Written by Robert Niles
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Archive Link I'd like to follow my previous three articles on how to publish an eBook with some tips for increasing sales. While these tips are intended for promoting eBook sales, the principles behind them apply to promoting any digital content.
Ask your current readers
Any time you launch a new product, present it to your current readers and customers first. They've already demonstrated an affinity for your work.
I also think it's a good idea to "beta test" new products, including eBooks, with selected readers before introducing them to the public. Your readers can provide fresh perspectives that alert you to issues you might have missed before launch.
While beta testing's invaluable for catching buggy code, I think "early reviews," if you will, from an audience can help you clean up and sharpen an eBook before publication. They are especially helpful if you're truly publishing on your own, and haven't otherwise had another set of eyeballs on your copy before you publish.
Your current readers are your viral agents, too. You need them telling their friends to tell their friends to buy your book, just as you need them telling their friends to tell their friends to read your website, "like" your pages on Facebook, etc. Do what you can to get them excited about your book.
You ought to know by know what resonates with your audience, so I won't get specific here. Some audiences love a direct approach. Others like a sarcastic take. Pick what works with your readers. But do not neglect to engage them as you prepare your eBook for sale.
In the marketplace, pick your targets wisely
If your eBook is successful, most of your sales will come from people who aren't your current readers, but who find you through the big online book retailers, most notably Amazon.com.
But how will prospective readers find your book among the millions for sale online?
Some strategy can help your book stand out. Three factors affect how many people will find your book when they are browsing through an online bookstore: How many books you've sold so farReader reviews of your bookThe categories you select for your book
A strong launch with plenty of sales from your exiting readers can help with #1. Encouraging those loyal readers to submit reviews of your book cam help with #2.
But you need to choose your categories wisely on #3.
Why? Readers drill down through the retailer's categories to find books, and while you need strong sales to appear high on the sales lists and good reviews to convert views to sales, not all categories require the same number of sales to move to the top of the best selling lists.
Drill down the retailer's website to find the categories that you think best represent your book before you submit it. Don't rely on the category drilldown within the submission interface. I found the hard way on Amazon that some of the categories available to publishers in the book submission interface don't actually appear in the category drilldown on the Amazon.com website. Obviously, choosing those categories wasn't helping my book to be seen by shoppers. I changed my categories to ones that appeared on the website and appeared in bestseller lists - with a sales boost - the next day.
Obviously, you shouldn't pick an unsuitable category for your book's topic, but it's best to start in categories with lower overall sales, so you can move up the lists quickly. Pick the right categories, and sales in the dozens can get you on top sales lists on Apple's iBooks and Amazon.com. Stay away from categories, such as "Humor," which are dominated by books on the overall best selling lists.
Once you've increased your visibility and sales levels, maybe then you can move to other categories with more overall sales - but only after you've sold enough books to appear on their Top 50 or Top 100 sales lists.
Same principal applies to promoting any digital content. Start in niches, neighborhood and markets where you can win customers and notice, then expand into larger markets, if you feel the need.
Get social with other publishers
Don't stop with your current readers and those who find you through the retailers. Reach out to other people publishing in the topics your book covers. Use your skills as a journalist to craft press releases to other publications and appropriate emails and messages to leaders of other online communities. Spread the word about your book. Offer sample chapters that others may publish. Make yourself available for interviews and chats.
And help make your case by returning the favor for other writers, too.
If you've isolated yourself from others publishing on your beat, this provides an opportunity for you to finally break that old-media habit. Whether you publish eBooks or not, online journalists ought to quit worrying about whether they're sending readers to "competitors" by linking them or talking about them. Your readers know what's out there. Spend your time and energy creating original and insightful coverage that others will want to link and discuss. Abandon the old gatekeeper model once and for all.
Become part of an online community that extends beyond your website, and you'll develop the friendships and professional relationships that extend the social network you need to promote your best work. People who never get out and around because they're trying to guard gates never enjoy those opportunities. More about: ebooks, revenue, social media, tools
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