OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
I love answering your questions and I'm always happy to share what I've learned on the journey, but recently I have been receiving the same question over and over again, namely,
“Help, my book isn't selling. What can I do?”
Most of the time people include a link to their book on Amazon and I can see immediately why they aren't making any sales, because although I'm an author, I'm a reader first and I've been shopping for books on Amazon for years.
My Amazon #1 bestselling book, How To Market A Book covers everything in details but the following checklist will also help you identify your problem and solve it quickly.
I have also included lots of links so you can find all the extra material on this (ever-growing!) site.
[As always, these are not rules, because there are no rules in this crazy, fast-moving self-publishing world. There will also always be outliers who get away with not doing any of the following, but these will at least help with some guidelines!]
1. Is your book available as an ebook?
99% of indie authors will not have print distribution in physical bookstores, and I would postulate that all the success stories we have heard in the last 2 years about indie authors and huge sales have come from ebook sales, not print.
Print books can be a good idea if you have specific reasons around wanting print. I decided against print but in 2013, I changed my mind, returning to print editions for all my books.
BUT/ if you want to sell a lot of books online, then make sure you have an ebook for sale as well.
There has been an influx of ebooks (and print books) self-published in the last year, as well as traditional publishers beginning to re-issue backlists digitally. I've heard a lot of people complain about this so-called ‘tsunami of crap', but personally, I believe you can surf the wave and make good sales even if you're starting now. The ebook market is growing globally as new countries come online and even within markets like the US and UK, ebooks are becoming more widely accepted.
So first off, get your ebook published.
I use Scrivener for formatting in Kindle, ePub and Word formats and then I publish on Amazon KDP, Kobo Writing Life and Smashwords or BookBaby for the rest (US citizens can use B&N Nook PubIt as well.) It's not hard if you spend some time with the various help pages.
2. Has your cover been professionally designed?
Book buyers still shop with their eyes. If people make it to your book sales page and your cover is terrible, they will not click the Buy button.
Don't use a painting your child did or that you did yourself. Don't DIY based on a YouTube video. Don't assume you can make a professional cover.
Do research your genre on Amazon and take screenshots of books that stand out in a good way.
Do take pictures of books you like with fonts and designs you like.
Do check out the ebook cover design awards at TheBookDesigner.com to see some great covers and some truly awful ones. Then hire a professional cover designer, give them that information and work with them to create a professional cover.
If you don't have a budget for this, then work extra hard until you have that extra money. Seriously, I believe this is non-negotiable if you want to stand out in the crowded market.
3. Has your book been professionally edited so it reads well?
I am passionate about the value of editing and editors, especially for new writers, or books in a new genre.
You should edit your books until you can't stand them any longer, and then you should consider hiring a professional editor to help you take it further, because you cannot see your own words after a point because you know the story so well.
You need other eyes, preferably professional eyes who will critique you honestly and tell you where the problems are, especially if the book is truly awful – and sometimes it is (and that's ok because you can write another one).
Stephen King in ‘On Writing' says to rest the manuscript for a while, so put it away and when you have some distance, read it again. You may be horrified by what you find but better now than when it's out there in the world. Here's some more articles on editing and my recommended editors.
If you can't afford a pro editor, then you can try using a critique group of readers within your genre, or join a group like the Alliance of Independent Authors to network with other like-minded authors in order to network and potentially barter your skills. Bartering shouldn't be underestimated in the online world.
But definitely do not publish your book if only you and your best friend, or your Mum, have read it.
4. Have you submitted the book to the right categories on the ebook stores?
Sorry, but not everyone will like your book.
You may think that everyone will, but they won't. You might not want to put it in a box or a genre or a category, but you have to because that's how readers find it. The category/genre reader has expectations and if you don't ‘fit' they will be disappointed. That's not to say you need to follow any specific rules in your writing (let's not get into that now!) but when you load it up to the distributors you do have to choose which categories and tags to use and they need to be meaningful.
You need some distance from your book in order to do this, but consider where your book fits within the online bookstores. This means deciding on the categories, tags and keywords associated with your book.
It's also important to match reader expectations and the promise of what your book delivers with what your book is actually about.
There is no point having a book with a swirly, girly pink chic-lit cover in the horror section of fiction. It won't sell, however good it is.
There are some scammy sites out there that will tell you to aim for the categories that will rank the best in order to have a Bestseller on Amazon. That's just silly because your book won't match the expectations of the readers and even if you get a bump in sales, it will completely dry up very soon.
