Imagine, one day you wake up to find out that your book is trending #1 on Amazon. You have sold more than 100 copies, your social media is firing up with good feedback and messages from people telling you how much they loved your book. Well, you can stop imagining now. It’s not that easy. But it’s not that hard either. With the right amount of work and effort, you can definitely become the author of a best-selling book on Amazon. Here are 10 steps that can help you win that #1 tag for your book.
1. LIGHT UP THAT BULB OVER YOUR HEAD
Just writing something won’t help you to become a writer. You have to think about what to write. Find a relevant and interesting topic. Something that can actually capture some attention. Make sure that you know the topic well enough to write about it. Do your research, read books, and reviews about similar ideas, do whatever you can to light that bulb. You don’t choose the topic, the topic chooses you, so unless you find the right topic, keep looking. Think, process, question, and think again.
2. BUILD UP A FOUNDATION
Do you think promotion comes after you publish your book? NO! The book promotion process should be started long before you actually write the book. Create a good social media presence. Create a blog. Create a platform where you can get in touch with your interested readers. This can help you gain better credibility and publicity after you publish your work. Think of yourself as an architect. You are going to build your book up, but before that, build a good and strong foundation for it.
3. LET THEM VALIDATE
Yes, you heard me right. If you want to thrive as a writer, you’ll be going through a lot of criticism. Let’s try to turn that around a bit. You have already built your social media platform for your book, ask your readers what they think about your chosen topic. Ask them whether they’ll read your book if you go ahead with it. This will let people know that you are going to write a book and the word will spread, creating another base for your future book promotion. Be in touch with your readers before and after the publishing process.
4. NOW, YOU WRITE
I know it took me this long to get to the writing part, but when it comes to writing, rushing into things will only set you up to fail. So, try not to skip the steps. Take your time to write. Here’s a tip. Create an outline for your project. Make lists for everything like title heading, chapter plans, etc. This will help you have clarity while writing. Now, you actually write.
5. THEY JUDGE IT BY THE COVER
It’s true. Your book is going to be judged by its cover, especially on online publishing platforms like Amazon. Your content might be good, but without an attractive cover, your chances of being successful are relatively low. You can hire an online designer or you can design it yourself. Make sure that your cover is capable of convincing people to consider buying your book. Also, make sure that your cover information is solid, especially if you are publishing a non-fiction book. For example, consider the bestseller book ‘Zero of one’ by Peter Thiel. The title does not provide a clear idea about the content of the book. But the cover includes a subtitle, ‘notes on start-ups or how to build a future’ which shows what is to be expected inside the book. Make your cover as attractive as possible. Because, truth bomb, the cover matters more than the content, especially on Amazon.
6. GO AHEAD AND PUBLISH IT
Now, you publish your work. There are two options. Either you self-publish your book on Amazon, or you self-publish it on your own. If you choose the first, sign up on kindle direct publish, fill in all your book details, upload your book, and boom, your book is officially published. It’s that easy, except for writing the book part of course. Now, if you choose the second option, then set up your Amazon seller account and fill in the details. So, go ahead and publish it.
7. ENROLL YOUR BOOK ON KINDLE
If you are self-publishing with Amazon, then you’ll be already going through with this step. But, if you are selling your already published book on Amazon, enrol it on Kindle. This will multiply your readers. More people will know about your book and thus, more buyers. More buyers, more sales, and more sales, happy author.
8. SPREAD THE WORD
Finally, you’ve finished publishing your book, now you rest. NO. Get up and promote your book. Share about it in your social media, blog, vlog (yes, why not?), tweet about it, speak about it, go overboard with the promotion process. Collect as much email address as possible and mail about your book. Do whatever you can to spread the word.
9. GIVE IT AWAY FOR FREE
I know what you're thinking. You put so much effort into publishing your book and now I’m asking you to give it away for free? Let’s discuss this. People love free stuff. When you publish your book for free for a while, they’ll rush to buy it. If they like it then they’ll spread the word. Then, you can fix up the price for your book and sell it.
10. SEEK THEM OUT AND ASK THEM
Seek your readers. Ask them for feedback. Let them tell you how they feel about your book. Request them to post their feedback on Amazon. This will help you connect with your readers and increase your sales. More sales, higher the rank.
Do you love your book? Will you be willing to pay for it? Yes? Then go through with these steps and get that #1 tag for your book!
Comments