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Guerrilla Publishing: a sleaze-free guide to writing and book marketing
95% of authors sell less than 100 books. Don't be one of them.
Most authors make common - and easily avoidable - mistakes that cripple their book sales. Even worse, the publishing industry is full of predatory promotion services that don't work, or use old-school tactics that do nothing to sell books. Eager authors, frustrated by lack of sales, then resort to spammy tactics that give self-publishers a bad name.
In Book Marketing is Dead I wrote that what passes for book marketing these days is virtually useless, but I didn't provide a way forward. I wanted to show that there was a more effective way to sell books, so I built a platform from scratch, grew a list of over 50K subscribers, got 1000+ book reviews, and sold over 20K books in less than a year. I even made some money (enough to rent a castle for Nanowrimo).
I'm still doing a lot wrong, but I've proven that:
You CAN make a living with your writing Book marketing isn't hard if you do it right
Most authors make common - and easily avoidable - mistakes that cripple their book sales. Even worse, the publishing industry is full of predatory promotion services that don't work, or use old-school tactics that do nothing to sell books. Eager authors, frustrated by lack of sales, then resort to spammy tactics that give self-publishers a bad name.
In Book Marketing is Dead I wrote that what passes for book marketing these days is virtually useless, but I didn't provide a way forward. I wanted to show that there was a more effective way to sell books, so I built a platform from scratch, grew a list of over 50K subscribers, got 1000+ book reviews, and sold over 20K books in less than a year. I even made some money (enough to rent a castle for Nanowrimo).
I'm still doing a lot wrong, but I've proven that:
You CAN make a living with your writing Book marketing isn't hard if you do it right
SELL MORE BOOKS WITH LESS MARKETING
This book is a crash course on some of the more creative book marketing strategies I've discovered in my first year of publishing fiction. It will provide simple, actionable steps to publishing a high quality book quickly, doing only as much marketing as is necessary to launch your book like a rockstar, and keep it selling enough to support you while you write more books.
I only mention the things I actually use, that I know work, and ignore all the other things that don't get results. We'll discuss:
how to write books readers love self-publishing without getting ripped off how to get hundreds of book reviews paid advertising and release strategies pricing and pre-orders book giveaways for rapid listbuilding how to target your audience viral exposure and press coverage setting up automated funnels so you spend less time promoting marketing hacks so good they should be illegal and how to reach your first $1000 on Kindle
LAUNCH BIG EVEN IF YOU'RE STARTING SMALL
"Guerrilla" is a style of warfare intended to surprise and harass enemies. It can also mean using unconventional and usually inexpensive means to generate interest or raise concern among the public. That's basically how I'll use it: book marketing strategies from the trenches to help you win the publishing war.
However, instead of "surprise and harass" I will focus on "surprise and delight." First you need to show up and get in front of the right people. Then you need to surprise and delight them. You need to be remarkable enough to be noticed. Few authors are using these strategies (yet) so it's relatively easy to outrank your competition, get more visibility and reach new readers.
FREE BONUS WORKBOOK
This book is mostly theory and ideas, and links to a lot of external resources, but I've recently finished a companion workbook that goes into more detail and gives exact, step-by-step plans to follow. For a limited time, this book includes access to the 67-page PDF.
This book is a crash course on some of the more creative book marketing strategies I've discovered in my first year of publishing fiction. It will provide simple, actionable steps to publishing a high quality book quickly, doing only as much marketing as is necessary to launch your book like a rockstar, and keep it selling enough to support you while you write more books.
I only mention the things I actually use, that I know work, and ignore all the other things that don't get results. We'll discuss:
how to write books readers love self-publishing without getting ripped off how to get hundreds of book reviews paid advertising and release strategies pricing and pre-orders book giveaways for rapid listbuilding how to target your audience viral exposure and press coverage setting up automated funnels so you spend less time promoting marketing hacks so good they should be illegal and how to reach your first $1000 on Kindle
LAUNCH BIG EVEN IF YOU'RE STARTING SMALL
"Guerrilla" is a style of warfare intended to surprise and harass enemies. It can also mean using unconventional and usually inexpensive means to generate interest or raise concern among the public. That's basically how I'll use it: book marketing strategies from the trenches to help you win the publishing war.
