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Writer's pictureKali Kuzma

How To Become A #1 Best Seller As A First Time Self-Published Author

Updated: Oct 7, 2021


Tools You Need To Get To #1 Best Seller

Just 36 hours after I launched my first ever book, Princess Gabriella and the Never-Ending Kiss became a #1 Best Seller. Not many people can say that when they self-publish their first book.


Becoming #1 Best Seller is all I thought about a year leading up to launch day.


5 months into the creative process, I decided I was going to self-publish. I read what felt like endless amounts of articles on self-publishing, but felt as if something was missing. Every article spoke about the writing process, but didn't dive into the numbers.


One day, scrolling through Facebook, I stumbled upon my missing puzzle piece. 17000 Days by Cara Stein. A self taught blueprint that leads you step by step through the process of becoming a #1 Best Seller. I could have jumped for joy!


The ad was set up as a one page funnel which detailed exactly what I would be getting for my money. I quickly downloaded the program for only $27... a steal compared to other classes ranging upwards to thousands of dollars.


What's Included in 17000 Days


**I want to mention this is NOT a sponsored post. Just my review on the #1 Best Seller Blueprint.**


So what was included? I received a 44 page step by step guide to help a self-publishing author become a #1 Best Seller on Amazon. Inside, 6 main topics were touched upon.

  • Cover Design

  • Category Selection

  • Sales Copy

  • Reviews

  • Author Platform

  • Advertising

Besides the Best Seller Blueprint, I also received a bonus checklist(a timeline for when to accomplish the six blueprint steps). Along with the checklist, came a free publishing roadmap to help first time authors write their eBook. Last, a downloadable excel sheet, when your launch day was inserted, helped narrowed down specific days to start the project. All for $27!


Like the other multitudes of articles I dove right into reading the blueprint. I instantly printed the checklist and started to get to work.


Then, 10 months later, I published Princess Gabriella and the Never-Ending Kiss. I already gave away the hype in the first paragraph, but through this course I was able to hit #1 Best Seller. Below I have listed some pros and cons.


Pros of 17000 Day's Best Seller Blue Print

1. The most obvious... The course helped me get to #1 Best Seller! Following the tips and tricks the 44 page booklet contained I was able to get to best seller in just 36 hours!


2. Brings you step by step through each process making it easy to follow! There is an option to hire someone at 17000 Days to guide you step by step, but this ranges anywhere from $1k to $5k. Thanks, but no thanks! Even though I'm sure it would be extremely beneficial I would rather stumble through the learning process on my own.


3. For just $27 I felt like I struck gold with the course. Even if it doesn't work for your situation the knowledge it holds is still valuable.


4. Besides becoming #1 Best Seller my favorite part of the process was gathering my street team otherwise known as TEAM BOOK! The blueprint goes in depth about getting people involved through the launch process. It was so fun to see everyone getting as hyped about your book as you are sharing it with them!


5. One of the most important details includes Amazon Categories. Amazon categories can be hard to move up in especially if they are competitive when in comes to the charts. Without this section my book wouldn't have hit #1 Best Seller. Even though a long process (I probably spent 8 hours total working on it), it was definitely worth it.


6. Not only does it target fiction eBooks, but it also includes non-fiction! I felt like this is a great selling point for the blueprint. In the end, it shows not only does it work on fiction, but non-fiction too!


7. From start to finish, the blueprint has in great detail how to write your first book. I never used this section as I had already read up on the subject before purchasing the course. For someone who doesn't know where to begin this tool can be really helpful.


Cons of 17000 Day's Best Seller Blue Print


1. One of the main categories talks about getting reviews. Especially the importance of getting editorial reviews. Don't waste your time on them. Most people don't read them on Amazon. Searching for and contacting bloggers/authors/specialists can take hundreds of hours for almost nothing in return. Out of 100 people I emailed, only 2 said yes, and then never did the review once I sent them the book. I would love to see this section broken down even further in the blueprint to suggest places to search for a higher success rate.


2. Don't waste time on the purchased ads. I ran 10 different ads throughout the week of my launch (some the blueprint suggested and some were suggested by other's). Out of 30,000 people who saw my ads(these are ones I controlled and could look at) only one person bought the book. One. The ratio of money spent on ads did not line up with the money made towards the book.


3. The blueprint tells you to put your book on sale. Only downfall... you won't be able to put it on sale for $0.99 unless you are a kindle unlimited member and have had your book on Amazon for more than 30 days. This does not line up with the two week timeline the blueprint religiously talks about over and over again. Once past 30 days, your book is not considered a new release and can make it harder to hit #1. Instead of $0.99, like I had originally planned, I put my book on sale for $1.99. This meant I had to contact all the ad people a day before launch to hurry and fix the issue. The other downfall to this is it doesn't show the book is on sale for limited time since people think it is the original price.


4. It doesn't speak about the $50 limit Amazon prohibits to leave a review. Many of my street team members weren't allowed to leave reviews on my amazon page since they hadn't spent $50 or more on Amazon for the year. This could have ruined the whole process if I hadn't gotten the 10 reviews I needed to follow through with the remaining steps.


5. The blueprint doesn't take into consideration the 24 to 72 hour time limit Amazon has to review your page or any changes you might want to make. I found this out three days in advance to launching my book and luckily I did! My team wouldn't have been able to leave their reviews on time for me to follow the other remaining steps. I had to do things way sooner than I thought which was honestly very stressful.


6. A big misconception is just because your book hits #1 Best Seller doesn't mean you will sell tons of copies. It is easy to bounce up the charts even with a single sale if in the correct categories. So don't get the two mixed up! My whole goal was to hit #1 Best Seller not to sell thousands of books. I hit my goal, but I think the blueprint could have spelled it out clearer.


Final Thoughts

So would I use it again? Of course! I hit my goal of becoming #1 Best Seller and the only reason I was able to accomplish the feat was due to 17000 Day's Best Seller Blueprint.


Would I recommend it to others? Yes! If you are about to launch your first eBook on Amazon I highly recommend using this method. Just remember you might not make millions while doing it.


If you like this post or have ideas to add please subscribe and leave a comment below!

Check out my best selling children's story Princess Gabriella and the Never-Ending Kiss today on Amazon or on Blurb.com.



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