You can choose a category that fits your book AND is easier to rank in, for example, I use categories Action Adventure and Religious Fiction. I rank occasionally for the former and consistently in the latter. That's optimization, but it is still true to the book and to the reader's expectations.
If you're struggling with this, choose 3-5 authors your book is like, not what you want it to be like, but what it is really like. That will help you find the right category.
A great book on categories and Amazon algorithms is David Gaughran's Let's Get Visible.
5. Have you optimized your Amazon sales page with a hook, quotes from reviews and other material?
I have seen some Amazon sales pages with not just typos but terrible grammar.
Some of them make no sense at all. Some are just the back blurb with no review quotes or other things that might draw a customer in.
Basically you need to treat the product description like a sales page. People will not buy your book if your description is badly written or hard to understand because it's an indication of the quality of your book. Here's another great article on 11 ingredients of a sizzling book description.
If you want to see a fantastic example, check out CJ Lyons Bloodstained which continues to rock the Kindle charts. That product description seriously rocks. CJ also explains all of this in our ProWriter Marketing course.
You can format your sales description with colored headlines and other funky HTML by using Author Marketing Club's Premium service (which also includes a fast-track way to find appropriate reviewers).
6. Have you priced your book realistically, or at least tried different price points?
It's important to say on pricing that no one has a clue how to price ebooks and authors are having success at many different price points. Check out this great article on The Passive Voice and the comments below to get an idea of the widely different levels of pricing and success.
However, I had one author ask why his debut novel wasn't selling, and when I checked his sales page, the ebook was priced $11.99. It was his first novel and he had nothing else for sale.
However good your book, however marvelous the cover, your first novel is unlikely to sell at that price. Most ebooks are under $9.99, and a lot of fiction is under $7.99, with many indie books being under $5.
The 99c price point still has some power even after the algorithm changes but you might go somewhere in between, changing your price with promotions as well. I have my books at $2.99 right now so I make $2 per ebook. You get to set your own prices but there's no way you'll sell much at those very high prices.
7. Have you written, or are you writing another book?
Sure, there are some breakout successes, but most indie fiction authors making decent money right now have 5 or more books. For non-fiction authors, you can expect to make your money on back-end products and services and not book sales anyway.
The more books you have available, the more virtual shelf space you have, the easier it is for people to discover you. Plus if a reader finds one they like, they may buy them all so you make more per customer.
I was as guilty as anyone of trying to hype my first novel, because it took so long and I thought it was a precious snowflake. I still believe you have to hustle those first thousand sales with everything you have, but my sales and income jumped when I released the second novel with very little fanfare because I already had an established presence on Amazon and they do a lot of marketing for you when you have multiple books, e.g. emails to people who bought your last one.
I am also fascinated by the rise of novellas and serials as a way to create more books, more quickly. Hugh Howey is a great example of someone who wrote novellas in different series and then continued the direction of the stories for the novellas that took off, Wool being his most famous and lucrative. I am definitely moving into this model in 2013 in between longer works.
8. Have you done some kind of promotion or marketing to let people know it is there?
Again, there are no rules and in fact, everyone has different results from different marketing tactics. Some hit a mega-success with none at all, but I do think that you need to hand-sell your first 1000 readers because they won't just appear out of nowhere.
Remember: Marketing is sharing what you love with people who want to hear about it. You don't have to be hard salesy, scammy or nasty. Just be authentic and share your passion.
If you need some starter tips, you should definitely be building your email list from your own website and also from a signup at the back of your book.
If you do that with book one, you will have at least some people to market to with book 2. It's a start, and it grows over time. This is my only non-negotiable recommendation for authors, because you never know what will happen with all these sites we depend upon for sales. If they disappear, or the terms we publish under change, then your email list of fans and buyers is all you have.
I also believe that social media can sell books, but it is a slow build over time and you have to have other goals than just book sales, e.g. networking with peers and other authors. It's not instant sales so you can't rely on it. The whole author platform thing is massively useful in so many ways but it is only one aspect of book sales.
If you have some budget you can pay for promotion, but be targeted and track results.
The biggest leaps I had on the Amazon charts were from paid promotional pushes on sites that market direct to Kindle readers. I have used Kindle Nation
Daily, Pixel of Ink and BookBub and there are new opportunities all the time. I more than made my money back but the rankings were worth it. Prophecy hit the Action Adventure list above Lee Child! (of course, it dropped away but the screen-print is worth gold!)
Free is still a great option, especially if you have multiple books, as it means people can discover your work with no risk. Fantasy author Lindsay Buroker talked about this in our interview where she revealed that the first book in her series is permanently on free with her other books at $4.95. You can do this by making your book free on Smashwords and eventually Amazon will price match it.
