How Can I Self-Publish A Cosy Mystery Novel Successfully?

For a book like this, you really need to be creative as a writer, but also have a strategy to self-publish. So much of the Cosy Mystery genre’s appeal is based around very specific and quirky niches. Readers return again and again to similar settings and characters, with various variations. I wrote a book with a librarian as the main character and her rescue cat, to tap into the sub-genres of books about libraries and cat lovers.

For the printed version as well as the e-book, I go for professional formatting, which costs a bit but is well worth it in the long run, because poorly formatted books are often not even considered by potential readers. While KDP and also IngramSpark are responsible for the distribution of my books, I activate the so-called wide publishing for all cosy mystery titles on all platforms, such as Apple and Kobo. With 30% of my budget, I am also spending a lot on targeted advertising, which reaches a very specific group of people in niche groups on Facebook such as ‘Cosy Mystery Readers’ and in BookBub newsletters.

A crucial point for getting the series to take off is to aim to publish at least 3 books initially. It’s also crucial to keep memorable cliffhangers, catchphrases and recurring jokes throughout the books. For me the first book ‘broke even’, but by Book 3 I had amassed a big enough loyal following that they began to buy up my backlist too.

Lastly, creating what I refer to as “shelf candy” can be highly beneficial forCosy Mystery writers. My book covers are predominantly pastel in color and aim to be funky enough to catch the eye of potential readers when viewed as thumbnails on a store’s website. I commissioned the artist, Thea Fachrer, an illustrator from Etsy, for $300 for each cover. The covers have remained pretty consistent in receiving comments, positive and otherwise, ever since their release.

I’ve written and published a few of these myself (as a self-pubbing writer of cosy mysteries, I treat my books as a small business). So, to write a published cosy mystery, start with a finished manuscript – do get that heavily edited and #amediting to the best of your ability, of course, but a professional editor can pick up typos and fix plot holes that would ruin an otherwise excellent novel. For the covers of these novels, it’s essential to create covers that will appeal to your potential readers – quaint, quirky illustrations of cats, gardens, tea rooms and so on – and there are plenty of examples of excellent covers for cosy mysteries on Amazon, especially the cover to The Cat Who series. My general pricing for eBooks is $2.99-$4.99 – you want to make it cheap enough for people to buy on impulse, but not so cheap that they feel you’ve undersold yourself. Also: get on email list fast – write a short story and give it away for download to build your email list. Make sure your eBook is categorized correctly on Amazon (I’d suggest using keywords like ‘amateur sleuth’ and ‘small town mystery’). Join and get involved in Facebook groups for fans of the genre (as long as they’re not entirely slack … I’ve encountered a few in my time) – a passionate fan of the cosy mystery genre is just the sort of person to spread the word amongst their friends if they’ve enjoyed your work.

Note to self: Marketing is everything. Write a great blurb first. This is mine: ‘When the local florist turns up dead clutching a rare orchid, amateur sleuth Emma Rose must dig up secrets buried deeper than her prize-winning tulips.’ It’s all about vibes.

Try to network early on by joining about 10 Discord Servers for people who like Cozy-style books. Post a ‘sneak peak’ or two from your manuscript to get people interested. Use your new found network of keen readers to get some much needed beta reading. Help to beta read for others in your network too – I found I was able to pick up on a few pacing issues in the manuscript of a friend for example. Launch your book for a soft release week, discount it for a week or so and call on your friends from your network to act as your ARC readers and help promote your book on Goodreads via giveaways (which are a bit of a hassle but lots of exposure for your book).

Print books count for lots with readers of this genre. So, author copies of your book can be sold in cafes, at book fairs etc. They can even be given away at such events. Amazon’s KDP Print service is very cost-effective for printing books. So, even though my author copies are printed locally, the printed books that I sell through Amazon are sent out at very low cost.

My BookReport dashboard is amazing for seeing reader data – recently it told me that 70% of my readers are women over 40 and so I’ve been adjusting my online advertising images to include more midlife protagonists. These small changes have had a huge impact – I am now three series in and still going strong.