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How can I get my book to sell?
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Hi Rachael, it's a convoluted puzzle trying to get readers to crack open their wallets. A combination of hitting the right market - at the right time, and a whole host of other positive good fortunes (including a big dose of luck thrown in!) I don't see any link to your book. I'd like to peruse and give you some feedback if you like.
It's on Amazon- I'm using my IPhone and really bad at providing links! It should be under Rachael Eyre: The Revenge of Rose Grubb. I keep meaning to put it up on GoodReads as well, but the only time I have access to a computer is at work, and I don't think company policy allows me to do extra curricular stuff there.
How can I get my book to sell?I dunno, but when you find out, please let the rest of us know!
I'll be honest. The cover isn't to my liking personally. I don't find it very inspiring. A coffee cup? Others might disagree. It would definitely make a difference as to whether or not I'd download a book. Perhaps that sounds picky, but readers are just that! There are several thousand free kindle books they can download, so why not be picky? It's not the most important thing either, but attractive jackets are just a part of the whole presentation/package you are offering out there. Then it's the content.. marketing etc.. and plenty of time and patience..
Rachel, I notice that it has not been added to Goodreads yet. Might not help with sales, but it couldn't hurt.
Rachael wrote: "Is it the cover? The genre? Just the fact nobody's reviewed it yet? [...] Where am I going wrong? ..."Rachael, from my viewpoint as a reader, it's the title first, then the cover, then the worst is the book description. No reviews is just the icing on the bad cake. (However, my ebook with no reviews outsells my others with 5-stars, so who knows what that's worth.)
The name of Rose Grubb just doesn't appeal to me as a guy, but that's minor. The cover says nothing to me at all. It certainly doesn't hint of murder and ghosts.
The first time I read the description I almost got dizzy. (And I multi-task all day for living.) The second time I read it - slowly (making mental placeholders for each of too many facts I was given all at once) I then wondered if the killings of Frances' loved ones were things that happened in the past, before the book starts, or were these spoilers for things I would be reading about?
I never want to read any book where I already know what's going to happen. Some people don't mind, but I do.
As a writer, I would recommend changing the cover to something more visually appealing, and if possible, related to the story.
Then I would revise the book description. Try to think of what you would tell someone if you only had 5 seconds because they had an incoming call they need to take, but before they left, they wanted to know what your book is about.
I'm not saying to use just that alone, but it's a tool to get you to think of what the core of the story is about. Then add some interesting tidbits to go with it.
"Francis is urged by her murdered relatives to avenge them by killing a famous [blank]."
Something like that for starters. (If that's where it starts. But if the murders happen in the book, then I'd re-write that.)
Sometimes, the first three signs are good (title, cover, blurb) and then it's the Look Inside that kills it for me. In this case, I wouldn't even look if I was in need of something to read. (That will never happen.)
But I'll check it out to see if that has any bearing on the lack of sales and let you know if I find anything.
I hope this helps.
K.A. wrote: "How can I get my book to sell?I dunno, but when you find out, please let the rest of us know!"< Amen to that!
^ Edward: It's Rose's revenge, actually. Minor point, but still relatively important.Will see what I can do about the others.
A sign of how confused I was after reading the description. ;)
The cover immediately threw me off. It looks like a cookbook rather than a mystery. I'm actually good with the title, but it needs to fit the cover, and the cover should fit the genre. Look at other covers in the same genre. Oh God, and NEVER start your blurb with "this story tells . . ." Think of a movie preview. You want to hook you reader with something interesting.
(cue the ominous music and the narrator voice saying something like "In a world, full of danger . . .")
A better start could be "Bound by hatred, Rose and Francis . . ." Think of a question that the reader will want answered. Pose that question to the reader. Why does Rose see dead people?
Hope that helps!
All these comments are really useful. I've never been too happy with the cover; it refers to a Major Plot Point, though I can see that would be confusing and/or irrelevant to random Amazon customer. My thoughts were a mask, for Rose's profession (Derren Brown-esque magician) but alas, got pipped to the post by 50 Shades of Gack. Another thought was of a blood stained blazer, but a few people told me this was a terrible idea.
The blazer's not a bad idea. Maybe make the bloodstain understated (so not like horror blood splatter, but enough so that you can tell it's a bloodstain). Where you put the blazer is important as well, and think of the colors and the font of the lettering. Again, look at other stories in the same genre for ideas.You should be able to clearly read the title and hopefully the author's name in the teeny thumbprint size. (yeah, I need to fix that on mine as well.)
Rachael, I'm glad you're taking the critiques as useful. I hate it when I take the time to assist someone by giving them honest feedback and in response, they get defensive or just disappear. It's refreshing to see you considering our comments.Don't feel about the cover. I made the exact same mistake on Devon's Last Chance with the cover art dramatizing something the evil character says - which means NOTHING to anyone who hasn't read the book, so I ended up with a cover that is probably just seen as stupidly bizarre. lol
As for those who said a bloodstained blazer was a bad idea - consider why they said that. Was it because they don't like blood? Because it's too disturbing? If those were the types of reasons, then you can safely disregard them for a book about revenge, ghosts and murder. :-)
I think the blazer idea is much better than the coffee cup.
Coffee cup sitting in a puddle of blood on a coffee-table, steam rising from the cup.
Rachael, Edward is spot on. The title hints at an unpleasant protagonist ("Grubb"), one the reader won't want to identify with. Revenge is a power word, but very negative unless you make it quirky with an adjective, as in "The Sweet Revenge of Rose Nicely."I examined the content and it's fine, so ease your mind in that area. Read "Save the Cat," BTW. The cover hints at..."What the heck is that thing?" Nice comments, Judy.
I'd never even heard of Save the Cat, but after a mosey around online, I've downloaded it on my Kindle. The whole selling aspect is very new to me, so it'll be great to pick up some tips.Now torn between blazer and bloodstained coffee cup. Both are much more striking- I know I'd want to find out what was going on.
Rachel, I would reconsider the price to 0.99. Not because you don't deserve high price, but because there are so many impulse buyers of 0.99 books. I am going to re-price my own when I'm done with revising and happy with my second edition. Read this article for inspiration :)http://online.wsj.com/article_email/S...
Happy sales and 5 star reviews!
I think what initially throws me off is the cover. It is very obviously a template-type cover where you added on some generic font type. Yes the coffee cup makes no sense but it's the genericness of it that really puts me off. You might be surprised what you can do with a trial download of Photoshop and some free fronts from DaFont.com. I echo the sentiments about the blurb. I don't even really remember what it said even though I read it less than five minutes ago. Rose and Frances sound like older names and I don't know if I'm reading something about geriatrics or hipsters.
Basically I think the first thing you should address is the cover.
A couple of months ago I published my second book, The Revenge of Rose Grubb. I employed all the usual tricks- Facebook, Twitter, free promos, contacting book groups and asking if they'd be interested. All of this had worked for The Governess, my first book. While I wouldn't say that was doing sensationally, it gets at least a sale a day.
The grand total of copies I've sold in two months? Three. I've rewritten the blurb three times, goofed around with the cover. Short of begging people to buy it, I've done everything I can think of. Yet the thing resolutely refuses to sell!
Is it the cover? The genre? Just the fact nobody's reviewed it yet? It's getting to the point where I'm seriously considering taking it down and scrapping it altogether. I don't understand it- I thought that if any of my books would appeal to the mainstream market, it'd be this one! Where am I going wrong?