9. Have you asked for reviews, or submitted to review sites?
There's been a lot of scandal about the sock puppet reviews but reviews are still critical because they give your sales page social proof and they feed into the book site algorithms.
I give away a lot of free books to people who might like my genre and ask that they leave a review if they like it. No hard sell, no pressure, no expectation. This is easy if you have built up a list from the last book, or if you have built a platform and in fact is one good reason to do this. Traditional publishing has been doing this forever so it is not a new or a scammy tactic.
Remember that not everyone will like your book and not everyone will leave a review, or a good review, but it is a start. [And remember, don't respond to bad reviews!]
You can also contact book bloggers or Amazon reviewers to get more reviews. This is hard work if you do it manually, but you can use the Author Marketing Club's Premium service to short cut the process by finding reviewers for books like yours.
You can also listen here to Rachel Abbott in this interview talk about how this strategy got her to #1 on Amazon.co.uk.
10. Are you working your butt off?
Generally, I'm an even tempered type of girl, but when I get emails from people asking why they're not successful and they've done nothing on this list, I get a little annoyed!
Especially when this site has over 700 free articles on writing, publishing and marketing and there's 75+ hours of audio for you to learn from for free. Oh yes, and a 57 page Author 2.0 ebook on all this.
That's all available for free, but I also have a book you can buy for less than the price of a coffee – How To Market A Book.
There is no excuse not to be educated, even just from this site.
I absolutely believe that you can be a great writer and make an income from writing.
I have to believe that for you because I believe it for me, and I have left a stable job and steady income to take a chance on being an author-entrepreneur. I've been on this path since 2007 when I decided to write my first non-fiction book, so I am 5 years into working my butt off to change my life.
But writing books is not a get rich quick scheme.
I look at authors like CJ Lyons, Scott Sigler, Chuck Wendig, Joe Konrath, Bob Mayer and so many others and I know they are working their butts off every day writing and getting their work out there. The recent success of Sean Platt & David Wright in landing a Serial deal with Amazon is because they work incredibly hard at writing all day, every day to produce new content for their market. They are my heroes.
These guys are pros and they know it takes hard work to get there and hard work to stay there.
So please, if your book is not selling any copies at all, go through this checklist and honestly evaluate what you have done and how much effort you have put in. Please also share this with other people who may be asking the same question.
I'd love to know what you think, so please leave a comment below. What other tips can you give for people who aren't selling any or many books?
Images: Bigstock Help button, Bigstock Buy Me button, Bigstock price tags, Bigstock hard work ahead.
Carl says
One Ingredient Most Authors fail to include in selling more books is Imagination ! This One Ingredient can boost sells ! Authors often put this ingredient into their writing of their Books but neglect sometimes to put this same powerful ingredient into their Marketing ! Your Target Audience is already waiting for you … They devour Books Like Chilren eat Cake n Ice Cream . But they dont always want the same thing presented in the same manner as everybody else ! Doing something different in how you Market your Books will captivate their ATTENTION !
Clinton Riffe says
My book was published about 3 years ago; and I must say that I’m extremely disheartened by its lack of sales. I don’t want to brag, but it is well written, well researched, and well marketed. In fact, I’ve paid thousands of dollars to market it. I’ve paid so much, in fact, that it is dumbfounding to me that the folks to whom I paid my hard earned money can only come up with one reason for its pitiful sales. They say that I (yes I) am not doing enough to sell it. If I’m supposed to do all the selling, why did they take my money? I have another book “in the oven” but I’m not sure I’ll ever bother finishing it. I’ve read the comments of people here; and, to be honest, I’d be GLAD if my book sold HALF what theirs are selling. I am REALLY disheartened on so many levels. My book is on Amazon.com. It is available through Ebook. I’ve done everything that most others have done; but my book isn’t selling as it should. So, rather than just vent, I’ll say that I’m glad I found this site. Maybe eventually, I’ll read something that will help me.
Charles Hurst-Author says
Clinton,
First off I’ve heard this story before so brace yourself.
I knew a writer personally, Rick McKinney who had a publisher take about 2000 dollars and did nothing but go to Vegas.
I was a former fighter so I’ll put this in terms of the fight game and writing game since there seem to be similarities.
Ever heard of a boxer being used to build up another fighter’s win rank? I have read that a lot of publishers will take your writing and for about a minute you feel great and then sell you marketing tools and fees which they use to advertise the writers that are already selling. Maybe the Penn can comment but that’s what I’ve read and heard. So underdog Joe finally gets published and jumps for joy and a year later is just as poor as he was before or maybe poorer.
