How to Publish Your First Book | Riley Morrison Interview

About this video

Dale interviews Australian writer Riley Morrison, presented as a first-time case study: a new self-publisher about to publish on Amazon for the first time, sharing his plans transparently before any results so others can learn whether he succeeds or fails. Riley describes a fantasy series with science-fiction elements that he admits he did not write strictly to market; drawing on Chris Fox’s idea of writing to market, he says knowing a genre’s tropes and reader expectations improves the odds, and he plans to market the book primarily as epic fantasy. He has a prequel as a newsletter reader magnet, four main books planned, the second nearly finished, and hopes to release books roughly a month apart, with pre-orders linking book one to book two and short side books written in 15-minute sprints. He explains he is a ‘pantser’ who wrote the roughly 140,000-word first draft largely without a plan, spread editing costs over about a year with an editor who acted almost as a writing coach, wrote his own description after studying copywriting books and Facebook groups, and plans keyword and category research with tools such as KDP Rocket. For launch he plans an ARC team via services like Instafreebie and BookFunnel, aiming for early honest reviews without paying for or forcing reviews. Riley says, as his own account, he spent about $3,000 on the book and hopes to break even within six to twelve months while building his newsletter.

Key takeaways

• Riley is sharing his launch before having results, explicitly so other new authors can learn from either his success or his failure.
• Writing to market means studying genre tropes and reader expectations and targeting the audience the book best fits, even when the book itself was a labor of love.
• His release plan relies on a series: a free prequel reader magnet, four main books released close together, pre-orders, and short side books between major releases.
• He writes as a pantser using timed 15-minute sprints, and spread his editing cost over about a year while working with an editor who coached him.
• His launch plan uses ARC copies through giveaway services to seek honest early reviews, and he says he spent about $3,000 and hopes to break even within six to twelve months.

Episode details: published November 23, 2017 · 35:55 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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