Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Kindle Publishing (Avoid These Mistakes)

About this video

Sean lists the biggest lessons he wishes he had known before starting Kindle publishing five years earlier. First, quality beats quantity: early on he pumped out mediocre 10K-word books, cheaply ghostwritten, with $5 Fiverr covers and little marketing; they sold initially, then died as organic bad reviews dragged averages from five stars down toward three. Good books, he argues, create a cycle of sales, organic four- and five-star reviews, and more sales that keeps them on page one. He says he shifted to 99designs for covers, the highest rather than cheapest ghostwriting package, and running ads. Second, do not niche-hop: he published in business and money, spirituality, self-help and gardening and was, he claims, stuck at $10K a month, whereas focusing on one niche and building a brand took him, he claims, from $10K to $35K-plus a month in one year. Third, build an audience as soon as possible — an email list or Facebook group to recruit an ARC review team; he says one email can now bring 20-30 reviews, and he recommends AWeber’s free plan. Fourth, be unique: copying a successful book gives readers no reason to buy yours. He gives the example of ‘journal for women’ with literally 70,000 results on Amazon, and suggests differentiation by angle, better value (200 puzzles instead of 100), better cover/title, or niching down, such as a journal specifically for cat ladies in their 50s.

Key takeaways

• One high-quality book beats ten mediocre ones — cheap 10K-word books with $5 covers died from bad organic reviews
• He claims focusing on one niche took his income from $10K to $35K-plus a month in one year, after years of niche-hopping
• Build an email list early — he says one email to his audience can generate 20-30 ARC reviews
• He upgraded production to 99designs covers, the highest ghostwriting package, and paid ads instead of publish-and-forget
• Differentiate or fail: with 70,000 results for ‘journal for women’, use a unique angle, more value, or a tightly niched audience

Episode details: published January 25, 2022 · 10:44 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Sean Dollwet’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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