10 Reasons Why Your Book Isn’t Selling
Perhaps one of the authors’ biggest challenge is getting their book out to the market successfully after the long haul of putting it together. There a few who are contented with the idea of earning the ‘author’ title regardless of them not gaining the same success as other bestsellers out there. The rub is, most authors nowadays would rather settle to less than a hundred book sales because marketing is just absolutely a tough job they can get into. While that is true, then what’s the purpose of starting something when you don’t go all the way out anyway?
We don’t want you to settle for less when your book can do so much more than collecting dust at home. And the only way to make it out to your intended market is to see if you’re guilty of any of these reasons.
- Your book cover looks unprofessional.
There’s no question, designers come at an expensive price. But one thing you be sure of in investing in professional designers is a professional-looking and eye-catching book cover. Take note that one of the first things that readers notice is book covers. That’s one portion of the book where they decide if your book is worth their time and money.
The don’t-judge-the-book-by-its-cover is a myth. Everyone says that but most readers do it anyway at first glance. One way of gaining your readers’ trust is to catch them right off the bat with your book cover. If you have a great story, make it all the way out by matching it professional-looking book cover!
2. You’re only marketing about yourself
It’s either you didn’t market your book or you’re only marketing about yourself. Bear in mind that not until you turn your readers as your fans, they will not care about what you know until you care about them. Focus on their needs first. It’s about giving them value before you ask them to return the favor.
3. No book launching happened
Nobody knows you published a book because you simply didn’t in launching your book. Your pre-launching should be a perfect timeline to gather your list of audience to whom you can announce it to.
4. You don’t have the other book formats aside from the physical copy
In a world where everything goes digital, it is only reasonable to tap into digital resources. Most likely, it is where most of your audiences prefer to engage and read books rather than buying the physical copy.
5. You market your book online without using keywords
Just because your book is posted online doesn’t imply it is visible to everyone. Know the importance of using keywords and the categories your book belongs to. Using keywords in your books increases your online exposure and existence in search engines.
6. Your title and book description is vague
Being able to communicate properly with your title and book description is crucial in catching your readers’ attention while they’re holding your book the first five seconds. The clearer and the more understandable your title and book description is, the higher the chances it gets home to its new owner.
7. Your price is too much for a first-time author
This is perhaps one of the reasons why your book isn’t selling. It is best to study the pricing of books like yours that are selling well. Some first-time authors forget they’re far out from the ideal price of their books.
8. You don’t know your audience
Some authors think they could make everyone their audience, however that’s not true. One category or genre can’t cover all types of audiences. This is why identifying your specific market is ideal in building a strategy in marketing your book. This way you can narrow down and tailor your book and strategy according to the preferences of your readership.
9. Your website looks bad
Some publishers would rather suggest authors not to put up a website since some only create websites for the sake of having one. Resulting in poor maintenance and bad impression from potential readers and visitors. To add that up, it doesn’t reflect the quality their book has. You can have a well-written book but your website looks really bad.
Websites serve as a persona that reflects the author and their work. And if the website is done badly or the interface is just not well taken care of, it would be best not to opt-in building one.
10. Your articles/emails sound like a diary
Take note that a regular working person receives more than a hundred emails each week. So if yours don’t stand out, or if your email and articles sound more like a diary, then you lose the game. As a starting author, it is more ideal to keep them engaged by concentrating on their wants rather than dictating what you want for them.
Sometimes you can’t avoid but think the plot is problem why your book isn’t selling. You could be right and wrong. Regardless, there’s a lot of badly written books out there that outperforms good books. They’re gaining a readership all because they know their way around book marketing. You can do it too by turning these bad practices into something helpful.
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