Self-Publishing Marketing Guide for all Indie Authors by BookRix .com (story reading TXT) 📖

recommend overpricing your book. The fact of the matter is readers won't spend a lot of money on an unknown writer and/or book. If you want to entice new readers, try pricing your book at a lower cost. Most readers are willing to take a chance, as long as it's not going to cost them very much.

Another thing to consider, when choosing a price, is the length of your book. If you are selling a short story (less than 100 pages) you should think about marking down the price. Nobody is going to pay more than $2.99 for a short story by an unknown author. Try pricing your first book anywhere between $0.99 and $2.99 if you want results. If you are selling an epic masterpiece (more than 200 pages) you can probably assume that the reader will be willing to pay more. Just remember, you are a new author - the most important thing right now is getting your book out there to as many readers as possible. Worry about the money later. Just because you think all your work and effort is worth more than $6.99 doesn't mean the potential buyer will agree with you. How could they know that it took you two years of your life to complete?

Another benefit to keeping your sale price low is, not only could it sell more books, but you can increase your chances of making the ranking charts of Amazon and other shops. This is stellar exposure!

If your book is part of a series, there is one sure way to make more profit: When you publish the second part of the series, consider sharing the first part completely free. New readers are often attracted to free books and after having read the first part, they will be more than happy to pay for the next installment! After a few months of free sharing, mark your first book to an affordable $2.99 and your second to a profitable $3.99+. It works every time.

If you are unwilling to share your masterpiece completely free (even though we just told you it works every time...) you can write up a short story introduction to your book/series and share that for free. This is a great way to attract those potential readers who love free books (readers who love free books are usually avid readers who read so much it's starting to hurt their wallets) and get them interested in your writing and interested enough to pay for your book. Once you've reeled them in, you'll be able to keep them on your hook using your author’s website and book blog.

So remember, overpriced books don't sell. Sure, you might sell one or two, but wouldn't you rather sell 50 at a lower price?

A Good Blurb – The First Words Matter

We previously mentioned that a good cover can tempt a reader to open a book. But is it really that simple? Initially, the cover attracts a potential reader; whether or not the book will be opened depends on many other factors.

One of these factors is the blurb, without a doubt: The cover will definitely attract readers, but the blurb decides whether the book is read or not. When it comes to the blurb, the author has the opportunity to prove his or her writing skills. Creating an appealing synopsis for the whole story with only a few words often seems impossible, but with our help you'll be "blurbing" in no time!

A blurb shouldn't provide too much information, but rather tease potential readers into thinking about what will happen in the book. However, there still has to be enough information to entice the readers.

In addition, the author will find more obstacles in his or her way:

1. How can the author objectively decide whether or not the blurb achieves the desired result?

2. The author is influenced by his/her work, so how will she/he know if the blurb appeals to the target audience.

3. Does the blurb fit the book’s content?

4. Does the blurb raise expectations the book can't meet? This would be bad as it is misleading and sets the reader up for dissatisfaction. This might result in upset readers writing a bad book review.

Of course, our users have found a solution for these problems: They get help from fellow BookRix members who will collectively and honestly critique and improve their blurbs.

 

Be Active

We want to show you the options on BookRix for getting more attention as an author.

Build up a network; invite your friends and colleagues to read your book on BookRix and then kindly ask them to share it. Use our groups to look for contacts who share the same interests as you. Find fans of the topics or genres you write in and connect with them. These contacts are not only important^, as they might be your potential readers, but they can also forward you important information such as events that could provide a promotional platform for you.

Post a link to your book in the corresponding groups and recommend it to users who might be interested. Take part in contests on BookRix as this increases your visibility within the community. When members know who you are, they will be more inclined to read your books .

Don’t wait for others to help you, become prominent as an author by giving thoughtful, helpful and good reviews. This will peak other readers interest in you. Consequently they will see what you are doing and also find your books through your profile. Furthermore, an author who has received a thorough review is more willing to read another authors work and write a review themselves. These reviews serve as a form of advertisement, as many readers look to reviews prior to reading a new book. The more reviews (and it’s good to have a combination of good and constructive), the more interest will grow for your book.

Consider other authors as colleagues or partners. It won’t help to treat them as competitors because we’ve seen that authors can help each other a lot. An author who spoils things with other authors is always disadvantaged. This is not just a proven result from communities such as BookRix, but it’s also common knowledge that authors support each other and share networks. Thus they significantly increase their reach – regardless of the platform.

 

Reviews and Comments Help

We all know that if someone else says something great about something, then that something is more likely to be tried out by someone else. You know? Totally! Basically, we are talking about reviews and comments here. Of course you want readers to speak highly of your work. When they leave a positive comment/review, you know you have pleased your readers.

Reviews and comments can be made via BookRix and external shops like Amazon. Get your BookRix friends involved and motivate them to post reviews/comments on your books that are sold on external eBook stores including BookRix as well. Take it to heart that a reader left a comment for you and don’t be nervous or offended if there are negative comments too. Providing these comments are constructive, they are ok.

Commenting on the books of other authors can spark activity and positive feedback, as they may be more inclined to read your work and return the favor by commenting on your book. This is part of supporting each other!

 

Presenting Yourself

Presentation is everything. Well, almost everything. A profile is gift wrapping of yourself, just as your book cover is to your book. Displaying yourself in a professional yet personal manner, can draw potential readers to your work as well as giving that personal touch for your readers to get to know you; the author.

Your BookRix profile should be genuine, informative and filled with tidbits about you, your writing, interests, inspirations, etc. Allow your readers to know you. The sky’s the limit here. In addition, writing in the first person gives your profile personality, reality and also that personal voice. The more you let your readers know about you, the more others can relate to you and that will peak their interest in your writing.

When it comes to your profile picture this should show the true essence of you. Appear friendly, approachable and realistic. Don’t be afraid to show your smiling face. We all like to know that there is a real person behind the words and a good profile picture says a lot about you.

 

Tease Your Readers