Aiming at Amazon: The NEW Business of Self Publishing, or How to Publish Your Books with Print on Demand and Online Book Marketing on Amazon.com (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Aaron Shepard has been more successful selling through Amazon than any other self publisher I know." -- Morris Rosenthal, author, "Print-on-Demand Book Publishing"

"Solid gold advice. . . . This book will give you the benefit of years worth of hard-earned experience." -- Steve Weber, author, "The Home-Based Bookstore"

"If you want to learn how to sell more books on Amazon, this is the best book on the subject." -- Stacie Vander Pol, author, "Top Self Publishing Firms"

"An essential read for anyone having to market a self-published or POD-published book." -- Jim Cox, Jim Cox Reports, March 2007

"A must read for any progressive self-publishing author." -- Dehanna Bailee, author, "The ABC's of POD"

"Truly great . . . . If your efforts are focused on Amazon, this is THE book." -- Thomas Nixon, Degree Press and SmallPress Blog

"Packed with practical techniques for today's savvy small publisher." -- Susan Daffron, Logical Expressions, Inc.

"Filled with details and tips obviously garnered from much tinkering and thinking." -- Barry Beckham, Beckham Publications Group

"Experience-laden recommendations." -- Kyra Hicks, author, "Black Threads"

"The perfect guide for the first time publisher, [with] just enough information to inform but not overwhelm." -- Cheryl Kirk, Expanding Books

"A must-have book: pertinent, unduplicated, current, authoritative, and well-written. . . . The best advice available." -- John Culleton, WexfordPress, and list co-moderator, Self-Publishing

"With low upfront costs, and simple procedures that don't require specialized software, it's a method that almost anyone can use." -- Sheila Ruth, Imaginator Press

"Written by an author, for authors, in a style that even head-in-the-cloud dreamers can act upon." -- Barry Tighe, Can Write Will Write

"Truly, if you're interested in selling via Amazon, you need to look at Aaron Shepard's book." -- Marion Gropen, Gropen Associates, and list co-moderator, Self-Publishing and Pub-Forum

"Without Aiming at Amazon, I simply would not be where I am now." -- William Linney, Armfield Academic Press

"Absorbing. . . . Aaron Shepard is a savvy marketer. . . . Shepard writes simply but skips the chirpiness that mars many self-help books." -- Marie Shear, The Freelancer (Editorial Freelancers Association newsletter), Sept.-Nov. 2007

"I've published ten other books through regular publishers, and this route is much more fun and rewarding!" -- Ellen Hodgson Brown, Third Millenium Press "Dramatically changed my direction and turned a money-losing hobby into a growing, profitable business doing what I love most." -- Charles Sheehan-Miles, Cincinnatus Press

"It gave me a business plan that was feasible, simple, low-cost and potentially VERY lucrative." -- Darcy Pattison, Mims House

"What Aaron has done is to identify, analyze, and tweak the key factors that contribute to profitable sales at Amazon.com." -- Roger C. Parker, author, Looking Good in Print, and Webmaster, Published and Profitable --Testimonials for "Aiming at Amazon"

Aaron Shepard has been more successful selling through Amazon than any other self publisher I know. --Morris Rosenthal, author, Print-on-Demand Book Publishing

I've published ten other books through regular publishers, and this route is much more fun and rewarding! --Ellen Hodgson Brown, Third Millenium Press

If you want to learn how to sell more books on Amazon, this is the best book I've read on the subject. . . . Thanks to books like this, self-published authors have a chance to succeed against traditionally-published competitors. --Stacie Vander Pol, author, "Top Self Publishing Firms"

Packed with practical techniques for today's savvy small publisher. --Susan Daffron, Logical Expressions, Inc.

With low upfront costs, and simple procedures that don't require specialized software, it's a method that almost anyone can use. --Sheila Ruth, Imaginator Press

Review

Solid gold advice. . . . This book will give you the benefit of years worth of hard-earned experience.

Filled with details and tips obviously garnered from much tinkering and thinking.

Written by an author, for authors, in a style that even head-in-the-cloud dreamers can act upon.

