My Book Is on Amazon. Now What?
You’ve likely heard me say that your work as an author-entrepreneur is far from over when you finish writing your book. In fact, that’s just the beginning. You might also mistakenly think that you can sit back and relax once your book is uploaded to and available for purchase on Amazon. If only that were true!
(Side note: If the uploading process overwhelms you and your designer doesn’t handle this for you (some do; some don’t), check out Dannie Fountain’s How to Publish on Amazon tutorial). She breaks down the steps into manageable pieces, with both text and video to guide you along. You can’t go wrong with this resource.)
Here are five ways to maximize book marketing as soon as your book is available.
Get Reviews
In the book publishing world, book reviews are gold. Pure gold. And hard to get. Ask those people you send a review copy to to write a review as soon as the book is released. Follow up as needed. (Then follow up again.) More reviews generally lead to more sales.
Don’t Skip Author Central
As an author-entrepreneur, you’re tempted to skip this since you already have either a page on your website or an entire site dedicated to your book. If you use keywords well, though, people will find you on Amazon — people who might never come across your website or otherwise find you. Give these people more information about you (including a link to your site). If your book is to serve your business, readers need an avenue to learn about that business.
Plan Promos Strategically
If you regularly plan promotions to boost book sales, this will help your book to stay ranked. Ranked books are seen more often by purchasers.
Don’t Forget “Look Inside”
This is created automatically for Kindle books, but not paperbacks. Have you used this feature before purchasing a book? I have. Often. And often it’s the reason I either do or don’t add a book to my cart and then purchase. This is essentially free advertising for you, so not taking advantage of it is silly.
Use Metadata and Keywords
Be strategic and thoughtful when choosing categories for your book and keywords used in the title/subtitle and book description. (This is part of metadata, which means “data about your book.”) The more aligned these materials are, the easier it will be for readers to find (and purchase) your book. The more often your book is seen, the better.
If your book is published already, which of these do you plan to tackle first? And if it’s not, promise me you won’t overlook these!