SPQ 039: 30 Days Post-Launch, What’s the Best Way to Revive Sales?

Hands are making indecision signals

The Question…

Ted asks via email:

“I published a book recently – Sugar Detox – and it did very well at the start but has now tapered off quite a bit. Do you have any secrets on how to revive books that have slowed down after the initial burst? It’s been about 3 weeks since publication, and I followed the Free – .99 cents – $2.99 format in KDP.”

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “The “one and done” book model no longer works. “]

The Answer…

For self-publishers, making sales and reviving flagging sales are two of the biggest concerns. There is increasing competition on Amazon, even though there are a lot of gurus who say Amazon is full of opportunity and infinite abundance. There are a lot more writers who are writing for the same audience, so Steve says the Kindle “gold rush” is over. Gone are the days of throwing a book on Amazon and making a lot of sales without doing any work.

Most books experience a sales drop after the first month. Once a book moves off Amazon’s new book lists, sales tend to decrease. There are a few ways to combat this.

The first thing you should do is write another book. A lot of people say this, but it’s true. Steve has seen a 50 percent increase in book sales just from releasing a new book. Steve also recommends having an author bio. He talked about writing an author bio that sells in episode 33.

Another thing you should do is create a URL forward. Episode 17 covers using URL forwarding to point people to your author bio. You need a simple URL to put on all of your platforms so people are easily able to find your books. Checking your keywords is another thing Ted can do to make sure he’s taking full advantage of Amazon’s platform.

The major thing to do to push sales is build an author platform. Steve talks about building an author platform in several episodes of this podcast. Ted’s website targets the Internet marketing crowd, so Steve isn’t sure if he’s really passionate about his topic (sugar detox) or if he is interested in generating passive income.

Build one platform for your book, whether it’s a YouTube channel, a podcast, or a blog. Blogging is a good one, but you should write extensive content at least once every other week. You can refer people to these posts inside of your books.

It looks like Ted is doing a good job building an email list, but he should create a list specifically for people interested in sugar detox. Steve also recommends doing a few things on your blog to increase sales:

  • Hello Bar
  • Sidebar widget that displays random books
  • Thank-you page to promote latest deals
  • Promotional posts on launch day
  • Write blog posts about sugar detox and present your book as a solution
  • Provide a direct link to your Amazon author page

You can also create SlideShare presentations, participate in sales events, or submit a listing to a book promo site such as BookBub or Buck Books.

Steve really feels the “one and done” book model no longer works. You need to build a strong platform and connect with your audience. The people who last in self-publishing understand the importance of building a brand and having a catalog of books.

Resources and Links

SPQ 033: Learn how to write an author bio that sells books

SPQ 017: Find out how to use URL forwarding to help people find your books

Hello Bar: Hello Bar allows you to place a call to action at the top of your website

2 thoughts on “SPQ 039: 30 Days Post-Launch, What’s the Best Way to Revive Sales?”

  1. Yes, that’s right. this is about the same strategy that I use to keep my books up in the ranks. I do think that from time to time Amazon pushes them through their advertising channels (or recommendations features) as I can see spikes in sales infrequently (there could be other co-factors contributing to this as well). Thank you very much for the insight! I think it helps many other folks too!

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