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How to Market Your Book on Amazon in 7 Easy Steps

How to Market Your Book on Amazon in 7 Easy Steps

How to Market Your Book on Amazon in 7 Easy Steps

Amazon is the #1 place for readers to discover books. Love ’em or hate ’em, Amazon is king, and your book needs to be listed there in order to get in front of readers. Marketing a book on Amazon is a very specific task and can be different from general book marketing, since you have to play by Amazon’s rules. Below are some key steps you need to take in order to learn how to market your book on Amazon.

1. Prepare your Book With a Good Cover and Professional Editing

Make sure your book is well-edited and has a good cover. Our data suggests that using a professional editor and cover designer is the way to go. Don’t know where to find cover designers or editors? Try a service like Reedsy where you can shop for the perfect person to help you. Want more data on what makes a good cover and a well edited book? Here’s some past articles on cover design and editing.

2. Setup your Amazon eBook Metadata

Metadata is just a fancy phrase for ‘data about your book’. Amazon allows you to set the metadata when you setup your book through the KDP interface, so you’ll want to think about it before publishing. The easiest way to optimize your metadata is to make sure your book description is at least 100 words, and uses genre specific terms that people will be searching for. If you struggle with what to write, try using the if…then construct: “if you like suspenseful thrillers, then you’ll love this book” or “if you liked Gone Girl, then you’ll love this book”.

3. Get Reviews Before You Start Selling Your Book on Amazon

Reviews are key to a book selling. On Amazon, some readers will completely ignore your book if it has zero reviews, because there will always be 5 other books for them to choose from. Getting the first early reviews is hard, but don’t get discouraged, and whatever you do, don’t cheat, Amazon will find out. You are permitted to politely ask people to review your book, but you can’t pay them to do it. One tried and true technique for getting reviews is to run a giveaway, gifting copies to the winners. Once the giveaway is over, you can politely ask the winners to review your book. There’s no guarantee that they will review it (or review it positively), but it’s a good way to get started. Sound like a pain? You can always have us do the legwork for you with our Giveaway Package.

4. Understand the Amazon Algorithm

Amazon sales are all about rankings: The higher you rank in the Amazon popularity charts, the more new readers will discover your book. Nobody knows precisely how the Amazon ranking algorithm works, but we do know that it’s highly correlated with volume of sales over short periods of time. This means that in order to rise in the ranks, you need to try to sell lots of copies over a brief period of time. You cannot ‘game the system’ but understanding that high volumes of sales leads to better rankings can help you plan a successful marketing strategy.

5. Plan your Book Marketing for a 48 Hour Blitz

After #4, we know what you’re thinking: How do you sell lots of copies of your books in a short period of time? This is where you use the “stacking” strategy, namely, planning multiple promotional opportunities for your book at once. Many authors book promotions with services like Freebooksy or Bargain Booksy during a free or discount price promotion to spur a spike in sales. Readers subscribed to these services are always on the hunt for great, bargain reads, and a high volume of them will download your title if they find it appealing. Dont know where you should price your book during a promotion? We can help you with that. Once you have a price promotion scheduled, start stacking up other things you can do on that day: Post to social media; send an email to your list; and tell your friends and family.

6. GO!

On the day of your promotions, clear your schedule as much as you can. Make sure you can respond to social media inquiries from potential readers, or handle any last minute marketing decisions that you may need to make. Don’t expect to get a lot of writing done on these days, as marketing should be the priority. In addition to sales of the book you are promoting, you should see what we call ‘halo sales’ or sales from your backlist. This is a huge benefit to marketing and is often overlooked.

7. Wait 90 days, Rinse, Repeat.

Figuring out how to market your book once is great, but the job of marketing never stops. Make sure your sales stay healthy by running stacked promotions once every 90 or so days. Bumping your book(s) up in the charts every few months will get them in front of new readers, and help you gain a devoted following. You can focus on content marketing for your books in the downtime between your promotion days to keep sales at a consistent level.

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99 comments on “How to Market Your Book on Amazon in 7 Easy Steps
  1. I went to Amazon to look at Ferol Vernon’s books so I can see his own success, but I don’t see any books by an author with that name. Does he used a different author name on Amazon?

    1. I have written two books 1. Uprooted & Forlorn- The life of Kashmiri Pandits in exile and 2. Upanishad: The concentrated wisdom. Could you please read, rate and review it accordingly?

        1. Hi Manoj, hope you are fine. Please also review my book on Amazon – BALA The Immortal Indian Scientist. Inspired by the space scientists in NASA and ISRO. I would be very grateful. Thanks.

          This article is awesome. I liked it and will follow the steps.

        2. Hi, Please read my book and leave a comment. The title is Reminiscence written by Janet James.

        3. I’m not a journalist but I do write from the heart. Just finished my third book. I make mistakes, but I hope my message to save lives overrides those mistakes. Please help me help and save people from themselves. Mental Heal, PTSD are my books of hope. Titles A Life of Hell, Swear to God Holy Bible and being published, Everyone is a Someone. Need help promoting these titles thank you.

