How to Boost Your E-book Sales
As we transitioned our way into the twenty-first century, we heavily integrated technology into our lives. This integration not only changed the way we manage our social lives, but also how we spent our private time.
One of the most beloved hobbies of Americans—reading books—has also been subjected to this change. We do still read books, but our sources have altered. We now use electronic books to read the same stories that were once present in paperback form.
With the growing shift towards e-books, several writers have started publishing their writings online. This not only saves publishing costs, but also allows for a bigger, better audience. However, this being a relatively newer format, not many writers know the right way to market their e-book or how to boost its sales.
Why go for an E-book?
This is a very common question. So, why to go through the trouble of writing an electronic book when there are more stabilized platforms for publishing a book offline?
Well, a one-word answer is ‘trend’.
There are CDs available in the market, but Netflix is taking over. There are digital cameras available in the market, but cell-phone cameras are taking over. There are manuals available, but online how-to videos are taking over.
The Point: The point that we are trying to make here is that like everything else, trends in reading are also changing with time. Although unconventional book reading is still more common than e-books, the trend is shifting. With each passing year, more people are shifting towards e-books because of several different reasons. Some of these include:
- They can carry hundreds of books in a single cell-phone or tablet.
- They can buy an e-book without the trouble of going to a store.
- E-books are more environment-friendly.
These are only a few of the reasons why more and more people are turning towards electronic books. Although it is believed that printed books can never be replaced completely, their use is bound to decrease tremendously over time.
Besides the fact that e-books are more convenient for an audience, they also offer writers some great advantages, such as:
- Publishing takes a lot less effort online.
- You can sell your e-book in several different stores throughout the world.
- You can cater to a wider audience.
These are just a couple of reasons why you should rather go for an e-book rather than a printed version.
How to Boost Your E-book Sales?
Fortunately, we have just the perfect tips to let you make the most out of your e-book. Following are a few things you can do to boost your e-book sales.
Offer a Sneak Peak
One of the most common tricks of the trade is to offer people a sneak peak of your e-book. However, you cannot just offer them any part of the book to read for free.
How to do it? You have to make sure that the portion of your e-book that people read entices them to continue reading. Pick an interesting part of the book, offer it for a read. Make sure you end it right before the climax. If engaged, users are more likely to purchase the e-book to continue reading.
Make sure not to confuse it with a preview. A preview is some general information of what a reader will find inside your book. A ‘sneak peak’ is from the actual content that the e-book contains.
Use E-book Stores
There are a lot of e-book stores that are available online. Some of the best include the Amazon Kindle Store, and Kobo etc.
Put your e-book up for sale on as many online stores as possible. This will increase your chances of selling. Furthermore, the more platforms your e-book is on, the more readers are likely to go through it. This is where you can make the most of our ‘Sneak Peak’ advice and boost your e-book sales accordingly.
Revise If Necessary
This is one of the things that, if done right, can boost your e-book sales enormously. Unfortunately, it is also among the most neglected tips online. It states that if your e-book is not doing as good as it should, revise it.
How do I know if it isn’t doing well? The answer to this question is not as confusing as the question. All you have to do is keep track of the reviews and ratings.
How to do it? Look out for some similar e-books and check their ratings and reviews. See how they perform online, and compare the results to those of your e-book. If you are not doing well consistently, take a moment, go through your reviews, and revise your e-book.
Is the Benefit Worth It? Without a doubt! If you are selling, say five books on average every month at present, revising your e-book and making it more enthralling for the audience is likely to double your sales at the least.
Judge a Book by Its Cover
No matter what the common notion is, people do still judge a book by its cover. In fact, if your e-book’s cover or thumbnail is not well-designed, it gives out a vibe that the book is cheap. This is where most writers lose their potential audience.
The Best Practice? According to experts, both the title and the thumbnail or cover of an e-book work hand in hand. This means that both of them must be of high quality. Although a good title is important, an e-book with a well-designed cover overrides it. However, for best results, work hard on your e-book’s cover, and add a killer title to it.
Balance the Price
Pricing is one of the most important aspects of selling. No matter how great a writer you are, if your e-book is priced at the rate of gold, the audience will not even bother to read its description before moving on.
On the other hand, pricing it too low will make you look like an amateur writer. While some people might buy your low-priced e-book, several more regular readers will not consider it, thinking of you as a newbie in writing. You do not want to give them that notion even if you are a newbie in writing.
The Key? Find out the different price ranges of the platform where you want to publish your e-book. Look at the prices of the best-sellers, as well as of those that rank the least. The key is to price your e-book at an average of the two prices.
Vary Price Ranges
A lot of different e-books vary in prices across different e-book stores. You can even crack a deal with a certain store and offer exclusive content on your e-book there. Furthermore, you can also offer discounted prices on the stores that offer you better relative sales figures.
Take Help from Experts
No matter how good you get at writing, an opinion from a neutral person will always offer you the best feedback on your writing. This is why it is important to get it reviewed by another person, preferably an expert.
Why is this Important? Such advice will offer you an insight on what your audience might think of your e-book. This can lead to improvements, and eventually an even better piece than the original. If your e-book has great content, it is bound to hook greater audience sooner or later.
Spread the Review
People believe what other people say. In other words, no matter how well-written your preview is or how great the content you provide, if your reviews aren’t good enough, your e-book will not make good sales.
What to do? Make sure you follow the reviews of your audience. For one, they will help you grow as a writer. Next, spread the good reviews you get. Highlight them for your potential audience as much as you can. The best way to do that is to spread them all across social media platforms. Always remember that most people only select a certain book based on a recommendation or good reviews.
Everything from writing an e-book to its sales is fairly easy. Once you are done with the writing part, following the techniques mentioned above will help you to boost your e-book sales by a considerable margin.
