Do you know the difference between having your book available for sale (listed) on Amazon, with successfully launching your book?
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is a free service that allows independent authors to create their own digital books and have them available to sell on Amazon.com. Publishing your book on KDP allows your book to be available on any of the other international Amazon platforms at the same time as Amazon.com.
It might seem a bit clinical but once you look at your book as a product, you realize that it takes more than just manufacturing something and putting it on a shelf for it to sell.
1. The First Thirty Days of Your Amazon Book Listing are Key to a Successful Launch
When your book first goes live on Amazon it starts an unofficial countdown period of around thirty days. This period is not listed anywhere on Amazon but it is widely accepted by Amazon sellers.
This initial launch period is often referred to in forums as the honeymoon period. Basically, when you first start selling your book on Amazon, it is given an initial chance to get established by the Amazon algorithm.
The Amazon Algorithm and the Technical Stuff
The Amazon algorithm is a mathematical formula that combines various pieces of sales data of your book in order to give it a BSR (Best Seller Ranking).
The numerous categories on Amazon are just like the departments or aisles in any store. From Laundry Detergent and Diapers to Books, every item, in every category on Amazon has a BSR.
During this initial period your books BSR will start off low but if you don’t start to sell books, the algorithm will start to penalize you and give you a higher ranking. You are in effect accruing penalty points.
Why a Lower Seller Ranking is better than a Higher One
Terms such as Algorithm and Seller Ranking can seem very technical to first-time authors but the basic premise is that the more sales and success your book gathers, the lower the ranking your book will be allocated.
Visualize your book’s seller ranking like the position in any other competition.
First place receives a better prize than third place, hence it is better to be ranked with the lower number one (or first) than the higher number three (or third).
Amazon gives preferential treatment to products with a lower BSR by making them more visible in search results. Now you start to see why you should view your book as a product!
2. Schedule and Track Your Launch
Your launch is important so you need to schedule it, manage it and track it.
You may have a preference for using Google worksheets, Excel spreadsheets or even just a whiteboard.
Whatever tool you prefer to use, it is important that you set up your tracking system immediately and continually update this system.
Your Launch Needs Planning Even Before You List Your Book
As an author, you are focused on writing your book and may assume that you can look at marketing your book once it’s live.
Because you only have a limited window of opportunity for your book to gain its initial sales traction, it is important that you have a scheduled plan in place before your book goes live.
Most of your launch activities will require advance planning, such as:
- The date your book will be live.
- The date of your book promotions.
- The date to submit to book promotion websites.
- The date to start your first Amazon Ad.
There will be lots more activities to consider, so set up a plan and begin tracking it from the start. If you don’t keep a track of your plan it can quickly become a mess.
3. Optimize Your Book Content, Your Book Description and Your Bio
Check Your Book Content
Even the most enthusiastic authors can feel jaded by the time their book is ready to publish, this is the time to be diligent with your checks of the final text and layout.
Once your book is live, you should be the first to buy and download a copy to your Kindle.
The digital proof-readers on KDP are adequate but you want to see how your readers will experience your book before you start promoting it.
Ideally, you may wish to list your book for $0.99 for the first week or so to solicit reviews at this lower price, buy a copy and at the same time earn your first royalties.
Optimize Your Book Description
The term product listing can also be used to define the description of any item (including books) being sold on Amazon.
Your book description (or listing) is the information about your book that is listed on Amazon. The Sales funnel for a book starts with the book cover and the title and should you manage to catch a reader’s attention the next place they predominantly look is the book description.
Analyzing the book descriptions of some best-selling authors it is apparent that their book descriptions contain only a couple of paragraphs of plain text. As these authors have brand recognition their promotion companies can get away with less effort on their book description.
As an independent author you want to use every advantage at your disposal, so treat your book description like an Ad to get the reader’s attention.
Bold Text, Headings, bullet points and white space are all elements that can make your book listing stand out.
Don’t worry if you have no idea how to use HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) or any other computer code. There are free tools out there that allow you to input plain text and format it like any traditional word processing software and (automatically) provide you with the code to cut and paste into the description box on KDP.
I highly recommend Dave Chesson’s Book Description Generator Tool
You Need 100, 200 and 300 Word Synopses of Your Book
A synopsis of your book is not always the same as your book description
While you are writing your book description it is a good idea to create several options for the synopsis of your book (Ideally around 100,200 and 300 words in length).
Creating these synopses whilst you are in a descriptive headspace will save you time later, when you need them for book promotion sites. Some sites will automatically draw your description from Amazon but others require a different synopsis for their site.
