199 Ways To Improve Your Relationships, Marriage, And Sex Life
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How do I sell more books?
Hello! My name is L. B. Sommer. On September 2, 2012 I published my first book on the Amazon and Kindle websites. Like most new writers, I quickly realized I had a problem and found myself asking, "How can I sell more books?". Subtracting the books that were purchased by my family and friends, I calculated at the end of the first month that I had sold a total of only three copies of my book 199 Ways To Improve Your Relationships, Marriage, and Sex Life to people online. After doing some serious research and reading, I soon understood I was going to have to find better ways to distribute my book myself, as my new book is just one of several million books available online. I am now on a quest to publicize my first book, while simultaneously writing another book titled 199 Ways To Market A Book Online. I hope this step by step guide that I am building will help other new authors to advertise, market, and circulate their books too. I do not have all 199 book marketing techniques and suggestions completed yet; however, I hope you will follow along as I develop this book marketing guide.
199 Ways to Market Your Book
Written by L. B. Sommer
Self-publish book with Amazon Createspace https://www.createspace.com/
Self-publish e-book with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
Self-publish e-book with Barnes and Noble Nook
Talk to your local bookstores Many local bookstores have a section highlighting works of local authors. Talking to your local book store owners may be all that is needed to get your book stocked into their inventory. If the store is locally owned and the management has the authority to make decisions whether to stock your book or not, then giving a free sample to the owner or manager is probably a good investment. Hopefully once they see the quality of your work they will be willing to stock your book.
Consign your books at local stores You can keep the investment cost down and the risk of loss low by only consigning a few books to each store. Make sure your pricing structure allows the store to make approximately a 40 percent profit margin.
Do a book signing tour The fastest way to start selling books now is to do book signings at local bookstores. Unfortunately this requires the investment of buying books, business cards, brochures, banners, and more before you can even begin.
Read and research SEO Before you can begin building your all important website you must understand the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Having a basic comprehension of how search engines work and rate your website will allow you to build an effective website that will appear higher in the search results. Even if you intend to pay for SEO services later it is best to understand these concepts so you can build and add the best quality content to your website as you go through the steps below.
Choose an effective domain name Short and sweet is the best way to go. For search engine optimization you want to have some of your keywords included in your domain name. If you want to use your name or title of your book, SEO specialists recommend using a hyphenated version of names. I definitely recommend a few minutes of research before choosing a domain name,
Research keywords For search engine optimization it is important to build a website that is full of commonly used keywords and key phrases. You want these important keywords to appear in your domain name, in the name of your webpages, in your headings, in content of the website itself, and in the keyword and other various fields of the metadata. I highly recommended using the keyword tool on Google Adwords BEFORE building your website. Since google is the most used search engine, it just makes sense to try to please them first. This is the google link: https://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool
Build website(s) A website is your best long term marketing tool. After the long and arduous process of building an online presence and reputation, your website will work 24/7/365 to sell your books and make you money. Yet you must be patient and mentally prepared to invest yourself in online marketing for at least a year or two before your online snowball will be rolling unabated towards the profits you deserve.
Consider paying for search engine optimization service If you are going to pay for a website to host your website then you should try to find one that includes search engine optimization in the price. You can also find websites online that will run an analysis of your website for free. Keep in mind that these free service programs will always rate your website low in hopes of selling you their service, but their free reports often point out specific mistakes that you can fix and can offer valuable clues to areas where improvement is needed.
Verify keywords in the metadata are not blank Most web sites that will host your website do not offer much technical help in Search Engine Optimization because this is usually a service they are trying to sell you in their not so free upgraded websites. Usually the host website is waiting for you to fail so they can sell you this important service. To make your website appear high in the search engine listings you will need to find the section where keywords and other metadata is stored and verify that the correct keywords are being generated and stored by your host website.
Verify web page titles are not blank or the same for every page Once you have found where keywords are stored in your website building program the page title and the metadata description should be nearby. Each page of your website should have an unique name that concisely describes the contents of the page. Remember to use your keyword research tools to find the most effective keywords and phrases as possible.
Verify web page (metadata) decription is not blank
Verify web page headings are using the most effective keywords possible
Start a blog
Update your website and blog regularly Add new content and posts regularly to your website and blogs to encourage search engine worms to visit your site regularly. Unfortunately to succeed in earning a living in writing you will have to spend as much time marketing as you do writing for the first year or two.
Create links connecting your new accounts to your website This is one of the most important steps to having search engines give you high rankings. Each link that the search engine finds pointing to your website from another website, especially a large and respected website, helps to increase your ranking. Once you have firmly established your presence online, these links will be created by your readers through their normal online interactions. In the meanwhile, it must be your daily goal to create new links on large, well-known websites that point back to your website. The next dozen or so suggestions will help you accomplish this goal.
Open a Google+ account https://plus.google.com/
Create a Google Author profile with photograph When done correctly your google author photo will now show up in Google search results. Google search results that have an author photo attract many more clicks than other search results without photos.
Link your web content to your profile photo by signing each web page https://plus.google.com/authorship#authorship
Open a Facebook account You will be able to link your Facebook page to many other websites you will create. It is important to post new and fresh information to your friends and fans from these websites, but if you post too much you will cause your friends and followers to block or unfriend you, so balance is important.
