colleges Use the Job Posting Template. Key: You are looking for short story writers. Why? Short Story = CHEAP...Novel/Story/Book = EXPENSIVE I usually hire my writers to write between 10,000 and 30,000 words (usually the lower

end...) Cost ranges: $100 to $450, depending on the quality of writer/length of the story. Getting ready-to-publish content...FREE.

Offer $0 upfront, but pay a 20% royalty on all sales. (More than standard publishing deal!) "Do you have any fiction you'd like us to publish?" If you do this, you need to build a brand name.

Setting Book Milestones

Do NOT pay upfront, unless... Preferred terms: 50% on delivery of rough draft, 50% on delivery of final draft Missing deadlines is the most frequent problem I have with writers. One time is fine - but if

it happens again and again, you need to stop using the writer. Demand updates every 3 days! Contact is good. Let them know you might not be able to

respond every time.

Making Your Story Writers Happy

Appreciate their work -- they want appreciation! Cash is secondary...very occasional bonuses and small gifts go a long way. Create a secondary e-mail address to manage your Fiction business - makes it easier to "hand

over" to a manager Provide incentive bonuses to top-performing writers...

Do NOT equate bonuses to sales! (Book sales are none of their business) Tell them why you gave a bonus. Multiple reasons only. Let them know it's occasional...

Quality of work Number of books written Meeting/beating deadlines Beating word count Compelling plotlines/characters/theme Going "above and beyond"

Creating a Hot Fiction Title

Writers will usually give you a title for the story. You create the "real" title... (and do NOT

tell them) Best title practices

The best titles are usually short and simple...typically no more than 4 to 5 words. Your title must...

Compel the reader to click Identify the theme/struggle/idea of the book Be easy to remember Easy to create spinoffs Naming the "parts"

Part I, Part II... Part 1, Part 2... Episode 1, Episode 2... Book 1, Book 2... Or, similar names, separate titles...

You want a unique name, and you want the exact domain name

Do an Amazon Kindle search Do a Google search

Do a trademark search check on the title name

uspto.gov Choose Trademark, search, then "The Exact Search Phrase" under "Result Must Contain:" Instant Domain Search Adding "book" or "series" at the end of the .com is OK if the exact name is taken Found a good writer? It might make sense to create a domain for that author, as well (or instead).

Crafting Your Fiction Book Description

Build a "swipe file" "May not be suitable for all audiences" My descriptions are simple...

First sentence: Introduce the character and setting. Second sentence: Describe the problem the character is experiencing. Third - fourth sentence: Describe what the character(s) are doing to overcome the problems. Last sentence: Cliffhanger - "but Jane didn't know what would happen next..." Include a snippet of juicy content in your description that reflects the quality of the writing.

Optimizing Your Kindle Keywords

Use the 7 keywords you identified in your research. This is an imperfect process...you can always change your keywords later if your book

doesn't sell! (Wait at least 60 days) See where you rank for the keywords after about one week. Keep the keywords you are

ranked highly for, change the rest.

Choosing the Best Fiction Category

Here's what I do...

You get two categories...but Amazon places you a third related category at times. Category 1: Contains Valuable Keyword or Major Theme Category 2: Smaller, easier to dominate category

(Listed high in a less popular category is better than being buried in a "popular" category!

Top #10 in a category = best seller!

Pricing Your Book for Maximum Long-Term Profit

I always start at $2.99 (remember, all of my fiction books are shorter...) Few sales? Lower to $0.99... Still no sales? Try again...

Change Title Change Description Change Cover Change Keywords Change Category Remember, this is YOUR content. You can work with it and use it however you please. Huge Profit Accelerator: Combine Books Together

3 x $2.99 books = $6.99 - $7.99 5 x $2.99 books = $9.99 Never higher than $9.99... (max royalties)

Formatting Your Book Like a Professional

People get really tied up with formatting... I simply check the Kindle Previewer (available instantly when you upload your book) to

make sure it looks good on the device.

Spacing and indents are the biggest problems. I don't use a Table of Contents...books are too short. Easier for Fiction Book Writers, because there are generally few or no images Rule of thumb...Good Writer = Good Editor

I have off-duty or backup writers "edit" books They are NOT editing for content...they are editing for continuity, spelling, grammar I usually have them make changes directly, rather than making notes to send back to authors Looking perfect and being perfect are two different things... Use the template I provided...

