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Episode 144 – 10 Tips for Winning with Wide Publishing

Mark Leslie

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  • Are you looking for ways to stop being dependent upon Amazon for your author earnings income?
  • Are you hoping to expand and grow your sales on multiple platforms in global territories?
  • Do you need strategies to help you get started NOW in terms of creating a successful “publish wide” author plan?
  • Would you like to increase and optimize your sales on Apple Books, Kobo, Nook, Google Play and more?

Then this episode which features a reading of an article by Erin Wright called “Top 10 Tips to Going Wide.”

Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from recent episodes and a word from this episode’s sponsor.

You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In his personal update, Mark shares the progress he has made on the “Canadian Werewolf” series, including a cover rebranding, a pre-order for mid August, and another pre-order for Feb 2021.

He also shares the fact he has started work on a book called WIDE FOR THE WIN which will also be published in early 2021.

WIDE FOR THE WIN – Forthcoming Title

The tips shared are:

  1. Stop jumping and out of KU
  2. Stop giving away Amazon gift cards of Kindle eReaders
  3. Stop advertising in paid newsletters that only include Amazon
  4. Stop linking to just Amazon
  5. Stop buying your books on Amazon
  6. Stop cross-promoting with other authors who are KU exclusive
  7. Stop targeting KU authors in your ads
  8. Stop spending money on AMS ads
  9. Stop having an ARC team that only reviews on Amazon
  10. Stop trying to learn from authors who are KU exclusive

After sharing the article, Mark reflects on the basic strategy that Erin employs across all of the tips.

Links of Interest:

USA Today Bestselling author Erin Wright has worked every job under the sun, including library director, barista, teacher, website designer, and ranch hand helping brand cattle, before settling into the career she’s always dreamed about: Author. She still loves coffee, doesn’t love the smell of cow flesh burning, and has embarked on the adventure of a lifetime, traveling the country full-time in an RV. (No one has died yet in the confined 250-square-foot space – which she considers a real win – but let’s be real, next week isn’t looking so good…) Find her updates on ErinWright.net, where you can sign up for her newsletter along with the requisite pictures of Jasmine the Writing Cat, her kitty cat muse and snuggle buddy extraordinaire.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Published by Mark Leslie

Writer, editor and bookseller who haunts Southern Ontario. Craft beer enthusiast. Author of thrillers and horror novels such as A CANADIAN WEREWOLF IN NEW YORK, EVASION and I, DEATH. Also writes a series of stand-alone non-fiction titles exploring ghosts and the paranormal which include HAUNTED HAMILTON, SPOOKY SUDBURY, CREEPY CAPITAL, TOMES OF TERROR, HAUNTED HOSPITALS, and MACABRE MONTREAL. Editor of the anthologies CAMPUS CHILLS, TESSERACTS SIXTEEN, FICTION RIVER: EDITOR'S CHOICE and FICTION RIVER: FEEL THE FEAR.

8 thoughts on “Episode 144 – 10 Tips for Winning with Wide Publishing”

  1. as someone who is wide these were some awesome hits. thanks for sharing. Will try to start using them.

    ~
    And to carry the conversation with the previous comment. with the newsletter story I do give ti away to people who sign up for my newsletter. But something I do a little different is that I slowly give it away a chapter a month. I can do 1 or 2 releases a year so the monthly installments help me to keep giving content to readers. At the end of the year I put in a few more chapters and put the book up for people to buy.

    Reply

    1. Excellent. Glad you found the sharing of that article useful, Amy.

      And that serialization in the giving to your newsletter subscribers is AWESOME. Sounds like you’re giving the book to them PRIOR to release, so that’s part of the bonus. They get to read it (and potentially review it when it’s posted for pre-order) before anyone else.

      Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂

      Reply

  2. My books are wide but I’m nowhere near as ferocious as Erin is in her top tips. There is plenty to take away and learn from there.

    Also, thanks for the update on the Findaway Voices codes, I hadn’t heard that so I can spread the word to my mailing list and hopefully get a few more takers for the codes.

    Reply

  3. Love the idea of the book and adding to the list. One that I don’t know the answer to but would make for an interesting chapter (and podcast) is making your ePub files accessible (ePub2 is totally NOT accessible while ePub3 still needs additional work, especially the metadata stuff – and mobi files aren’t much better). Seems like Vellum and most free converters vary greatly on this aspect. As a start https://www.accessiblebooksconsortium.org/export/abc/abc_ebook_guidelines_for_self-publishing_authors.pdf
    In taking “Wide for the Win” to include everything possible to be inclusive, then promoting to libraries for the underserved and prioritizing accessibility tuck right in to the book’s premise. But it would also mean making changes to your website and newsletter emails to make them accessible too. But imagine a whole new market to serve. Would love for indies to blaze the trail (since most trad publishers ignore accessible eBooks).

    Reply

  4. Great episode, as always! My books have always been wide and I’ve joined the Wide for the Win Facebook group to learn what I can *start* doing on wide platforms to continue expanding my presence there. For me, this will be more helpful than a focus on what to *stop* doing with / through Amazon; Amazon is an integral part of my business strategy and so I prefer an approach that spreads the love around to all platforms rather than trying to cut out Amazon.
    I also loved hearing about the progress on the Werewolf books–congratulations! I would love in an upcoming episode to hear about the process of setting up a hardcover on IngramSpark and your assessment of the quality of the physical books.
    Cheers!
    Matty

    Reply
  5. Pingback: Episode 146 – Finding Yourself in Our Song with Meaghan Smith – Stark Reflections

  6. I like what Erin has to say and, as someone who is in the process of switching some of my books wide, I’m going to take her tips very seriously. However, while I respect her actively anti-Amazon point of view, I don’t share it. I’m retailer-neutral and I certainly don’t regard Amazon as a bigger bad guy than, say, Apple or Google. I’m only interested in wide from the commercial point of view and as a way of serving my readers, not to stick it to Amazon. I’m very grateful for page reads, since at the moment they pay my mortgage, so I will be taking the journey to wide very gently.

    Reply

    1. I completely get that, Kev. I tend to not think of Amazon as evil, but more as the giant stepping on ants without even realizing how many “little people” are getting killed in their wake. (If you’ll allow me to mix metaphors).

      And I’m glad you are benefiting from Erin’s wisdom and insights. FYI, not too long after this episode went live, I interviewed Erin as part of a Draft2Digital live chat spotlight. Here’s the YouTube link: https://youtu.be/A-IqEMcsc_o

      Thanks for the comment, and I think taking your wide journey gently is a good strategy, particularly since it can take 9+ months to grow your sales on the non-Amazon platforms.

      Reply

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