Are You An Author Or An Online Ebook Marketer?

Being an ebook marketer is not being an author

The frenzy of being a Kindle ebook marketer and wanting to make millions selling ebooks has become rampant.

Anyone who can spell their name is jumping on the self-publishing bandwagon in search of the rich rewards this new pot of gold promises.

I think I have read more ‘Make Millions Selling Ebooks Marketing Schemes and Scams’ than I’ve had hot dinners, and I can only think that most who go in search of fast money from self-publishing on Kindle will become disappointed very quickly.

The truth of the matter is that there is no fast money to be made from writing and publishing a book, and there has never been.

Yes, one or two outliers have hit the news, but that is how it happens in life. Very, very few of the millions who dream, get to become rich and famous. It’s always been the same ratio for actors, singers, musicians, entrepreneurs, and yes, writers.

So if you are serious about writing and want to be recognised as an author, and not just another self-published Kindle ebook marketer, maybe it’s time to step back a little from the marketing, giveaways, freebies, forums and ebook fairy tale success stories and build something far more substantial.

Building your reputation as an author takes a long time, but the rewards will equate to steady book sales that don’t need you to invest 24 hours every day trying to sell your latest or only ebook.

If this marketing time were invested instead in building your author profile and your reputation, writing more books and getting better at doing so, sales would come to you as opposed to you chasing them.

So what can you do to build your author reputation?

Firstly, always publish a paperback version of your book as this adds credibility to your writing and you have something tangible that you can sell, distribute or send away to media companies. Print on demand makes this easy and economical.

Use your blog wisely and not as a daily moaning, groaning and complaining about life outlet. Give readers of your blog a taste of your writing skills and imagination and keep to a predictable theme or topic.

A good idea is to guest post as often as you can and invite other authors to post on your blog. Author interviews are always popular, so why not do one each month?

Use social media judiciously and don’t fall into the trap of mixing your personal life with your business of being an author. Set up separate accounts to chat and keep in touch with family and friends.

Comment on other blogs regularly, but stay focused and always be positive and on topic.

Have a well maintained and up to date website, or better, a blog; that tells the story of you as an author and of course, lists all your books with buy links.

Lastly, is to think like an author and not worry about how many ebooks you sold today. Sales will come if you can write great books.

And this is the after the last point. No matter how hard you try, you won’t make money trying to sell a bad book.

So forget about the fast money Kindle scams and schemes and think about writing a very, very good book.

That’s what great authors do.