Loading...
Answers
MenuCan I expect book sales if I upload my ebook on Kindle Direct Publishing and do nothing to promote it?
This question has no further details.
Answers
While you might be able to expect initial sales from family and friends who know about it, actual sales from people stumbling upon your book depends on a few factors when you upload it.
1.) Have you chosen the correct keyword phrases and categories?
2.) Are these categories extremely competitive?
3.) Did you incorporate these specific keywords and categories in your title, subtitle, and book blurb?(Note: not everyone can finagle a way into putting the word thriller in their title, but some can do it in their subcategories although at times that may seem too sales pitchy, not that anyone but authors who know what you're doing would notice or even care).
4.) Do you have between one-hundred to three-hundred people ready to buy your book when it is released? (family, friends, subscribers) When you can sell around that many copies the first three days of your release, Amazon's free marketing kicks in. Hot New Releases List, Those Who Bought This Book...etc. That's pretty much awesome sauce if you can manage it.
5.) Does my amazon page look inviting?
6.) Is there too much front matter before the actual sample chapter begins, thus impeding your readers from getting into the book right away?
If the answers to these questions are a big fat no,(or a big fat yes to questions 2 and 6) then uploading your book and walking away from it is going to get you nowhere. You essentially need to take your writer's cap off and get serious about marketing. An indie author doesn't get to be complacent in that respect. Becoming a book marketing guru can be daunting and overwhelming when looking at it as a whole, and figuring out where to start has made many authors give up before giving it a chance.
Which is why I am super happy to be answering this question for you. Not that you asked how to market your book. I suppose I've basically answered your question, but I'd like to take it a step further and give you a place to start so you aren't flailing around in the deep quagmire of marketing do's and don'ts.
Amazon's search engines are designed to find books listed under popular categories and niches so keywords are going to be your best friend. One book that is absolutely stellar at explaining the process behind researching keywords is a book called Making a Killing on Kindle(Without Blogging Facebook Or Twitter) and another book called How to Sell Fiction on Kindle.
The Reader's Digest version is this: go to Amazon.com and start typing in your genre in the search tab. The goal is to take your main genre and find subcategories that are popularly searched on Amazon. So when I type in the word Thriller I get "thrillers in books, mysteries and thrillers new releases 2016", etc. Now type in "thrillers a" and you get "thrillers and suspense books" etc. these top key phrases are the ones that are searched the most by people interested in that genre. Now try typing in "thrillers b" and you get "psychological thrillers books" and other key phrases, but this is an important thing to discover. Many people are searching for psychological thrillers. Does your book fall under that category? Is it a psychological thriller, a serial killer thriller, or possibly some other type of thriller that can be narrowed down to a specific niche?
This can be a long and arduous way to research keywords and phrases, which is why I think grabbing those books that I mentioned above and memorizing the very dickens out of them is a great beginning for your marketing guru journey.
Why? Because most of the research has been done for you, and you get a list of the most highly ranked keyword phrases for your specific genre...all current. You are also given instructions on simple html coding to help make your amazon page sparkle.
I hope this information is helpful for you, and good luck with your book. I hope you are able to get it uploaded and visible on kindle as soon as possible. If you’re interested in learning more about the best practices on marketing your books feel free to visit me on my website at The Blond Guerrilla: Guerrilla Marketing, Writing, and Self-Publishing Your Book. http://theblondguerrilla.com Or set up a call and we can work on a plan to help you sell your books. I’m always excited to help fellow authors in their quest to get their books discovered.
Happy marketing my author friend!
This is an awesome question!
My name is Humberto Valle, I'm a co-founder at Unthink Digital Marketing a small hybrid digital marketing agency in Texas. We have been helping small businesses for the past 10 years with their marketing efforts. I'm an MBA with several successful ventures and have personally coached 3 new business owners reach $2million revenue mark, one of them from just an idea.
To answer your question, yes you can expect some sales but I honestly wouldn't count on it. There are many self published authors out there and the chances of you releasing and selling are slim. You might sell to friends and family - but you would have to ask them to do so right? So think about it this way, if you don't ask your Friends and Family - would they on their own find and want to buy?
Selling a book is not that much different than any other service based business, I will add a link to a relevant article at the bottom of this answer. A book is dependent on the author's clout and notoriety - how well known is the author and how good will the content be for me?
What I would suggest doing is as follows:
1. Have landing pages with FREE sections or chapters of the book.
2. Have landing pages for each offer and trade emails in exchange for a chapter
3. promote content and ideas covered in your book on your twitter, facebook, and youtube.
4. have a website with strong SEO so that you can promote the book organically (self-sustain) through the website and link the various landing pages for free content.
5. publish the book and continue to promote through social channels, and through the emails you have collected.
If you have already published the book, this process wouldn't change much but the wording and type of offers could.
