Share Pin 5 94 Shares

“To reach more readers and take your sales to the next level, you must proactively market your book”.

— Mark Coker

After months of effort and thousands of dollars, you finally finish writing your book . You upload it to the Kindle Direct Publishing platform, and you eagerly await the thousands of sales that you’ll get upon pressing “publish”.

Yet a week later you see that you’ve only made… a few sales.

Dejected, you realize this isn’t your ticket to passive income. Making money from your book isn’t as easy as they say, but it doesn’t have to be impossible if you set your book up for success right from the start.

That’s exactly what this post will show you how to do: sell more books on Amazon.

Here’s how to sell more books on Amazon:

There are no hidden gimmicks or secret formulas to making money from your writing. You don’t have to be a marketing genius either: when I started out book publishing, I struggled for the first year to break the hundred dollars a month mark. Yet, with troubleshooting, testing, and learning from the people who were making five figures a month, I finally started to see results.

If you’re a writer wanting to make money from your book (and who doesn’t, right?) this post will help you navigate through the trenches of bookselling.

Is it easy? No, like anything worth having in life, there is a lot of work involved. We have to do things right and set our efforts up for long term sales. As a self-published author, you should know as much about marketing your book as you do about writing it. While writing will get your book published, promotion and marketing is what will get you sales and more readers.

To sell lots of books, whether via kindle, or print, you have to focus on two important parts: your book production, and your book l aunch s trategy

Every decision you make about your book, right from the beginning, will be made with the intention of getting it into the hands of your audience and bringing new readers into your brand.

How much effort will you need to invest?

This depends largely on your goals as an author. If you are doing this part time and you just want to recoup your expenses for the cost of publishing your book, your marketing strategy will be much different than author who has a goal of earning a full time income.

In this post I will run you through the essentials of marketing, packaging and promoting your book in order to maximize book sales and earn your money as an author. After all, who doesn’t want to get paid well for what they love to do?

Regardless of what your book selling goals are, there are seven elements that must be met if your book is going to even stand a chance in the marketplace. Remember: you’re competing with millions of other books and that there are around 4500 new books published every day.

That’s a lot of books.

But not to worry. If you follow the criteria below, you will jump to the top of the heap where the top 5% of authors making money are hanging out.

Selling your book begins, not when your book is published, but from the very moment the idea pops up in your head, before you even put pen to paper.

The 7 Essential Elements of Your Book to Get More Sales

“Thirty seconds. As an author (or publisher) that’s about all the time you have when talking to someone to generate interest in your book.”

— Sarah Bolme

You may be thinking right now: “Wait, where are the promotion strategies? How can I sell thousands of books a month?” We will get to that. However, before you begin to think about selling a truckload of books , you must first engineer it from the ground up to prepare for future sales. You must make your book appealing enough to the reader to catch their interest.

When it comes to selling a book, you have a short window to convince someone that your book is the best investment they are about to make. You can do this right away by sticking with the 7 essentials we’re about to show you.

#1 – An Awesome Book Cover that Gets a Second Glance

Someone once said: “You can never tell a book by its cover.” That might have been true back in 1946 but in today’s world, readers DO judge by the cover and they will buy your book based on the front-end window dressing. The principle here is simple: If it looks good, it must be valuable. Most books get three seconds to sell a reader. If you want to sell more books, have a cover that grabs attention and gets your browser to take the next step.

For cover designers we can recommend a few sites here:

#2 – An Intriguing Book Title and Subtitle

Your cover is what grabs the reader’s attention, but your book title is what 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… or not.

The title is the hook that draws readers in and the subtitle is your elevator pitch that tells them what they can expect to gain by reading this book. Will they lose weight? Become better at saving money? Run a full marathon in under six hours?

Brainstorm as many possible titles as you can for both the main title and subtitle. Although the title can make them guess what the book is about, the subtitle is what sells it. Good books that sell often have great subtitles that gives browsers a stronger idea of what is behind the cover.

Check out these great titles for inspiration:

Habit Stacking: 127 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness by S.J. Scott

Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want by Michael Hyatt & Daniel Harkavy

Relaunch Your Life: Break the Cycle of Self-Defeat, Destroy Negative Emotions and Reclaim Your Personal Power by Scott Allan

How to Be an Imperfectionist: The New Way to Self-Acceptance, Fearless Living, and Freedom from Perfectionism by Stephen Guise

Break Through Your BS: Uncover Your Brain’s Blind Spots and Unleash Your Inner Greatness by Derek Doepker

Book Launch: How to Write, Market & Publish Your First Bestseller in Three Months or Less AND Use it to Start and Grow a Six Figure Business by Chandler Bolt

#3 – Book Reviews & Book Launch Sales Volume

If a book browser is sold on your cover and the theme resonates with a subject they want to know more about, a quick scan of the book reviews will be the final selling point for most.