        4. I’ve written a book of poetry can you review it please. ‘ climbing up from. The depths’ Loren denny tha k you

        5. I have written many books and Please review my book “how were the air shafts of Giza pyramid built” Thank you in advance.

  2. Hi Mikel,

    I’m not an author. We run Written Word Media, and work with over 20,000 authors. We’ve seen a lot of books succeed on Amazon. This article is based on our learnings from seeing what works, and what doesn’t, hopefully these tips can help you succeed. Thanks for reading!

        1. Love for you to help promote my published book Freedom is expensive even in America on Amazon, tnx.

  3. This information is incredibly helpful. I’m going to Google your company to find out more. I appreciate this guidance!

  4. It was very enriching reading this article.
    Am a new self published author with biographical works. Hoping Amazon will be a spring board for me to reach the global audience

  5. Easier said than done. The website you referred me, Reedsy to which I started an account to get a professional editor’s quote is very expensive, they are asking thousands of dollars to edit my book, ($3500 to $4500 to copy edit and $5500 for developmental editing) I know that it’s a long volume. I don’t have that kind of money. Is there a website that has more reasonable rates for professional editing?

    1. Hey Anthony, you’ll probably want to look for a smaller company or find a freelance editor. This post has more information on how to do so. We also recommend reaching out on author forums like KBoards to get advice from other authors.

    2. Hi, if you don’t mind, you can give me the manuscript to edit and proofread. I am Sam, an English Language instructor, and a newspaper editor

      1. Hi Samuel: I just published my second book, entitled HO CHI SEEDS and Other Twisting Vines. It contains two 5-Act plays and 7 other epic poems and aphorisms. 196 Pages. It is dedicated to Vietnam and WWII soldiers; those who survived and those who did not. As well as the families left behind. In the style of J Alfred Prufrock and Brooklonsky Most. Can you help me?

    3. I found the best place to find editors is Upworks, plenty of people to choose from and very competitive pricing. I got an American author for US1,000 and he did everything even put the finished product to Kindle.

    4. Hi, some of my friends told me to try fiver. I’m also an inspiring author. I hope edit books as well in the near future. Hope this was helpful

    5. Look up Ocean Reeve Publishing, they are amazing. They published my autobiography Broken Past Heals Dreams and I’m very happy with the whole process.

    6. Go to almost any publishing company and they’ll offer a whole self-publishing package for the prices you’re talking about. By “whole package” I mean editing, printing, and distributing. Don’t make the mistake many make of thinking distribution is the same as marketing. They can get it to the store; you have to move it off the shelf.

  6. Out here trying to promote my book!

    Anyone interested in learning high income skill (professional sales). Check out my book- B2B Sales Degree. Also support greatly appreciated!

    1. What books cost that much? At that rate, no one could post ratings, reviews, or comments. And no one buys in bulk, except retailers. I HAVE a review. STARK TALES, an Anthology. It’s a mosaic novel about paranormal time travel.

    2. Do you belong to a writers group anywhere? If not, I would strongly recommend it. Writers groups are a good source of information, critiques, and fellowship with like-minded people. Plus, many of them do self publish and can talk you through the process.

  7. I have four self-published books that I may be interested in selling on Amazon. Would like some assistance setting it up. They are selling well locally but I want more exposure.

  8. Fiverr and Upwork I am an Indie author and there are hundreds of qualified editors with reviews on both of those platforms. That is a lot of money unless you are Jk Rowling. Anyone reading this never self publish anything without getting it edited first.

  9. Great Info. I love the simplicity of this post. Nice ‘spin’ on earlier/known topics …ive learnt again!, something new. Thanks for sharing this!

    Robert

  10. Regarding reviews: you forget that Amazon has a criteria of 50$. If you have not purchased for this amount you are not allowed to make a review. This even though your reader purchased the book.
    How do you get around that?

  11. Fiverr is great and I highly recommend Marni Mccrae, who is amazing!
    She did a great job on my book – The lies we were promised..

  12. Hi,my books are mostly Christian books namely:Healing,Prosperity, Holiness,Prevailing Prayers etc.They are currently on Amazon but what I earn monthly is almost the amount I spend on promotions/campaigns.
    Please how can you help .

  13. Just finished a book on Language Translation. Precisely over 1000 translations from English to to 3 African (Nigerian) languages but I am now confused now on how to sell them. I need your advice on this please

  14. Who decides the pricing of one”s book. My publisher didn’t. I have never put a price on it and I do not where where one goes to do this anyway. I have seen my book advertised all over the internet asking for hideous prices like $54 and down to $35. As a friend said you will never sell your book at that price, But I never priced it so where do I go to set a price on it?

  15. Published two books’Intragalactic Frontier series’ in Amazon,but without promotion my books are not attracting …I wish I know what else to do!!