Obviously each of the efforts on their own require some sort of strategy or best practices so that it actually helps you sell and not just waste time online but the general idea of what should be done is pretty straight forward.
I hope this brought some clarity to you, my name is Humberto Valle and through www.Unthink.me we can help you build and promote the right content to generate sales.
Related article:
What is Inbound Marketing And Can It Help My Type of Business? http://blog.unthink.me/what-is-inbound-marketing-and-can-it-really-help-my-business
Unlikely + possibly.
This will depend on your book title + categories you select.
Choose two nested categories.
The reason for this is to "draft" off the effect of long tail purchases creating better sales rank, pushing your book up to shorter tail categories.
Once you have traction in one short tail category, switch your two categories to another similar set.
And, without promotion, likely your sales will be low or zero.
Better to do the above (google more more info about this technique) + promote in many different ways.
And remember...
Rich Authors rarely get rich writing books.
Google about monetizing content for better ways to generate income from content.
Amazon allows you to set the metadata when you setup your book through the KDP interface, so you will want to think about it before publishing. On Amazon, some readers will completely ignore your book if it has zero reviews, because there will always be 5 other books for them to choose from. Getting the first early reviews is hard, but do not get discouraged, and whatever you do, do not cheat, Amazon will find out. Nobody knows precisely how the Amazon ranking algorithm works, but we do know that it is highly correlated with volume of sales over short periods of time. You cannot ‘game the system’ but understanding that high volumes of sales lead to better rankings can help you plan a successful marketing strategy.
You can read more here: https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/how-to-market-book-amazon/
Apart from that, you can checkout KDP link as well to learn more: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US?ref_=kdpgp_p_in_psg_bt_ad1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAx9mABhD0ARIsAEfpavR-Jr6d82e9mC_BlOgiYJk24Eo_YQiw4Txoskzij_mcLkQ1fjxuU1IaAhV5EALw_wcB
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
Related Questions
-
Is it worth it to hire writers to help me with Kindle Publishing? How much would it cost me to get a quality product?
Basically, the question is this: Are people reading the book for your writing, or for your ideas? If it's for your writing (say, if you're a fiction author) then you should probably write it yourself. It'd be disingenuous not to. If they're interested in your ideas (which is the case with most Kindle non-fiction books), then what's important is that your ideas aren't lost. That doesn't mean ghostwriting is fine, only that you need to find an efficient way to get your ideas out without wasting your time writing. Basically, the process I use is to outline the book myself, sit down with a microphone, and talk through the entire book (basically recording a really rough draft of the audiobook straight from the outline). Then I transcribe it, and then hire a "writer" to work from the transcription to the finished text. That way it's high quality and maintains my ideas, but I don't have to do all the work of typing. I wrote a book that breaks down the process in a bit more detail (especially the process of outlining, how to record effectively, how to find that editor, etc.), but basically what I said above is all you really need to know. Here's the link if you want to check it out: www.amazon.com/Book-Box-Method-Quickly-Easily-ebook/dp/B014EUTYGM/Zach ObrontZO
-
Why do some romance novels fail?
There are several reasons a romance novel fails, and that always has to do with the development of the romance between the two love interests. Every character in a story is going to have a main goal and something they want or need. In romance novels, this ends up being the relationship that ends in a happily ever after. Most of the time. That darn Nicholas Sparks! Obviously, romance sub-genres will have plot layers if mystery or suspense is involved, but when we're talking straight romance, it's far more noticeable if the development of the relationship is off. Here are just a few issues I've seen in romance novels. 1.) Love in a vacuum: nothing is happening other than the characters suddenly falling in love for no discernible reason. 2.) Purely Physical: the romantic tension relies on nothing more than the physical aspects of the relationship, preventing any development of emotional attachments taking place. (Note: erotica is a whole other subject, and its readership generally expects there to be explicit content when forming the relationship. Nothing wrong with that if that's the kind of readership you are aiming at. Just know your audience and write accordingly.) 3.) Little or no romantic tension: romantic tension involves wanting without fulfillment. Even the anticipation of a simple kiss can cause enormous amounts of tension if the two love interests are always close to succumbing but never quite get there. 4.) Weak sources of conflict: Are the obstacles that prevent the love interests from coming together superficial and unbelievable? Consider what each character wants and what they need, and put those wants and needs in opposition to one another, causing their relationship to seemed doomed before it even starts. 5. The reader doesn't care: are your characters likable, easy to relate to, or people we can admire? If they don't have any redeeming qualities, interesting backstories, and quite possibly some deep, dark secret that prevents them from moving on and falling in love, then you might end up with characters who fail to inspire readers or pique their interest. There are three things every romance needs. !.) An emotional connection between characters: they can't just be really attractive. Lust does not build a connection. Emotional connections require interaction and time. There also needs to be an emotional connection for the reader. They need to see the strengths and weaknesses of your character. No one can relate to a perfect person. There needs to be a compelling reason for your couple to be together. This helps with avoiding: the love vacuum, reader caring, cliche characters and plot. 2.) Need fulfillment: what does the character need? The deeper the need the deeper the connection. So figure out what your character needs in a significant other. This helps with: the love vacuum, weak source of conflict, cliche character, and no foundation for the love. 3.) Unique connection: the couple is something to each other that no one else is or can be. If the connection isn't unique, it will lack impact and will not be satisfying to your readers. This is why their connection must go beyond love at first sight, infatuation, or physical pleasure. This helps with poor reasons for miscommunication or no communication, the love has no foundation, little or no romantic tension. I'm always happy to answer questions on the fundamentals of fiction writing if you would like to discuss romance or any other genre in greater detail.C.J. AnayaCA
-
I am an author and have published seven books so far - both ebooks and hard copies. What is the most effective way to market my books?
