That book you wrote? Here’s a new way to promote it

So you’ve self-published a novel that, in your humble opinion, the whole world should read.

But how do you get the word out?

Just putting it on Amazon isn’t enough. There are millions of books competing for attention and to stay visible, your book needs to be selling briskly on a daily basis.

Posting on social media can help, of course, but those who don’t know you personally might be on the fence about reading a book from an author they’re not familiar with yet.

That’s why I created the Discovery List. It’s a simple spreadsheet full of book titles, but it gives you bonus points if you have reviews for your book, or if readers add a “Love Note” about how much they enjoyed reading it.

My idea is to go directly to the source—the authors themselves—in order to find out what we should be reading in the vast ocean of self-published books, and collect them all in one place.

In other words, I’m making a list of every self-published book that’s worth reading.

It’s easy to add your book to the spreadsheet. Just go to the Discovery List home page and use the forms to add your book, plus a review if you’ve got one.

Do it today and you can still be a part of the First 100 books. Once we have 100 books, I’ll let our 4,800 blog readers know that the spreadsheet is available for download—and let everyone sort and click to find self-published books they’ll love!

“How to keep a marriage happy and unbreakable”: This 5-star memoir reveals the secrets

The Discovery List is off to a great start, and I’m finding solid gold already!

I’ve made it my quest to find every self-published book worth reading, and to do this, I created a spreadsheet that we as a community can add to.

It’s called the Discovery List, and whether you happened across a great self-published book or wrote one, we want to hear about it.

I love featuring books that got great reviews, so without further ado, here’s this week’s best self-published book:

Twenty Years: After “I Do”
Reflections on Love and Changes Through Aging
by D.G. Kaye

Review: Lauren Scott at Baydreamer gives it 5 stars, and raves:

D.G. Kaye’s memoir, Twenty Years After “I Do” piqued my interest for a couple of reasons. First, I’ve been married for thirty-one years to a man who is not only my loving husband but who is my very best friend. I wanted to read what the author had to say on the subject, and she certainly inserted many pearls of wisdom of which I agreed with.

…

Debby offers snippets of insight from her own experiences on how to keep a marriage happy and unbreakable. She adds how humor can lighten any heavy situation and intimately writes of how sex ultimately changes from dating to married life. Most importantly though, she conveys that love has no timeline. Couples should enjoy each moment together and unconditional love will carry them through the difficult times. I was moved by this lovely collection of stories from Debby’s marriage to Gordon, and how she met true love when she least expected. An enjoyable read and one I highly recommend! Read the whole review

You can pick up a copy of Twenty Years on Amazon, and connect with the author on her blog, D.G. Kaye, Writer.

With your help, together we can find every self-published book worth reading and make the Discovery List a one-stop shop for excellent indie books.

If your book isn’t on the List yet, add it today!

The First 100: Have you discovered (or written) a book we should know about?

Collecting “every self-published book worth reading” in one place is no easy feat.

Yet, this is my mission. And I need your help!

I’ve set about creating a spreadsheet, which I call the Discovery List, and so far it’s got about 35 books. Once we have 100 books, I’ll make the spreadsheet available for download.

I want to make sure yours is on there!

For self-published authors, it’s hard to stand out in the crowd. These days, anyone can publish anything—and they certainly do.

But often, when a serious author writes a quality book, it struggles to stay afloat in the sea of millions of other self-published books.

This is because if it’s not selling each and every day, Amazon and other retailers won’t promote it on their sites, which, in a vicious cycle, results in less visibility and even fewer sales.

That’s what the Discovery List is for: to break that cycle and make finding these superb books as simple as sorting a spreadsheet.

Have you discovered—or written—a book you think people should know about?

Your book could be part of the First 100!

Share your discovery with us today, and tomorrow I’ll feature one of the First 100 books—for our 4,800 blog followers to discover and read.

The Discovery List: My quest to find every self-published book worth reading

It’s the age-old question: Since anyone can publish a book these days, how do you know which books are worth reading?

In my quest to find the answer, I created the Discovery List.

It’s a spreadsheet of self-published books, and I invite your submissions. As long as a book is self-published and worth reading, we all want to hear about it—even if you’re the one who wrote it!

