Usually non-fiction reference books are not my genre of choice, but as an indie author and also a book reviewer, I took the opportunity to read this from an ARC program as I believed I was the target audience and was hoping to learn something useful.

The Premise

This reference guide offers a recipe for success by using examples from commercial successes by other authors, among other tactics. Written by the founder & CEO of book publishing company Scribando | Novelify, it outlines his insights into book marketing and contains “secrets” and strategies from past experience, compiled into a blueprint to give aspiring or newbie authors an advantage to publishing their books and increasing their sales.

The Pros

This was a short, easy read, and well written in terms of the way the content is put forward. This format is engaging, and key points are pulled out to catch the eye. I liked that it used many modern examples, which held my interest throughout. Concepts were explained for a layman — for example, “reverse engineering” is used in book marketing to analyse an existing success to copy its elements with the aim of a similar result.

There were also useful links to other content, some of which I bookmarked to check out at a later date. I appreciated that it quantified certain things — for example, a minimum amount to spend on a book launch. The most useful part I found were the questions posed at the end of each section — these are open-ended and serve as a starting point for an author’s self-reflection or for a discussion with someone they may be hiring to assist their book marketing efforts.

The Cons

While I enjoyed the book and think it would be useful, nothing here was fundamentally brand new to me, or a “secret” for that matter. It was mostly common sense, and the guidance echoed what I have learnt in my first few months of being a published author and plugging into multitudinous writing communities such as Facebook groups, social media, blogs, and more. Also, though the advice is general and can be applied across the board, I could see some parts that would work better for non-fiction books rather than fiction books (my genre).

Conclusion

I have been a (marginally successful) author for awhile, and I am already aware that there are things I could be doing much better (even if I am not doing them, for cost-prohibitive factors or just personal choice!) so perhaps I may not have been the target market for this book. I would however highly recommend it to anyone who is starting from absolute scratch and needs handholding from the ground up, to get their heads in the right space to begin thinking about their books as a business.

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