Why pre-orders are important (and super important to authors)
When it comes to a book release, it can be tricky to navigate when and how to release it. I put up another article that explains the methodology behind when to release it in the month, so check that out if you want to know more about it.
But what about how to do a pre-order? And more importantly, why … I’m not going to do a how-to on how to put a pre-order up, because it’s pretty simple KDP stuff that’s better answered by the literature Amazon have for their platform. But what about a little how-to on how to make it successful, the methodology behind it, and how it’s actually beneficial to authors?
For me, it’s easy to break it down into pros and cons; so let’s go pros first:-
- Pre-orders are a great way to monetize read-through when readers reach the final book in your series. Some authors opt for an email capture, which is fine, but if you sell on Kindle mostly, clicking a link and entering your email is just darn heinous. But, clicking to another Amazon product page and pre-ordering? Well, that’s pretty easy.
- Pre-orders teach Amazon that your book is in demand even before it launches. It also begins to chart before it’s release if pre-orders ramp up, and when it does release, it leaps higher on the charts and in Amazon’s estimations, meaning Amazon shows it to more people organically.
- Pre-orders help you build surplus profit so you can dedicate more to marketing … for the book when it comes.
- Pre-orders allow you to self-promote earlier, market the book earlier, and generate more buzz.
And now the cons … there aren’t any.
I love pre-orders because they guarantee sales when the book comes out. It also gives a gauge of how popular your book is, how many readers you’re retaining through the series, etc. Overall, there’s no downside. But one thing I have struggled with is pre-order figures. I spoke to a fellow author recently and they said they were getting 15,000–20,000 pre-orders for each book. Which is a hell of a lot more than me. Though they sell a hell of a lot more books. So, the question is how to 10x my actual booksales, and will that have much of an effect on my pre-orders? Who knows.
In the coming weeks, in the lead up to the release of The Last Light Of Day, the soft reboot of my series, I’m going to be throwing some serious marketing money at the book, through Amazon and Facebook in order to try and get this thing to blow up.
I’m also going to be rolling a good amount of money into getting people to signup to my mailing list. Right now, I have 16,000 likes and follows 30k+ total on my Facebook Page, and I hope to be able to convert a portion of those to mailing list signups with a targeted Facebook campaign. So, let’s see how it goes!
I’ll let you know.