Create a Facebook Page
Open a Pinterest account Create book boards for each of your books under various search terms. (Example: Good E-books, Relationship Books, Non-fiction books, Self-help, etc.) Also create boards with material related to the subject matter of your book. I personally found Pinterest to be a more effective marketing tool than the majority of other famous websites. My website statistics show more traffic directed from this website than from most other better known websites. Note: When creating new boards with pins it is best to put the pinned material on your author website first. If you pin from your author website, the pin you create will show your web link at the bottom of the pin instead of the website from wherever you found the material. this will help to improve traffic flow to your author website. Also make sure you use the description field to highlight your book and your name. If you can create funny and interesting pins that are original, you will attract readers to your book. They will buy your book hoping that your book is as fresh and creative as your pins.
Open a Twitter account
Open a LinkedIn account
Open a Goodreads account Although there are 100s of similar websites, Goodreads is by far the largest readers website. It can prove to be a very valuable asset for someone marketing their own books. I strongly encourage you to invest a considerable amount of time and energy to making your presense felt on this website. www.goodreads.com/
Create an author page on Goodreads After creating an author page you will need to add your books to your author page. After waiting a couple days, make sure to verify that your books are appearing in the Goodreads search results too.
Use the listopia book lists on Goodread This is a must do step, as the results will pay off quickly!!! Add your books to the the appropriate lists. You can add your book(s) to up to 100 lists so be creative in searching for genres and classifications that match your book. Don't forget to look for catagories such as Kindle authors, Kindle, books, indie author, indie books, Oklahoma authors, best books for under $5, best books of 2013, etc. http://www.goodreads.com/list
Ask friends and family to do book reviews for your book(s) on Goodreads
Start a Goodreads discussion group about your book(s)
Do a promotional book giveaway on Goodreads
Join the Authorgraph website Authorgraph is a website that allows authors to sign autographs online for their e-books as well as their printed books. Your book will be automatically featured on their front page of their website until at least 4 new authors join the category to which you are assigned. You will then be featured in the "see more authors page that follows until at least 16 more authors join. http://www.authorgraph.com/
Participate in Mobileread forum http://www.mobileread.com
Participate in Kindleboards forum http://www.kindleboards.com
Participate in Librarything http://www.Librarything.com
Participate in Nookboards forum http://www.nookboards.com/forum/
Participate in Absolutewrite forum http://www.absolutewrite.com
Connect with Good Books List If your book is for children or young people this may be good avenue for you to explore. http://goodbookslist.com/
Submit a reading list proposal to Flashlight Worthy Be creatvie. If your reading list proposal is accepted by Flashlight Worthy your name, the name of your book, a short bio, and permanent links to your book will be advertised for free as the creator of this list. http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com/contribute.php
Check out and read Sellingbooks website http://www.sellingbooks.com/
Seek book reviews from local newspapers
Seek reviews from professional book reviewers
Talk to your local radio station
Talk to your local newspaper
Talk to your local TV station The program director at your local TV station my be able to offer suggestions for getting free exposure and publicity. Especially in smaller TV markets, there may be opportunities to be a guest on a particular local show related to the subject of your book or get a book review done by one of the local TV celebrities or commentators. In many smaller markets it may also be possible to advertise for free one of your upcoming events, such as a book signing at a local store, in one of the local news program or on the TV station's website.
Talk to your local library
Talk to local businesses related to your book's topic
Advertise books on Craigslist Advertising books on http://www.craigslist.org can be an effective and free way to attract readers to your website and books. Unfortunately you are limited by their policies on how many ads you can place, but if you use multiple computers, various email accounts, different IP addresses, and different content in your advertisements you can maximum your reach. Craigslist has been very effective for me in selling e-books.
Give your book away for free At first this may seem contradictory to the idea of making money, but giving away your e-book can be profitable if you request a donation from those who enjoyed reading it for free. If marketing your book online becomes too complicated or time consuming this may be a good option for you. This may also be a good option for unknown writers with several published e-books. Giving away one e-book for free can lead to publicity and sales for your other books, especially if your free e-book advertises your website and other books in the final pages of the book.
Lower the price of your book It can be more profitable to sell a thousand e-books at 99 cents than it is to sell 3 books at 15 dollars each. A book on Amazon selling for 99 cents nets about 35 cents profit only, but a thousand sales a month nets $350 compared to the $15 you might net selling 3 books with a profit of about $5 dollars each. Don't be afraid to experiment with your price, and do not be shy about asking for donations on books that are sold at a steeply discounted price.
Advertise your website and other books in the back of your book Each book you write should advertise your author website, your social media websites, and any other books you have available in the last pages of the book. Those who enjoy your book will often share your name and book with others if you gentle encourage them to do so. If you place the proper links in the back pages of your e-book, your readers can also be encouraged to write reviews about the book they just read. Remember each link that your readers create online pointing back to your website will help to enhance your web presence and improve your search engine rankings.
Advertise yourself on T-shirts Making T-shirts can be an affordable and fun way to advertise your book. MY FRIEND (or A FAMILY MEMBER) WROTE A BOOK, SO NOW I AM STUCK WEARING THIS T-SHIRT is a good slogan that can be used with a photo of your book cover.
I hope this webpage has been helpful to you. In an effort to improve this page for others, I am constantly looking for new suggestions and websites to add to this page. If you have any helpful suggestions you would like to appear here, please send your ideas to mailto:author.LBSommer@gmail.com
