Write another book. Sales for one book won't remain the same forever. Multiple books mean multiple entry points for readers.
Help! My Kindle sales are slipping
Hi,
My book is a self-help book 'Why you drink and How to stop.'
After almost a year of my kindle sales holding steady (about 120 -160 per month) they are slipping. I did some promotions last March with Book Gorilla, Ereader news and Book daily. This got me to number one in my amazon categories (Alcoholism, Drug addition) and I wing form selling one copy a day to 5 - 10. I've experimented with other different ads and am very plugged into my community. But I suspected it was the Amazon algorithms that were getting me the exposure and doing the work for me. Then I experimented with Select, I sell bits and bobs with iTunes but Amazon is the majority of my sales. I saw the usual drop in sales and rise in borrows. I opted out after 90 days and had a good december and January but put that down to it being a good time of year for people wanting to stop drinking.
February was slow and March looks the same. Less than a hundred. My hard copy sales are still holding strong.
Does anyone have any suggestions of what I can do to boost my Kindle sales?
Should I change my key words? Does anyone have any insight into Amazon algorithms?
I'm going to keep trying with Bookbub - and maybe some other promotions ties. I have a second book coming out at the end of the year.
Any advice gratefully received.
Thanks
Veronica
My book is a self-help book 'Why you drink and How to stop.'
After almost a year of my kindle sales holding steady (about 120 -160 per month) they are slipping. I did some promotions last March with Book Gorilla, Ereader news and Book daily. This got me to number one in my amazon categories (Alcoholism, Drug addition) and I wing form selling one copy a day to 5 - 10. I've experimented with other different ads and am very plugged into my community. But I suspected it was the Amazon algorithms that were getting me the exposure and doing the work for me. Then I experimented with Select, I sell bits and bobs with iTunes but Amazon is the majority of my sales. I saw the usual drop in sales and rise in borrows. I opted out after 90 days and had a good december and January but put that down to it being a good time of year for people wanting to stop drinking.
February was slow and March looks the same. Less than a hundred. My hard copy sales are still holding strong.
Does anyone have any suggestions of what I can do to boost my Kindle sales?
Should I change my key words? Does anyone have any insight into Amazon algorithms?
I'm going to keep trying with Bookbub - and maybe some other promotions ties. I have a second book coming out at the end of the year.
Any advice gratefully received.
Thanks
Veronica
1 - 19 of 19 Posts
Thanks Im working on that but I was wondering if there was anything I could do in the meantime
How about a new cover? In a thumbnail the typography just vanishes.
Good suggestion Im going to look into that
What Yodaread said.YodaRead said:Write another book. Sales for one book won't remain the same forever. Multiple books mean multiple entry points for readers.
If i read this book and enjoyed it and it helped me (you have some good reviews, which clearly state it helped the reader), then I want you the author to write another useful helpful book. Personally I might come back to your Amazon or B&N page several times to see if you have written anymore books. You have nothing new so I'll move along.
You have worked as a therapist and life coach, you probably have lots of valuable information or advice or personal stories you could share with readers. A couple authors in your also boughts have written 2 or 3 or more books.
Trying to push, promote one book for over 1 year is only going to get you a certain amount of new readers. I certainly wouldn't throw money at promoting it if there is nowhere else for your readers to go to after they read this book.
Modified to add, sorry i re-read your original message and you mentioned selling well over the holiday period.
I like to do local things in my community because it's cheap and sometimes I can get direct face to face feedback or make contacts I can stay in touch with easily.
Have you tried local book fairs, local reading groups, your local library, a talk or presentation with a local group related to your subject matter.
A countdown deal.
Have you tried local book fairs, local reading groups, your local library, a talk or presentation with a local group related to your subject matter.
A countdown deal.
Can you attend an AA Or Alanon meeting?
That's what I meant by doing a talk or presentation to a local group who would be directly interested in this subject.cinisajoy said:Can you attend an AA Or Alanon meeting?
Great minds think alike.katetanner said:That's what I meant by doing a talk or presentation to a local group who would be directly interested in this subject.
Thanks guys all good suggestions. Im going to focus on getting the second book out asap, but it's still months away I just didn't want my book sales to slide into the toilet whilst I worked on getting it done.
