Why Your Book Page is UN-Selling Your Book

In Jan 2012 I worked with a couple authors who were having a hard time selling their books, and I helped one of them hit Amazon's Top-100 in the paid store, and the other came very close. Since that time, I have helped other authors evaluate the basic elements of their Amazon book page that are actually "UN-selling" their book.

Believe it or not, many new and not so new authors are scratching their heads, wondering why their book, as well written as it is, is not selling. They look at their monthly KDP reports, and their Amazon ranking and wonder what's going on. If that is you, the problem could be that you are on the inside looking in, and are not seeing the big picture. The following is an example of such an author.

Hayley Doyle came to me for help, and I found several issues right away. She gave me permission to share the following "book evaluation" so that others can learn. Put in context, Hayley had a literary agent, but a deal was never struck with a publisher, so she went ahead and self-published. Since that time she has sold very few copies. This is the only book that she has published on Amazon, although she has another she could publish. So... she's a first time author, with one book published. This is pretty common among indies, so I'm guessing there are some out there that will read this and apply the following analysis to their own page. I wrote this book page analysis about a week ago, and we talked today about a few steps she can take to begin "fixing" some of these issues. As you read this, I hope it helps you.

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Hayley, After studying your book I have found several items that may contribute to poor sales. Some are obvious to me, but there may be other issues under the radar that we will have to discuss. WARNING: I'm very honest, which is what you paid for. 

Here are my findings, starting from the top of your Amazon book page.

Title: The Day She Met Shirley Temple

Author: Hayley Doyle

Price: $7.99

Current Ranking: 845,460 in the Amazon Kindle Store

Print Ranking: 3,668,349

You do not have an author page set up. The author page is the first thing I look for because it's right at the top of your book page. You do not have one, and you should. Creating an author page is easy via Amazon Author Central. From AAC you can edit your book's description and add your author bio, pics, video, and social media links. Why is this important? Because with only one title listed on Amazon, readers have no idea why you are a credible choice or who you are, and have no way to follow you if they want to. The reader/writer relationship is more intimate today. They want to know about you, and want to follow you if they like your work. 

You only have 1 "Like". This is a sign of popularity. Amazon readers do participate in this. Seeing only 1 like may actually be a turn off. You need to recruit friends and family to like your page as much as buying the book (I "Liked" your page btw). How does this help? Amazon factors a lot of elements from your book page into your ranking and internal Amazon promotion. The more likes, the more Amazon recognizes your book as a valuable/likable product. That goes for the the other social media buttons. Use them regularly. Tweet your book page. Facebook share your book page. Pinterest your book page. Every time you do this, Amazon registers another tick up in your book's popularity. Do these things impact your Amazon logarithm as much as a sale? No. But they help... especially if they come from different IP addresses (yeah, Amazon keeps track of that so no sense in using 10 different accounts from the same computer). 

You only have 1 review. Reviews build trust. Too many bad reviews and sales will completely die. Lots of good reviews, and you have a far greater chance of selling. KDP Select is a great way to get more reviews. The only other option is to work your tail off, searching for the right reviewers and soliciting reviews from them, just like you have done with The Kindle Book Review--Great job! For additional info on getting reviews See my article on building a blog tour. After being published for nearly a year, having only one review on Amazon is a big red flag to me.

Price: $7.99 is way too high for a first time, self-published eBook--unless you are already famous or fresh off a reality tv show, or if you won an award as prestigious as The Bram Stoker Award. In addition, with the author's name as the publisher (your name), as listed in your book details, there is no hiding the fact that you are self-published. You don't have to, but it's not like a reader will know that your book is vetted by someone like Thomas Mercer, or Penguin and trust that the $7.99 is worth the cash. The length is right for the price But only IF you were traditionally published by a reputable publisher. I recommend selling no higher than $2.99 and maybe even 99¢ until you boost your ranking (where you will actually be seen). As a newer author, it is more important for you to grow your audience. So make the book affordable and include a link for readers to join an email list, or your facebook page. Put audience growth over profits, for now.

