{"id":"5552","date":"2020-07-24T13:41:21","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T20:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/?p=5552"},"modified":"2021-05-13T08:45:59","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T15:45:59","slug":"first-time-author","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/first-time-author\/","title":{"rendered":"How PickFu helped a first-time author reach #1 on Amazon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Business consultant Sean Rosensteel was in the midst of writing his first book when the media first began to buzz about the COVID-19 crisis. With the threat of an economic downturn on the horizon, many of Sean\u2019s consulting clients began canceling or delaying engagements. This newfound free time meant that Sean could focus on finishing his book about living a life with intention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Decisions, decisions.<\/h2>\n\n\n

Like many first-time authors, Sean was surprised at just how much goes into writing and publishing a new book. It\u2019s not as simple as \u201cjust write and publish.\u201d Whether it\u2019s planning, writing, editing, or marketing, every stage of the process requires important decisions to be made. And these decisions are critical to the success of a book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sean, who considers himself \u201cindecisive with big decisions,\u201d said that each phase brought unforeseen challenges and stressful choices. As he would finish one phase, say writing the manuscript, for example, he\u2019d think to himself  \u201cphew, that must have been the hardest part,\u201d only to discover another set of mission-critical decisions around the corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, while looking for resources, Sean stumbled across a book called The Scribe Method<\/em><\/a> by Tucker Max and Zach Obront. In it, the authors recommend PickFu as a way to get fast, easy, and unbiased feedback from readers on decisions like your book title, subtitle, cover design, and marketing description. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instantly, Sean\u2019s interest piqued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a quick Google search, Sean was on PickFu\u2019s website learning how to use PickFu for publishing. He read about authors like New York Times bestselling<\/em> author Albert Podell, who used PickFu to help land his book cover design.<\/a> Sean knew he \u201cwas in the right place.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also noticed that PickFu was offering a COVID-19 relief grant to support small businesses<\/a>, so he decided to apply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To his surprise, he was selected and received $200 in poll credit.<\/p>\n\n\n

The first few polls<\/h2>\n\n\n

In his first poll, Sean ran a ranked poll with a targeted audience of 50 non-fiction readers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He uploaded six different title options and asked, \u201cWhich book title is most appealing?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The winner was How to Start Living Intentionally<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days later, Sean ran another poll to get feedback on subtitles. This time, he narrowed his audience to non-fiction readers who are avid readers, completing 1-4 (or more) books per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winning subtitle, receiving 60% of the votes, was \u201cA real-world approach to intentional living.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Officially obsessed<\/h2>\n\n\n

By this time, Sean says he became \u201cofficially obsessed\u201d with PickFu. He couldn\u2019t get over just how fast the feedback came in and how incredibly valuable (and affordable) the feedback was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For less than $100, he received 50 data points that helped him make decisions with confidence<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sean admits that he was a bit of a \u201chot mess\u201d when he first started using PickFu. But now, he can\u2019t get over how easy it is to use and all of the ways that the service can help him with his book launch.  <\/p>\n\n\n

Knowing your reader<\/h2>\n\n\n

Sean\u2019s initial strategy for running polls was pretty simple: run a poll, get feedback, see which option \u201cwins\u201d and proceed with the \u201cwinning\u201d option. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the results of Sean\u2019s next poll made him reevaluate this strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Sean\u2019s next poll, he introduced book cover designs. The designs included a zebra-striped elephant and two different book titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In this poll, the title How to Start Living Intentionally<\/em> won with 60% of the votes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this is where things got interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To his surprise, Sean started to see that the respondents who chose the \u201closing\u201d option were exactly the type of lifelong-learners that he wrote the book for. These target readers wrote feedback that was more closely related to the content of the book. They were changing Sean\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the comments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n