As an indie author, I have read a LOT of kindle marketing books.
Some good, some so-so and some, just plain bad.
John Locke's: How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months falls into the GOOD category and for a number of reasons.
First of all, this is an author who really can show that his ideas DO work, not some "pie in the sky" suggestions from someone who has never achieved any success with their own books.
Locke has definitely done well, going from selling only a few books each month, to thousands and then into the millions on Amazon! And he shares his own success story in a personable and entertaining way.
He also shares not only what worked for him but also what didn't, I appreciated that.
There is only so much time in a day and as a writer, I want to focus on writing and also on marketing strategies that have been proven as worthy of my time. Again, his own background as a very successful author of numerous kindle books gives credibility to his many tips and marketing strategies.
Mr. Locke also mentions (repeatedly) how important his readers and fans are to him and says that he answers all emails personally. He also seemed to sincerely mean that. So I wrote to him after completing the book. I'm still waiting on a reply, but hopefully he will deliver on that promise. :-)
As for the reviews he is suppose to have paid for (as some Amazon reviewers have mentioned) obviously this is not something I agree with or condone. But would that actually account for the kind of phenomenal success that he has achieved as an author? To some small extent perhaps, but it is definitely not the whole story. Whether he is a completely ethical person or not, the fact remains, he does know what works and what doesn't when it comes to book marketing. And he provides a lot more in this book than what most other successful authors/marketers have to share.
One small negative, the formatting of this eBook is not the best. The paragraphs on many pages run together with not even a little space between them. Doesn't add to the presentation and yes, I do think that is important too. A small point though in comparison to the quality content of this eBook.
Overall rating for this eBook: Very Good. 4 out of 5