And there are countless stories of the publisher making the author continue to market for them. What do they care? They make most of the money off your labor. If you don’t market well they didn’t put any money into you and probably made a chunk off the fee.
Same story with agents. Joe agent that gets nothing done.
I had nothing a year ago. I published and watched the ranking on amazon go to the millions. I’m better off than I was now with two months nonstop work. I’m self published. And the one engine I’ve used is twitter. I’m out of country so will be back in two months to start other avenues.
Tony Robbins once said instead of fumbling about trying to figure out what works copy the recipe of those who have succeeded. HINT: Author of this website–note she is now a full time author and successful and still building.
And keep writing no matter what. I will even if the trickle goes dry. You’ll be gone in a hundred years—Poe died broke–and we still read him. In the end you write for you.
Charles Hurst
Dr Patrick McNally PhD says
Hi Joanne,
Thank you for such an informative website. Your knowledge and passion truly shine through your words.
I totally agree with your description regarding N0.1 Best Sellers. My latest book went to number 1 for a short time, we made sales, then as you rightly point out, rankings drop…without constant work.
I am based in Australia and have discovered that selling my books through Amazon is not profitable due to the tax laws between the two countries (we get taxed twice). … ouch
However I love taking advise so we are going to lower the prices of all my books in the next few days and see if we can start some marketing and promotions.
Thank you again for such valuable information.
Dr Patrick McNally PhD
Anthony Nicolaides says
I have been writing GCSE and GCE A Level Maths books since 1990 and I would like to sell many more, the only shop that helped me to sell some of my books is W & G Foyle Ltd of 113-119 Charing Cross, London, WC2H 0 EB
Maureen R. says
Very helpful and ditto! I recently published my 3rd educational book on dog training, relationship, balance and well-being. Fifty Shades of Grey or well know author type books fly, but educational books are difficult to market unless one is willing to pay $1,000’s for an agent or expensive marketing campaign (Steve Harrison comes to mind).
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maureen-Ross/454539794585238
Maureen Ross, Author of Awareness Centered Training – ACT
At all major booksellers in e-book, s/c and h/c 🙂
Randi Kreger says
Maureen, you don’t pay for an agent.
Anthony Nicolaides says
Dear Joanna,
I like your writings and explanations are vivid and enthusiastic, you are a literary author.
I am an academic author who deals mainly of Mathematics at GCSE and GCE A LEVELS, a logical subjects, Oxford and Cambridge Universities would like two GCE A Levels in Maths to read for a Music Degree.
My main aim is to include the full solutions of all the exercises so the student can check and learn after firstly they have attempted to work out.
With warm regards.
Anthony
Jay@OnBeingACop.com says
Joanna,
I am a first time author with no marketing experience. I found the information in “How to Market Your Book” to be invaluable. I’m convinced that by following your plan I will be successful. I’m so glad I found your ebook on Amazon and signed up for your newsletter. Thanks for all of your help.
Anthony Nicolaides says
Maths is a logical subject, most pupils find it difficult, it is easy, try to understand the topic by practice and practice and practice, starting with ample simple examples and keep going forward with graded exercises. I have started writing simpler books, interesting and exiting in order to motivate more people.
Anthony
Roger Penfound says
Fantastic advice Joanna. I love your passion. Have studied and re studied ‘ How to Market a Book. It’s my bible.
Am trying now to develop my blog http://www.theguestwhostayed.com. Have set myself a target of 3 years to move from obscurity to ‘phenomenon’ and am charting the progress on my blog as I apply myself to the task. Twice weekly ‘nothing barred’ reports. Drop by if you have a moment and check on my journey. Best Wishes. Roger Penfound
Paul Garcia says
I know I have only scratched the surface but the many tips and links you provide are so helpful and well written. You hit my situation right on the head; I am hustling to get the first 1,000 copies of my Christian romance novel sold so I am eager to learn everything I can to get my sales exploding!
Andrew Pearce says
Joanna, I’ve recently started writing a non-fiction book on the subject of IT Best Practice. I’ve contributed to ebooks before, have a number of blogs, and have ghost-written technical & training manuals for clients. A real book in my own name, for publication and printing, is a new direction for me though.
I recently joined your list and downloaded your “Author 2.0 Blueprint”. I want to say thank you for it because the advice in there, most especially around splitting out rights and not selling all en-masse, is invaluable.
Rest assured that I shall remain on your list, and that I’ll be buying your “How To Market A Book” when the time comes.
