MSI Press Blog

  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 takes a look at how a book gets into the Top 100 on Amazon, based on the experience of our press. From what we have seen, there are at least three ways to get onto this very desirable list: 1.       The first month after your book is released, hustle like crazy to get sales. It is much easier to get into the top 100 of “hot new releases” because you are only competing with other books coming out that month, not with all books available on Amazon. 2.       Concentrate your book sales into a short time period if you can. (If you are selling at a workshop, for example, or a pu...

    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.  This week, we suggest that authors can do a rudimentary analysis of their lack of sales on their own. From that, they should be able to develop plans to approach marketing and promotion more effectively. Book Reviews This is a biggie. Book reviews , more than anything else, sell books. While it is difficult to come up with a number that will make a difference--depends on the genre, number of competing books--typically, books with fewer than 50 book reviews are not selling, and 75-100 is considered by some in the industry to be critical to springboarding to "bestseller" status. So, How many reviews does your book have? If a paltry...

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. This week we discuss Amazon categories. Such an enigma! Intentionally so. Amazon does not reveal much about its inner workings, but thanks to some research, we have been able to determine the following that might be helpful for authors to know. 📚 How Amazon Book Categories Work (with Niche and Volume Dynamics) 🧭 Initial Category Assignment When books are distributed via Ingram (LSI) , Amazon pulls metadata from Ingram’s feed, including BISAC codes. These BISAC codes help Amazon place the book into relevant genre categories (e.g., “Spiritual Memoir,” “Parenting,” “Historical Fiction”). Authors and publishers can influence category placemen...

  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 post looks at the relationship between book marketing plans and book sales. Specifically, book sales can be quirky, which makes it difficult to put together a book marketing plan for self-publishing authors. (Publishers usually have established plans that they apply to all books, and they only accept books that they believe they can market effectively through their established marketing plans. Let's take a look at some favorite marketing barometers and see how they really stack up. Amazon Top 100 If a book lands in the Amazon Top 100, it clearly has scads of sales, right? No, not always. Perhaps even not often. Amazon's t...