The number one thing you probably want to know as an independent author is how to get your book noticed on Amazon.
I’ve had my YouTube channel since 2016 and I focus on self-publishing, so I get asked for marketing strategies, A
LOT! So much so, that I wrote a book on the topic, but I’m not here to pitch my book to you. I have a few other websites for that.
I’m here to introduce you to Thomas A. Bradley.
Thomas writes Horror, Sci-Fi, and Techno Thrillers and when he reached out to me, he was really struggling to gain traction as a self-published author.
He was spending $30 to make $60, so I helped him turn that around.
The thing was, I could see that Thomas had really put in the work. He had a robust book catalog, but I could see it was in need of a massive overhaul. Thomas had overcome many hardships to get to this point, and I knew that all he needed was a little course correction.
I decided to give Thomas the surprise of a lifetime, but before we get to how to get your book noticed on Amazon, we need find out how we got here in the first place.
The Birth of Book Rescue
I don’t have to tell you that 2020 was an outright dumpster fire. The effects of the global pandemic reverberated through the self-publishing community and even more so beyond it.
My goal has always been to help struggling authors indirectly through my videos. I have steadily built my business to that end since I started my YouTube channel in 2016. I’ve also put together a small team to help me, so while Book Rescue was my idea, it has been expanded exponentially through collaborating with my team.
This Pilot Episode was heavily influenced by Dan Norton who handles my video editing. I rely on his insights and expertise to steer my YouTube channel on a steady path to 100K + subscribers. That’s been a goal of mine since the beginning.
Once the Pilot Episode was done, I shared it with my assistant, Ava, and she was on board as well. She brings WordPress skills and brand-building knowledge enabling her to fill any gaps an author might have in their platform.
This small team makes Book Rescue live up to its name.
That wasn’t enough. I also tapped my network to pull together a package of services to carry each Book Rescue candidate through the building and correction phase into ongoing success which brings me back to Thomas.
Thomas’ Story
I was drawn to Thomas by his interesting backstory. He has been writing for years. He even tried to get published as a teenager.
In 1974, Thomas entered the conflict in Vietnam as a member of the Army Medical Corps. Following his active service, he went to college to become a Virologist and he was good at it.
He enjoyed a successful career until 2008 when he missed some time from work to get a pacemaker. Shortly after his return, the company he worked for dissolved their virology department.
At 53, Thomas knew it was going to be nearly impossible to find another job in his field.
He put all of his efforts into writing and decided to enter a contest for Horror in Words magazine.
His story was published!
That was the beginning. Thomas began writing nonstop after that. It became a full-time obsession.
Things were looking up! Then in 2013, Thomas received a double-whammy of bad news. He was diagnosed with spinal stenosis in his neck that was compressing his spinal cord and adult-onset Muscular Dystrophy.
As a result, one of his hands is unusable and sometimes he can only type for minutes at a time.
As his other passions like virology and playing guitar have become impossible, Thomas stuck with writing and his never-quit attitude is one thing about Thomas that I find so inspirational.
Thomas’ biggest struggles aren’t his physical limitations, it’s how to get your book noticed on Amazon, it’s marketing just like so many of you.
Naturally, I wanted to help Thomas, and I was able to with a little help from my team and Fiverr, yeah, Fiverr!
Enter Fiverr
For those of you who don’t know what Fiverr is, it’s a marketplace where you can hire freelancers to do pretty much anything you can imagine.
Fiverr has sponsored my YouTube channel a couple of times, and when they saw Book Rescue, they wanted to be a part of what we were doing, so you’ll see me mention them a lot. I also used the services of several of their talented freelancers to revamp Thomas’ entire book catalog.
We utilized Fiverr to give Thomas:
- New book covers
- Better marketing copy
- New keywords and categories
- A marketing and promotion strategy
A HUGE thanks to Fiverr for making Book Rescue possible!
4 Weeks of Work
Thomas and I spent 4 weeks putting in the work to overhaul his entire business. We ordered 10 book covers, we hired Brian Meeks to help with marketing copy, we developed his keywords, and then worked those into his copy. Finally, we put together a marketing plan that Thomas could follow on his own going forward that wouldn’t break the bank.
Once Thomas and I had put in the work, it was time to reveal to Thomas the fruits of our labor.
The Reveal (Watch the Video!)
I could contain the surprise no longer, and it was time to reveal to Thomas everything that had gone into his Book Rescue.
We started with the updated book covers one by one…all 10 of them. Thomas was overwhelmed and I couldn’t get the smile off my face.
It was such an amazing feeling to see directly what I’ve been trying to accomplish indirectly over the last 5 years. I was really helping someone!
I have some amazing people in my network and I reached out to them to put together a package for Thomas so he would have everything he needs to succeed going forward.
A HUGE thanks to all of the contributors! Honestly, I can’t thank you enough for deepening the impact of what we’re able to do with Book Rescue!
Here’s what Thomas received:
- ProWritingAid Lifetime – a $399 value
- Book Brush Gold Plan, 1 Year free – a $146 value
- Book Award Pro Pro Plan, 1 month free – a $189 value
- Alliance of Independent Authors membership – $119 value
- $100 gift card
- Author Brand Kit – $749 value
By the time I’d given Thomas everything, he had a tear in his eye and so did I. Book Rescue is one of the most meaningful projects I’ve done to date. I’m going to keep going because it simply feels amazing to help authors succeed.
Since the recording of the Pilot Episode of Book Rescue…
Thomas’ book sales have increased by nearly 200%.
His novel, The Covenant of Wickersham Hollow became an award-winning book, two times over!
He launched The Bones of Sarah Golescue in July of 2021.
Thomas has become a valued friend and much-loved member of my community. You can find him at his website, https://thomasabradley.com, and in my FREE Facebook Group for self-publishers. We hope to see you there – https://www.facebook.com/groups/selfpublishingbooks
How To Get Your Book Noticed on Amazon
While my channel is full of videos to tell you how to get your book noticed on Amazon in various ways, I’d like to personally invite you to follow along with Book Rescue.
If you’re a struggling author looking for book promotion ideas or how to increase book sales on Amazon, then you can duplicate the exact steps I’m taking with Book Rescue candidates to help them do just that!
As Season 1 is just beginning to roll out (here’s the first episode!), you can see in detail every step we are taking to make Robert’s books more discoverable on Amazon.
I’m not only here to help Robert and other Book Rescue candidates. My team and I want to help you learn how to get your book noticed on Amazon as well.
I encourage you to click the bell icon so you’ll receive notifications when new videos and episodes are published.
If you want to support Book Rescue, I’m not asking for money. You can support us by liking and sharing the content. I received an overwhelming response to this Pilot episode on YouTube. Just take a look at the comments on that video.
Your likes, comments, and shares are a great value to what we are trying to do for the self-publishing community with Book Rescue.
If you feel that you would make a good candidate for Book Rescue, please visit our application page to see if you’re a good fit.
I’ll be looking for you!
Dale
This is the right website for anyone who hopes to find out about this topic. You understand a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I really will need to HaHa). You definitely put a fresh spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Wonderful stuff, just great!