I have a unique philosophy on pricing. Read this article for my thoughts. No sense in re-writing this. In a nut shell, if you want to grow a reader fan base, don't over price your books. You may make $5.00 for every sale, but is it worth it when the cost is losing 100 readers for every five bucks? I'm all about gaining readers. That's my plan. Money comes with more titles, not an over priced rookie effort. There are those that will say, you are worth more, and that you shouldn't sell out to penny sales. Let them think that. I make $2,000 a month from 99¢ books, and that number grows with each new book I write. Eventually my stock price as an author will go up to match the size of my audience and I'll make much more then. New corporations start as penny stocks for a reason.

Cover: The Shirley Temple cover looks cute and all, but without the actual title and author name on the cover, I don't think the attempt at rectangular originality is going to work for you... yet another strike against you as a newbie... not in my eyes, but in the eyes of the reader. Look at the best selling books in your genre. They don't look like yours. Yours looks similar to the other non-fiction titles shown on your page. But your is not non-fiction?

Here's a book that one of your buyers purchased. It is not a historical fiction, and it is not selling all that much either.

Search results: When I do an Amazon search with the key words "Shirley Temple" the top three books are ranked as follows: 142,000+, and then 422,000+, 661,000+, and then your, which  is fourth, which is good, but you can see that you are being pigeonholed into a niche category (with no sales). The 142,000 book is probably only selling a few copies a month (5-10) and that's in first place.

This tells me that if your book is a historical fiction, you need to lose the Shirley Temple stigma. It looks too much like a ST non-fiction title. There is no audience for this topic/theme. Here is the list of the top-100 historical fiction kindle books. This is where your cover needs to be if you want to sell in this genre. I suggest updating the ebook cover, maybe to match your print, although the print version still looks a little sub par because the image has low image quality and is blurred. (no offense, just comparing to the top 100).

Tags: I usually comment on "Tags" but I haven't seen them lately. Amazon may have stopped that. Tags were a way readers can help categorize books buy typing/adding key words that they thought were relevant to the content of the book. So nothing to say about that.

Category: I don't know what 2 subject categories you chose when you published. These are critical in helping readers find your content/subject. Let me know what those are when we talk.

Key Word Selection: When you published via KDP select you were given the option to chose up to 7 key words. Go to your KDP account and find out what you typed in this section. Then, along with your two categories you chose, type those words (individually) into the Amazon search bar, and jot down a note about the top one or two book covers, and make a note of their ranking. If after doing this with those 9 words, ask yourself if you are satisfied with the rankings of these books and if they look like the kind of titles that fit where you want to be... which is in the top 100 Historical Fiction category.

Not in KDP Select: I absolutely think this is necessary for newer authors... especially those with only one or two books... that means you. Read the attached article to see why I think that. I'm just now moving out of KDP (with reservations) but I have 7 working titles and one more to be released (although my first is pretty much a bomb... but that's how I learned). 

Formatting: I see formatting issues on the first page in the "Look Inside" edition. This may also be a turn off for readers.

Okay, that's enough to take in I'm sure. Try not to be discouraged. This is a tough business and not all writers are fully prepared to be publishers just because they wrote a book. There's a lot to learn now, and after you think you have everything down (pub, marketing, design, and hot genre) it all changes and you have to learn something new. That's just the way this business works. Ultimately, you have to keep writing more books. Books sell books. I'll leave you with this article:Common Lies Self-Published Authors Believe. Read this as well before we talk. And on behalf of the publishing industry as a whole, I apologize that this is so overwhelming and ultimately frustrating. But in order to be successful, writing/publishing must be a labor of love. 

Now, let me know if seeing this book page evaluation helps you! 

If you think you could benefit from this type of evaluation or some of my other author services, check out my gigs on fiverr.com

Ten Crazy Ways to Improve Your Writing

There are a gazillion books on how to improve your prose, but I bet you haven't seen my list before. Well it's Monday and I felt like being silly, so I thought I'd throw in a few of my favorite one-liners on how to improve your writing. I hope they bring a smile to your face, and help motivate you to not only write good well, but to enjoy life.

