What It Takes To Sell Your Book



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My goals for selling my self-published book, Frankenstein’s Science Project, have now been set, as described in a previous post:

  1. I will sell 200 copies of Frankenstein’s Science Project within 2 years of the published date.
  2. I will get 25 reviews of Frankenstein’s Science Project on Amazon, Goodreads or Google Books within 2 years of the published date.

Now, I need to determine what it takes to sell a book and to get reviews. This is the first “A” in the DREAMS Cycle ™ which stands for Acquire Knowledge. To gain insight, I searched the web, read blogs, watched YouTube videos and joined the Ottawa Independent Writers. Here is a list of wonderful resources:


Of the information gathered, the main methods of selling your books are:

  • Sell to family and friends
  • Book signings
  • Get books in book stores
  • Sell books through online stores such as Amazon
  • Sell books to libraries

In addition to the method of selling your book, you need to get people to buy your book. This is where marketing comes into play. Some effective ways of marketing your book include the following iin no particular order:

  • Pricing your book
  • Creating a website
  • Using social media
  • Obtaining reviews (this is a linked to my second goal)
  • Advertising
  • Word of mouth
  • Book launch
  • Book reading tour
  • Interviews
  • Prizes

In future blogs, each of these selling and marketing approaches will be discussed in detail based on knowledge I acquired. I will also present Action Plans which is the second “A” in the DREAMS Cycle ™, as well as any experiences I had with putting these practices in place.

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