Thanks again, Andrew
John Scully says
My book was published by PublishAmerica and they have it for sale on internet bookshops. Initially I was not satisfied with them as they refused to answer questions about the publication. After paying $315 and signing the contract I discovered that they were scamming writers and that I would never receive any money from book sales. I asked for return of the money and cancellation of the contract but they refused. Many writers have made complaints against the publisher and I decided to join them and filed a complaint with Rip Off Report. I feel now that as a result of my complaint that they will not notify me about sales of the book. I would be very thankful for advice as to what I could do about this?
Joanna Penn says
Hi John,
I’m so sorry you had to suffer through this but I can’t give you any legal advice I’m afraid – I’m not a lawyer and that’s not the purpose of this site. My main aim is to educate people to avoid such terrible situations. My recommendations for publishing and publishers is on this page:
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/01/15/how-to-publish-a-book-101/
including a reference to watchdog sites and ways for authors to check out companies before spending any money. I hope you will continue writing, and avoid such pain next time.
All the best, Joanna
lovely Joanna says
My books are titled
Man on a mission
and
your way to success (the secret behind the fall of man)by peter Arrey Tambe
tell me why poor sales. ..
very good books but my publisher do not give me the access to know how books sold…what should do?
Brian says
Dear Peter, Your publisher, or whoever, did a terrible job of designing your book and non of the amazon rules have been adhered to. I am surprised Amazon have let it be in their store! The books looks gastly. Not much wonder it is not selling. I am also not sure that there there is much of a market for this type of book. Sorry to be so negative but I felt I had to tell you. Have you had a look at the layout and presentation and book description of other books? You must be able to see the difference.
Danielle says
The book is only 39 pages and it sells for $2.99. I’ve purchased much longer books for that price. Some people may not see the value in it.
Julius Bannerman says
I wrote a EBook called ” Real Stories My Mother Told Me” it has been out since November 15, 2013. http://www.amazon.com is carrying my EBook and others. I have I advertised it continue on Twitter and my facebook account. It there any other place I could go to get free adverting. That is my big question
Marianne Sciucco says
Great article. I’m always looking for ways to increase sales. Even in these days of social media and online marketing, it’s always a good idea to go the “old-fashioned” route out and bring your book directly to readers through book readings and signings, special events, and public appearances. I put together a presentation on my adventures in publishing and offer it to community groups. I enjoy meeting book people and their feedback is priceless.
Anthony Nicolaides says
Dear Joanna,
I have purchased your book, HOW TO MARKET A BOOK, from Amazon, I ordered it on Saturday afternoon and I received it the following morning which was Sunday, amazing!
I have started reading it and I am learning every moment. I would like to have someone to implement and do my Marketing and pay for it.
However, my new year resolution is to write basic Mathematics Books.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014
Anthony Nicolaides
BC Brown says
Joann,
Fantastic article! So informative. I’ve been publishing since 2007, came into the market with absolutely no knowledge of what I was doing (except how to write, that is!), and have learned through trial and error since. Blogs like yours with informative, helpful, and positive information have been my saviors.
Your checklist is amazing. Yes some may seem like common sense, but it is astounding how often common sense flies out of the window. Especially when you’re overly excited about getting your literary babies out there for the masses of readers. Myself, I’ve been guilty of a few misses on your list. BUT I’ve learned and corrected those mistakes.
I did not realize you had How To Market A Book out (since I’m new to your site). I am headed that way now. Thank you for your expertise.
I am compiling a blog article for my own site regarding the most helpful sites for writers that I’ve found. I hope you don’t mind if I link to your site on it? I won’t do so without your consent. If you’d like, you can feel free to email me direct. Of course I’ll check back here periodically to see if you leave it on here in a comment, which would be perfectly understandable. I understand busy schedules.
All the best and BREAK A PEN!
-Billie
BC Brown Books
http://www.bcbrownbooks.blogspot.com
http://www.amazon.com/author/bcbrown
Blood Ritual Monarch says
Thanks Joanna,
Your info is brilliant…you have really inspired me!
Cheers
Jason Akal says
Dear Joanna,
I am a new writer. I usually just think out my ideas and tell other people and they use them. Recently, my brother convinced me to write my own book. I have made my own type of foundation on my “style” of writing, BUT when I sit to write, all I see is the book in a movie form. In other words, I can see picture in my head not really the words. Comes to the question, is there a difference in writing movie scrips as oppose to writing a book? On the other hand, do I just start writing and then hire someone to make it book quality. I know this is a stupid and a logical questions but being told from a professional is different than me thinking it myself.
Thank you so much,
Jason Akal