  16. I just published my debut book, A Girl With A Dream, on Amazon.com. I would appreciate if you could check it out, and maybe leave a review if you like:)

  17. Hi there.I published my first poetry book Pisces,a month ago.It is available on Amazon.It is an Afrikaans poetry book.I,m looking for online groups or pages for Afrikaans speaking South Aftican expats in USA,UK or Australia who might be interested in buying my e-book on Amazon.Would appreciate some info.

  18. Hi, I liked the article. One of my thoughts is how to protect my book before sending it to be proofread. Can I copywrite it before it is sent to a proofreader? To calm my paranoid writers brain. Thanks. Chris.

    1. Hey Christopher, I think this is something a lot of authors worry about. A few ways to put your mind at ease are to save a version of your work with a date before you send to a proofreader. It’s also a good idea to use a proofreader that has experience and has other authors that can vouch for them.

  19. İ liked the 7 steps , İ have published ( The laughing baby and the candle of rebirth ) as ebook and will be soon in a paperback copy , İ hope you will like it , İt’s very inspiring book about a failing angel who are living among us but stay in German.He Is amazing man to meet before his death.

  20. My book on purpose and reason for existence based on Label will soon be here. Please watch out for it, “DO NOT TEAR THAT LABEL!” as authored by –
    Ukachukwu Benson C.

  21. Could someone read and review my book? Teachable Moments – A Woman’s Journey of Self-Discovery. by Sandra L. Miller.
    I would like to continue to promote my book on Amazon. Thank you.

  22. Thanks for this information, I’m Sam Akinwale, I have a book published book titled My Tears, it’s fictional story xrays the rots in our political system in Nigeria. I want to upload it on Amazon and also I’m looking for a foreign publisher that can publish this work.

  23. I wanted to ask. I have published a book on Amazon. If I buy say $500 worth of books on my account. Does this count as pushing the book into the “Best Seller” list?

    1. Hey Sam, no they will not work as Amazon has checks in place to make sure authors don’t do this.

  24. Hey there everyone. Here I present my debut solo poetry book. It’s called, “Whimsical Poetry.” If you ask me what my vision often looked like, I would say ‘in a way my words are adapted in a book under my name’. This sentiment is a mixture of happiness, resilience and liberty.

    This book is significant to me. I wouldn’t boast that it contains the best poems you’ll ever read, but I can ensure you that I have buried a piece of my heart in it. It is a collection of my poems over the years. This was truly a one-man show. From editing it to even designing the cover, I’ve done it all! It took me 3 days in total. They are the proof of my growth and change. This one is written for everyone to resonate, if feasible.

  25. This comment section is so depressing. I hate that social media and begging for reviews is such a factor in being an author today. It really ruins it.

  26. Theorized is an online platform that provides tips and advice on writing, marketing, and selling your eBooks. We offer helpful resources and articles to help you make your book stand out from the competition. Whether you’re just starting out or have already published your book, we’ve got what you need to succeed.

    Selling an ebook is not as hard as it seems. In fact, with the right approach, you can make a lot of money from this type of product. The key is to make your book stand out from the competition. Here are six steps to help you do just that:
    1. Figure out your USP
    2. Create a great cover
    3. Write an attention-grabbing headline
    4. Target the right audience
    5. Price your book correctly
    6. Use the right promotional methods

  27. Hi am Michael, would love you guys to check up on my work Titled train to Busan by Taylor hoover really need buyers and promotions

  28. Thank you so much, I can see things I have to do to promote my books.
    I have books in folktales on Amazon that isn’t receiving the attention I thought it would. One of then is ‘Folktales from around the world’ by Enchanted books.
    It’s a book full of folktales from different countries.

  29. Thank you for this article. I’m going to be launching a book called “Sides of the Borderline Tracks: Out of My Head”. As a first-time author, being able to read articles like these is amazing.

  30. Yes,I do. My book on Amazon is loved by all who read it.I’m an 81-year-old totally disabled veteran and desperately need help to promote my book nationwide.Promoter will make a lot of money as well.This book will sell big-time.

  31. I am a gifted and inspirational writer majoring in the aspect of poetry, I am here to gain more knowledge on how my books can be published. I will be very elated if my demands are met. Thanks

  32. Dear readers and book enthusiasts! Please read and review my new book “Wall Triana – An Epic Journey to the Edge of Forever”.

    It is a science fiction fantasy in which a small group of young people, pummeled with the harsh realities of climate change, racism, sexism, and homophobia in what is left of North America, set out on a grand mission to meet with a group of aliens in the far north and seek their help in righting many of the wrongs of history.

  33. Informative guide! Marketing your book on Amazon can be daunting, but these 7 easy steps make it more manageable. Thanks for sharing practical strategies to help authors reach a wider audience. Well done!

  34. Hello can someone find it in their heart to read my book and give me some feedback, please …….. eternally grateful. If anyone is interested will send you the copy…

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