However, instead of "surprise and harass" I will focus on "surprise and delight." First you need to show up and get in front of the right people. Then you need to surprise and delight them. You need to be remarkable enough to be noticed. Few authors are using these strategies (yet) so it's relatively easy to outrank your competition, get more visibility and reach new readers.
FREE BONUS WORKBOOK
This book is mostly theory and ideas, and links to a lot of external resources, but I've recently finished a companion workbook that goes into more detail and gives exact, step-by-step plans to follow. For a limited time, this book includes access to the 67-page PDF.
151 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 10, 2017
86 people are currently reading
123 people want to read
About the author
Derek Murphy
54 books405 followersI wrote my MA thesis on Harry Potter and my PhD thesis on Paradise Lost. Now I write YA fantasy novels and design book covers. I blog about self-publishing, book design and book marketing, and was featured in CNN for renting castles.
www.urbanepics.com
www.theyashelf.com
www.creativindie.com
www.imlovingbooks.com
www.urbanepics.com
www.theyashelf.com
www.creativindie.com
www.imlovingbooks.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
February 6, 2017
If you aren't familiar with Derek Murphy, he offers a lot, and I mean a LOT, of unbelievably helpful advice to the author community, indies in particular. And many of his resources are free. He's the poster child for the concept of offering value and plenty of it in order to build a platform. When I heard via his mailing list that he'd released this book, I ran to get it.
He's compiled a lot of his best tips for launching and promoting it effectively, although I will say that if you've read much of his other stuff, most of his Big Tips are repeats. That said, I still appreciated this for being a one-stop resources for his most useful suggestions. And then he goes on to offer a lot of other promotion ideas to boot.
There were a couple inconsistencies that I found puzzling. In the introduction, he said the book would focus on tips he uses himself and finds effective. But later he admits he hasn't really used a couple of the ideas much, and he literally tried out one bit of advice the day before.
The other inconsistency has to do with his social media advice. I am a firm believer in Derek's adage that authors shouldn't be hanging around social media to tell people to buy their stuff. He goes a step farther in this book by saying he'll unfollow authors who post promotion of their own books OR WHO RETWEET/SHARE promo posts from others. Then later in the book, he mentions that we should share other author's work. Which is it? Perhaps he didn't mean retweeting 50 "buy this book" posts, but it was a bit confusing.
That said, I am happy to keep this book in my collection and will no doubt refer to it when the time comes.
He's compiled a lot of his best tips for launching and promoting it effectively, although I will say that if you've read much of his other stuff, most of his Big Tips are repeats. That said, I still appreciated this for being a one-stop resources for his most useful suggestions. And then he goes on to offer a lot of other promotion ideas to boot.
There were a couple inconsistencies that I found puzzling. In the introduction, he said the book would focus on tips he uses himself and finds effective. But later he admits he hasn't really used a couple of the ideas much, and he literally tried out one bit of advice the day before.
The other inconsistency has to do with his social media advice. I am a firm believer in Derek's adage that authors shouldn't be hanging around social media to tell people to buy their stuff. He goes a step farther in this book by saying he'll unfollow authors who post promotion of their own books OR WHO RETWEET/SHARE promo posts from others. Then later in the book, he mentions that we should share other author's work. Which is it? Perhaps he didn't mean retweeting 50 "buy this book" posts, but it was a bit confusing.
That said, I am happy to keep this book in my collection and will no doubt refer to it when the time comes.
January 27, 2017
Derek goes straight to the point, sharing experiences and tricks he´s actually using in his very succesful publishing business. I admired him for years as book cover designer, cause is an inspiration for my own graphic design business. Now I saw how he transformed his design business, into a great publishing business and he inspiring me again. Thanks a lot for your transparency and honesty.
March 11, 2017
Great advice
Good, basic advice on the pros and cons of different book marketing techniques and strategies. This author provides great value!
Good, basic advice on the pros and cons of different book marketing techniques and strategies. This author provides great value!
February 17, 2017
This book is full of very good information and even some brainstorming ideas (ideas Derek had but maybe never quite fleshed out). If you're stuck trying to get your book out there, Guerrilla Publishing will shake some of the cobwebs loose. Just pick one thing in this book to start and you'll be way ahead already.
