Sam Mercer | Indie Publisher

I've published 222 books on Amazon since 2018. 450,000+ book units processed. $2M+ in estimated royalties. And more failed experiments than I can count. Here are 8 lessons I wish I'd known before publishing my first book:

Publishing another book feels productive. So does researching 20 new niches. Redesigning your website. Checking your sales dashboard 15 times a day. But none of that guarantees more profit. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can do is improve the book that’s already selling. Busy doesn’t mean profitable.

Checking your KDP sales should be a reward, not a right. Do the deep work first. Write the book. Edit the manuscript. Improve the product. Then check your sales. Don’t let a quick dopamine hit steal the hours that actually make you money. Create before you consume.

Wow good or bad!?

What doesn’t sell!?

You’re not running them yet!?

Thanks! How’s your publishing going!?

Thank you! Are you publishing?!

Which country are you from? Do you have access to wise or payoneer?

Your book will never be perfect. You’ll always find another sentence to rewrite. Another image to improve. Another detail to obsess over. At some point, the improvements become so small they stop mattering. I’ve learned to know when a book is good enough to publish. Perfectionism has a cost. So does publishing too early. Learn the difference.

Yes don’t do that, no need.

Thank you :) how’s your publishing journey going?

Thanks! How’s your publishing journey going!?

Long and arduous but worth it! Been doing it since 2018 and full time since 2020!

Try running some in the US. Start with a small budget and go from there. It’s a useful skill to learn!

Go on YouTube and watch some tutorials! Just do the US market for now since that’s the biggest one.

Start with a small budget with .30cent cost per clicks. Gather data, assess, iterate.

Congrats that’s huge! Good for the algorithm and hopefully they leave a review which creates a positive feedback! You can do this every 90 days by the way :)

Yesss a lot but I think it’s necessary, If I didn’t I wouldn’t get as many sales! How about you?

What did they say in the email?

That’s amazing!