Go take a look at the top sellers on Amazon and see how many are indie published. Look at their sales ranks and marvel how they are hitting top sales, while your own novel languishes down at rank 500,000, dropping thousands of more ranks daily. Ask yourself what they are doing that you’re not.
Have they written a much better novel than yours? If not, and you can confidently say your book is just as good, then what is it that’s boosting their sales? Like with any successful business, publishing is a business. There are people who have an edge, a driven focus that propels them to the top. If you don’t have the drive, you’ll not make it in a very competitive world.
Here are my top tips for climbing those charts and beating the competition, maximising earning potential.
1. Be enthusiastic about your book
When people ask you about it, be genuinely excited. You’re a published author and be proud. If someone asks you what it’s like, talk about it with enthusiasm. Remember when you first started writing the novel, how exited you were? That’s what you have to tap into. To you, this is the greatest book you’ve written until the next one is out. Don’t doubt yourself.
2. Generate a desire in people to buy your book
Why should they choose your book over the millions of others? What are you doing to promote the book? The book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, describes how people are really only interested in what they want, not what you want. They don’t care you want to be the number one seller. All they want is an entertaining read, a book that grips them. Think about what book yours is similar to and hit that audience, promising if they enjoyed that latest Stephen King book, they’ll love yours if it’s similar.
3. Getting reviews for your book is a must
Think about when you’re looking to buy a book to read. You go right to the reviews after reading the description, right? That’s if the description has you interested. If you don’t see reviews, how do you know if you’re going to like it? We love other people’s opinions on things before we buy something. Reading a novel is an investment in time, and people value their time. I personally used a site called Netgalley which is made up of thousands of reviewers who will get your book in exchange for an honest review. I’ve managed to achieve 30 reviews from this site, which translated into at least 5 extra reviews on Amazon and 20 reviews on Goodreads. You can even use quotes from reviews that don’t make it to Amazon which is where you really need to be focussing.
4. Create your author platform, an identify for yourself
This can be a Facebook Author page, a website, or a blog. Get people interested in you as a person. Don’t do this by constantly asking people to buy your book; they’ll get bored of this because you’re not generating interest in what they want, just what you want. Book selling should only make up around 20% of your content. Aside from friends and family, who cares if you’re completing your third draft, or if you’ve written a great scene?
5. Learn about marketing
Study how Amazon works. The key is to make your book visible to others. There are a number of techniques you can use including using Amazon keywords and having a good book description. Your description, or blurb, must generate a buzz, give the readers a hook. Why is your thriller different to the others? Make it stand out!
6. Invest in a book on marketing
You can’t just put your book online and hope it sells. After an initial spike, it’ll drop off. Find methods that will keep sales going. If you can reach the high positions in a chart, you’ll be more visible to people. I recommend the book How to Market a Book by Joanna Penn. The book has been very useful to me and opened my eyes to a neglected part of publishing for indie authors, that of marketing.
Above all, remember you’re not just a writer, but also a salesman. If you can’t be both, you might as well forget about writing and making the big money. The potential of a second income is there. Others are doing it daily, making enough so they can give up their day job. Wouldn’t you want to be one of those people? Imagine your day if writing is your main job?
This is just a few suggestions you can think about in your indie writing career. The help is out there, you just have to go and look for it.