I do a lot of local promotion and that has helped, and I'm very well connected in the recovery community. I just wondered if anyone had any revealing info on Amazon algorithms?
v
I do a lot of local promotion and that has helped, and I'm very well connected in the recovery community. I just wondered if anyone had any revealing info on Amazon algorithms?
v
The secret is getting more books out there.
As for as Amazon goes every time someone gets close to figuring out the algorithms, Amazon changes them.
As for as Amazon goes every time someone gets close to figuring out the algorithms, Amazon changes them.
Cin: Bingo!
Where's the Amazing Kreskin when you
need him?
No one is after state secrets here, merely a hint
regarding the inner workings of the mysterious algos.
A whistle-blower would be received with open arms.
Even a lower echelon type would be treated like royalty.
Don't cha think? (as Henry Miller liked to say)
Where's the Amazing Kreskin when you
need him?
No one is after state secrets here, merely a hint
regarding the inner workings of the mysterious algos.
A whistle-blower would be received with open arms.
Even a lower echelon type would be treated like royalty.
Don't cha think? (as Henry Miller liked to say)
An increase in your borrows was actually a wonderful thing because you get paid for borrows if the reader reads more than 10% of your book but more importantly those borrows can also help your book rank higher. That means you get more visibility and where your books are seen the possibility of sales and more borrows are increased.
+1 on publishing more books.
Have you considered playing with different price points? I'm playing with that right now to see if it improves rankings/visibility. Also check out the big thread on keywords.
Have you considered playing with different price points? I'm playing with that right now to see if it improves rankings/visibility. Also check out the big thread on keywords.
Veronica, I'd recommend writing another book but this time focused on prescription drugs or illegal drugs. Honestly, you really could write both. And don't forget other addictions. You really could work on the addiction niche.
I publish how-to books as well. I've observed sales drops when new competing titles come on the market, especially if they are priced lower. I see that some of the books in the "also bought" carousel are newer than yours and are priced $2.99-$3.99. You might consider dropping yours from $6.99 to $3.99 or $4.99 for a few months -- at that price point, and with the greater number of reviews that you have (68!), you may be able to build volume again.
Good luck!
Good luck!
G
1) This: I publish how-to books as well. I've observed sales drops when new competing titles come on the market, especially if they are priced lower
2) There's almost infinite competition in non-fiction. You have to release books non-stop to get sales. It's a bit of a miracle that you got steady sales for so long. You must have a very good book.
3) What would help most - Writing a book about other addictions, writing a book about addiction in general, writing a book about addictive personalities and how to deal with them.
4) What would help in the meantime. Getting a promotion, using kindle countdown deal.
5) What would help most - figuring out WHY the first book did so well. Replicating that. Being able to sell consistently at a high price point means you've found a sweet spot - either writing or niche or pricing or all three. So you should replicate with a few titles and see if that works.
best of luck - non-fiction needs more good books and more good writers.
2) There's almost infinite competition in non-fiction. You have to release books non-stop to get sales. It's a bit of a miracle that you got steady sales for so long. You must have a very good book.
3) What would help most - Writing a book about other addictions, writing a book about addiction in general, writing a book about addictive personalities and how to deal with them.
4) What would help in the meantime. Getting a promotion, using kindle countdown deal.
5) What would help most - figuring out WHY the first book did so well. Replicating that. Being able to sell consistently at a high price point means you've found a sweet spot - either writing or niche or pricing or all three. So you should replicate with a few titles and see if that works.
best of luck - non-fiction needs more good books and more good writers.
You could try adding more keywords. It helped me get an increase in sales on my books.
You're not really limited to 7 like Amazon says. If you drop the commas altogether, you can get a lot of keywords in. Up to 400 characters total, in fact. Use as many words as possible that describe your book. You could try a string like this: self help alcoholism nonfiction recovery book guide how to stop success stories quitting etc.
That way, your book will turn up in the search results if someone types any combination of any of the words above. It will definitely get you more exposure and make your book more discoverable. Just don't duplicate any words.
You're not really limited to 7 like Amazon says. If you drop the commas altogether, you can get a lot of keywords in. Up to 400 characters total, in fact. Use as many words as possible that describe your book. You could try a string like this: self help alcoholism nonfiction recovery book guide how to stop success stories quitting etc.
That way, your book will turn up in the search results if someone types any combination of any of the words above. It will definitely get you more exposure and make your book more discoverable. Just don't duplicate any words.
1 - 19 of 19 Posts
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