Ten  Crazy ways to improve your writing:

1. Talk to strangers
2. Travel more.
3. Do something that you've always been afraid of. 
4. Ask for forgiveness when you don't feel like it. Study your feelings and the receiver's response.
5. Sit in the mall and study everyone you see.
6. Go to the Library and spend an afternoon reading travel books.
7. Spend an afternoon visiting a retirement home and ask the residents to tell their story.
8. Read a chapter of your favorite book, and hand copy a few pages.
9. Walk through your town or city and study the streets and alleyways and sounds.
10. Sit in Starbucks and create character sketches of everyone who walks in!

Well I hope that was a fun list. No rules. No time constrains. Just simple and creative methods to help you understand people, visualize details, and to spark some ideas. 

Oh, and by the way, The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe is NOW available in print. In fact it is so hot off the press that the product description isn't posted yet. I hope you get a copy because it is so pretty and I worked really hard on the interior layout. I even used really cool boxes for you to check whenever you follow a step.

And guess what? You do not have to be an indie author to glean its wisdom. The Indie Author's Guide is for any writer, published, indie or not.


PS~ How do you like my new SEXY Twisted Vengeance cover? If you like it, will you tweet it for me?  If you do, I'll send you a free copy of Creepy. Just contact me via my email box and let me know, or DM me on Twitter @TweetTheBook. Thank you!

Jeff Bennington is the author of Twisted Vengeance, Reunion, and Creepy and now...
The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe is only $3.99 in the Kindle Store.

 

Can You Bring Your Book Back From the Dead?

Does your book appear to be dead? Is it laying six feet under a pile of 100,000 other books or more?

If it is, there may be hope.

In the last few weeks I've worked with several authors whose books have been in the 100K zone and are now doing much better. Recently I consulted with author and Lawyer Laura Rizio. She is currently in trial on a big case against the Federal Reserve (imagine that), so she is very busy as you can imagine. Her novel, BLOOD MONEY was struggling. Her cover was in need of a face lift, and her book page was dull.

She had great reviews (19 with a 4.8-star rating) so the quality was there, but her cover screamed SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHOR. As a lawyer, she writes about what she knows, so the story has the strength of experience. But Laura's issues had more to do with a lack of information and experience in the publishing game.

When Laura contacted me, Blood Money was ranked over 100,000 in the Kindle store. I gave her a few recommendations, created a new cover, and convinced her to join KDP Select. One week later as of 7:16 a.m. EST, her book is ranked #4 in Amazon's free Kindle store, with the power of 20 great reviews backing her up. My political thriller, Killing the Giants, is close behind at #12.

Soren Petrek, author of Cold Lonely Courage, who recently hit the Top 100 paid in kindle said, "Cold Lonely Courage is #76 paid in Kindle #4 Historical and #19 in thrillers. Great work from the folks at The Kindle Book Review. I would encourage every Indie author to explore the great promotional services they offer. I plan to use TKBR for my other kindle books Patience County War and Angels Don't Die. Jeff Bennington designed the eye catching book cover for Angels. I love it!"

Al Boudreau, author of In Memory of Greed said, “Jeff Bennington has an understanding of the ebook business that truly impresses me. I've taken his advice and it has made a huge difference in my career as an author." Al's book is currently ranked in the 10K range, selling at $2.99, versus the 80-100,000K range (Amazon rank) where he was a few weeks ago.

So what's happening? What are these authors doing that has brought their books back to life?

First of all, they were all open to advice. They knew something wasn't working and they were willing to listen. Secondly, none of these authors are prideful. They were willing to drop their price, change their cover, and try something new. They were aware that they were doing something wrong and were willing to change.

My prediction is that Laura Rizio, if she continues following my advice will land in the top 100 paid as well. Her success has come because she wrote a great book and had it professionally edited. That was her smartest move. The advice I gave her does not compare to her skillful writing. That is, and always will be the bottom line to a writer's level of success.


