5 Easy Ways To Increase Your Book Sales

increase your book sales

Guest Post
by Dave Chesson

You’ve written a book and you want nothing more than to publish it and get some sales. Or you’ve already published and you’re not seeing the sales you wanted or expected. Unfortunately, selling books often isn’t as simple as that old adage, “If you build it, they will come.”

That’s why we’re going to take a look at 5 ways you can increase your book sales that are easy, and in the case of the first four on the list, cost effective.

In this article you will learn:

  • How to do genre research to better position your books
  • What resources are the best for refining your blurb
  • Where you can format your book description for Amazon
  • How to ensure you’re ranking in the correct categories
  • What author swaps are and how to use them
  • Why Facebook ads are a great tool for authors

Let’s dive right in! Continue reading “5 Easy Ways To Increase Your Book Sales”

eBook Gift Cards – Dropcards

gift boxes for ebooks present-2891870_960_720Recently I heard about this new (to me) thing: putting eBooks on a gift card to give away or sell at events. I have often thought that having eBooks to sell for a lower price than paperbacks would be a nice alternative for potential readers who balk at a typical paperback price. Coughing up $2 or $4 is infinitely more appealing to some folks than coughing up $10 or $12. It sounded like a pretty cool idea, so I did a little digging.

I went to Dropcards to check out their process. It all seems pretty simple and pretty straightforward, with a minimum of fuss for either the author or the reader.

What you do: Continue reading “eBook Gift Cards – Dropcards”

Selling eBooks at Book Fairs

physical ebook1
Click to enlarge images.

Most of us, I think, participate in as many book fairs in our local area as we can. I’ve written before about how to make the most of a book fair appearance, but recently I’ve forayed into new (to me) territory. I decided to have some eBooks on hand to sell.

How the heck do you sell an eBook in person?

I considered a few things. First of all, I wanted a physical product to hand to a customer. Taking their money and then just emailing something or sending it over in any number of wireless ways just seemed… less personal. I wanted a real product that was stylish, easy to understand and upload, and of course a great book. I thought about using inexpensive thumb drives, but even the cheapest ones added more overhead than I cared to absorb, so I finally settled on mini-DVD discs. These come in spindles at about $0.50 each. My total package (see photo above) includes: Continue reading “Selling eBooks at Book Fairs”

How the Smashwords Summer eBook Sale Can Give You a Boost

smashwords-logoI’ve been on Smashwords since November of 2010. Admittedly, it’s still not as widely known as the mighty Amazon or iBooks, but folks are learning about it. If you’re a new author, it’s a great place to sell your work because unlike Amazon, you can set the price as free in order to gain new readers.

For the last several years, Smashwords has done their July Summer/Winter (yes, it’s winter Down Under) sale. Who doesn’t love a sale? Right? Well, for us starving authors, this is a fantastic way to possibly earn a few bucks. The website has been set up to allow authors to discount their books in varying rates. They make it easy as pie to offer these discounts — even marking them down to free if you’re trying to get folks interested in a new story or series. Continue reading “How the Smashwords Summer eBook Sale Can Give You a Boost”