Dramatically changed my direction and turned a money-losing hobby into a growing, profitable business doing what I love most.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Shepard Publications (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 093849743X
• ISBN-13: 978-0938497431
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,091 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mayra Calvani--Midwest Book Review, February 16, 2007

By	Mayra Calvani "author/reviewer" (Brussels, Belgium) - See all my reviews

In his latest book, Aiming at Amazon, Aaron Shepard proposes a revolutionary way to easily self publish your non-fiction work and market it successfully.

No, this is not one of those books that will teach you how to become an instant Amazon Bestseller. What Shepard suggests is much more ingenious. While becoming an instant bestseller may appear glamorous, the effect of this marketing trick lasts little compared to a real bestseller with good steady sales over a long period of time. Furthermore, the author's innovative technique includes ignoring--yes, totally disregarding--bookstores. With this plan, your aim will be selling your book via Amazon only. While this method may appear a little extreme, there's a beautiful simplicity to it.

Shepard demystifies distributors and wholesalers and offers you a practical, step-by-step plan on how to become your own small press, print your book, and sell it to the public via Amazon. He explains why it's important to stay away from subsidy companies that use print on demand, and he takes you right to the POD printer itself--Lightning Source--saving you an infinite amount of money in the process.

Some of the topics discussed include: choosing POD for printing your books, researching the market, designing and layout, cover design, setting up accounts with Lightning Source and Amazon, Amazon marketing tactics, and getting reviews, among others. In sum, everything you need to know to become your own press and start selling your book online.

Whether you live in the US or in another part of the world, this is an important book to read if you plan on self publishing a non-fiction book, as Shepard also offers valuable information for those living abroad. Written in Shepard's friendly style, Aiming at Amazon is a must read for anybody who is considering self publishing without too much hassle or expenses.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A story about the whole new world of print on demand and online bookselling which is an alternative to traditional publishing., March 25, 2007

By	Jeff Lippincott "www.Jlippin.com" (Princeton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

What a story! What a book! It used to be that a consultant or coach would seek out a publisher to put his "credibility piece" before the masses to see and read. Now a consultant or coach can still do that, but they would be foolish to do it often after reading the instant book. By reading this book you will hear the author's story regarding how he became successful (and what he did) as a self publisher using print on demand resources and focusing his efforts at using Amazon's Web site as a key marketing tool. He recommends that bricks and mortar bookstores should not be sought as distribution channels for his (or your) texts. And after reading the book I understand why.

The instant book is an example of what a print on demand (POD) book looks like since it was written, produced and sold using the very techniques described in it. It's not like the reader of the book is reading about theory - he is holding an example of what he is reading about.

The book is divided into four parts:

1. Publishing for Profit
2. Building Your Book
3. Meeting the Market
4. Finessing the Future

I cannot say I had a favorite part. I liked them all equally because I am not well-versed on the publishing industry. Therefore, I learned a great deal about putting together a book not intended to be sold in digital format. I also learned that it is not all that hard to put together a great self published book and have it be successful. The author seems to want to publish his works in order to profit primarily from them. I think that is great, but I highly recommend anyone who wants to publish their works to boost their consulting or coaching practice get a copy of this book and study it. In many ways it is easier to create and market a book for a consulting practice than to market the practice itself. And a successful book or books tied to a consulting practice can make that practice very lucrative. I'm going to have to read it at least one more time for it all to sink in. The book was packed full of content. 5 stars!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What? Only five stars?, November 27, 2006

By	Lupa (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

My husband originally bought this book for me via Amazon, so the author must be doing something right ;) We got it because we're always looking for resources to improve the small publisher we write and work for, and Amazon is an excellent venue for small press books.

"Aiming at Amazon" advocates putting all your eggs in one basket--in this case, Amazon sales. And it is true that Amazon is a bookselling powerhouse. This book shows how to tailor publishing books, using Lightning source as a POD printer, specifically towards maximizing Amazon's potential.

However, even if you want to work within more traditional methods of bookselling, there's still plenty of valuable material here. And it's also an invaluable guide to self-publishers, too, for whom Amazon may be a key point of sales.

The writing style is easy to read and conveys the information with little confusion. And, contrary to POD stereotypes, it's pretty well free of typos. Additionally, the author has obviously put his own advice into use, and in the very few cases where he has deviated from it he explains why.

Overall, this book is quite worthy of the confident air with which it's written. Whether you're small press or self-published, if you utilize POD and you want to amp up your Amazon sales, you need this book!