We canvassed the opinions of a few of our most successful self-publishing authors, Dan Gennoe, Tom Vaughan and Gerald Weaver, to compile a list of selling and marketing tips that work for self-publishing authors. Tried and tested but by no means perfect, here are 10 things to keep in mind.

1. There’s no such thing as if you build it, they will come.

2. Leverage your own network. Where is your community? Are you writing where there will be appeal for a specific niche? Who will give you quotes for your blurbs.

3. It genuinely helps to have a physical book and not just an e-book – people love physical product for social media marketing.

4. Experiment. It can be a long journey. Try stuff. Goodreads giveaways, Facebook, Instagram, try different promotional offers at the same time to maximise the spike in sales.

5. Promote the hell out of pre-orders. Do what you can to create the best possible visibility on publication.

6. Even if you had the money, which you probably don’t, you can’t really effectively outsource all of your marketing and PR to other people. You have to be at the heart of communication about your book for readers to feel it is authentic
7. Never stop. If you have limited time and resources ,maybe focus hard on one particular channel. It isn’t easy. Discoverability is a massive issue for even the largest most successful global sales and marketing publishing machines

8. Try and find people who will help demystify everything for you. Ask questions. Take notes. Look for transparency within the process.

9. Contribute. To blogs, debates. That content is on-line forever and builds critical mass over time.

10. Publication is the beginning, not the end. You probably have to manage your own expectations. Look back and learn –what has worked and what hasn’t during the process. And if you are going to do it, embrace the whole thing and don’t be half-hearted or think it isn’t as good as being chosen by a publisher. Even if you were being traditionally published, they would be expecting you to do this stuff anyway.