Book Publicity: Leveraging the Power of Amazon
(This post originally appeared on the Veronica's Nap blog of author Sharon Bially, who is head of our book publicity program.)
You may have already heard me shouting in excitement about the fact that the Kindle version of Veronica’ Nap has been selling like crazy!
Since the free promo I ran on Friday, January 13, it’s been downloaded by over 6,100 people, has reached #1 in the Kindle Jewish fiction category (it’s now hanging in there at #4, just a few spots below international blockbuster Sarah’s Key) and hit #2 in the overall contemporary fiction category. Sales have continued steadily since the promo at about 40 per day.
People have been asking: “What’s the trick to making this happen?”
While there’s no single trick, there are many steps authors can take that’ll up the chances of making Amazon work to sell their books. Most importantly right now is: Enroll in the Amazon KDP Select program, which gives authors who agree to sell their e-book exclusively on Amazon the chance to run 5, 24-hour promotions over the course of 90 days.
With millions and millions of users each day and all sorts of mythical algorithms that supposedly help get books in front of their most likely audience, Amazon is perhaps the single most powerful book promoter there is.
I’ll also venture to guess that two things may have contributed to the success of my own first promotion:
1) Listing Veronica’s Nap in Amazon’s Jewish fiction category.
The Jewish reader market is colossal. If indeed Amazon is using its magical algorithms to target it, I’m sure that’s given Veronica’s Nap a promotional steroid shot.
This kind of fine-tuned targeting makes perfect sense not only on Amazon, but also from an overall marketing perspective, as I’ve blogged about at Writer Unboxed.
2) Having many four- and five-star Amazon reader reviews.
When total strangers click on a book’s page and see 20 customer reviews averaging just about 5 stars, they’re probably compelled to explore further. A list of positive reviews that keeps growing surely helps, too.
* * *
Which leads me to three other things that I think are key for everyone:
1) A book’s product description.
As a PR pro, I cannot emphasize enough how important this one-paragraph summary of a book is — and how important it is for this description to be spot-on and professional-grade. Not professional fiction-writer grade, but professional marketer grade. I’ve seen too many authors miss the mark with their own their descriptions by leaving out the points and language that will hook readers (and including lots of verbiage that won’t).
2) The “Look Inside” feature.
Gotta have it. It let’s readers make a quick decision about whether they want to read more. Which brings me to the need for….
3) A kick-*ss first line and page (then second, then third, etc.)
Remember the age-old “first page” rule about making the first page, the first sentence, even the first word as compelling as possible to hook an agent? It’s more important now than ever. Agents often say they’ll know by the end of the first line whether they’ll keep reading a manuscript. A book’s potential readers will, too. If you’re a new or unknown author, this is your chance to draw them in.
And I’m a firm believer that in today’s publishing marketplace, it’s readers’ opinions that count the most.
