Last time in our March Marketing Series we covered 5 Successful Strategies To Help Identify Your Target Audience, Making A Good First Impression: How To Build An Awesome Author Platform, and Book Cover Designs: 6 Smart Tips You Need To Know. Today we're sharing 10 amazing tips to boost your book sales.
As writers, we tend to focus on the writing process and minimize what comes after. We obsess over sentence structure and angst over character arcs. But when the writing and editing comes to an end and our book is finally published, few truly know what the right course of action is thereafter. There's a bit of an adjustment and grace period but with these fantastic tips, you can make the most of your book selling experience.
Explore Global Markets
Making your book available globally can impact your overall sales for the better. Think about it: the bigger the reach, the more books you'll sell. You may even do better in international markets than you will domestically. India, for instance, has the second highest collective English readership, meaning that if you can successfully market yourself there, the chances of opening doors and gaining millions of readers practically begs you to do it. Don't limit yourself and think strategically. Do your research into each foreign market. What sells well in one region may do poorly in another. Remember to optimize your cover design for each of your target locations and utilize local media to help raise awareness.
Use An Umbrella Title For Your Series
Publishing a series? Boost your sales potential by linking them together with an over-arcing series name. Make sure to add it to your product's title on all retailer sites. This will guarantee that each site will automatically recommend all the books that fall under this umbrella title and will promote and recommend them together.
Bundle Different Versions
It goes without saying that in this virtual day and age that media has evolved. There are many different ways for customers to consume literature, be in in the traditional book way, audio, or online. Make sure that you're giving your readers all the formats that they might find useful. Connect a print edition with international editions, audiobook, ebook, etc.
Streamline Your Subcategories
Do your research and make sure that you've chosen your subcategories wisely. Doing so benefits you in two ways: 1) It ensures that you're reaching your target audience and 2) It could drive a high sales volume. You'll avoid disappointing readers who were expecting direct, and you'll ensure that sales will be achieved because your book is falling into the right hands so to speak.
Make The Most Of Keywords
Keywords truly make the world go round. By now you've probably compiled a list of all the relevant words that you can possibly associate with your book. Now it's time to take the most relevant 5-7 keywords and apply them everywhere keywords could possibly go. Incorporate them into keyword sections on each retailer product page. Sneak them into your copy, descriptions, back matter, and headlines. The more you use them, the more benefits will come your way.
Optimize Your Description
Give your book description a boost by including the following:
Quotes from other authors or reviewers
A quote from your book
Awards your book has won
Language that caters to your audience
Research shows that using the above can help readers choose your book over others. Using testimonies allows readers to know what they're getting for their money. Using language that appeals to that specific genre's readers will also influence them to read. Here are some examples: For a romance novel: "A steamy read sure to curl toes", for mystery: "A thrilling page-turner that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat".
Include Your Mailing List
Don't forget to link all your promotional materials to their mailing list. This is the single most important thing you can do for yourself and your book sales. Your mailing list is your lifeline to new sales. Those who join your list are the people who are most interested in what you have to say, and the most likely to buy from your future endeavors. Prompt readers to sign up for your mailing list whenever you get the chance. Put a link in your About Me page on your author website and in every blog post you might write. Add it to the About The Author bio on the back cover of your novel. Put it again in the back matter of your book. Taking advantage of all the possible places you can put your links will help ensure that new, interested readers will find it.
Add An Excerpt To Your Back Matter
Adding an excerpt from your next novel gives readers a tantalizing view of what's to come. You'll see that traditional publishers will do this in the works they publish, and there's a reason for it. Enriching your back matter with a sneak peek will entice readers to continue reading your series. Authors who use this strategy see an increase in the sale of their sequels versus those who don't. Not a series? That's okay. Include an excerpt from your latest book. Place your excerpt after the acknowledgements. Include the first chapter and bookend the excerpt with information on where to purchase that book.
Cross-promote Your Books
Another tip you don't want to forget is to include a list of all your previous books and future works in the back matter of your novels. Creating a helpful list allows readers to know what's linked to you as an author and can help those who are loyal to your brand stay in the loop. Keep in mind that this list will have to be updated whenever you launch a new release. Also remember to create retailer-specific lists with the appropriate links to buy said books from the retailer where it appears.
Use Cliffhangers
Including a sample of your book is a requirement for most online retailers. The best way to lure potential readers to buy is by using this opportunity wisely. Creating an excerpt that ends in a cliffhanger is a easy tip that garners fast results. There's nothing like creating the build up of unanswered questions that someone has to find the answers to. On Amazon you can download the first 10% of your story for consumers to download for free or to use the "Look Inside" option to preview, giving you an excellent chance to make a sale.
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