March 6, 2017
Okay, so I admit I skim-read this book a little - partly because some of the content is covered in Derek's other books, and partly because it's impossible to take in all those details at once. So I read it quickly to see what the main content is. There are some good ideas about marketing and improving your author platform without being an annoying spammer. It's one I will be coming back to and reading selected parts in more detail at a later date. A good read - especially if you've not read any other books by the author.
December 27, 2021
A couple of unique ideas in this book, but it had major quality issues which I found distracting. I read a paper copy and it was riddled with typos; it even had a page where the text trailed off in the middle of an unfinished word.
At least once, the author wrote “I forget if I mentioned this, but…” and then gave a piece of advice. Such sloppiness made me feel really unimportant as a reader.
At least once, the author wrote “I forget if I mentioned this, but…” and then gave a piece of advice. Such sloppiness made me feel really unimportant as a reader.
May 14, 2018
Because I release a new book in a couple of days, I hoped to learn new tricks so I wouldn't end up with a book launch as disastrous as the last. However, most of these books are aimed at authors that publish a couple of books a year or more, even many more. I write consistently when I'm not busy revising old manuscripts or engaged in this marketing bullshit, but I'm the kind of writer that prefers, or needs, to revise a manuscript six or seven times from start to end until I can't figure out how to improve it. That makes the idea of getting loads of people to sign up to your mailing list a bit silly; I would send them an email a year, if I could be bothered to. The alternative I have witnessed with local authors is to beg local bookstores to stock their books (and take a pretty picture proving that they have), get together with other local authors to smile in the photos, pat each other on the back and shield each other against the horrors of criticism, and convince your family members, friends and acquaintances to do stunts like travel with your book and take a photo of it against an exotic backdrop. I can't be arsed to do any of that because I'm an unpleasant person, I hate pretending and I dislike most human beings. So I have to figure out what I can use of loads of ill-fitted advice.
Murphy bases his successful strategy around mailing lists, writing articles that would attract readers in those genres (without reading most if not all of those books, which I find a bit disgusting), giving freebies, organizing giveaways, distinguishing between soft and hard launches (with the hard one including carefully managing ads), even performing stunts like renting a castle for NaNoWriMo writers, etc., all with the hope of maximizing both the visibility and conversions (meaning how many people that discover your book buy it). It all seems very reasonable, although exhausting, but most of it requires expending a significant amount of money. The best advice I can recall now is to never advertise until you have enough reviews of your new book on Amazon and/or Goodreads. But how to get random strangers to buy your book and review it in the first place is something I haven't figured out yet.
Murphy bases his successful strategy around mailing lists, writing articles that would attract readers in those genres (without reading most if not all of those books, which I find a bit disgusting), giving freebies, organizing giveaways, distinguishing between soft and hard launches (with the hard one including carefully managing ads), even performing stunts like renting a castle for NaNoWriMo writers, etc., all with the hope of maximizing both the visibility and conversions (meaning how many people that discover your book buy it). It all seems very reasonable, although exhausting, but most of it requires expending a significant amount of money. The best advice I can recall now is to never advertise until you have enough reviews of your new book on Amazon and/or Goodreads. But how to get random strangers to buy your book and review it in the first place is something I haven't figured out yet.
August 20, 2019
For writers of genres such as Young Adult (YA), Romance, Historical Fiction, Urban Fantasy, and How-To books this is an excellent guide book. The basic lesson is ... Write to Market. Give the readers what they want and not necessarily what you want.
Emerging writers of Hard/High Epic Fantasy and smaller niches of Non-Fiction will not benefit as much here because the audience for these books mostly buy on name recognition and recommendation of their peers. But the basic lessons of description, keywords, landing pages, mailing list promotion techniques, how to self-publish to save money are still valuable.
His website and Facebook group provides extra bonus material. His online videos are somewhat unpolished, but still have valuable tips and content.
The eBook is a good value for the emerging writer with a limited budget.
Emerging writers of Hard/High Epic Fantasy and smaller niches of Non-Fiction will not benefit as much here because the audience for these books mostly buy on name recognition and recommendation of their peers. But the basic lessons of description, keywords, landing pages, mailing list promotion techniques, how to self-publish to save money are still valuable.
His website and Facebook group provides extra bonus material. His online videos are somewhat unpolished, but still have valuable tips and content.
The eBook is a good value for the emerging writer with a limited budget.
