The first day I attended a public event to sell my first book, Twin Worlds, I was excited. And I sold ten books too, but only to people I already knew. Regardless, I was ecstatic. During that first event, I didn’t ask “how can I boost my book sales?” But I’m asking that question now.
The Elephant in the Room
When we talk about book sales and book rankings, we’re often talking about how books rank on Amazon. This leads to discussing the Amazon Algorithm—the way Amazon determines which book ranks above others. And Amazon rank often leads to high book sales. So when someone asks how can I boost my book’s sales, the first answer is to master the Amazon algorithm.
Several people and organizations offer suggestions for working effectively with the Amazon algorithm. It’s complicated enough that I won’t get into it much here, but there are several things to think about. The first is Amazon keywords. Those are the words and phrases we use that separate your book and help define it within the Amazon marketplace. Keywords are also the terms or phrases people use to find things online. If they were to search for thrillers with female protagonist, or books like Take Hart, they’ll get a result they’re looking for. Describe your book in ways that are clear and distinctive, yet may also suggest similar and more well-known books. If you do, people might find your book when they search.
Step by Step
Reedsy offered an extensive article about boosting book sales that I think is certainly worth the long read, and they focused first on hacking the Amazon ecosystem. One small item they mentioned was cleaning up a book’s URL, and whoever thought that something as small as that could help? Yet by changing a book’s URL on Amazon and making it shorter, a book’s URL is much easier to find, and it’s easier to share the link with potential readers. But here’s something else: part of the longer URL that is admittedly messy might be the terms—the keywords—that readers can use to find the book. If those search terms don’t grab you, you might consider changing the keywords attached to your book within Kindle.
Reedsy also mentioned your reader magnet, within the “look inside” part of the book’s listing. They contend that placing some of the items in the book that really grab readers into the front matter. This will draw people in when they click on the “look inside” tab. They go so far as to suggest that you place a few electronic links into those few pages. These can direct readers to your website, or to download something that draws them into your universe. And the more people are drawn into your website, the more likely they are to purchase your book, and share it with others. They shared a YouTube video on crushing keywords for Amazon. Definitely worth a look!
Beating the Bushes
Self Publishing School focuses much of their attention on marketing books. But that isn’t quite fair, since they also offer several suggestions on assessing how effective your Amazon categories and keywords are to boosting your book’s rank. One important takeaway I received from watching the school’s videos was the importance of a launch team. These are people who agree to read your book early on, then provide a review on the first day of book launch. This has gotten a little more difficult recently, since Amazon includes the “verified purchaser” label for products, but a valuable strategy nonetheless.
Self Publishing School also suggests getting more reviews as a central strategy, but also push authors to land interviews to discuss their book, perhaps on local radio and secure book endorsements. This can provide great back cover copy for your book. Further, they point to purchasing ads on Amazon or Bookbub that can give your book sales a hot in the arm.
There are a ton of ways to answer the critical of question of how can I boost my book sales. If nothing else, shift from “my book is out for sale: yay!” to “my book is out for sale, what’s the next step to boost my sales?” That mindset shift may be the key to everything.
