By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
It used to be, and
still mainly is, in traditional publishing, that you wanted a really strong
book release. My publishers like to see
good pre-orders and a high sale volume for the first month of a book’s release. They want books sold off bookstore shelves
and few returns.
That’s mostly because, in the print
tradition, if you didn’t have a strong start and your books hung out on
bookstore shelves too long, the stores would quickly end up shipping those
books back to the publisher to make room for other titles.
But with digital sales, we’re in it for
the long haul. Amazon will keep those
books for sale—there are no returns.
Having a strong start is nice…but not vital. It’s more important that we realize we’ve got
a long time to keep ourselves and our books visible—that the online
relationships and networking that we’re doing is going to continue for a very
long time.
The first time I put a self-published
book up in 2011, it took a while to get sales moving. Luckily, I’d read enough blogs at the time to
know that this was how it worked in the digital world. It wasn’t as if I really promoted the
release—I think I mentioned it on the blog.
I believe I made a Facebook mention (something along the lines of: If you’ve enjoyed my other series, hope
you’ll check out the new release in my Myrtle Clover series).
Slowly, though, it started to catch
on. What really accelerates sales is
when Amazon’s algorithms (whatever they may be…and none of us really knows what
they entail) start working in your favor.
I keep checking my book’s page to see when the “customers who bought
this also bought_____” shows up. It’s a tremendous relief when it does, because
my part is pretty much done at that point.
The sales escalate and I can start ignoring the sales and focus on
writing my next book.
Each of my self-published books has had a
slow start. Some took a week or more to
get going and others a little less than a week.
I know that Amazon sends emails to readers when I have a Penguin book
release—some folks share the emails they receive with me. But I don’t think
they’ve ever emailed readers to let them know about a new self-published
release of mine. At least, no one has
ever mentioned it. Obviously…that would
help. But their algorithm works enough
in my favor that I’m not too concerned about the lack of promo emails. And the free book promo that I run for
another book in the same series also helps with sales for the entire series.
Industry expert Jane Friedman’s new online magazine for
writers, Scratch, had an interesting
article recently in its preview issue: “The Age of the
Algorithm.” The article states:
Author Joanna Penn writes, in How to Market a Book, “Launch sales are
generally disappointing compared to what happens once the Amazon algorithms
kick in and you get some traction around reviews and reputation.” Likewise,
novelist Hugh Howey, who signed with a traditional publisher after succeeding
on his own, said during an industry conference in May, “I don’t have a
timeframe for a book to do well. I let readers be the one to discover it and
tell everyone. They can do it with a level of excitement that’s more genuine
than me. It’s a real slow burn.” See more of the article here.
I’ve gotten to the point where I’m not
restless while I wait for the book to catch on with readers. But I have friends who have other strategies
for a spike in sales at the start of a launch.
I’ve seen them:
Mention it on Facebook and Twitter (once
or twice is definitely enough there).
Throw a Goodreads giveaway for print
copies.
Send a newsletter to inform readers that
they’ve had a release.
Some have signed up for services like Wattpad or Story
Cartel to get reviews going. The
number of reviews a book has seems definitely linked into Amazon’s algorithm,
although no one knows to what extent.
Blog tour.
Whatever your strategy, it should include
writing that next book. All of the problems I’ve seen with writers who drive
others nuts with over-promoting is tied to the fact that they’re putting all of
their energy into that one book. So much
better to do some light promo while working on book two. Because one thing seems clear…the more real
estate you own on an online retailer like Amazon, the better it is for sales.
Thoughts about the longevity of book life
at online retailers? Have you ever had a
book that was slow to start? What kinds
of things do you do to spur sales for a launched book?
Image: MorgueFile: helicopterjeff