June 2, 2017
If you have not read Derek's other books on book marketing you will find a lot of useful information in this. If you have read his previous books you will find very little that is new.
He talks about back links and maximising the amount of traffic to your site, but he does not give a clear definition of what these are and how to get them. There are links in the book, but I must admit I think I need a real idiots guide to make sense of this aspect.
As always I agree with a lot of what he says and he has a good proved track record, but as a purest I would always emphasise the quality of the writing over book sales.
He talks about back links and maximising the amount of traffic to your site, but he does not give a clear definition of what these are and how to get them. There are links in the book, but I must admit I think I need a real idiots guide to make sense of this aspect.
As always I agree with a lot of what he says and he has a good proved track record, but as a purest I would always emphasise the quality of the writing over book sales.
December 21, 2020
A wealth of information
Good tips. Occasionally, Derek uses his own book to figure out what he should/shouldn’t do and it’s like listening to him think. “I haven’t tried that strategy yet, but I really should.” Or he’ll retract what he just said a paragraph before. “A really good strategy is this...” One paragraph later: “But I don’t use it. It’s a waste of time.” Otherwise, a wealth of information. Thanks!
Good tips. Occasionally, Derek uses his own book to figure out what he should/shouldn’t do and it’s like listening to him think. “I haven’t tried that strategy yet, but I really should.” Or he’ll retract what he just said a paragraph before. “A really good strategy is this...” One paragraph later: “But I don’t use it. It’s a waste of time.” Otherwise, a wealth of information. Thanks!
March 9, 2017
Bam! This book is what authors should be reading. It goes beyond the ideas and concepts around online marketing and focused on tactics that actually work. After reading this book I was able to see direct results with my online marketing strategy. It also changed my perspective on a few things. Highly recommended!
January 25, 2018
I'm one of the authors that sell more than 100 books. But still I find Derek's advice very helpful for me to take the next step and offer my book(s) to global market. I would recommend it to all indie authors who want more than just publish a book.
August 24, 2017
This handy book has tons of practical ideas to help authors market their book. While I don't think all of the ideas presented in this book are right for my particular books, I did find plenty of ideas that I am interested in trying. In fact, I have already tried one of the tips I found in this book, and it seems to be effective so far (time will tell how effective). For the low price of this book, I think it is a good value in my opinion.
August 3, 2020
I received this book when I subscribed to the author's email list.
This is a wonderful tool for all authors who struggles with the most basic things in book publishing.
It is straight to the point without fuss and empowers you to get started.
A great tool to have.
This is a wonderful tool for all authors who struggles with the most basic things in book publishing.
It is straight to the point without fuss and empowers you to get started.
A great tool to have.
February 6, 2017
Derek Murphy's 'Guerrilla Publishing' is a must-have for every indie author's bookshelf. I could tell it was a book I would return to again and again before the end of the second chapter.
Murphy calls GP "book marketing strategies from the trenches to help you win the publishing war," and that isn't hyperbole- the book is a treasure trove of strategies that get an author noticed.
Beginning with how to choose what book to write and how best to position it, Murphy runs the production and marketing gamut- editing, covers and formatting, the launch, reviews, keywords and categories, social media, advertising, pricing, and much, much more. GP has an over-arching theme, one that Murphy comes back to again and again- using Indie author's natural strengths- speed and agility- to take advantage of resources and outlets that traditional publishers don't have access to. Each subject discusses ways to best achieve that goal.
GP is chock-full of useful information. It's replete with links, examples, and lists of resources for every imaginable subject. He doesn't just talk about self-editing; that part of the book includes a link to a post with 25 Self-Editing tips. The section on formatting includes a link to dozens of formatting templates. I didn't count them but I'll bet there are more than 25 links in GP, each to a separate wealth of information.
If I had to include a complaint, it would be that Guerrilla Publishing is a bit dry- it reads rather like a textbook. I found that odd, as Murphy has published several well-received novels. But really, with so much information at your fingertips, who cares?
Murphy calls GP "book marketing strategies from the trenches to help you win the publishing war," and that isn't hyperbole- the book is a treasure trove of strategies that get an author noticed.
