Selling your first book can be challenging, but with effort and perseverance, it can be done, and it can be pretty lucrative. Let me give you some steps on how you can do this.
- You need a brand.
People want to know who you are, and they want to connect with the author. Building a brand is very important because it will give your readers a sense of who you are, your background, and your best books to read.
So it’s recommended to promote yourself by building a brand persona. Remember, you will control what people see and know about you.
2. Have an Online Presence
Most if not all authors have some presence online. As a new author, you want to start strong, and building a website as a published author is the best way. It is necessary to have one, and I don’t see it as an alternative but a must.
Remember, your brand will be established on your website, and people will know who you are by what they read.
You can include the following on your site:
Bio, picture, your book or books, a link to where to purchase, a way of contacting and engaging with you, and most importantly, your social media accounts.
Don’t overcomplicate your site, and it doesn’t have to be complex; maybe concentrate on a one-page site.
3. Create a list to promote your brand new book.
Joining your newsletter is a must-have on your site because it will allow you to collect email addresses where you can stay in touch with your audience by sending them new topics and updates.
You can do this by joining email marketing software. See our recommended platforms.
They both do a great job at collecting emails, and they do offer other perks depending on what you want to accomplish; they both offer different plans, and you must choose one that best fits your budget.
One of the most effective ways to ensure the sale of your current and future publications is to build and manage an email list.
You can build a genuine relationship with your email readers and eventually convert them into paying clients.
It would help if you got started with email marketing because it is a long-term approach.
Send out monthly email updates to keep top of mind with your customers.
You can let people know about planned book signings or promotions.
Sending your monthly newsletters regularly can help you build a loyal following.
4- how will you market your book?
How are you going to promote your book? There are a few things to consider here.
- Who is your audience, and what are they interested in
- Are you going to offer a digital or paper book.
- Would you use ads?
- Will user reviews help rank your book (this is very important) because now a days, people only scroll down to the reviews to purchase something, so it is very important to catch some review for your book. – A little bit more on this later.
5. Get those Reviews
It is, I believe, an essential step to monetize your book and sell it fast. It would help if you got as many reviews as possible, especially on Amazon. The more reviews your book gets, the better it will be and become famous.
Look for bloggers and book reviewers who are interested in your genre.
Ask, plead, or persuade them to read your book and leave a review (in the kindest, least offensive manner possible).
When selling your first book, you should leave your pride at the door and be a little shameless. Humility will go a long way here.
Selecting an eye-catching book cover
An image is worth 1000 words. Your book cover can either make you or destroy you; I’ve seen many great books, but with bad caps, don’t get me wrong, they do sell, but not as much as they predicted.
So creating a well-designed book cover can help you save you some time to succeed.
Besides, where do you think the old proverb “don’t judge a book by its cover comes”?
The reality is that many people still judge a book by its cover, so your book cover must be the one to stand out.
6. Leverage Amazon book page
As a first-time author, you can use various strategies to get discovered on Amazon.
Here are a few examples: You can tweet about your book and promote it.
You can also start by giving your initial audience your book for FREE, get those reviews, and this doesn’t mean your text will be FREE permanently, only at the beginning.
A Free launch is always beneficial because you invite your readers to see what your book is about without any commitment.
Many potential readers will not even consider reading a book that has not yet been reviewed (with an Amazon-verified purchase stamp of approval).
7. Increase sales with Ads
You can market your book on Amazon in addition to selling it there.
If you decide to purchase advertising, select the option for sponsored product ads.
Using this pay-per-click ad, you can target Amazon readers with terms related to your book.
8. Leverage social media such as Facebook, Instagram
Before you can even go here, don’t forget to create your own Facebook page, a page dedicated to your book and you as an author, but make sure you begin this as a business, not a personal page. (and it’s ok a business account is FREE)
Once you do this, you can continue with Facebook ads, for example.
You’ll be relieved to learn that Facebook can accommodate any budget.
Even if you only have $5 to spend per day to promote your book, you may reach a vast audience.
If your book is still free on Amazon, I don’t recommend utilizing Facebook to promote it.
To Summarize
If you love creativity and sharing your passion, writing a book is one of the side hustles that can bring you some good income if done correctly. Whey stop at 1 book, you can repeat this process as many times as possible and have multiple books under your belt.