When any client asks me a tough question, I want all clients and email readers to benefit. This week, a client asked me why her book isn't quickly and easily popping up on Amazon's first page when friends enter her name or the book's title. You may wonder the same thing. I am sure you'd like for your book to get more visibility on any/all search engines, right? MOST books are sold through Amazon (like it or not), and the ugly truth is that we have little control over how Amazon operates. BUT the good news is that there are steps you can take to improve your odds. Here's the quick answer I offered the client.
The more people who buy/look for your book, the easier it will be to find. Key words (in the book description) and metadata (info entered at the time of publishing) are important. I am quite deliberate when I enter that information. The best work you can do now is provide the link anytime you post about the book and keep asking for Amazon reader reviews.
Here's a quick list of tips:
- Enter as much information as you possibly can into the Bowker (myidentifiers.com) pages when you assign your ISBN. If you don't know what that is, let me know. If you published with Crippled Beagle Publishing, you are good to go, but you are welcome to remind me to triple check your Bowker pages! You may have more information now, and my team is happy to add it.
- Fill in every box, blank, etc., when you upload your manuscript to Kindle Direct Publishing or IngramSpark (or both). Again, if you published with CBP, you are good to go.
- Complete your Amazon Author Central Page. This is a valuable and FREE landing page, so take full advantage of it!
- Make sure your book description (the blurb that shows up on your book's Amazon page) includes keywords. Think about genre, audience, topic, questions your target readers are asking, story arc, hook, setting, and plot. We can update that information any time via KDP and/or IngramSpark.
- Check the categories for your books. Make sure they are correct. This can be tricky. When selecting categories, I often look at bestsellers in the same genre, content area, and audience as the book I'm publishing. I never try to trick readers. I do try to find niches.
- Consistently ask for reviews for your books, and consistently post reviews for books you read! I'm working on some tools to help you, so keep checking these Friday emails.
- If you'd like to dig deeper, here's a good article I shared with the client who brought up this helpful question: https://justpublishingadvice.com/amazon-search-results-for-books/
- MOST IMPORTANTLY: TAKE MARKETING SERIOUSLY. Many authors finish their books, publish, and sit upon their author thrones and expect royalty checks to magically appear. Mistake. Play your odds wisely. King Author (hahaha), you need a queen!
“Content is king, but marketing is queen, and the queen runs the household.” —Gary Vaynerchuk
With that in mind, in the next few months Crippled Beagle Publishing will launch two affordable monthly membership programs to help authors succeed on their schedules and budgets.
Regal Beagles Creative Writing Club: Through this monthly membership, I will teach you how to write a book and/or improve your writing. Many thanks go to my University of Tennessee students for helping me develop this program. Founding members will enjoy the price of $87.00/month (grandfathered). This price is limited to the first 10 registrants. If you'd like to be on the waitlist, reply to this email.
Royalty Club: Through this monthly membership, my team and I will help you develop a strong, consistent, marketing plan and offer valuable tools you can quickly implement to grow readership and increase your book sales. Founding members will enjoy the price of $37.00/month (grandfathered). This price is limited to the first 10 registrants. If you'd like to be on the waitlist, reply to this email.
If you need help or have questions about any of the above, you may always set a one-on-one appointment with me. Here's the link to set an on-demand coaching appointment: https://calendly.com/jodydyer/coaching-one-on-one-1-hour
HAPPY WRITING AND MARKETING!
xoxoxo
Jody
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