It used to be, and still mainly is, in traditional publishing, that you wanted a really strong book release. My publishers like to see good pre-orders and a high sale volume for the first month of a book’s release. They want books sold off bookstore shelves and few returns.
That’s mostly because, in the print tradition, if you didn’t have a strong start and your books hung out on bookstore shelves too long, the stores would quickly end up shipping those books back to the publisher to make room for other titles.
But with digital sales, we’re in it for the long haul. Amazon will keep those books for sale—there are no returns. Having a strong start is nice…but not vital. It’s more important that we realize we’ve got a long time to keep ourselves and our books visible—that the online relationships and networking that we’re doing is going to continue for a very long time.
The first time I put a self-published book up in 2011, it took a while to get sales moving. Luckily, I’d read enough blogs at the time to know that this was how it worked in the digital world. It wasn’t as if I really promoted the release—I think I mentioned it on the blog. I believe I made a Facebook mention (something along the lines of: If you’ve enjoyed my other series, hope you’ll check out the new release in my Myrtle Clover series).
Slowly, though, it started to catch on. What really accelerates sales is when Amazon’s algorithms (whatever they may be…and none of us really knows what they entail) start working in your favor. I keep checking my book’s page to see when the “customers who bought this also bought_____” shows up. It’s a tremendous relief when it does, because my part is pretty much done at that point. The sales escalate and I can start ignoring the sales and focus on writing my next book.
Each of my self-published books has had a slow start. Some took a week or more to get going and others a little less than a week. I know that Amazon sends emails to readers when I have a Penguin book release—some folks share the emails they receive with me. But I don’t think they’ve ever emailed readers to let them know about a new self-published release of mine. At least, no one has ever mentioned it. Obviously…that would help. But their algorithm works enough in my favor that I’m not too concerned about the lack of promo emails. And the free book promo that I run for another book in the same series also helps with sales for the entire series.
Industry expert Jane Friedman’s new online magazine for writers, Scratch, had an interesting article recently in its preview issue: “The Age of the Algorithm.” The article states:
Author Joanna Penn writes, in How to Market a Book, “Launch sales are generally disappointing compared to what happens once the Amazon algorithms kick in and you get some traction around reviews and reputation.” Likewise, novelist Hugh Howey, who signed with a traditional publisher after succeeding on his own, said during an industry conference in May, “I don’t have a timeframe for a book to do well. I let readers be the one to discover it and tell everyone. They can do it with a level of excitement that’s more genuine than me. It’s a real slow burn.” See more of the article here.
I’ve gotten to the point where I’m not restless while I wait for the book to catch on with readers. But I have friends who have other strategies for a spike in sales at the start of a launch. I’ve seen them:
Mention it on Facebook and Twitter (once or twice is definitely enough there).
Throw a Goodreads giveaway for print copies.
Send a newsletter to inform readers that they’ve had a release.
Some have signed up for services like Wattpad or Story Cartel to get reviews going. The number of reviews a book has seems definitely linked into Amazon’s algorithm, although no one knows to what extent.
Blog tour.
Whatever your strategy, it should include writing that next book. All of the problems I’ve seen with writers who drive others nuts with over-promoting is tied to the fact that they’re putting all of their energy into that one book. So much better to do some light promo while working on book two. Because one thing seems clear…the more real estate you own on an online retailer like Amazon, the better it is for sales.
Thoughts about the longevity of book life at online retailers? Have you ever had a book that was slow to start? What kinds of things do you do to spur sales for a launched book?
As always, this is extremely helpful to me, Elizabeth. Although the thought of doing any of it at this point is daunting.
Elizabeth – This is a very good reminder not to panic, if I may put it that way. It does take time for word to get around and you never know when someone might hear of your books and get interested. I agree with you too that things like online mentions, blog tours and the like are helpful. I find that having a strong online platform in a few carefully chosen places helps too. As you say, the key is the next book and steady work.
Thanks Elizabeth, great post. The more I read about self-publishing, the more I’m convinced that the “Strong Start’ is a carryover from traditional publishing whose economic model makes it a self-fulfilling prophecy. The economic’s term for the self-publishing model is “Long Tail Business” – meaning that, as you describe, success if possible over the long term because you don’t have the inventory costs and next-quarter financial pressures that the traditional publishing industry has.
great help – thanks!
Hi Elizabeth .. seems what you’re saying is relax and get on with writing .. don’t sweat the small stuff.
Well set out post … forget what we’ve done, move forward with our next project … but always be there for readers to access … cheers Hilary
My latest started out rather well, but the first two were a slow start. Once they caught on though, it was awesome!
You know, it’s ironic but I think that sometimes pure indies take longer to “get” this idea of slow launch than hybrid writers do.
Maybe it’s because indies are used to controlling everything, so they want to believe that they can control the customers too….
More books tend to sell more books.
Most print books reside in a bookstore for about three months. That isn’t a lot of time.
I think this slow release thing is even SLOWER for people with only a few books. I suspect that is because of the algorithm thing… a lot more points on which to hit the ‘also ordered’.
Hilary–Yes, and your note about “reader access” is so important….we need to make sure we have a way for readers to contact us and interact. Can be FB, Twitter, or a blog. Or even just an email on our website.