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. Tattoo this inside your skull: Reviews sell more books. Getting reviews is an ongoing marketing strategy you should always be working on.

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 your book higher up the sales ranks of new releases during the launch.

This also sets you up for an effective long-term strategy. 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 period, your book is set for long-term growth and will perform better than most competitors.

Reviews are a lot of work but they’re worth it. Aside from the cover, the reviews you get will make or break your sales. Focus your efforts on building a strong launch team of early reviewers who will receive a free copy of your book in exchange for an honest review.

To stack up on reviews during your launch you can:

Provide a request to review page at the back of your ebook with a direct link to your book’s Amazon review page.

Invite people to join your launch team and provide early reviewers with a copy of your book to review 2 weeks before you publish.

Scroll through the list of Amazon’s Top Reviewers and request a review.

#4 – A Killer Book Description

Amazon allows authors to include a lengthy book description on the author page , don’t ignore this. While your book cover, title, and reviews are enough to make the sale, a solid looking book description adds that “heft” 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. We recommend using the free Amazon Book Description Generator Tool at Kindlepreneur.com . This saves time in messing around with nasty HTML coding.

For some great examples for book descriptions check out these titles:

The Art of Everyday Assertiveness: Speak Up. Say No. Set Boundaries. Take Back Control by Patrick King

The Science of Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone: How to Live Fearlessly, Seize Opportunity, and Make Each Day Memorable by Peter Hollins

The Critical Mind: Make Better Decisions, Improve Your Judgment, and Think a Step Ahead of Others by Zoe McKey

#5 – Amazon Keywords

What use is a treasure hunt if there are no clues? 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. Regardless whether you blog, have a website or you sell products online, 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 means more visibility which leads to greater book sales.

There are three tools we recommend for researching relevant keywords for your book. They are:

Using the right software, you can get results for the number of times your keyword is searched. Google also shows you related searches and the competition that particular word has. What you are looking for is a word that has good search volume but not high competition.

Another tactic is to search for your book’s title and keywords by using Amazon’s search bar. Check the suggestions that drop down. Imagine what your readers are searching for when they are looking for your book.

You are allowed to include seven keywords, or short-tail phrases, in your book. Most people, when they search in Amazon, are more likely to type in a short tail phrase instead of a single keyword. You want to be specific with your search. Specificity narrows down the choices and makes your book more searchable.

For example, if you are looking for a book on losing weight, and you are over 50, type in losing weight after 50 and you will target the books related to your short tail phrase. Readers search this way. When you eventually become a successful author (touch wood,) then people can just search for your name, go to your Amazon author page, and buy your book. However, that comes later, once you’ve built your brand. Until then we’ll need to make your book easy to discover.



#6 – Professional Editing

A book that has been poorly edited is going to receive negative reviews. Period. While it is perfectly fine to have negative reviews on your book, you don’t want those reviews to be about the writing quality. It is an instant turn off for book buyers.

By poor writing quality we’re not talking about the occasional error (which can easily be corrected,) but a book filled with bad grammar, misspelling and a sloppy appearance. Would you buy a car with the doors falling off? Of course not, and a reader will not read a book that hasn’t been properly edited.

You can hire a great editor through Upwork or Freelancer . Ask other authors if they can recommend someone. Your editing will be the biggest expense for the book but trust me, you don’t want to cut corners with this.

#7 – Pricing Your Book

One question that I often get from authors is: “How much should I price my book at?” This is a tricky answer.

Yes, yes, I know you want to maximize your profit, but you’ll also not want to scare away potential readers because of an overpriced book. Also, remember that 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. Established authors with a strong following can charge more, and books priced slightly higher than the norm may do well if they are packaged well (quality cover, large volume of reviews etc.) You could start pricing your book at $2.99 and move it up $1.00 a week, testing the boundaries until you notice a significant decrease in sales. You might sell less books at $4.99 but if your book has all the best elements mentioned in this section, and you market accordingly, the perceived value of your product will stand the test.

As for paperbacks, most indie authors are averaging a sales price between $9.99 and $12.99. Remember that you need to take into account the printing costs, but your royalties can do better per sale based on the higher price of the book at a 60% royalty rate.