So why create a whole spreadsheet of books instead of relying on the national bestseller lists?

This is because it can be difficult for self-published books to crack these bestseller lists. Most authors are the sole promoters of their books, and without the proper budget or know-how, it can be tough to get noticed.

Amazon, meanwhile, has its own list where it ranks books by sales. And to be fair, you can assume that whatever is selling well is probably worth your time.

The problem is that unless a book is selling briskly each and every day, it tends to fall down the list and get buried in the big Amazon book pile very quickly.

A shame, really, because there are so many more excellent books out there that no one knows about.

This is what the Discovery List is for! It helps you find books that are definitely worth your time—even before any sales are made.

The Discovery List leans heavily on reviews and “Love Notes”—quick blurbs that let readers know how much you liked a certain book.

Currently, there are 34 books on the Discovery List. Once we have 100, I’ll make the spreadsheet available for download, and you can sort it any way you like to find books you’re sure to love.

Want to let us know about a self-published book that’s worth reading? Help us reach our goal of 100 by adding your book or book review today!

This fantasy novel has hit #1 on the ChapterBuzz Chart!

Congratulations to author Mel Hankins, whose fantasy novel, Belonging to the Alpha, has soared to #1 on the ChapterBuzz Top 100 Chart this week!

Mel has made her novel available for you to read for free for a limited time, so stop by and get lost in the world she has created.

Here’s what Belonging to the Alpha is about:

Leah is a teenage girl who also happens to be a werewolf. Her Dad is a high-ranking Warrior in the most dominant Pack that Silvermoor City has ever seen, and she is destined to be the Luna of the Alpha there. She, however, bonds with an unworthy Omega. To complicate things, the Alpha chooses Leah. After being brutally attacked by her Omega boyfriend, Leah must decide which path to follow. Her wolf or her destiny?

Enjoy this page-turner and help Mel keep that #1 spot! Start reading now

Writers, wanna be discovered?

If you’ve written & self-published a book, but can’t seem to stand out on Amazon, now there’s an easier way!

I’m working on a project called the Discovery List, and it’s a spreadsheet of book titles—yours included, hopefully— that are self published. In other words, truly delightful books that we may not have heard of.

Maybe you don’t have a ton of dough to fork over for advertising. Maybe you aren’t the world’s most gifted salesperson (Who among us is? We’re writers, dang it!) Or maybe nothing that you’ve tried has moved the needle.

Here’s the way I see it: any self-published book that’s for sale on the virtual shelves of the internet is just another book waiting to be discovered by readers.

That’s what the Discovery List is for!

Say goodbye to being #1,830,475 on the bestsellers list, behind major releases from traditional publishers and a bunch of big-budget cookbooks. This is your moment!

To get your book onto the Discovery List, just go to this page and submit your “Discovery Press Kit”—which consists of your book + one review on a blog—and I’ll be sure to add it to the list.

You don’t need to have a review, but it will help your book stand out.

Once we have 100 books on the list (we’re ⅓ of the way there) and 5,000 blog followers (currently 4,700), I’ll make the list available for download and let readers dive in!

Add your book

Have you read “Free Country” by George Mahood?

Even though I just started putting together the Discovery List, a spreadsheet that showcases outstanding self-published books, I keep finding hidden gems among the books that have been added so far.

Case in point: Free Country: A Penniless Adventure the Length of Britain, written by George Mahood, and discovered by Reg Spittle.

In a recent blog post, Reg waxes enthusiastic about this humorous story. Here are some of his thoughts:

Wearing just underwear emblazoned with the British flag, George Mahood and his buddy left Land’s End in southwest England without a penny, determined to bicycle to the northern tip of Great Britain. They would rely on the generosity and good hearts of the people, from pub owners and accommodation hosts to the police.

If you have not read a book by George Mahood, you are in for a treat. His writing in Free Country is even more entertaining than his story’s premise and is powered by humor and down-to-earth human touches.

Read Free Country today! It’s available on Amazon.

Have you read this, or another great self-published book lately? What did you think? Add your own book review or Love Note, and your input will help us keep finding excellent reads!

