You finished your book. Congratulations!
How do you get someone to buy it?
A great book doesn't find readers. Once the book is finished, stop thinking like the writer, and start thinking like a reader.
Who Is Your Book For?
Before worrying about Facebook ads, Amazon rankings, book signings or publicity, consider:
Who has a reason to buy this book?
Who has a problem, interest, desire or question such that they'll spend money to get your answer?
That's your market.
If you wrote a book about running, your potential reader may be searching the internet because they started running and set a goal to run a marathon. Maybe they are looking for an effective traning regement.
If you wrote a book about songwriting, it might be someone who already sings or plays guitar and is trying to write a song, stuggling with how to write a great one.
If you wrote a climbing guide, they may already be looking for information about a particular climbing area.
Don't start with: How do I promote a book?
Start with:
Where are the people who need this book?
The Title Is Part of Selling It
The title is important.
It needs to tell or intrigue someone enough that they want to know more. It may determine whether someone searching for the subject even discovers the book exists. A clever title that means nothing to someone who doesn't know the book can create a marketing problem.
A book doesn't need a keyword-stuffed title.
Ask: What will someone think this book is about when they see the title for the first time?
Your cover continues that conversation. The title gets attention. The cover creates an impression. The subtitle explains the promise. The description on the back cover closes the gap.
That's marketing.
What “Bestseller” Means
The word, bestseller, sounds objective. Best-selling where? During what period? In what category? According to whom? Selling how many copies?
Different bestseller lists measure different things.
Amazon Is straightforward. Amazon knows the sales figures for books sold on Amazon. Its Best Seller Rank is based on sales for a book relative to other books in a given time period.
The sales rank on Amazon is updated hourly. A book can move up the charts (or down it) fast. Exactly how many sales are required and over what period isn't something Amazon discloses. Some authors concentrate their promotion to sell more books around a launch date in an attempt to move thier book high enough in the rankings to appear on an Amazon Best Sellers list, if only for a short while.
Category is important.
A book can become #1 in a particular Amazon category, without being close to the #1-selling book on Amazon. It's common for an author to say, “My book was an Amazon bestseller.” Maybe it remained there for months. Maybe it was there for a day. Maybe it appeared there briefly. The statement "Bestseller" doesn't tell you more or how many copies were sold.
Don't confuse, “This book was an Amazon bestseller," with, “This book sold a lot of copies.”
The New York Times List Works Differently
The New York Times says it collects weekly sales information from thousands of reporting vendors, including independent bookstores, chains, online retailers, supermarkets, universities, gift stores, department stores and other sellers.
It doesn't publish a total of all books sold and rank those totals from highest to lowest. The Times says the sales information it receives is “statistically weighted to represent and accurately reflect all outlets proportionally nationwide.” We know some of what goes into the calculation. We don't know how those inputs become the final ranking. We don't know the reporting vendors. We don't know how the statistical weighting works. The publicly available information isn't sufficient to independently reproduce the ranking.
The New York Times Bestseller list isn't a published count of every copy of every book sold. It's a ranking produced from particular sales information using a methodology created by the New York Times.
Which Sales Does the System Measure?
I can't say that the New York Times measures brick-and-mortar bookstores and ignores print-on-demand. We don't know the answer to: How are the places where my books are sold represented in the measurement?
Suppose one book sells primarily through major bookstores. Another sells through Amazon, the author's website, speaking engagements, conferences, professional organizations, specialty retailers and direct orders.
Would 10,000 copies sold through the first collection of outlets affect the ranking the same as 10,000 copies sold through the second? Assuming they would be treated identically is an assumption.
Think About Radio
Suppose I create a list of popular songs and used information from a particular group of radio stations to construct it. A musician might sell a lot of records directly to fans without receiving any airplay on those stations. If my measurement doesn't include those sales, the song's position on my chart vs. number of records actually sold tell different stories.
The same principle applies to books.
A Bestseller List Isn't a Total Sales List
A bestseller ranking during a particular period isn't the same thing as book sales.
Imagine Book A sells 8,000 copies during a period and makes a bestseller list. Book B sells 500 copies every week for years and never has a concentrated period of sales to make that list. After two years, Book B has sold more than 50,000 copies.
Which one is the bestseller?
One made the list.
The other sold more books.
Don't Build Your Strategy Around the Label
I don't recommend "Become a bestseller," as an objective. Getting onto a bestseller list may or may not generate publicity, credibility and visibility. Work towards something more useful:
Are people buying the book?
Is the book reaching the people I wrote it for?
Is it accomplishing what I wrote it to accomplish?
Are they continuing to buy it?
The same applies to contests, awards and similar labels.
Award-winning book sounds impressive. Which award? Who entered? Who judged it? What were the criteria? How many books competed? Most importantly - did it help me sell more books? Who, besides those who enter and win such contets have actually read the books in the contests, other then the authors and judges?
I'm not suggesting awards are meaningless. The label contains less information than assumed.
Do you want bestseller bragging rights or sales?
I choose the second.
I'd rather have a book people continue buying for ten years than one that appeared on somebody's list for a day and disappeared.
Don't Obsess Over Amazon
Amazon matters.
Amazon isn't your entire market.
In my experience, I found that substantial book sales came from places other than Amazon. Depending upon the book, sales can come through:
your website
book stores
speaking events
courses
clients
other online sellers
A book about a specialized subject may sell well within a particular community without becoming a mass-market or Amazon phenomenon.