It is my belief that if an author can write a compelling story, he has a greater chance of success, now more than ever, especially with Amazon's KDP promotional tools. As always, an author's success is partly due to luck, partly due to diligence, and partly do to his or her level of skill. But the combinations of all of the above are endless. So if a book has kicked the bucket, it's up to the author to discover the cause of death.

Is there any hope for bad writing and poor editing. Only if the writer is willing to try again. In that case, I recommend taking the book off the shelf, and hire a professional editor. However, if the plot is hot, and the writing crisp and fresh, a writer need only tweak a few details to get his or her book back on track. I call this literary CPR. All you have to do is breath and pump three times. If you can do that, you can bring your book back to life.

BTW, the principles I've taught these authors are in my forthcoming book, The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe. I also offer a consulting service. I can analyze your book, your author platform, and offer advice that can quite possibly change the course of your career. You just have to be willing to try something new. If you are wondering what your doing wrong, check out my author services page, I might be able to help you out. 

Be sure to support the authors listed above. They are very talented. Then sign up for my regular blog posts by email so you don't miss anything. BOOM!

Are You Ready for the NEW Black Friday?

It's coming! Can you hear it? It's a happy sound. It's the sound of wrapping paper crumpling, tape tearing and the oohs and aahs of readers around the world opening their much anticipated Kindle, Kindle Touch or Kindle Fire?

It's a sweet sound; the sound of Kindle love. And is there any better gift?

If you're an author, I hope you're listening to the joy, because the next week, in my humble opinion, is going to be the equivalent of Black Friday. Excited Kindle readers will tinker with their new toys and spend their Amazon gift cards on our books. Did you hear that? On our books...yours and mine.

These are very exciting times. Indie authors have so much to be thankful for. We're experiencing a time when technology has caught up with big business, an unbelievable opportunity to show the world that there are writers with exceptional talent, and worthy of notoriety with or without a publisher.

There are so many reasons why this is good news for writers and especially good for readers, but I don't want to beat a dead horse; Joe Konrath has covered the pros and cons of indie publishing.

My question is, are you ready for the NEW Black Friday?
Is your bookstore looking as good as it should? Is your hook catchy? Is your cover attractive? Are your editorial shelves in order? Have you put your best deals out front, in a nice display for all to see?

What's that? At least one of your books are on sale, right? You know, your "leader", your introductory book set at a bargain price, enticing readers to try more of your work?

Okay. Maybe you only have one book. Fair enough. But while we're on the subject, lets talk pricing.

Did you set the price at 99¢, $1.99, $2.99, $4 or more? This is an interesting question that many people are talking about. However, in my opinion, we shouldn't be debating whether a 99¢ book is devaluing books in general, but rather, discussing the size of an authors audience.

I think authors should set their pricing based on demand for their work (i.e., the significance of your platform). If you're struggling to sell anything, your audience/customer base is obviously low. You should set your prices accordingly. If you're selling by the thousands, there's probably enough demand to raise your prices a bit. But whatever you do... remember to think like a business person.

But I'll warn you, if you see Stephen King's $15.99 ebook prices and then scoff at authors who have set their prices below the $2.99 mark, remember that name recognition goes a long way, and some of us don't have it. Think about it...

Do book buyers around the world know who you are?


Do you have an ever growing email list of hungry readers?

Or are you like me, fighting tooth and bloody claw to get folks to notice your kick a•• thrillers? I mean seriously, if readers knew how hard I've had to work to get my name out there, they might buy my books out of pity, or because they love rooting for the underdog, of which I am the head of the pack.

Or maybe they wouldn't.

Either way, don't take slow sales personally. Simply press on, working diligently toward your goals.

Think... Get 'em in here, dazzle 'em with my best work, my best price, and then win their business with a quality product ~ as in a well written, well-edited book, with professional ebook formatting.

Whatever your audience looks like, let this post serve as a reminder that indies are humble book-store owners, fortunate to have a relationship with the largest ebook seller in the world.

I recommend varying your prices, offering deals, and generating demand for your best work. That's how successful businesses operate. That's what I'm doing. And honestly, I couldn't do it as well without Amazon's Select program.

