How to increase sales and reviews on Amazon

[Lacy]

We published our first children's book, Bad Dog Bailey on Amazon in late May. We ran a 3 day free promotion and while we gave away about 600 copies of the book, that did not carry over to any sales after the free period. We also received only 1 review during that time. I have contacted a lot of book review blogs or "mommy blogs" but the response rate from those has been low. I have received a few reviews by doing giveaways on book sites or by the Read for Review forums here. We are only up to 13 reviews though and still aren't selling a lot of copies. I think our book is really cute, has excellent illustrations and is well written for the age group. Does anyone have additional ideas for increasing sales and reviews? Thanks for your help!

[Lacy]

Yes! It works great on an iPad or any other device. It's sold exclusively on amazon so it can be viewed on the kindle or any device through the kindle app!

[Lacy]

Thanks for the advice! We have a new book coming out within a month so hope that will help! We actually had it priced at 2.99 and then lowered it in the last two weeks. Thanks for the feedback!

[Lulu]

I'm having similar problems. My biggest problem is getting bloggers to review. I don't know if it's my blurb or the cover but I can't seem to generate interest. I actually had someone yell at me for sending her a free copy of the book! It's frustrating because it seems like the bloggers are just taking over some of the gatekeeping duties of literary agents, deciding who gets to play and who doesn't. The established authors are given access and undeserved good reviews while many unknowns can't get a popular blogger to review at all. Since I had originally posted my novels free of charge and had a large following, I'm pretty sure they're a decent read, especially since I've been a professional writer for about three decades, as well as a copy editor (so mistakes are not numerous). Husband is a very successful graphic designer so I thought the cover would work. I don't know what I'm doing wrong either. Take heart that you're not alone, ha ha.

[[deleted user]]

Belly wrote: "Lulu, although the book covers look professional, they don't look like paranormal romance book covers. To me, they look like literary fiction book covers, or translations of Argentinian works of ma..."

I've got to agree with Belly. I love to read YA/NA, and though I think your covers are tastefully done, they don't immediately grab me as something that would interest me, though your blurbs do.

My advice would be to study the book covers of the best sellers in your genre to get an idea of what is appealing to readers.

Hope you don't mind me putting in my two cents. :)

[L.Z.]

I'll repeat the advice I heard at several conferences. You need a platform. Establish readers, get a following. That takes time. Keep contacting more mommy book bloggers.

Do you tweet? Build a twitter following. Do a reading at the local library. Do you know any teachers for your target group? They're always looking for material. Do you have children the same as age as your target group? If so, talk to the teacher!
If you belong to a church & it's appropriate, might adults read it to the children's group?


Good luck! Promoting is a full-time business!

[Lulu]

Thanks, y'all, for your sage advice. It's much appreciated. Problem is, I hate self-promotion. As for genre, that may be part of the problem. I was writing YA for a while and decided to use Twilight as a template for this two-book novel. By the end of the book, I decided for several reasons that it needed a fairly explicit love scene. The sequel has a lot of R-rated sex in it, which is integral to the story. So, in effect, though it reads like a YA, it's not really one.

Yes, it is paranormal though I hate using that term. I realized that a lot of people are turned off by the idea of reincarnation, so I try to de-emphasize that aspect so they get sucked in before they focus on it.

As for the cover, yes, my husband's aesthetic is a bit high-brow, plus I teach literature so I suppose I'm partial to those kinds of novels. I did notice many of the covers for my genre have photos of actual people on them, something that doesn't thrill me but it is what it is. The mirror images on my covers speak to the idea of the two lovers being complements of each other. But I do agree that it may be one of the problems.

Thanks again!

[[deleted user]]

Lulu wrote: "Thanks, y'all, for your sage advice. It's much appreciated. Problem is, I hate self-promotion. As for genre, that may be part of the problem. I was writing YA for a while and decided to use Twiligh..."

Sounds like the genre might be more in line with new adult. I was under the impression that paranormal romances were doing good. I could be wrong.

Anyhow, good luck with your writing!

[Donna]

Lulu wrote: "I'm having similar problems. My biggest problem is getting bloggers to review. I don't know if it's my blurb or the cover but I can't seem to generate interest. I actually had someone yell at me fo..."

