How To Sell More Books Once You’re Published
So you’ve written and published a book; but are you now wondering how to sell more books?
You might think that when your book gets traditionally published by a publishing house, you don’t have to worry about marketing. Because they’ll take care of all that for you, right?
Unfortunately, no.
All authors are responsible for marketing their books and their brand. Publishing houses have connections which can get your book featured in the right magazines, websites & book stores. But ultimately, it’s down to you to sell your book.
And if you’re not willing to do that, then it’s likely this will have a significant impact on your book sales.
So whether you choose to self-publish, or have your book traditionally published, you’ll still have to get your marketing hat on.
So the big question is, how do you sell more books? Because this is what every author wants.
Here’s how to sell more books once you’re published
1. Ask everyone to leave a review for your book
Reviews are a BIG deal on Amazon. The more reviews you can get, the higher your book will move up the category rankings. The higher it climbs, the more it will be seen.
Your family, friends, and inner circle are the first people to ask when it comes to leaving a review for your book. Don’t be afraid to send them a gentle reminder if they forget!
Anytime anyone reaches out to you saying they bought your book, are reading it, or really enjoyed it – thank them, and don’t be afraid to ask them to leave a short honest review on Amazon.
I’ve found a lot of people are willing to help – especially if they loved the book.
So if you write a book you’re genuinely proud of, and have poured your heart into; this shouldn’t be too challenging.
2. Promote your book whenever & wherever you can
Here are a few ways you can promote your book right now:
- on social media
- when you’re having conversations/talking to people in real life
- at the end of your email signature
- through your email list
- on your website
- at the end of blog posts or articles you’ve written (on your own website or as a guest writer for other people’s sites)
3. Use Amazon ads
When I self-published my second book, I ventured into the world of Amazon marketing for the first time.
It took a little while to get my head around, and it required some in-depth research about my book’s potential competitors and key words. But that time and effort really helped me create successful sponsored display and product ads.
I kept my budget small for each keyword to start off with, and then increased or decreased these individually depending on what words were working most effectively.
The great thing about Amazon ads – compared to social media ads & Google ads – is they hardly ever spend your whole budget.
What I found is it’s difficult to work out how much profit you’re actually making, because Amazon gives you numbers based on your ad spend against the sale price of your book, and not the profit made on each one. So you’ll need to look at the numbers closely to see whether they are working effectively or not.
4. Invest in paid book promotions
There are lots of book promotion companies that will allow you to book various promotion spots (via their email list or social channels) in exchange for a payment.
In my experience, these aren’t always successful.
You have to be intentional when it comes to the audience your book is being promoted to, and know that this is really a game of hit and miss.
In addition, a lot of these promotion sites will only feature books that are either free, or discounted to $1.99 and under.
If you want to run a price promo on your book, then this could tie in well. But I would say don’t discount your book just so you can run a book promotion.
Some of the book promotion sites include:
5. How to sell more books: Write another book!
This might sound crazy, because you only just wrote your first book, but it works!
The more books I write, the more I sell. This is because each book tends to bring in new readers.
They may then check out your older work too if they feel really connected with your voice as an author.
Writing more books also helps build your credibility as an author, and makes you a better writer. And both of those things will help you sell more books over time.
But don’t rush into it, or force an idea if it’s not flowing. And if you have no desire to write another book, that’s okay.
These are all just suggestions for you to take or leave, depending on what feels right for you.