1. Paid targeted traffic to a sales page. 2. Free giveaways of one book, hoping to get paid sales of another. 3. Podcast/radio show guest appearances discussing the book's topic. 4. Get an authority talking about your book. 5. Affiliate marketing--get one of your books included as content or bonus in a marketer's solution package, and draw prospective customers back to you through links embedded in the book. 6. Post on relevant forums, blogs, Facebook/LI groups, Quora with appropriate feedback, linking back to your sales page/Amazon page. 7. Book a call with me to flesh out these ideas in detail.Jason KaniganJK
-
Do you think an ad-free, subscriber-supported newsletter covering developments in Artificial Intelligence would be sellable and sustainable?
You ask an interesting question. AI is a broad field. Are you planning to specialize or generalize your content? In a world where traditional subscription-based media struggles to stay afloat, you are choosing a risky option to deliver content. I have been in magazine and book publishing for 30 years. Lots has changed in those decades. I have switched to online course creation as an alternative to traditional media. There is a strong trend toward online courses. It is possible to create a valuable newsletter for a target audience. Start by tightly defining your ideal subscriber. You must know who you are creating content for and why. You must be confident you can create highly relevant and useful content unavailable to access freely. What are the benefits to the reader? Use the Minimum Viable Product concept to begin your process. You don't want to invest any more than necessary for an unproven product launch. Consider using the Ask Method to help you determine the viability of the product. Marketing the product is like any other launch. You need visibility and authority. Guest blogging, and media coverage are recommended. Create a website or blog with detailed, authoritative content you can work to get high SERP rankings. Podcasting is another way to build an audience. Researching for audience interest and competitive analysis are also strongly recommended before you launch. Feel free to set up a time for a follow up call via Clarity.Barney DaveyBD
-
I have a digital product (pdf + multimedia) that college applicants and parents will buy. How do I find the person, or system, to market it for me?
One approach would be to (1) Create a website from which your product can be purchased and downloaded; (2) Enable easy social sharing from the website so that happy customers multiply at no cost to you; (3) Market that site through PPC campaigns, targeting relevant search verticals. Basically, you'd be paying a commission to Google and Bing in exchange fore eyeballs on your site. Whether those impressions convert to sales depends on your presentation and (of course) the product itself. Conceivably, you might do all this yourself. But you might prefer to pay (1) A branding consultant / namer / domain broker to select and obtain the ideal domain name to use, (2) A web designer to build the site, (3) An SEM specialist to manage your AdWords and Bing campaigns, (4) A copy writer to craft your landing page sales pitch, improving your sales funnel and boosting conversion rates, (5) A content writer to produce additional articles, (6) An SEO to work on whatever it is they do this month. It isn't strictly necessary to pay for these services, if you're willing to teach yourself. You might accelerate that process and avoid expensive mistakes if you schedule a few short Clarity.fm calls with relevant experts. That's the approach I would use – building a site that functions like a store and advertising online through SEM. This way you can test the viability of your product without having to hire sales staff. Yes, you could try marketing through other channels such as local gatherings of college-bound students or via phone, email, radio, TV, mail, etc. But online you can access a broad range of potential customers with less initial investment in planning, staffing, and infrastructure. So it's a test case. If your product can't sell online in this way, then it may not be worth expanding with those other strategies. Furthermore, this online approach scales very well. If you're profitable while spending X on PPC, then you might grow those profits simply by reinvesting and raising that advertising budget. I offer professional services for #1 (names / domains) and #4 (sales pitch) above, if you're interested. To some extent, I know my way around #3 (SEM); but I don't manage campaigns for clients - only suggest tactics for those who run their own campaigns. Plenty of Clarity.fm experts could run an SEM campaign for you quite well if you'd like to outsource that marketing.Joseph PetersonJP
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.
