BTS: How to Shrink Your Book Down to Mini Size: Lessons in Cutting the Fluff

A behind the scenes look at my own struggles with keeping my books mini

(this is a behind the scenes about my upcoming book Mini Book Marketing which is available for pre-order on Amazon, you can click here to pre-order it)

I set out to write a single, comprehensive guide on marketing mini books.

But as I kept writing, the content grew far beyond a “mini” book, morphing into a massive manual that risked overwhelming readers. The email marketing chapter alone reached nearly 2,000 words, and that was without adding a section on book launch sequences. I realized this was too much for one book if I wanted it to be accessible and easy to act on.

So, I took a different approach and broke it into a series of smaller, focused mini books, each delivering clear, actionable steps on a single topic.

The result? Six targeted mini books, each covering a key area: (title names placeholders for now)

1. Mini Book Marketing: 10 ways (channels) authors can use to go from published to popular.

2. Hit Number 1: Everything an author needs to hit #1 on Amazon, leveraging the channels in Mini Book Marketing.

3. Mini Book Launch: A focused guide on successful launch strategies, tying in channels from Mini Book Marketing to build launch-day momentum.

4. Mini Book Sales System: Long-term sales strategies for keeping books relevant and selling using the channels from Mini Book Marketing.

5. Published to Popular: The Authors 30-Day Marketing Plan: A full, step-by-step plan to take a book from published to popular using the strategies and channels from previous books.

6. Mini Book Money: Turning mini book content into multiple income streams, from consulting to courses.

Once I divided the big book into smaller parts, I still had to ensure each chapter stayed compact and effective.

Streamlining Chapters with ChatGPT

Take the email marketing chapter, for example.

It was packed with long explanations and detailed examples, reaching nearly 2,000 words for just a single chapter. This was far too much for a “mini” book. To streamline it, I turned to ChatGPT, using its 1-3-1 method to help condense each part into a clear structure: one introductory sentence, three main points, and a concise conclusion.

This approach kept each section punchy, readable, and actionable.

Sometimes, less is more.

Shrinking this book down wasn’t just about cutting words.

It was about making the content clear, powerful, and easy to follow.

Cutting a Bloated Introduction and Marketing 101

Even the introduction needed serious trimming.

The original intro had ballooned into a full Marketing 101 chapter. (you can see it here on Mini Book Publishings Substack) While it covered valuable basics, it added too much extra weight for a mini book. I realized that explaining all the fundamentals of marketing could overwhelm readers before they got to the actionable parts. So, I gutted the intro and cut Marketing 101 altogether, reducing the word count dramatically and keeping the book laser-focused on practical steps authors can take right now.

Sometimes, a clean cut makes all the difference. The intro now gets to the point, focusing on what authors need to do and less on explaining what marketing is.

Breaking the content into a series of mini books allowed each one to pack a focused punch.

If you’re working on a project that feels too big, take a step back and ask yourself: could this be even better if it were smaller?

P.S. Do you enjoy seeing my stuff come out in real time and then the adjustments made on the fly? Or do you wish I’d just release the clean cut version? Let me know in the comments below!