Increase eBook Sales—Advertising & Promotion (Part 5)

Do you want to be part of the “$1.25 billion worth of self-published books” sold each year? Self-publishing keeps growing. Why not be part of its growth? Increase ebook sales.

This last part of a 5-part series on how to increase ebook sales covers advertising and promotion (free and paid) to get your ebook before readers. In the rest of this series, we dive into topics suggested by Derek Murphy at Creativindie (our paraphrase): doing marketing research, meeting genre expectations, and getting your book before readers using keywords and categories (Those are covered in the other blogs in this series).

As an aspiring author, while you might not have a big budget for advertising, you can try various free promotional strategies for growing your ebook sales. Paid advertising can help if you have the budget for it. Budget or not, a good place to start is with what’s FREE.

Announcements to Increase eBook Sales

Make free announcements on social media. If your audience is mainly female, try Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Try Twitter and Reddit for a mostly male audience. Announce your ebook as “Coming Soon,” “Just Released,” or “FREE on Kindle today only.”

You can, of course, create a social media account specifically for your ebook. Use it to post updates, teasers, or behind-the-scenes looks at your writing process or character profiles. Using hashtags on social media can help. Also, to help increase audience awareness, join and participate in appropriate groups.

Paid Ads

You can also create paid ads on social media and other sites, such as Facebook, Amazon, Google, Instagram, and TikTok. Unlike free announcements to your friends and family, paid ads help you zero in on the target audience for your ebook’s genre. With paid ads, you have a better chance of getting it before potential readers and increasing sales.

Video Shorts

Short-form video platforms, such as TikTok, YouTube, and others, can be a good way to get your ebook before potential readers. Short-form videos have become hugely popular and are continuing to trend (at the time of writing).

Other Strategies to Increase Book Sales

Many authors suggest creating a website, writing a blog, and having and growing an email list of readers for your ebook’s genre. The initial setup cost for most of these can be low. For instance, you can buy a domain name from Google Domains for $7 a year (at the time of writing). Hosting at GoDaddy and other sites is low-cost, but may not have great support. If you have the budget, you can of course hire websites to be designed for you (Chris Eller is our web designer).

Another strategy. Offer price discounts for a limited time. This can generate interest and attract readers to your ebook. You can also offer it for free for a few days. KDP Select allows five free days. However, the drawback is attracting freebie hunters who are not part of your target audience. It lowers the chance of getting reviews, which can potentially hurt sales.

Other ways to get your ebook before readers include the following:

• Getting reviews on Amazon, Bookbub, Goodreads, and other book sites.
• Doing guest blogs.
• Getting on podcasts and radio.
• Creating a group of beta readers for your ebook’s genre.
• Sending a Press Release to your local library and newspaper.

Experimenting with a variety of advertising and promotion strategies can help you find what works best for your ebook. The more ways you can get it in front of potential readers, the better chance you have of driving and increasing sales. That is, the more chance you have of receiving part of Amazon’s $250 million in royalties for self-published authors.

Don’t wait. Start Today!

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TIP: To see all of the series on increasing ebook sales, start with the overview: Increase eBook Sales—5 Part Series Overview.