A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: So, You're Book Is Not Selling

 

It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. (Much also applies to traditionally published authors whose books have not been on a perfect glide path upward to success.)

Today's topic reflects a reality experienced by all but a very few authors who have recognized names, expansive contacts, big pockets (or big publishers with deep pockets), or, for one reason or another luckily found a sweet spot (typically after years of being in bitter places). Most books do not start out as NYT bestsellers and remain there for life. They either start well and fall off (usually quickly), start slowly and remain with slow and then almost no sales, or start very poorly and then take off for one or another reasons (and sometimes fall and rise and fall and rise). This post is not about low sales where authors had probably unreasonably high expectations but about what to do when they fall or never start at all, i.e. the case of no sales or almost no sales.

There are so many reasons a book is not selling that finding out why is difficult. It is usually easier to figure out why a book is selling than why a book is not selling. But finding out why is essential to being able to do something about it that will help; otherwise, efforts will flail and likely fail. Analysis is required; so is action, including testing and trial-and-error.

Analysis. Research and analysis should provide you with details that can guide attempts at moving the book into a better position for sales. Self-analysis, though, is equally important because if there are things that you cannot do or are not willing to try in order to make your book more, they need to be written out of any plans for your book; only actions that are comfortable for you or that you are willing to stretch to try are likely to be put into action. 

• Research & Analysis
• Is your book of sufficient quality to sell?
• Publishers will generally not publish a book that is not, but if you are in a vanity publishing contract or are self-published, have you ensured quality throughout in terms of good content, good writing, and professional editing?
• Does your cover sell your book? Does it reflect the content? Is it appealing?
• Has your book won competitions? Been accepted for exhibits and received positive feedback (e.g., visitors signing up to receive more information, wanting to be on your mailing list, etc.)?
• Is the book priced right?
• What are similar books selling for?
• Work with your publisher (or if self-published, your printer and distributor) to see if costs of production and distribution are pushing the price out of reach).
• Check with potential readers - what would they be willing to pay?
• Is the SEO for the book adequate?
• A limited number of keywords is allowed by distributors; are you sure they are the right ones -- check similar books?
• Your own website (or that of your publisher) should allow more key words, as well as meta descriptions; are you sure you have taken advantage of them?
• Does your book appear on the first page of Google on your topic?
• Does your book show up on at least the first ten Google pages on your topic?
• Are there enough references to the book that make it of interest to potential readers when/if it shows up on a Google search?
• Do you have at least 75 book reviews -- those you have sought and ones that have appeared from readers spontaneously?
• Has your book been mentioned by a large number of blogs in the area of your specialty or the general topics on which you write (that includes fiction)?
• Has your book been referenced by other authors in print?
• Has your book been endorsed by specialists whom you cite on your site and elsewhere? Have they cited it at their sites?
• Are there organizations using your book? Have they mentioned it at their sites?
• Has your book been mentioned in articles you have written as a source of credibility for your opinions?
• Has your book won awards from competitions that promote/share their winner lists with a large reader subscription?
• Are the references positive? Are actions being taken to strengthen the positive and ameliorate the negative?
• Are the endorsements strong?
• Are the reviews more than just faint praise or repetition of content? For reviewers with categories, is your book in the "highly recommended" category or the highest possible level of recommendation (various terms are used)?
• Do you have any negative reviews? Has anyone responded to offset the criticism? (If the criticism is accurate, have you considered a rewrite of your book?)
• Has there been sufficient marketing/promotion activity that you would expect more sales?
• Do you have a publicist? This is not always necessary (authors with strong platforms and quality work can often get by without a publicist, but a publicist can bring knowledge, expertise, and "reach" -- if you do not have a publicist, is this something you should explore?
• Have you sent out periodic press releases?
• Have you advertised in any way? Have you taken into consideration that the best advertising is repeat advertising? 
• Is there free accessibility to the book that undermines your sales?
• If the book appears online for free download, which happens all too often, there is no need for potential readers to purchase your book.
• If your book has been serialized or reproduced at another website or through a blog, there is no need for potential readers to purchase your book.
• Is your book receiving 70% royalty from Kindle? That means that you must allow sharing of your book. Have you considered dropping to 35%, which does not require sharing?
• Are there scads of used books available? (Used book readers generally are a different group than new book readers --- is there some way you can use the promotional effect of having a lot of books floating around?)
• Self-Analysis
• Are you bringing attention to the book via the Internet at least once a week? Even something as simple as a quote from your book and a picture of the cover (remember the effect of repeated advertisement) on Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest? Or, do you have a weekly blog post which involves more labor but allows more information?
• Are you bringing attention to your book through interpersonal activities on a regular basis, i.e. whenever you get a chance? Do you talk the book up among people you interact with? Do bring up the book when you meet new people (and have you learned how to do this without appearing pushy)? 
• Are you regularly improving your platform? How many new followers have you gained since you put out your book? How quickly are they increasing? How about your mailing list? How much has it expanded? How often do you use it?
• How involved are you with your book(s) on a regular basis?

Action. The best way to take action is to put together a plan, but being a person who refuses to let plans rule me rather than the other way around, I prefer to follow a general path that could easily be written as a plan. I include response actions, testing, and trial-and-error. 

• Responsive Actions
• The most obvious actions to take are those suggested by the research above.
• If there are many actions to be taken, prioritize them, using the following criteria:
• Likelihood of being a prime cause of lack of sales 
• Likelihood of success in creating sales
• Ability to implement based on resources: time, cost, access (I.e. if you simply do not have the time or cannot afford a particular action, it makes not sense to put it into your plan; sometimes access can be achieved with time and money and other resources, sometimes it cannot - you will need to make the determination as to what is a good use of limited resources (most authors' resources are limited)
• Testing. Often, before taking a responsive action, it is possible to test it first. 
• If price seems to be a problem, hold a sale for a month. Did that make any difference? 
• If you think you need a new cover, have 2-3 options produced and ask followers on your platform to indicate a preference.
• If you need better editing, hire an editor. Run the new version of your text past 12 friends (yeah, that number has consistently worked well for me).
• If you think you need to update your content, ask your followers what they would like to see you include.
• If you think you might need the help of a publicist, work out a trial period with one that comes recommended or that you think you will like.
• Trial-and-Error. Some things cannot be tested well, especially where there is no real control for comparison (like an old price and a new price). In those cases, just make a reasonable guess as to what may work best (a swagger) and move forward. 
• If nothing comes of it, then chances are it was not the best action but chances are also that you will not have lost anything. 
• If you want to pull it apart as to why or why not it did not work, go through the analysis steps, using whatever trial action you took, and something may appear.

The bottom line is that book sales do not just happen, and they do not come about solely by authors' hoping that their book launches will do the trick. They require thoughtful implementation of a marketing plan and a deep analysis and action plan when an initial marketing plan fails.

Lesson for today's Tuesday talk: Don't lose hope! Analyze! Take action!

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