A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Building Sales on the Basis of Sales
It is Tuesday. 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.
Today's topic suggests building sales on the basis of sales. In other words, don't let a sale go to waste; don't let a sale be a single event. Here are some ways to use sales to bolster sales.
Add fuel at the right times.
- If social media of any form is part or all of your platform, you should always be consistent at posting – the same day(s) each week.
- You can also get good effect on sales if you add posts, tweets, etc. at the right moments. If you notice that your sales rank just dropped, you can assume the book has sold (though there may be no other evidence yet of it having done so.) Grab the opportunity to tweet, post, share that your sales ranking has improved. Rah! Rah! Looking to seeing a bigger drop in the next few weeks because of whatever it is you can say (some plans you have, some holiday or event that is pending...be creative, but reasonable and truthful.)
Success breeds success.
- People like to buy what other people are buying; show them that other people are buying your book.
- People like to buy what other people are talking about; link to sites talking about your book and devise some promotion related to it (how about a Kindle countdown for your e-book or a short-term sales promotion for your paperback -- if you are traditionally published, bring the information to your publisher with these suggestions)
- If some organization has just made a large purchase or an endorsement (or if sales are going up in ways you can point out), now would be a good time to --
- do a few extra posts
- comment that it appears that the book has gained some additional interest (or however you want to word it)
- offer some kind of incentive to buy a copy (e.g., posting a short excerpt or linking to posts about it on other sites)
- ask readers to share with you (and others) how they used the information in the book and share that information on social media (We had a language book go viral for a while through that technique. Be creative; it does not have to be something costly, just something valuable.)
Bottom line: One sale can lead to more sales if not viewed as a one-time event; the only missing ingredient for that to happen is creativity.
Lesson for today's Tuesday talk: Stay aware of your sales at all times and "pounce" when sales go up to push them even higher.
See more Publisher Conversations with authors HERE.
Learn more about publishing from an acquisitions editor -- how to get your book proposal accepted, why proposals are turned down/accepted, and how to find the right publisher for your book. On special sale for $5 while inventory lasts at MSI Press webstore.
The Tuesday talks reflect real discussions between the management of MSI Press LLC and our own authors or those would-be authors who come through our doors but don't make the cut--yet. If you have a topic that you would like addressed, leave the question in the comment section. Chances are, in our 18 years of publishing first-time and experiences authors, we have had a conversation with one of our authors that we can share with you.
Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter
Follow MSI Press on Twitter, Face Book, and Instagram.
in exchange for reviewing a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book?
Contact editor@msipress.com.
Want an author-signed copy of this book?
Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25)
and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.
You can!
Find their contact information on our Authors' Pages.
Comments
Post a Comment