Beginning with how to choose what book to write and how best to position it, Murphy runs the production and marketing gamut- editing, covers and formatting, the launch, reviews, keywords and categories, social media, advertising, pricing, and much, much more. GP has an over-arching theme, one that Murphy comes back to again and again- using Indie author's natural strengths- speed and agility- to take advantage of resources and outlets that traditional publishers don't have access to. Each subject discusses ways to best achieve that goal.
GP is chock-full of useful information. It's replete with links, examples, and lists of resources for every imaginable subject. He doesn't just talk about self-editing; that part of the book includes a link to a post with 25 Self-Editing tips. The section on formatting includes a link to dozens of formatting templates. I didn't count them but I'll bet there are more than 25 links in GP, each to a separate wealth of information.
If I had to include a complaint, it would be that Guerrilla Publishing is a bit dry- it reads rather like a textbook. I found that odd, as Murphy has published several well-received novels. But really, with so much information at your fingertips, who cares?
September 6, 2018
A helpful book for the most part. Almost too much information and too many tips and suggestions to easily digest. Also, the author admits that self-publishing and marketing books are ever-changing, so what worked yesterday won't necessarily work tomorrow. This is the sort of book that would be tempting to sit down with and go through every strategy to see what works for me. However, I fear I might get bogged down in so much research and development of those strategies that I might throw up my hands in frustration and say, "I give!"
Worth a read if you're a non-fiction writer who intends to become an "expert" in your field and have a platform from which to publicize a lot of books as well as market your speaking engagements, online courses, etc.
For fiction authors, unless you already have 3-4 books published and intend to publish one or two per year in the future, most of these strategies might not help your sales much. Murphy keeps coming back to the importance of a backlist, giving away first books in a series to generate sales of later books, amassing enormous e-mail lists via giveaways or providing value-added content. Hard to wrap my head around what might work best for me without trying so many strategies that I have no time to write books.
Worth a read if you're a non-fiction writer who intends to become an "expert" in your field and have a platform from which to publicize a lot of books as well as market your speaking engagements, online courses, etc.
For fiction authors, unless you already have 3-4 books published and intend to publish one or two per year in the future, most of these strategies might not help your sales much. Murphy keeps coming back to the importance of a backlist, giving away first books in a series to generate sales of later books, amassing enormous e-mail lists via giveaways or providing value-added content. Hard to wrap my head around what might work best for me without trying so many strategies that I have no time to write books.
May 14, 2017
It angers me a bit that Derek gave this book for free only because he screwed up the formatting of this book. Well, I pre-ordered the book back then. So, I feel cheated for paying the book since other people who didn't preorder the book got the book for free.
But that's not the reason why I'm giving this book a low rating. The reason why I'm giving this book a low rating is that the way this book is written. It's great that he's transparent about how he generates sales for his books. And I'm thankful that he's willing to share what works for him and what bombs.
The problem with this book is he writes the book like a memoir. Some people may enjoy this style of writing. But in my case, I don't. It's great to read a personal story. But it's hard to distinguish the key takeaway from his experience. At the end of the book, you have no clue what's working and what's not working. Not to mention, there are no clear action steps.
If you're expecting that you can skim through the lessons in this book, you're in for a disappointment. You can't even tell the key takeaway here, let alone the action steps.
But that's not the reason why I'm giving this book a low rating. The reason why I'm giving this book a low rating is that the way this book is written. It's great that he's transparent about how he generates sales for his books. And I'm thankful that he's willing to share what works for him and what bombs.
The problem with this book is he writes the book like a memoir. Some people may enjoy this style of writing. But in my case, I don't. It's great to read a personal story. But it's hard to distinguish the key takeaway from his experience. At the end of the book, you have no clue what's working and what's not working. Not to mention, there are no clear action steps.
If you're expecting that you can skim through the lessons in this book, you're in for a disappointment. You can't even tell the key takeaway here, let alone the action steps.
January 11, 2017
I have read a lot of books on publishing the last year or so. There are many good books on the subject, but there are also many that regurgitate what has been picked up from other people's works.
This book is pretty amazing. The author has written a bunch of books in many different categories and therefore has done and tried a bunch of different things in terms of publishing, marketing and using all sorts of tools to write, convert documents, create covers and so much more. While I have read more in depth coverage on some of the topics, I appreciate the author's honest appraisal and his own experiences.
This is not the ultimate guide on everything regarding book publishing and marketing nor does it pretend to be but it gives a lot of really excellent advice and what more can you really ask for?
