Are you selling your book to the wrong readers?
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People with $3,300/week to spend on rent, probably don’t find their homes on handwritten sandwich boards.
Quick question — what kind of sales numbers did you have last month?
Ouch. That bad, huh?
It’s okay, you’re not alone. Bookselling is some strange combination of art and science that few people have mastered, especially when fighting the uphill battle of a self-publisher.
But I can help you get back on track and increase those sales.
How? By making sure you’re selling your books to the right people.
Most likely if you’re seeing some poor sales numbers it’s because of one (or both) of these factors:
Something’s wrong with your book.
Something’s wrong with your marketing.
If you had your book professionally edited and hired a great designer for the cover, you’re probably not in the first category. It’s more likely that you, like many other indie authors, have found yourself with a great product hindered by a patchwork sales strategy.
It’s okay, don’t cry.
Marketing’s tough for everyone — I’ve been helping authors market themselves for two years and I still struggle sometimes when it comes to promoting my own stuff. In general, what makes a great author (inquisitive, observant, introvert) does not necessarily make a great promoter.
But there are ways to reduce the scale of your sales pitch so you’ll be more comfortable
In the past, you’ve probably tried to sell your books to anyone who would listen, right? You throw out as much bait as possible on your blog and social media, then sit back and wait for someone — anyone — to bite.
Unfortunately, what winds up happening in that situation is that you attract the wrong kind of people. Not everyone will be interested in your book and even some of the ones who are might not be interested enough to actually make a purchase.
But there are people who will take that important step and you need to find them.
How?
Follow these three steps:
1. Start with one person.
Find one fan who genuinely likes your books (your mom most definitely does not count).
Do a one-on-one focus group
Find out:
Where this fan hangs out (on and off the internet)
How he heard about you
What other authors he reads
What social media accounts he pays the most attention to
Build a persona for your ideal reader
As an alternative, if you’re still in the early, early stages of things and don’t yet have one sample fan, you can use reason and logic to create a fictional profile of your reader.
Be specific:
What kind of person would really love your book?
What are his hobbies?
How old is he?
Does he have a college education?
Where does he work?
Does he live in a house or apartment?
The more information you put together, the more you’ll have a complete picture of your ideal reader and subsequently be able to target your marketing content (headlines, emails, tweets, blog posts, etc.) to appeal to this specific person (and all others like him).
2. Figure out where people who like your book are hanging out.
Use the feedback you picked up from your one fan to determine where other people like him would hang out. If your fan told you he likes to visit a particular blog or online forum, you need to check it out. Wherever he likes to go to talk about his favorite things, there will likely be more people with similar interests and thusly will also find your book appealing.
Jump in the conversation, interact with other people and make friends. Don’t bash them over the head with promotions for your work, but leave breadcrumbs (a.k.a. links to your website and social media) where they can find out more information if they’re interested.
3. Rinse and repeat.
Once you’ve found some new fans, brought them back to your website and made some book sales, repeat the process. Ask a handful of your new fans to answer the same questions you asked your first fan.
Over time you will get a crystal clear portrait of who your target market is, where they can be found and how to interact with them!
Career writer vs writing as a sideline
Finding your target market is the key to upping those sales numbers and turning you into a career indie instead of a sideline dabbler.
What are you waiting for? Get to work!
Share one place you think you might be able to find some new fans based on what you know about your current readership.
Shannon O’Neil is one half of Duolit, two gals who help passionate fiction authors sell more books by building their crazy-dedicated fanbase. If you’re ready to become a book marketing whiz, check out their FREE 4-week training course . A new session starts later this month!
What are your top marketing tips for other authors? Share them in the comments section below…
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