9 Book Advertising Tactics I’ve Tried… And Which Ones Worked! Not all marketing endeavors achieve the same goal.
They aren’t designed to. Some are strictly tied to conversion and making that sale. Others are more about brand building, which can’t be quantified in the same way. Although in the past I probably leaned too heavily on conversion marketing, after 60 books and nearly 20 years in publishing, I no longer believe that’s the wisest path. How I Hit the USA Today Bestseller List Three Times.
I hit the USA Today bestseller list three times thanks to a whole lot of planning and focused marketing strategies built around price promotions.
These included BookBub Featured Deals, promo-stacking with other vendors, newsletter sends, cross-promotion with other authors, and asking friends for help on social media. Selling enough books in the seven-day bestseller list tracking time period is really hard, but with paid promo-stacking and other cost-free opportunities, a coordinated attack makes a big difference. In this post, I’ll share my to-do list for getting the word out about a sale or free book. I hope this helps to maximize your chances of hitting a bestseller list! 1. How I Became a Bestseller with a Coordinated Marketing Plan. When my first novel, The Fairy Tale Bride, was traditionally published in October of 2000, I had all the usual hopes and dreams of new writers — letters from readers, great reviews, and, of course, becoming a bestselling author.
What I didn’t know at the time was that my dream of bestsellerdom had no chance of coming true because the initial print run from my publisher was simply too small. Even if every copy they printed sold in one week, that still would not have generated enough sales to hit any of the bestseller lists. Publishers can only afford to give bestseller-worthy print runs to the top couple of books they publish in any given month. At the time, I was unaware of what went into being a bestseller besides writing the best book I could. I handled the writing end; the publisher handled the business end. Fast forward 16 years, and I’m now an indie author in charge of writing and publishing my own books. Promoting a Sequel in a Book's Back Matter (With Examples!) The end of a book is some of the most valuable marketing real estate an author or publisher has to promote a sequel.
This is the exact spot where readers are primed to continue the characters’ story. But if the sequel isn’t effectively promoted in a book’s back matter, the reader might not even realize it exists! Authors and publishers use a variety of tactics to promote sequels in their back matter. Some simply list the next title directly under the last line of the last chapter, while others include multiple pages of call-to-actions. Some include images and others include only text.
Note: Some content from the end of the books included in these screenshots has been blurred to avoid revealing spoilers! The Look of Love by Bella Andre The back matter of The Look of Love includes: How to Improve Your Description Copy to Sell More Ebooks. Your book description on retailer sites like Amazon is one of the most important ebook marketing elements at your disposal.
Your cover and title will catch potential readers’ attention, but your description is what will make the sale. The strongest part of your description should be the first 150 words. How I Launched My New Release and Sold 20K Copies. This summer I released Earth Alone, the first novel of my newest indie-published science fiction series, Earthrise.
In its first seven weeks, the novel sold over 20,000 copies and received millions of page reads in the Kindle Unlimited library. Before the launch, my goal was to hit Amazon’s military science fiction and space opera bestseller lists. By following the steps below, I hit #1 on each of these lists. Sign in. Marketing a New Book: 6 Tactics Authors & Publishers Love. When launching a new book, there’s a gamut of marketing activities authors and publishers can use to create buzz and generate sales.
Despite that huge range of tactics, there are a handful of specific marketing activities that we hear authors and publishers buzzing about most. This post reviews those tactics, with examples from authors and publishers. 1. Launch an email marketing campaign Despite the tremendous number of marketing channels and social media sites available today, email is still one of the best ways to reach fans and potential new readers. The Top Guides to Online Advertising for Marketing Books. Online advertising can be an effective way to reach new readers.
But online ad platforms can seem complex and overwhelming, especially if you’re just getting started. To make the best use of your advertising budget, it’s important to educate yourself on the best practices for each platform. In this post, we compiled the most comprehensive guides we could find on three online advertising platforms that are popular with authors and book marketers: Facebook, Google AdWords, and the new BookBub Ads platform. We hope these guides help you understand their different use cases and create successful campaigns. First, let’s start with the basics. The Ultimate Guide to Display Advertising. 9 Ways to Market a Book After the New Release Buzz Dies Down.
The Complete Guide to Optimizing Amazon Covers/Keywords/Categories/Blurbs/Prices. Note: this is information primarily relevant to Amazon.
Other retailers differ in some ways, although good covers & blurbs will be effective everywhere. Authors on Twitter: 43 Stunning Header Image Examples. Building an online platform often means having a presence on Twitter.
While readers may engage more with certain authors on social networks like Facebook or Instagram, and it’s hard to actually sell books on Twitter, many authors use Twitter to connect directly with readers, other authors, and industry professionals. Twitter’s header image offers a great opportunity to spark recognition between a book and its author. It is highly visible to Twitter users when looking at a profile on the web, on Twitter’s mobile app, or after clicking on a Twitter handle in third-party apps like Tweetdeck — but even with its high profile, this space is often underutilized or neglected altogether. Twitter header on the website.
Twitter header on Tweetdeck. Using Preorders to Boost New Release Book Sales. Traditional to Hybrid: How to Carry Readers to a New Book. Top 8 Email Marketing Takeaways from DBW 2016. 9 Free Tools That Can Help Build Buzz for a Book. Book Marketing Trends: From Blog Tours to Mailing Lists.