This book is pretty amazing. The author has written a bunch of books in many different categories and therefore has done and tried a bunch of different things in terms of publishing, marketing and using all sorts of tools to write, convert documents, create covers and so much more. While I have read more in depth coverage on some of the topics, I appreciate the author's honest appraisal and his own experiences.
This is not the ultimate guide on everything regarding book publishing and marketing nor does it pretend to be but it gives a lot of really excellent advice and what more can you really ask for?
May 23, 2020
Packed with great tips and a massive amount of information that it will probably take me months to get my head around, this book was well worth the read, and is well worth keeping. I'll be dipping back into it many times, I'm sure. I learned some really valuable things, and probably on a slower, more careful second reading, where I take time to stop and try stuff, I'll learn a great deal more. I wish I'd read it sooner.
July 11, 2019
In this book (as in all his previous books) Derek Murphy talks about the driving factors behind writing, publishing, and marketing a book successfully.
This time he particularly delves into various methods of marketing a book without necessarily having a platform. He shares different ways of garnering and boosting book sales as quickly as possible in the short term after launch (and keeping them there in the long term), thus, allowing you to rest from the tedious work of marketing as you retreat into your writing cave to write more books (which, in and of itself, he says, is a marketing strategy). He shows you how to market so effectively that you don’t have to spend much time marketing (as most authors hopelessly think they should) but rather can step back and relax as you focus more on your writing, which is the thing you (as an author) love and enjoy to do.
He outrightly expresses the belief that, contrary to misguided popular opinion, marketing doesn’t have to be the never-ending time- and resource-consuming leech of an activity that most authors think it is. With the right, effective strategies and tools, which he shares freely in this book, you can aim your guns at marketing for only a little while and then, after hitting your targets, quickly and happily return to your writing, thus further building your catalogue or portfolio as an author and ultimately increasing your potential sales.
Among the essentials he emphasizes, especially for successful marketing, are:
-Having a great cover
-Having a great sales description (to entice the reader to buy)
-Having a great author bio (to showcase your authority and thus also entice the reader to buy)
-Maximizing keywords for optimum visibility
-Maximizing categories for higher chance at better sales rank and thus optimum visibility
-Garnering as many reviews as possible (for social proof)
-Paid advertising through Amazon and Facebook
-Having a permafree book through which you can have an opt-in offer for email list building, thus enabling long term sales
-And, of course, writing a great book that readers want to read
This time he particularly delves into various methods of marketing a book without necessarily having a platform. He shares different ways of garnering and boosting book sales as quickly as possible in the short term after launch (and keeping them there in the long term), thus, allowing you to rest from the tedious work of marketing as you retreat into your writing cave to write more books (which, in and of itself, he says, is a marketing strategy). He shows you how to market so effectively that you don’t have to spend much time marketing (as most authors hopelessly think they should) but rather can step back and relax as you focus more on your writing, which is the thing you (as an author) love and enjoy to do.
He outrightly expresses the belief that, contrary to misguided popular opinion, marketing doesn’t have to be the never-ending time- and resource-consuming leech of an activity that most authors think it is. With the right, effective strategies and tools, which he shares freely in this book, you can aim your guns at marketing for only a little while and then, after hitting your targets, quickly and happily return to your writing, thus further building your catalogue or portfolio as an author and ultimately increasing your potential sales.
Among the essentials he emphasizes, especially for successful marketing, are:
-Having a great cover
-Having a great sales description (to entice the reader to buy)
-Having a great author bio (to showcase your authority and thus also entice the reader to buy)
-Maximizing keywords for optimum visibility
-Maximizing categories for higher chance at better sales rank and thus optimum visibility
-Garnering as many reviews as possible (for social proof)
-Paid advertising through Amazon and Facebook
-Having a permafree book through which you can have an opt-in offer for email list building, thus enabling long term sales
-And, of course, writing a great book that readers want to read
November 29, 2022
Derek is a great fiction author, not my genre, but he is ALSO a great writer about book production and that's why we're here. This is his "reader magnet" to generate leads for his mailing list. It's brief, well written, and I highly recommend it for any other author. I already knew 60-80% of what Derek teaches but the extra 10% I learned about book production from him makes this definitely worth reading and you may not know as much as I did since I am mid-career and have written rather a great amount. Derek also gives away book cover and interior templates and has a few tools. He's really worth reading for his non-fiction and is clearly talented visually too so I presume his fiction works are also 5*
Seriously, if Derek Murphy gives you something, anything, for free take it because it's actually worth reading. If you are an inexperienced author you could do worse than hiring him as your consultant. But you can get lots of things from him perfectly free- like this wonderful little ebook!
