Sunday 18th January 2015 was a red letter day for me. My first novel, Dead South, reached #1 on the Amazon.co.uk Post-Apocalyptic Best Seller List. It came out on the 6th December 2014 and has taken 6 weeks to get there. 5 days later it is still there and I hope it stays there for as long as it possibly can.
Back when I started writing in November 2012, I never for one moment expected my story to be read by anyone at all. I imagined that people would, but never let myself believe it. All I focused on was finishing the book. It took me 2 years to complete and I was overjoyed when it was done.
Once it was finished I had to turn my attention to listing and promoting the book and to be honest that is when the hard work really started!
Here are my top tips to get an amazon best seller:
1. Write a very good book. This may seem obvious but lots of people don't bother with this! Whether a book is 'good' or not is highly subjective But what I am advocating is making your story as good as it can be. And to do that you must make sure that it is professionally edited and proof read.
I used a company called BubbleCow and they were superb. My editor Gary Smailes helped turn my story into a novel. For those of you who don't know, editors do not re-write your story for you, they give you advice on how and where to improve it.
2. Get professional artwork. A great book cover is a must. It must be eye-catching as your little thumbnail has to stand out against a million overs (and that is no over exaggeration). I used a company called Humble Nations and I loved what they did. James can be commissioned to make a cover for you or you can use one of his pre-made covers.
3. Turn your word processed document into an EPUB file. Sadly, you can't just upload your word doc to amazon, this is because Kindle's and other e-Readers all have their own specific file type. I used a programme called The Ultimate E-Book Creator. It is very straightforward and easy to use and you can have your eBook created within half an hour.
4. Create an engaging product description. You need to write a blurb that will make people bite. This is actually quite difficult and be prepared to change it, if it doesn't seem to be generating any sales. If at first you don't succeed and all that!
5. Choose Key Words for people to search your book on the amazon search engine. You are allowed to choose up to 7 'key word strings'. Make sure that they are relevant to you content and if you do, you are more likely to get the right people looking at your product.
As my book is about the zombie apocalypse I used multiple variations of that theme. After 6 and a half weeks I am now on page 1 of each my key words. And that is sure to generate more sales for me.
6. Choose 2 categories for your book to be listed in. This is key to becoming an Amazon Best Seller. You need to pick the 2 categories that you book best fits into. I picked Horror and Post-Apocalyptic. As I have already said, I am Number 1 in Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, but I am also Number 10 in the Horror category. Horror is a much broader category, so it is that much more difficult to get to number 1.
7. Set your price. Don't be afraid to experiment with different prices, both high and low. The cheaper the book may mean that more people take a punt on it, but it could also mean that they see your product as being cheap. Also, the more expensive it is could put people off as they may not feel that a first time author should justify such a large price tag.
After enough time you will work out the best price to maximise both your sales and your revenues.
8. Get an online presence. Blog, Twitter, Facebook and even Linkedin are a must. It is all about exposure and everything that gets your name out there should be done. Get yourself and author page on Facebook and drive as much traffic to it as you can.
9. Join author networks. There are some great networks out there that will promote your books via their websites and their own twitter followers. I'm a member of two of them and I have been really happy with what they do. They are: Self Publishers Showcase and the Independent Author Network.
10. Blog posts, status updates and tweets! The more you do, the more people have the chance of finding/ stumbling across you. Just make sure that what you post is relevant! Remember each of your tweets will only be seen be around 5% of your followers, so the more the merrier.
11. Blog posts, status updates and tweets! Same as above and do not lose heart!
12. Write your next novel! Don't rest on your laurels. Keep on writing and get your next book out there as soon as you can. The more books you have, the more exposure. The more exposure, the more sales and so on and so forth!
I hope this helps and get in touch if you have any questions about the self-publishing process.
Until next time and good luck,
David
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