These are the core essentials of any book. Even if you are not a good marketer, you can sell more books if you get these steps right.

Now, let’s take a look at some more advanced marketing strategies that includes book promotions and building an author brand.

The Permission Marketing Plan

“Permission marketing turns strangers into friends and friends into loyal customers. It’s not just about entertainment – it’s about education. Permission marketing is curriculum marketing.”

— Seth Godin

Now that we have looked at the basic elements you need to sell your book, it is time to get into the initial marketing. Generally speaking, most authors are not marketers. But you don’t have to be to sell.

Following the above steps will place your book in the top 10%, but it’s time to enter the pro leagues by using a solid marketing plan. This is where you can start making some real money.

Mind you, these strategies represent the infrastructure of a long-term book business. If you’re looking to make a quick buck they won’t help, but if you’re looking to lay the foundation for setting up passive income and drawing monthly income from your books over time, they’ll help.

First, understand this, to create sustainable income from your books, you can’t just tweet your way to sales, or send out weekly blog posts. To sell lots of books you need one thing: traffic.

How to get traffic? By invitation. How to invite people to buy your book? By giving stuff away and providing so much value that they can’t possibly say no.

We do this by setting up an email list of raving fans.

With an email list, you can create a sustainable platform of fans that are eagerly anticipating your next book release. Picture this: in the buildup to launch day you have 1000 impatient readers yearning to grab your book. They’re counting down the minutes. You click “publish” and send out an email to your list. They instantly buy it, and your book skyrockets up the bestseller lists, leaving you in the top of your category, the Amazon top rankings and in search engines. How great would that be?

An email list of raving fans is worth its weight in digital gold, but building it takes time, patience, and a lot of work. You need to be strategic with your list and deliver valuable material that they need. Consistent engagement builds your list and becomes the foundation for your author brand.

Without an active email list, you’ll be relying heavily on luck and organic traffic. Although you can still do well without a list, you’ll work twice as hard to get your book into the top search engines.

If the money is in the list, you want to start building your list right now. You can do this by first offering an incentive inside your book. Do you have something of value to provide readers to entice them to sign up? If so, offer it now and begin list building.

But remember: People are giving you permission to email them. This is the beginning of a relationship with your readers. Value that relationship and you will have started the foundation for a business. Write for your readers and you will never have to worry about selling more books. Your readers will help you to market your book and they will always be your best customers.

You can start by signing up with an email subscriber service. There are several to choose from:

Mailchimp : This service is to free for up to 2000 subscribers. However, there is no support until you pay a monthly fee.

Mailerlite : a nice platform, very simple with easy-to-navigate features.

Get response : Also, simple to use and industry standard.

Convert Kit : Loads of features and everything you need. A cheaper alternative per subscriber compared to MailChimp and Aweber .

Once you have a comfortable list that you are engaging with regularly, it is time to focus your core efforts on providing value to that list. The subscriber gave you permission to email them, and now it is your responsibility to follow through by building that relationship.

Action Task: Sign up with one of the email subscriber services recommended. Spend a few hours and come up with ideas on two things:

How to provide so much value up front that your reader demographic will be eager to join your list?

What type of content can you regularly write to engage your list and build a relationship with them?

Look to newsletters you’ve signed up for inspiration.

Run Book Promos Every 3-6 months

You’ll find that, even the best books out there drop in rankings over an extended period of time. This is where we can keep things fresh by running promotional campaign for the book every 3-6 months.

Here is how you can do this.

Drop the price of your book to 0.99 for 5-7 days. You can adjust the price by going into the KDP dashboard. It takes Amazon anywhere from 6-24 hours to set this up.

Stack multiple book promotional services for each day for the week your book is set at the promotional price. Setting up book promos does cost money but it gets your book rankings moving up again and gives the book a fresh kick. You can set up promos with the following sites:

BKnights [Fiverr] You can’t go wrong for $5. I would also take the extra gig for $5 and get in on their daily newsletter. You won’t get a ton of downloads but on average 12-25 depending on the book.

Robin Reads . [Requires 10 reviews and a 4.9 rating] Takes a couple days to get approved [$55].

BookSends . Requires average 5 reviews at $40.

Bargain Booksy. I love this one, no reviews needed and you can sign up right away and get approved. $25 for nonfiction.

Awesome Gang. This one is great for the price, $10.

Many Books . Great little gig, average returns, $29.