Thank you Derek!
https://amazon.com/author/quizmaster
Seriously, if Derek Murphy gives you something, anything, for free take it because it's actually worth reading. If you are an inexperienced author you could do worse than hiring him as your consultant. But you can get lots of things from him perfectly free- like this wonderful little ebook!
Thank you Derek!
https://amazon.com/author/quizmaster
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2021
Disappointing but some ideas were ok
I wanted and needed to like this book more than I did. I had hoped it would provide some dynamite ideas about publishing worthy of the “guerrilla” moniker. It didn’t offer me much to consider the first 75% of the book. The last quarter was a little more-so. The ideas presented weren’t all that applicable to non-fiction writing (my genre). And they weren’t all that applicable to a newly published author either (also me). Instead this was better suited to fiction and an author with several titles out already. I also felt like this book and many of the methods tested were simply ideas. So often Murphy said “Try X” and in the next sentence said something like “but I don’t really do that because I’m too lazy” or “I should do that but I don’t”. That wasn’t guerrilla at all. Once or twice was one thing, but it was so often. By the end, I felt like it was too frenetic. An idea a minute, most asserted without authority.
I wanted and needed to like this book more than I did. I had hoped it would provide some dynamite ideas about publishing worthy of the “guerrilla” moniker. It didn’t offer me much to consider the first 75% of the book. The last quarter was a little more-so. The ideas presented weren’t all that applicable to non-fiction writing (my genre). And they weren’t all that applicable to a newly published author either (also me). Instead this was better suited to fiction and an author with several titles out already. I also felt like this book and many of the methods tested were simply ideas. So often Murphy said “Try X” and in the next sentence said something like “but I don’t really do that because I’m too lazy” or “I should do that but I don’t”. That wasn’t guerrilla at all. Once or twice was one thing, but it was so often. By the end, I felt like it was too frenetic. An idea a minute, most asserted without authority.
January 26, 2022
As the author of The Deeper Dark, I have been researching and updating my strategies to promote my book online. I came across this work by Derek and I have to vouch for it. I reached out to him and told him that I really liked what this book offered. I have been writing for years and I've been promoting my work from every strategy I could find. So, I already came into this book knowing a good bit about book promotion online.
But, Derek has more to offer. I took notes and have already implemented many of the strategies he talks about. I've seen my book sales rise and now I know even more about what I should do and what I shouldn't do to attract readers. If you have written a book, Derek's is worth reading to get it in front of your readers.
The Deeper Dark
But, Derek has more to offer. I took notes and have already implemented many of the strategies he talks about. I've seen my book sales rise and now I know even more about what I should do and what I shouldn't do to attract readers. If you have written a book, Derek's is worth reading to get it in front of your readers.
The Deeper Dark
December 26, 2017
Derek Murphy is one of a handful of writers I follow who give information and counsel about self-publishing for writers. He probably the quirkiest among them, but offers solid advice based on a lot of experience and a common sense perspective. Like a few others, seems to have boundless energy for the subject and a genuine desire to be helpful about how to save time and avoid mistakes. I think everyone interested in self-publishing should give Erik a try and get their own idea about whether he's one of their go-to experts.
November 30, 2017
Guerrilla Publishing is a wonderful book for indie authors who are interested in learning writing, and especially, marketing tips that are geared towards finding your way through the world of Amazon publishing. The author Derek Murphy is so willing to help his fellow writers with tricks he had discovered through his own journey in the self-publishing industry including building a readership, acquiring numerous reviews, and increasing sales. Though I disagree with his theories on editing, this is a great asset to any new author.
March 20, 2018
This was a great “crash course” into publishing. Derek Murphy has a refreshing way of getting right down to the point of starting out in the Indie marketing biz. I wouldn’t say this book had all the answers, but it’s not going to... that’s why it’s difficult to market and it’s why I bought the book. If you’re looking for some helpful tips, look no further. I also want to point out that Derek Murphy offers workshops for this sort of thing as well.