The objective isn't to rank high on Amazon - The objective is to get the book into the hands of the people who want it.
You Don't Have to Release Everything at Once
Don't release the hardcover, paperback and an ebook simultaneously.
Every new format gives you another reason to talk about the book.
Think about what happens after launch.
You email everyone: My new book is out!
Great.
Two weeks later, what do you say?
Remember that book I told you about? Please buy it.
Two weeks later: Have you bought it yet?
That's not a marketing strategy.
Now imagine instead that the hardcover comes out first.
Later: The paperback is coming next month.
That's news.
Later: The ebook is now available.
That's news. You've created several legitimate reasons to put the book back in front of your audience, without simply repeating the same advertisement. It also lets different readers enter at different price points and in the format they prefer.
Everything does not have to happen on launch day. Spreading releases out gives the book a longer life.
Publicity Can Sell Books
My first-book experience is a good example.
One media appearance put the book in front of a large audience. It was an audience that suddenly had a reason to care about the book because someone was talking with me about the subject.
Podcasts, radio, television, articles, interviews and speaking appearances give you an opportunity to demonstrate why what you know is interesting or useful. The book becomes the place someone can go to learn more.
Spend time asking: Where can I talk about the idea behind my book?
You're promoting the idea.
The idea sells the book.
Book Signings Sound Better Than They Are
I have done tons of independent book signings. I'm not particularly enthusiastic about doing them. I've done independent bookstore signings, brought people into the stores, dealt with the coordination and promotion, and found that the number of books sold didn't justify the work.
That doesn't mean never do one.
If you're already speaking at an event and 300 people interested in your subject are there, having books available makes sense. Driving three hours to sit behind a table hoping strangers walking through a bookstore will buy your book?
Maybe.
Calculate the time and cost. If you sell twelve books and earn a few dollars on each, was that a successful use of your time? Will it help your book sales at all?
Perhaps it was if you met someone important, generated publicity, built relationships or accomplished another objective.
A Book May Be Worth More Than Its Royalties
Books are business cards.
Suppose you make $5 when someone buys your book. Great.
What else happens?
Someone invites you onto a podcast. A conference hires you to speak. A journalist calls you for an interview for an article. A prospective client discovers you. Someone hires your company. An organization asks you to teach.
The $5 royalty may be one of the least valuable things the book produced. A book establishes something that is difficult to communicate with a résumé: I know enough about this subject that I wrote the book on it.
A book becomes an authority tool.
That Changes How You Measure Success
Imagine two books.
Book A sells 10,000 copies and produces nothing else. Book B sells 2,000 copies and leads to speaking engagements, clients, media appearances, consulting work and opportunities worth many times the book royalties.
Which was more successful?
It depends upon why you wrote the book.
If your goal is to make your living entirely from book royalties, copies sold matters enormously. If your book supports a business, career, cause, speaking work or professional reputation, copies sold may be only one measure.
Before trying to make your book successful, define success.
Write More Than One Book
Write another book.
One book can sell another. Someone discovers one title, likes it, and looks to see what else you've written. That's why you'll often see an Also By page near the front of a book. It's why Author pages matter.
It's why the economics of writing can change when you have a body of work, rather than one isolated title. If someone discovers you through Book 7 and ends up buying Books 2, 4 and 6, Book 7 just sold four books.
The books begin promoting each other.
Don't rush your first book into print. Your first book is marketing for your second book. If someone buys the first one and loves it, you've created a potential reader for everything you write afterward.
If they buy it and think it's mediocre, publishing another book doesn't solve that problem. Selling your next book actually begins with making this one as good as you can.
Don't Try to Sell a Book - Give Someone a Reason to Want It.
Nobody cares that you wrote a book. Why should they care? What will I learn? What problem will it help them solve? Will it entertain ? Does it contain information one can't get somewhere else?
That's what you promote:
Here's an interesting problem, idea, story or question. I've spent enough time working on it that I wrote a book about it.
Selling Starts Before the Sale
Writing, publishing and selling a book look like one process. They're three:
Writing:
What do I have to say, and how do I say it well?
Publishing:
How do I turn that manuscript into a professional product?
Selling:
Why would someone want it, and how will they discover it?
Solve them in that order.
Don't compromise the manuscript because you're rushing to publish. Don't make publishing decisions solely based on that you think they'll manipulate an Amazon ranking. Don't assume publishing the book means people will somehow discover it.
Write something worth reading.
Publish it well.
Then find the people who have a reason to care about what you wrote.
That's how to approach selling your first book.
See also:
How to Write Your First Book
How to Self-publish Your First Book
About the Author
Daniel Stih is the author of 14 books, covering subjects ranging from environmental health to climbing, music, relationships, and personal development. He has worked with both traditional publishers and self-published his own books, giving him firsthand experience with writing, editing, book design, print-on-demand, distribution, marketing, and selling books. He's published books in color and black-and-white, hard cover and soft.
His first book became a bestseller following a radio appearance, and his books have gone on to support speaking, teaching, consulting, media appearances, and other professional work.
These articles aren't a formula for becoming a bestselling author. They're based on what Daniel has learned from writing, publishing, and selling books.
Learn more about his approach: Why I Think This Way.