Book Runes . Global reach with over 50k mailing list, $25.

eBooks Habit . Great little promo, I recommend the guaranteed placement for $10.

Booksbutterfly . Various promo packages with guaranteed paid and free downloads.

This is an opportunity to set up a small support group to read the book and leave a review during the promotion period. This boost in downloads and new reviews boosts the rankings of your book. If you have multiple books, it’s an opportunity for traffic coming into your platform to be introduced to your book library.

Create a Library of Books and Build Your Brand

It’s really hard to make money from just one book. Which is why I recommend writing and publishing a lineup of books that your fan base can’t wait to read. Writing multiple books is a long-term strategy that can build a profitable book business over the course of several years. Remember, you’re in it for the long-haul.

Can you imagine if you had ten books for sale and each one is set up for success to bring in an average of $1000 a month? You can do this with a strategic plan for your author business.

Publishing new content regularly builds your email list and pushes your Amazon Author Ranking up the charts. By putting out a new book every 3-4 months, you are creating new content that keeps your author platform sizzling with activity.

In addition, it is easier to promote several books at the same time. You can set up a book bundle and have your books available in multiple formats including audiobooks and paperback.

Action Task: Block out 30-minutes a day for the next 30 days. Come up with ideas for at least ten books you want to write. Do a mind map followed by an outline for each one. Then, set out to create a publishing schedule for each book.

Questions to ask yourself are:

How long is each book?

Am I targeting a general audience or a specific niche?

What is the estimated profit potential for this book?

How can I put out a new book every 3-4 months?

What is my featured lead magnet to start building subscribers email list?

Here are a few authors creating a library of books and doing very well with their platform of consistent releases:

Patrick King , Social Interaction Specialist

S.J. Scott , Develop Better Habits

Martin Meadows , Self-Discipline and Grit

Peter Hollins , Human Psychology

Zoe McKey , Communication and Personal Development

Oh, and let’s not forget Stephen King , who has published over 65 books with 350 million copies sold since Carrie was published in 1974.

Wrapping It Up

If you want to sell more books and earn money as a paid author, write and publish books that sell. Target a specific audience and write your content for that fan base. Build a brand around your work and market your writing accordingly.

Stick to the essential elements of book publishing and be sure to write a book that engages your readers interest, provides them with entertainment [fiction] or life lessons [nonfiction], and invest your time into creating a series of books that have impact and branding appeal.

This sounds simple, and it is, but it isn’t easy. Selling books and making money is a long-term strategy. There are hundreds of ways to promote your book and brand. But you don’t, and can’t, do everything. Focus on the strategies that will have the long term results you want.

Now, I’ll leave you with a list of additional marketing and promotional strategies you can consider to build your brand and promote your work.

20 Ways to Promote Your Work and Build an Author Brand

Create a book trailer and post the video on YouTube or Vimeo. Set up an Author Page on Facebook and have readers sign up. You can take this a step further and create a private facebook group where you share some of your best content and insider information with your tribe. Create an author website . Use this to promote your books, blog about content in your books, and keep readers engaged through online discussions about your work and mission. Set up a professional author email. For example: [email protected] Get professional author pictures taken. Post these to your website, social media, and the paperback copy on the back. Approach foreign book publishers and try to get your book translated into other languages. Nowadays many authors are translating books into Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese and Spanish. Get video testimonials for your book. Post to YouTube and your website. Send your paperback to fans and ask them to take a photo holding up the book. Use this as a promotional tool by creating a landing page for your book. Additionally, you can create book pages for your books on your website [Note: We strongly recommend you have an author website]. Run a book giveaway on Goodreads. Write a series of blog posts related to your books and overall branding theme. Guest post blog for well-known sites and drive backlinks to your website or Amazon author page. Get featured on as many podcasts as you can. This is a great way to drive traffic to your book pages and site. Set up a URL forward that sends people to your Amazon author page. When you promote your books, you can use this URL as your main website even if you don’t have an actual website yet. Continue to pile reviews onto your book. This should be an ongoing marketing strategy. Aim for a goal of adding two new reviews per week. Set up an AMS ad for your book. You can check out this free course right here: Book Advertising: Free AMS Advertisement Course for Authors Create free content (checklist, mini ebook, or audiobook) and give it away for free inside your book. Create a virtual bundle of your books when you get several titles published. Create a course based on your book . This has the potential to be a strong upsell. Take a look at Udemy and teachable for launching your course to these platforms. Create an email autoresponder series for subscribers. Create a SlideShare presentation using the best material from your book.