Clean Title Page Professional Copyright Layout About the Author --> Read More Books

Design Covers That SELL (Made Easy...)

Do it yourself... (Photoshop, free 30-day trial...GIMP, but it's more annoying)

You need a great font, great image, and a little Photoshop magic. Shutterstock = great, lower-cost source for images

Get one month, get generic photos Have them in your back pocket...membership is expensive, but worth it for one month PLUS...Bonus... Lots of free stock photo websites out there, but much better quality on Shutterstock. It's worth it. Dafont.com = Free Hire it out (what I do)...

Gillian ($50) - Who I use :-) Her personal e-mail: gillian.collier@gmail.com Fiverr ($5) - Hit and miss... YOU need to pick the "style" you like. Designers cannot read your mind and can only work magic if you tell

them what you want. Do NOT get too "fancy" of a font...keep it simple, clean, and professional Compare your font/cover to the top-selling books in the category "For best quality, your image would be 1563 pixels on the shortest side and 2500 pixels on

the longest side." = 1563 width x 2500 height for your cover

Attracting 5-Star Reviews For Your Books

Use at your own risk. I have not had problems with the methods outlined here, but it's always

possible. It's not easy to get your initial reviews. If you want to get 5-star reviews, you're going to

have to "buy" them in one way or another to start. Ask them to give an honest opinion on Amazon, but compensate them for their time.

Fiverr

1.) Reviews 2.) Mark as helpful Only get reviews from well-reviewed gig providers. Craigslist

Have your "backup" writers handle this...

Goodreads http://www.writingforums.org/ $5 - $40, plus cost of purchasing book Pay AFTER review is published... Alternate method: Look for top reviewers (marked by "Top 500 Reviewer" or similar under

their name)

http://www.amazon.com/review/top-reviewers Look at interests and other books purchased... Look for their e-mail address underneath their profile Send them a short, sweet e-mail with a direct link to your book. "I thought you might like this because..." There's a bandwagon effect. The more people who positively review your book, the more

that will flood in to give their opinion. 4/5-star reviews create more 4/5-star reviews. Don't worry about negative reviews.

Advanced Module: Get More Sales

KDP

I've had the best results with my promotions during Mondays and Thursdays I put ALL of my books out for KDP promotion on the same day...creates a mass boost for all books at once Remember, more sales creates more sales. Your readers will buy more than one book, especially if it's in

parts... Facebook

Create a fan page for your book, author or series Use Fiverr to get an initial fan base (500 to 1,000 fans)...no, they're not "real," but provides bandwagon

effect Post snippets from your book, or about your author, or about other books, or affiliate links... Link to your Amazon page directly. Buy traffic from Facebook, send to Fan Page...drastically reduced click cost. YouTube

Look for the most popular videos related to your topic. Contact the video owner directly, offer them compensation for putting a link to your book in the video

description. GoodReads

Build a relationship on GoodReads Review other books frequently Self-serve advertising... http://www.goodreads.com/advertisers Smashwords

Smashwords distributes to... But, prevents you from using KDP Smashwords guide, coming soon... Forums

http://www.writingforums.org/ Build a relationship, become a frequent poster Press Releases

Webwire - $24.95 Target your best keyword in the title... Include it in the "keywords" and "tags" section. Alternative: Free press release websites

http://www.free-press-release.com http://www.prleap.com http://www.i-newswire.com/submit.php http://www.24-7pressrelease.com http://www.1888pressrelease.com http://www.pr.com/press-releases http://www.prfree.com http://www.clickpress.com/releases/index.shtml Write in the third person and quote the author's excitement about the book. Use quotes from Amazon reviewers. Go Physical

Publish using Createspace I outsource the formatting to oDesk - very cheap, under $40 It's usually only worth it to physically publish longer books... Send Review Copies to Editors/Reviewers/Bloggers

Only send full-length, combined books to Editors...at least 100 pages long. MUST be printed. Use FedEx or UPS to deliver the book directly to newspaper departments. Tell them you're a self-publisher but you think they'll like the book because... (reference a book they liked) Local papers will work best, but definitely try for national newspapers/editors/websites as well. You can get the mailing information for bloggers by using http://betterwhois.org