4. Reviews, Reviews, Reviews
Authors like many artists tend to have their own views about reviews of their work.
If you are writing just for the joy of writing then reviews may not matter to you but if you intend to sell books you NEED reviews.
Reviews serve several purposes for your book but the two main points to bear in mind are:
- Most readers are looking for validation that a book is worth the commitment of their time and to some extent their money. In a world full of things vying for our attention, we subconsciously decide whether to give something a second glance or to move on. We expect to see reviews before we commit to a hotel or restaurant (or almost any other experience), so seeing a book with no reviews makes us uncomfortable.
- The number of reviews a book receives is one of the elements that the Amazon algorithm uses to determine the BSR.
Amazon Review Guidelines
Amazon relies on customer confidence in their systems so they have specific guidelines and policies in place. These policies are designed to ensure that their review system is not manipulated by unscrupulous people.
You may have read lots of scary stories on social media of authors having their reviews ripped off Amazon (or their Amazon listing suspended) because they had violated the guidelines.
Most of the analysis of the reviews are done by computer algorithms and although they can make mistakes, if you stick to the guidelines any mistakes in the system can usually be rectified.
Don’t be scared to ask for reviews, just abide by the guidelines. Leaving a line in the back of your book such as “If you enjoyed this book please feel free to leave an honest review on Amazon” is acceptable.
Amazons review guidelines state that they don’t allow individuals who share a household with the author or close friends of an author to leave a review. With Globalization and social media, it is becoming more and more difficult to find people who you have no links with.
Don’t become paranoid that someone who is following you on twitter will leave a review and Amazon will pull your book from their digital shelves. Building a tribe of followers or a group of beta readers in preparation for your book completion are typical ways of preparing to sell your book.
If you already have an email list or a large social media following then let them know in advance that your book is on its way and tell them again once it’s live.
Lots of readers are unsure what to write in a review so feel free to provide some help in your communications Tips for reviewing books.
Optimum Review Numbers
It’s an accepted fact that reviews attract more reviews but it can become a bit of a chicken and egg issue. If you don’t have reviews, how can you get reviews and how many reviews do you need to start with:
- Assume that not everyone will leave a review (no matter how many times they are asked) so promote your book as much as you can.
- Apply extra attention to activities to gather reviews at the early stages of your launch. Ideally, aim for ten reviews before you launch your promotion but at a minimum try to get five reviews.
- Although there is no industry standard it is a widely supported theory that multiples of ten reviews have a psychological effect on readers.
- Ten Reviews will produce a higher number of downloads from a free giveaway.
- Twenty reviews is the minimum number of reviews you should have for your book before you start an Amazon ad campaign on your book.
- The basic premise is that the more multiples of ten reviews your book receives, the more it will continue to gain more reviews.
5. Maximize your promotions
KDP Select
Most independent (indie) authors initially register their book with the KDP Select program. Although this program ties the author into a 90 day period of publishing exclusivity (where you can only publish the digital version of that specific book through KDP), it allows benefits such as promotions through Free Giveaways and countdown deals.
These promotions have the potential to give your new book exposure.
Use Promotional Websites
Although Amazon allows you to setup Free Giveaways and Countdown deals (on your book’s KDP Select listing) the impetus is on you to get the word out about those promotions.
One of the main ways to let the universe know about your promotion is through websites and social media platforms.
Most of the promotional sites such as askdavid, reading deals, free kindle books offer to publicize your promotion for free. Sites that don’t offer a paid option for (a guaranteeing) publicising your book promotion tend to charge a minimal amount.
These sites have varying criteria for submission of your book promotion, some sites require a minimum number of reviews (usually five reviews), some sites require a certain notice period prior to the promotion (ranging from 24 hours to ten days), some sites require a Book Synopsis (different to the book description of the Amazon book listing) and others require a short author biography.
Due to the ever-growing number of promotional sites and the need to get maximum exposure for your promotion it is critical that you use your launch tracker to schedule and monitor your submissions to these sites.
Final Notes and Tying It All Together
As an independent author, the work of writing doesn’t stop once your book is published. There is a saying in writing that “once your book is 90% complete, you are almost half the way there.”
You have now created a product and to ensure a successful launch of that product you need to schedule your process in advance and track your progress.
You need to have a plan and schedule your launch around the first thirty days that your book is published.
Preparing elements such as book synopsis before your book is live on Amazon can save you a great deal of stress come the day of publication.
If you are unsure of the best way to create a book launch you may want to read my book on How to choose a Writing coach.