Most potential authors feel overwhelmed by the prospect of publishing their own book. Why is this? There is the feeling that the process is engaging and expensive as well. Most upcoming authors do not have the resources to publish their books, however these days that is no longer the case. With Amazon, an author can self-publish a book. Those that have taken the bold step to self-publish book on Amazon are often pleasantly surprised at how easy it is, as well as how reasonable the cost is. Apart from publishing, it’s important you understand how to sell your self-published books on Amazon.
Yes, you have taken the step to self-publish a book. Is that all that is required for a good sale? Absolutely no! You have to take certain steps to meet your target sale, to be a best seller in the long run because that is the target of every author. It requires certain steps, It doesn’t just happen overnight, it is not a game of luck. It takes 2 Ps and 3Ds -Persistence, Perseverance, Devotion, Determination and Diligence.
This article will give you a comprehensive guide on how to sell your self-published books on Amazon.
First of all, don’t think this guide is a magic wand that when waved, what you wish for appears. It is a gradual process that is why it takes 2 Ps and 3 Ds to achieve your desired sale target.
Table of Contents
How to sell your self-published books on Amazon
A Captivating Book Cover that gets a Second Glance
Am sure you have heard or read the saying that, “You can never tell a book by its cover.” It may be true, but cover draws attention of a buyer. It can make a buyer to want to know what is behind the captivating cover. If you agree with me or not, readers judge a book and eventually buy by its cover. The more beautiful it is, the more value is placed on it. If you want to sell more books, have a cover that grabs attention. For cover designers check out –
A Fascinating Book Title and Subtitle
Yes, the book cover grabs the reader’s attention, but book title is hook that holds the buyer and helps makes the sale. It will depend largely on the theme of your book but taking time to craft a title/subtitle will be a deciding factor for potential readers to buy your book or not.
The title draws readers in and the subtitle makes them take a step, it tells them what they can expect to gain by reading this book. What value it will add to their lives. Will they become better financially? Become better at saving money? Have a better marriage? Make better choices? Cultivate a healthy lifestyle after reading the book? and lots more.
This part is essential, take time to brainstorm as many possible titles for the main title and subtitle. Although the title can make them guess what the book is about, the subtitle is what sells it.
Book Launch Sales Volume and Book Reviews
The Amazon algorithm is strongly linked to book sales and reviews. A book that sells well within the first two weeks combined with a set of high ranking reviews will get the book higher up the sales ranks of new releases during the launch.
Authors rely on reviews to build credibility while readers rely on them to decide whether or not to purchase a book. The more positive reviews an author has, the more books he/she is likely to sell. Having a lot of positive reviews on Amazon can make a great difference. The more positive reviews, the higher your book ranking on Amazon search results, increasing the chances of readers discovering your book which leads to more sale.
– Don’t pay someone to leave a review
– You can give free advance review copy of your book in exchange for a honest review.
.A book with less than ten reviews or no reviews at all, may get passed over in favor of other books with a strong review ranking. Reviews sell more books. Getting reviews is an ongoing marketing strategy you should always be working on. If you want to maximize the amount of sales you get over your book’s life span, then focus everything you have on the first 2-3 weeks. If you get lots of sales and reviews during this critical time, it will determine your sale eventually in the long- term on Amazon.
A Killer Book Description
One of the effective marketing strategies of all time is description of the product you want to sell, same process applies here as well. Amazon allows authors to include a lengthy description of the book on the author’s page. While your book cover, title, and reviews are enough to make the sale, a solid looking book description is a plus factor to the quality of your product.
Your book description will be a sales page that lists the benefits of the book. It should have a mixture of various font style and structure to create a clean, attractive description of your book. You can hirer copy writers to help.
Amazon Keywords
Keyword is essential; keyword is what people use to search for anything on the internet. It can be likened to a clue to your book. If nobody can find your book, then what use was there in writing it? In order for people to buy your book, they’ll need to find it, and this is where keywords come in.
Researching and implementing the right keywords will play a big part in driving traffic towards your platform. Setting up your keywords is a critical strategy. But where do we find these keywords? How do we know what keywords are the right ones?
Finding the right keywords will get your book ranking in the top search results, which means it’ll turn up in front of your customers as they search for the relevant keywords. High rankings mean more visibility which leads to greater book sales.
Perfect Editing
Professional editing is a necessity. A book that has been poorly edited is going to receive negative reviews. Negative review is fine, but when is about poor writing quality, it turns off buyers automatically.
Poor writing quality am referring to here is not occasional error (which can easily be corrected,) but a book filled with bad grammatical structure, misspelt words and a sloppy appearance. Every buyer wants the best quality of an item they are purchasing; one of the qualities of a good book is a professionally edited book.
Getting a professional to edit your book before publishing is easy these days with the help of a freelancer on Upwork or Freelancer. You can hire two to three different professionals to edit the book, this is just to ensure a perfect job is done. You can as well ask other authors to recommend someone.
Price of Your Book
Rome is not built in a day. You cannot become rich in a day, so take it slow. I know everyone want to make money speedily. After writing a good book, you may envisage the rate you make in a day, weeks, months or even years. That is good of course, but to make a sale as a new author or after launching a new book on Amazon, you have to give a price that will not scare away potential buyers but draw them..
Take note of this, for any book priced $1.99 or 0.99 cents, the royalty is just 35%, while books priced between $2.99 – $9.99 net 70% royalty. The sweet spot for many books is $2.99 – $5.99.
Price your book accordingly and by that, I mean, take into account the size and quality of your platform.
Run book promos every 3-6 months, these helps maintain your book rank or increase it. This is done by dropping the price of your book, it could be as low as 0.99 for like 5-7days or more.
With these steps taken into cognizance and put into use, the author will in no time achieve his/her target sale on Amazon. Best of luck to every author and potential authors on Amazon.
Drop your questions or comment below if you have any.