In fact, I can't wait to share the juicy details about what the Select program has done for me already. However, I've been invited to write a guest post at The Creative Penn after the New Year regarding KDP Select, so you'll have to wait. Sorry.

For now, polish the brass, wax the floor, and get your books in order, because Christmas is here. Millions of Kindle owners will be knocking on your door. Are you ready for them?

Below are a few tips to get your books in tip-top shape.

BONUS TIPS for Amazon success: 

• Is your Product Description page Selling your Book? If not, I can fix that. I've bedazzled my book pages, linking all my titles and posting my accolades. I re-work your html for only $23. Look here ~> Glam! Bam! Thank you, ma'am!

• Is your Cover really cool? If not, there's a million other books that will draw the attention of readers away from YOUR book. I can fix that for only $79. Look here ~> Get a face lift.

• Are you lacking reviews? Reviews sell. Of course you need a GOOD book to get good REVIEWS. But if your book was professionally edited, I can fix that. ~> Send your book to The Kindle Book Review. 

• Discover all the services I offer. Look here. ~> Author Services.

Merry Christmas and thanks for reading. Follow my blog by email so you don't miss any posts.

~Jeff Bennington is the author of Twisted Vengeance, Reunion and Creepy.

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A Sure Fire Way to Get More Readers

In this world where $ rules, there is one simple trick that will get you more readers. 

But before I tell you what it is, I need to make sure we are on the same page; otherwise none of this will apply.

Page 1: I'm assuming you have a great book and that you have had it professionally edited. I'm also assuming that your writing is fresh and interesting and your plot is to die for.

Page 2: I'm assuming you have a brilliant cover, because if a reader doesn't like the art, he or she ain't gonna buy your book. (And do not give me crap about sayin' ain't... this is just a freakin' blog. Get off your high horse)

Page 3: I'm assuming you have written an eye catching and interesting blurb on your book page. If the reader isn't hooked by your "hook" (or lack thereof), why would he or she spend money on something that is not interesting?

Okay, so we're on the same page. Your book is awesome. I get that. Mine is too. Good. Now what's the secret? Simple. One word. Free. Yes, free.

Free is the new word for sales. Don't believe me? Ask any one who signed up for the KDP Select program. Ask anyone who has given away 1,000 copies of their book. Ask anyone who has received a gift that they didn't deserve. Free is good. Free is nice. Free is better. Free is word of mouth. Free is your friend.

So what's the big deal? Why even bring it up?

I'm posting this because we are embarking upon a season when we give and receive gifts. It's a time when we can all relate to how good it feels when someone gives you something you don't deserve. In fact, getting almost feels as good as giving something away.

If you've ever thought, I'm not giving away my book that I spent months and even years working on. My time and talent is far too valuable to throw my labor away like that, I'm here to tell you that you are DEAD wrong. Everyone loves a cheerful giver. Everyone loves a gift. And everyone remembers the one who gave them something for free.

So the secret to more sales is...give your book away.

Workin' the world of freebies is something that's hard for authors to understand because they're ready to recoup their publishing expenses. But as I've said in the past, indie publishing is not for the one-trick pony. It is a life-long journey; one that you cannot help to traverse once you have strapped on your boots.

Bottom line: We all want to sell our books. But remember to give your ebooks away, at random, from your blog, in contests, as gifts, to help promote your other titles and just because you like doing it. If you don't love the smiles, you'll love the boomeranging sales.

HINT: Amazon has this really cool algorithm that has a funny way of putting your book on A LOT of book pages every time you make your book free. When that happens, more eyes see your book. When that happens, if you've done everything right (i.e., we're on the same page) you will sell more books. Wink. Wink. BOOM!

Incidentally, REUNION, my #1 best selling suspense thriller is FREE today and tomorrow in the Kindle Store. If you have a Nook and would like a copy, leave your email address. I'll get you a copy asap. 


~ Jeff Bennington is the author of Twisted Vengeance, Reunion and Creepy

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Like my book covers? I designed them and I can make one for U2. See my Author Services Page.