How much is the start-up cost of publishing my first Kindle book? How much is okay to invest for marketing?
[Tweet “Treat a book-based business like any other start-up company.”]
Steve recommends treating a book-based business like any other start-up company. Be smart about not wasting your money by tracking expenditures and spending money only when necessary.
Jane is a new author who wants to build her platform while she writes a book. She wants to know a simple step-by-step plan for building and maintaining an author platform.
[Tweet “Your book interior is the perfect place to let people know about your email list. “]
Steve feels all of his success is due to having an established author platform.
He recommends following the 80/20 rule when building a platform: focus on what works and ignore what doesn’t. Steve says the focal point of every independent author’s platform should be an email list.
Patrick, a writer based in Canada, says he struggles with deciding where he should put his content. Should he use Amazon.ca or Amazon.com? Is there is a difference?
[Tweet “You don’t need multiple Amazon accounts to distribute your books worldwide. “]
There’s really no difference between Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. If you create an account in your home country, your content can be distributed on Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Amazon.uk, and all the other Amazon platforms. You don’t need multiple accounts to distribute your books all over the world.
Daniel wants to know if it’s possible to publish a Kindle book under a pseudonym and how to do it through Amazon.
[Tweet “Using a pseudonym helps protect your privacy and allows you to try new things. “]
Many people wonder whether they should publish under their own name or use a pseudonym. Steve is especially qualified to answer this question because Steve Scott is actually his pen name. Back in 2005, he used his real name and home address on the World Wide Web. One day, a stranger knocked on his door and started asking questions about things Steve had written. It was a scary experience, especially when he thought about what might happen once he got married and had kids. He decided to use a pen name to insulate his personal life from his professional life.