Karen–You’re focusing on editing now and that’s all you need to worry with! And really, it’s not so much promo as just an online presence. Who has time for more?
Margot–This is definitely one of those “slow and steady wins the race” types of things.
Alex–Catching on is the best!
Diane–It sure isn’t. And that’s why we all felt so pressured when it was mainly a bookstore biz
Michael –Yes! Well put. And thanks for using the econ term for the long-term selling, which wouldn’t come to my mind when I was writing this post!
Jack–Thanks for coming by!
The Daring Novelist–Oh, if only we *could* control them! Ha!
Hart–Definitely. And I’m guessing that things might speed up a bit when I have more than 4 self-pubs out.
A great post for giving other writers hope that their books will take off eventually. I’m afraid I’m obsessing about promo-ing and my new WIP is being ignored. *sigh*
Thanks for your comment on Alex’s blog about my cover reveal. I appreciated it! :-)
Your tips and advice are always enlightening. Thanks for sharing the journey and your experiences.
I read that same article. Really interesting. I have to say, this slow burn is a relief to me. No more worrying about those first two weeks. I’ve heard that putting out the next book is the best marketing strategy. I’ll soon find out!
This is a timely post for me. I just released a book today and sales have been slow. It’s my third and the second in a series, so I have high hopes for it.
Is there anything we can do for the also boughts? I thought it was hard to tell what those were from our own page because they were tailored to our own purchases.
Is there anything we should be doing for the algos?
Mary–Thanks so much for coming by!
Julie–Exactly. Now in trad pub, it’s still a big deal. But becoming *less* so. My royalties are sometimes higher on older books in my series than they are with new releases. That’s because they’re available still for sale and readers can easily find them online. I think the trad pubs will catch onto this soon.
Stacy–Also boughts are going to be mainly based on outside sales. I think the *best* thing we can do (and naturally, I haven’t done this…I observe too much and act too little. But I have many friends who’ve done it) is to get the word out to people who buy *that* genre. Whatever our subgenre is. So mine is mystery, but it helps me out a *lot* more if the ‘also boughts’ show in a cozy mystery listing instead of thriller. If there are readers who buy all the cozy releases that month, that’s who I’d want to get buy my book. Then it will show up to other cozy mystery readers as recommendations. Good ways of getting in touch with those readers are by maintaining a newsletter, forums and boards of those readers on Goodreads (be very, very careful there…authors can easily mistep), etc.
I had a lady contact me about a month ago–she said she noticed that her books and my books were frequently listed together in the ‘also boughts’ and she was keen on doing a promotion with me. Sadly, I really don’t do promotion (overtly, anyway). But it was an interesting idea. And *she* had a newsletter.
Lexa–It’s very easy to obsess. I do it myself…then realize the book will still be up for sale when I’m 100, and I might as well hold off on promo…. :)
It’s a lovely cover. And best wishes for your release!
Stacy–Oh, and Stacy…you can double-check your ‘also boughts’ by being up on your book’s page on Amazon, logged out of your account or by using another browser (IE if you’re usually signed into Firefox for Amazon, etc).
Great post, Elizabeth! A wonderful reminder that we shouldn’t focus all our energy on sales and promoting one book, but move unto writing the next one.
As to my own experience. I found my ranking improved once my book reached over 30 reviews. Sales have been slow and steady, but that’s fine by me.
I plan to keep my next book promotions simple with what you suggested along with more PR stuff. I live in a small community so it’s easy to get on TV, radio, magazines, etc.
Elke–Reviews definitely play an important role in the process. I think it must be a combination of things–the fact that Amazon gives some sort of an advantage to books with more reviews (maybe more page views with the ‘also bought’ algorithm) added to a possible ‘everyone’s reading it’ mentality by readers. Whichever it is…it’s lovely when it happens.
I’m getting close to finishing my first novel in a series. It was suggested that I not release it until I had the second one finished, in order to offer the first one free as a promo to get good sales on the second, and to get more attention for both books. The idea was to gain a readership for the series.
What do you think? Would it matter?
Minimalist Woman–Well…there are pros and cons.
Maybe a limited free sale of book one, since that would get you exposure with the algorithm. I did that, myself, and it worked pretty well. But it worked *better* with more than 2 books for sale.
I’d say, don’t let there be a huge *gap* between book one and two (just so you can keep reader interest), but I don’t know if I’d sit on a book for too long. How long will it take you to write book two? If it takes a year, I’d say sit on book one for a little while, to minimize the gap. If it takes you only 6 months to write book two, I’d consider sitting on it for less time or not at all.
I think that strategy is most effective for a very dramatic genre like paranormal or dystopia and usually only if there are 3-4 planned books in the series. For my series (that has no series arc), I wouldn’t even consider it.
Great points, Elizabeth. Thanks for this timely post. I was on the fence about a blog tour and now I think I won’t bother. I have the second book ready to upload and the third started so I think I’ll just stay as is, rather than wear myself out and everyone else with over-promoting. People must get sick of seeing the same thing over and over. Thanks!
Great piece. The Big Launch is simply not relevant in the age of the e-book. I hate to see new authors going to huge expense to launch an indie book, when what they should be doing is cultivating patience while they write the next one.