Marie Rose Dufour got me to thinking about this after I read her Tuesday post. So...thanks a lot, Marie!
The first book I ever published continues to be my bestseller. I have no idea why.
Is it the best book I ever wrote? Yeesh, I hope not. To think I peeked there and have been going downhill ever since is depressing.
But I couldn't tell you which of my other stories would be better. Seems like the "one I just finished" is always the best because it's freshest in my mind. But if your stories are like your babies, then you really can't have a favorite; they're all special in their own way. And to me, they are.
So it's very hard to watch one of my books get more attention than the others, especially the first one. I see it succeed, and I get to thinking, "I did it once, I can do it again." Then, I don't do it again. And hmm. What went wrong?
Beats me.
So my new mission in life is to publish a NEW story that will sell more copies than The Stillburrow Crush.
Still don't know how to do this yet, but...I have a few ideas.
-A rocking book cover.
-Affordable price (seems like 99 out of the top 100 books in the bestselling list on Amazon is $2.99 or cheaper)
-Great story, of course.
-A blurb that pulls you in and make you want to start reading NOW!
-Getting the word out about it.
-Writing something that readers are currently buying like crazy.
Can you think up any other factor that makes a book SELL?
Writing just for the pleasure of writing remains number one priority to me! Selling really is secondary--REALLY! I'll keep creating stories, no matter what. But beside all that, this will be a new side goal for me. Do you ever make side-goals for yourself?
Another one of my side goals is to write a book that will sell in an actual real-life book store some day.
Well, that's all I have to talk about today. Have a good Friday!
Gosh, I wish I knew!
ReplyDeleteI remember I took a marketing seminar at a conference last year and it was pretty much like throwing darts in the air and seeing what stuck. LOL
Well, that doesn't make me feel a whole lot better, but I guess it is reassuring to know there isn't some exact how-to on the subject that I'm totally missing! So, thanks!
DeleteI tried a lot of things with my first book. Some worked, some bombed. Or so it seemed. Sometimes I pushed hard with few sales; sometimes I did nothing and sold as much as the first month. My second book is coming up. I have some more ideas, so I'll throw those in the mix, too. I'm not sure if there is a magic key. But I wish us all good luck!
ReplyDeleteIf I'm just coming across a book through someone adding it on Goodreads or randomly seeing it somewhere without any preconceived notion about what it is the cover is what matters most. It kind of sucks that the book could be amazing, but if the cover isn't fresh and interesting and pretty it's just not going to get my attention. Then once it DOES get my attention in this way it should have a blurb that keeps my attention. Not just a few sentences, but a couple decent paragraphs -- well written, no errors (it's shocking the amount of errors I've seen in indie blurbs!) -- that give me a good idea about the main character and what happens in the book, while still keeping a bit back so I'll want to see for myself what happens.
ReplyDeleteBesides that, as a blogger it's big for me to find word of mouth via things like Goodreads status updates or twitter. Those comments that people talk about how good it is and how they're enjoying it, beyond just blog reviews (however positive reviews are definitely a help, because I always check out the consensus on Goodreads before I decide whether I want to read a book or not).
Not sure if that's helpful or not, but those are the things that grab me. =)
OH and I definitely agree re: 2.99 or less eBook price. I think you can go a bit higher, but I know if I'm testing out an indie author for the first time I like to see that price tag of definitely under $5, but under $3 works even better, because then if it's not a HUGE favourite of mine at least I feel glad that I supported the author without spending a lot of my own money (this might be different if I had more of it, but yah, I definitely don't).
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