Getting Online Book Sales

Online book sales can account for a high percentage of your total book sales depending on your marketing strategies.  Many readers find out about new books from email forwards, online reviews, targeted advertisement campaign and alerts from sites on which they are members. Getting your book in front of the right eyes online can drastically increase sales.  It is important to know who your audience is and narrow your efforts to websites they frequent.  When including online marketing in your sales strategies try to spread out the types of sites you use for advertising. For example, you can use the following three types of online marketing to reach your readers.

• Author website – Create an attractive website that will appeal to your genre and not just your current book.  If you choose, you can create a separate site for your most current book.
• Online Bookstores – Online bookstores like Amazon and Overstock are great ways to get your book in front of a global audience and increase the number of consumers who will see your book.
• Word of Fingers – I use these words instead of word of mouth because when you’re online, your fingers do the talking for you.  Your goal here is get people communicating online about your book.

An author website will communicate to your existing readers and offer information for new potential readers.  It will include your biography (this can cover whatever information you decide to share with viewers); any events you will be attending; other books you have written and of course a sales page for readers to purchase your book(s).  When establishing your theme for the site, you should know what type of persona you are trying to portray and be consistent with that theme.  Be sure to reply promptly to all posts or messages you receive through the site.  This will show your readers that you genuinely care about them and their feedback.

Online bookstores or rather online stores that sell books are easy and accessible ways for readers to learn about and purchase your book.  There are several ways to directly and indirectly utilize the services these sites offer.  When using any online sales techniques in your book marketing plan, your goal is to always keep costs to a minimum.  By listing your books on these sites you are getting exposure for your book and proving a means through which the book can be quickly purchased from a trusted name with a good reputation.  Make it easy for online shoppers to find you, find your book and be able to buy it without any hassle.

Word of fingers, though a strange saying; it is what I consider the online version of word of mouth.  You want to create buzz about your book and about yourself.  Without a doubt, word of mouth is by far the best marketing technique in existence.  It’s free, it reaches a broad audience and it accomplishes its goal of advertising your product or service. Once the word is out, people will share what they know.  Many will even share without reading your book.  If they heard from a reliable source that your book is a good read, they will have no problem passing on that endorsement.  To better harness this resource, you can join a forum or group that is focused on your book’s topic.  The other members of the forum or group will discuss the book and even take their new knowledge and opinions offline to their homes and work.