Weekend Read: Zen of eBook Marketing

You may not expect a supernatural novelist, game developer, composer, and self-described jack-of-all-trades to be able to teach anything about marketing, more specifically e-book marketing. Guido Henkel does just that in his recent book Zen of eBook Marketing.

Henkel gives practical, easy to do marketing task that any author can use. Yes, there are other books about selling your e-book on the Kindle or other platforms. I’ve found that most of them are write a “book” in 24 hours, grab a stock cover, publish a Kindle Direct Publishing, then sit back to watch the money roll in. Henkel is realistic and reminds writers that marketing is part of the work of writing.

The usual e-mail list, social media, reviews are on the Zen list of marketing. Henkel also reminds the reader of the more traditional marketing techniques such as bookmarks, book signings, and conferences. He tells what has worked for him and what he does differently For example: In the chapter “Readings,” Henkel gives several pieces of advice and examples of what authors do at readings. Then he says, “Having said all that, of course, if you’re like me, you’ll simply ignore all the advice you just read and wing it.”

It’s this kind of candor that keeps me reading in what could easily become a dry business topic. Henkel understands the unique e-book market; it’s the market he sells his books in. His success is enough to make the advice in Zen creditable. The engaging writing style makes it readable.

The final chapter is “Print Books.” Too often e-book writers stop there, thinking all the money is the electronic market. This chapter reminds the reader the value of having a print version along with the electronic version. As Henkel state, “At the end of the day, this actually good news for you, because print editions still carry a certain cache. It can add prestige to you as an author when people browse your books and see that aside from your eBooks, you work is also available in print.”

I urge e-book writers to grab a copy of Zen of eBook Marketing. For that matter, I urge all writers to read this book. And read it before the launch date of your book. Remember, marketing begins as soon as you have an idea for your next book.

You may also be interested in Guido Henkel’s Zen of eBook Formatting.

Read more of Guido’s thoughts on marketing, e-books, gaming, and life at his blog.

Zen of eBook Marketing
Guido Henkel
$5.99

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