One benefit of low sales is that watching your borrowers reading becomes a spectator sport

Here's mine: http://i.imgur.com/GHdaEa9.jpg

This is for one book that's been out for ten months. My full time job since 2014 has been writing and marketing just that book, while trying to write another. (It's almost done!)

Here are some of the things I did/do:

  • Before the book was even an idea, I blogged for years and developed an audience.
  • When the book was an idea, I asked my audience (and friends and family) for help. I put up a small kickstarter to cover editing, formatting and illustration. It funded!
  • When it was time to publish, the kickstarter supporters got their copies. Many of them got theirs early with the promise to write a review once it hit amazon.
  • The day it came out, I had 10 reviews lined up and ready to go.
  • Once the kickstarter readers (and the audience from my blog) finished reading their copies, another wave of reviews came in.
  • Those reviews fueled sales (and borrows) which brought more reviews, etc.
  • I paid small amounts for advertising in various media. Facebook (yes, and I'll do it again) a couple podcasts I like, a few popular websites relevant to my topic and even some print ads. I've at least broken even every time.
  • I make a lot of personal appearances. I'm a nonfiction author, and I'm willing to travel to speak. This is my full time job now. I love doing it, and it helps keep my name relevant.
  • I leverage social media. (Hello!) I'm active on facebook, but I don't ever talk about my book. I'm active in groups relevant to my topic and people find me that way now. I try to be helpful here and on other forums. I mod a relevant sub, not to boost sales, but because I truly love my topic. That steady heartbeat of borrows in my KU graph isn't a beast that lives and walks on its own yet. It's the result of constant pumping.
/r/selfpublish Thread Link - i.redd.it