I have several books for sale on Amazon. Some I have contributed to and I also have more than one self-published Amazon book. And something I have realized (that maybe many don’t early on) is that selling books on Amazon is not necessarily a cash cow.
Authors notoriously don’t make a ton of money, and that’s definitely the case too in self-publishing. However, learning to maximize your efforts in advertising and using the Amazon platform can really increase and boost your sales.
But the secret?
Sometimes boosting your sales isn’t about selling your book at all.
Affiliate links included for your understanding and convenience.
How to work smart, not hard marketing your CreateSpace book on Amazon
Utilize Amazon Native Ads to leverage book sales
Amazon came out with this new tool for affiliates that allows you to embed native ads on your website, in content, and anywhere you want to drop some code to showcase products.
Simply go into your affiliate login homepage and click in the menu for Product linking and select “Native Shopping Ads”. Then you’ll want to create a custom ad.
In so doing, you’ll be able to add 4+ products to your ad. It’s responsive to be a banner on desktop and a square (if just 4) on mobile.
In one week of implementing this ad code into my top posts on my site, I doubled my affiliate income and one of my books saw 4 times as many purchases!
While I wasn’t selling enough books to pay the bills, I was seeing an overall increase in affiliate income.
This is where it’s not always about your book sales.
Your book is what reeled them in.
Especially if you utilize the heading function to announce it as ” __(Your Name Here)’s__ book publications” people are more inclined to click. They are interested in YOU and all that YOU offer. But then even if they decide the book isn’t for them and the next new shiny thing on Amazon entices them to buy, you’re still getting the affiliate sale.
Don’t be afraid of enrolling in Amazon KDP Select… it can leverage verified reviews
If you choose to submit to be a part of KDP Select, you do have to agree for your book to be exclusive to Amazon and follow their detailed guidelines. And I know for some people that have a self-published book or two, this is intimidating.
However, if you enroll, you can run free ebook specials and discount specials.
So while I sent out 50 books prior to publication on my last book, some of those reviews aren’t verified because they got posted without the person purchasing through Amazon. (That was ok for me because I wanted a few reviews before sending notifications to my subscribers that the book was live. Because most people buy based on reviews).
But I scheduled some free ebook download days and even encouraged those that hadn’t previously reviewed it to download in that time period so that their review could be verified.
The verification actually is important for the Amazon algorithms because they know that people who actually bought the product are reviewing it and it’s not just stuffing the star system one way or another. Because this could damage someone or overly improve someone’s rankings.
Spend time and/or money on creating great visual ads for your book
Great visuals typically mean great sales.
I know we’re all told to not judge a book by its cover, but we’re in such a time that people expect it to be appealing and beautiful.
So I made a 3D rendering of my book in a hardback format. Then I used that to make ads that I could place on my website, in newsletters, etc.. And it has paid off!
What’s your number one tip for someone who has a self-published Amazon Book?
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