I'm with you. I've approached bookclubs as well for reviews and it can be very difficult. If you are at all persistent once they've agreed to do the review, they seem to take it out on you through their review.

[Lulu]

Donna wrote: "Lulu wrote: "I'm having similar problems. My biggest problem is getting bloggers to review. I don't know if it's my blurb or the cover but I can't seem to generate interest. I actually had someone ..."

That's really horrible that they would do that. But, yeah, I can see that happening. It's frustrating especially when some of these popular reviewers are barely literate themselves. Sigh.

[Lulu]

Christina wrote: "Lulu wrote: "Thanks, y'all, for your sage advice. It's much appreciated. Problem is, I hate self-promotion. As for genre, that may be part of the problem. I was writing YA for a while and decided t..."

Thanks, Christina, for taking the time to write. Honestly, I'd never heard of NA but now that you've enlightened me, I love it! That's how I'll market my novel. Now, to try to talk my husband into redoing the cover, ha ha. He did it under protest to begin with...

[Kevin]

I think getting reviews is tough for most books, even established authors. A low percentage of people that buy a kindle book will review it. My book, The Viking's Apprentice, has been number 2 in genre in American and number 1 in Canada yet I only have 6 reviews in America and none at all in Canada. Don't get hung up on reviews, concentrate on building your platform and connecting with your readers. Look for and do interviews, use twitter and facebook. Find book festivals to attend. Self promotion is part of this game and can be great fun.

[Irina]

Lulu wrote: "Christina wrote: "Lulu wrote: "Thanks, y'all, for your sage advice. It's much appreciated. Problem is, I hate self-promotion. As for genre, that may be part of the problem. I was writing YA for a w..."

Christina wrote: "Lulu wrote: "Thanks, y'all, for your sage advice. It's much appreciated. Problem is, I hate self-promotion. As for genre, that may be part of the problem. I was writing YA for a while and decided t..."

Lulu wrote: "Christina wrote: "Lulu wrote: "Thanks, y'all, for your sage advice. It's much appreciated. Problem is, I hate self-promotion. As for genre, that may be part of the problem. I was writing YA for a w..."

Lulu wrote: "I'm having similar problems. My biggest problem is getting bloggers to review. I don't know if it's my blurb or the cover but I can't seem to generate interest. I actually had someone yell at me fo..."

What is NA??????

[Irina]

SORRY ... what is NA?

[[deleted user]]

Irina wrote: "SORRY ... what is NA?"

NA stands for new adult. It's a newer genre that bridges the gap between YA and adult fiction. Books like Easy by Tammara Webber and Hopeless by Colleen Hoover are considered NA. NA usually has characters and situations that are more mature (18-25 age range), but don't really fit into traditional genres such as YA or adult. Hope that makes sense! :)

[Chris]

Irina wrote: "SORRY ... what is NA?"
New Adult Irina, apart from that, I don't know :)

[C.P.]

Hi this was a very helpful discussion. Sales & Promotion I think are one of the trickiest aspects of the business and although there is a lot of advice out there, for me personally I don't necessarily find it all that helpful or they are just too generic. For me personally I don't think there is one perfect thing that will guarantee sales in anything. The process is more trial and error, and mostly a lot of error. But its nice to see, especially after reading all the comments, that I and - and in the broader since - we all - are not alone.

[Irina]

truncated...don;t know how to go to next page? ulu wrote: "I'm having similar problems. My biggest problem is getting bloggers to review. I don't know if it's my blurb or the cover but I can't seem to generate interest. I actually had someone yell at me fo..."

ANYWAY...I go to TINYURL.COM and get the small URL that takes them directly to the comments section in my blurb...a lot of them will actually do it if you make it really easy for them, especially if you can make it a hyperlink ...for example

http://tinyurl.com/kog2ho9

is the link to comment on your book Ephifiny .... I use tinyurl.com A LOT! GOOD LUCK!

[[deleted user]]

Irina wrote: "truncated...don;t know how to go to next page? ulu wrote: "I'm having similar problems. My biggest problem is getting bloggers to review. I don't know if it's my blurb or the cover but I can't seem..."

I've also found Google shortener useful, though Facebook marks the links as spam, which sucks because it's helpful to know which posts attracts the most interest. I use Google shortener when tweeting though. :)