May 2, 2018
Great info!
I'm not sure how necessary this book is anymore, though. Go to his youtube channel. You'll get all this same exact info, plus he updates it frequently enough that you'll learn of dated strategies that no longer work. Plus, you can watch him do things live on the computer to see how to actually execute the strategy.
I'll refer to the book for reference from time to time, but I'm pretty much sticking to his other methods of communication for the "real" stuff.
I'm not sure how necessary this book is anymore, though. Go to his youtube channel. You'll get all this same exact info, plus he updates it frequently enough that you'll learn of dated strategies that no longer work. Plus, you can watch him do things live on the computer to see how to actually execute the strategy.
I'll refer to the book for reference from time to time, but I'm pretty much sticking to his other methods of communication for the "real" stuff.
July 29, 2019
Derek Murphy does a great job of pulling together resources, advice, information and practical applications in his books for self-publishers. His format makes it easy to flip to the most applicable information for a quick guide. Since publishing is an ever-changing industry, readers should understand some information in this guide is not the most current. If you follow the author on his websites and/or social media platforms, though, you will stay up-to-date.
June 27, 2017
As an author, marketing is frustrating. I don't have tons of money to throw at ads, and with all the information out there, you could run around like a chicken with your head cut off and still accomplish next to nothing. That's why Derek's methods are so refreshing. It's simple, easy to sustain, and can produce lasting results. Plus he's got these great actionable plans that help you set up your marketing. Really worth a read for indie authors.
January 12, 2017
Plain talk, easy to follow, great tips! This is the fastest I've ever read a non-fiction book in my life. I couldn't wait to hear all the great marketing ideas!
The good:
-Excellent marketing content! This book covered many marketing strategies that I've been researching and wanting to know more about plus MANY other ideas that I would never have thought of.
-I was expecting a few marketing topics to be covered, but was surprised by the variety of information included (from formatting and covers to social media and Amazon keywords).
-As an author and marketing professional by trade, I was practically jumping up and down and shouting, "Yes, I've been saying the same thing for years!" There are so many spot on things said in this book that most authors (and publishing professionals even) are usually just clueless about. It was refreshing to hear marketing sense from a fellow author.
-Easy to follow, plainly written so that even beginners can understand. It reads like a series of blog posts: natural and human, while informative
-The author is straight forward honest. He presents actual results from his own marketing campaigns and tells you what has worked and hasn't worked for him (and also when he doesn't know if a potentially good sounding strategy might work).
The bad:
-Seems rushed at times. As I said above, it does read like a series of blog posts. While that does make for quick, easy reading, at times, it does seems a bit scattered and unorganized. The first half (or so) of the book feels very concise and there were many times I was highlighting and saying, "I want to remember that!" The rest felt hurried, like the author spent all his efforts making the first half great (which is was!) and was just trying to get the rest written. Even so, the ENTIRE book is worth reading.
Would I recommend this book to other authors who need help with marketing? I already have!
The good:
-Excellent marketing content! This book covered many marketing strategies that I've been researching and wanting to know more about plus MANY other ideas that I would never have thought of.
-I was expecting a few marketing topics to be covered, but was surprised by the variety of information included (from formatting and covers to social media and Amazon keywords).
-As an author and marketing professional by trade, I was practically jumping up and down and shouting, "Yes, I've been saying the same thing for years!" There are so many spot on things said in this book that most authors (and publishing professionals even) are usually just clueless about. It was refreshing to hear marketing sense from a fellow author.
-Easy to follow, plainly written so that even beginners can understand. It reads like a series of blog posts: natural and human, while informative
-The author is straight forward honest. He presents actual results from his own marketing campaigns and tells you what has worked and hasn't worked for him (and also when he doesn't know if a potentially good sounding strategy might work).
The bad:
-Seems rushed at times. As I said above, it does read like a series of blog posts. While that does make for quick, easy reading, at times, it does seems a bit scattered and unorganized. The first half (or so) of the book feels very concise and there were many times I was highlighting and saying, "I want to remember that!" The rest felt hurried, like the author spent all his efforts making the first half great (which is was!) and was just trying to get the rest written. Even so, the ENTIRE book is worth reading.
Would I recommend this book to other authors who need help with marketing? I already have!
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