A time-travel romance novel for the ages

Thanks to all authors and book reviewers who have contributed to our Discovery List so far!

Each week, I feature one of the best self-published books we have on the list so far, based on reviews.

Have you written (or discovered) a great self-published book? Add it to the Discovery List, and it might be the next book featured here.

This week, the best book on the list is…

(Review: John Maberry of Views from Eagle Peak gives it 4 stars.)

Here’s a taste:

John Finbow, a successful writer, and his wife Kay move into Southcombe Rectory, a large Victorian house that has been empty since the 1960s. It had previously been owned by the Cuthbertson family who had lived there for generations. Their marriage is under strain, as John, 39 would like children before he gets too old, but Kay, 34, does not.

When John is working in his study soon after moving in, he is disturbed by the sight of a young woman who appears out of the blue on his sofa. Emily Cuthbertson, whose old bedroom is now John’s study, was 25 at the time of her death and the youngest of 8 offspring of the late Reverend Arthur Cuthbertson and his wife Delia. Emily had died in 1868 but is now unwilling to leave behind her old life on earth, due to having missed out on a family of her own whilst being a companion to her widowed mother. Emily is still desperate for a husband and children, and John is the answer to her dreams.

One hundred and thirty years separate them. Will Emily and John’s love survive time’s relentless march?

Discover it for yourself on Amazon!

Have you discovered a self-published book that deserves a spot on the Discovery List? Whether you wrote it, reviewed it, or just discovered it, you can add it here and help others make discoveries of their own.

Who’s your favorite self-published author?

Hey readers!

Have you discovered any talented self-published authors lately, or read any self-published books that really stand out in your mind?

Let us know by adding a Discovery Report!

I’ll add it to the Discovery List, a spreadsheet full of self-published books I’m putting together, for all to see and have a read themselves.

There are so many excellent self-published books out there, and I want to make sure readers can find them. It’s such a shame to find a good book buried under hundreds of thousands of others in Amazon search results—if you can find it at all—so this is my way of helping deserving books stand out.

Please add your Discovery Report so we can all make a discovery of our own!

Book reviews: who needs ’em, anyway? A quick answer

Looking for your big break as an author? Try delving into the world of book reviews.

by Timothy Pike

You may already know that book reviews are important. But just how important are they? For self-published authors, I believe they’re crucial.

Since most “indie” authors don’t have access to large budgets, sales teams, and mainstream media outlets, we instead turn to the most powerful tool we have—the collective voice of book lovers and literary enthusiasts from all corners of the internet—to give our books the boost they deserve.

This is my latest project: putting together a list of self-published books that are totally worth the read. I call it the Discovery List, and I’m taking recommendations now and adding them to the list.

Want to add one to our list? You can do that here.

Also, give this blog a follow if you’re interested in discovering new books every week! Once we’ve got 5,000 followers (currently 4,700), and 100 books on the list, I’ll make the list available to download.

But what’s so great about a review, anyway? After all, who really cares what someone else thinks?

Consider these points:

1. A positive review says, I’ve read this book, and trust me, it’s good. This could easily sway a reader—someone who may have been on the fence before—into purchasing your book, and sudddenly…boom! You now have another reader in your orbit. This person will be more likely to buy another one of your books (maybe the next in the series?) and follow you on social media for news of your next release.

2. It creates buzz. One review may not make you an overnight sensation, but the more reviews you get, the more your name starts to sound familiar to readers—and they’ll start to associate you with quality writing. More reviews = more people talking about you = more sales = more reviews, and the cycle keeps going!

3. It’s free advertising. The more readers the reviewer has, the more people who hear about your book. This could be thousands at a time! The review also gets included in search results, so even long after it’s published, people will still be stumbling across it when they’re on “The Google” searching for their next read. The best advertising is word-of-mouth, and that’s exactly what a review is.

I’d like to get as many book reviewers and self-published authors as possible involved, so go ahead and add your book (or review) to the Discovery List today.

Let’s discover some new books together!

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I’m Timothy Pike, founder of ChapterBuzz, and self-publishing coach specializing in helping you publish a beautiful book to the virtual shelves of Amazon—and even the real shelves of your local bookstore.