sales « Robin Writes

I signed REDUCED up for the KDP program; I give Amazon a 90-day exclusive on Kindle (as opposed to other e-books/readers), and I have five days to promote REDUCED as a freebie. Freebies can be good – theoretically, people will download the book and write glowing reviews – and then MORE people will buy your book!

Now, I’m new to this so I can’t say absolutely that it works like it’s intended, or even, really, that it works at all. I have about 15 reviews on Amazon, in a month’s time, and one (maybe two?) is a result of the first free promo I did the beginning of September. Hard to say.

I’ve heard, from two authors at least, of free Kindle downloads in the tens of thousands for just one weekend. Sadly, I haven’t experienced that myself.

My first promo was a 24-hour deal; I had just over 500 downloads. As I said, I may have gotten one or two reviews from that. I saw absolutely zero spike in sales afterwards which, several authors assured me, would happen.

The second promo just finished – over a three day period, there were just over 200 downloads. No reviews yet, of course, it just ended last night! But I’ll be watching to see if this precipitates any sales.

Yes, I’m a little disappointed. And I doubt I’ll continue my KDP exclusive beyond the 90 days, but mainly because I want to expand the e-book format into Nook, Kobo, and others. But, more than likely, REUSED will also have its trial run at KDP.

At any rate, REDUCED is doing well in the sales department, paperbacks continue to sell, e-books are slow but steady. I certainly haven’t given up!

Shhh – no one ever talks about sales figures!

At least, best I can figure out – unless they’re phenomenal, of course! But I’m doing okay, really. Sure, I ordered some myself, but didn’t go overboard. I know some authors who ordered 1000 of their own books. Yes, THOUSAND. Or even some who paid $10,000 for copies, and that’s a LOT of copies. What the heck do they do with them all?

Most self-published books sell fewer than 100 copies. Yep, it’s true. Family, friends, an occasional stranger. I’ve been lucky. And I own a bookstore. But I still didn’t go overboard.

So how do you sell your books? Promote, promote, promote. Just like in the last few posts here, paste that puppy everywhere you can do so. (No doubt some of you who are reading this are thinking, “Sheesh, enough already, we’re sick of seeing that damn book!”) That’s okay. So far, no one has accused me of spamming – I’m trying not to overload any one site or blog or email list.

Besides the online stuff, you have to put yourself out there. Call, visit, email bookstores, cafes, bars, clubs, any venue you can think of that might have a table for you. Heck, park yourself at Starbucks with your laptop and a stack of your books! I always recommend that authors carry around a box of their books in the trunk of their cars – you never know when a conversation might turn your book and BINGO! You have a sale!

I know one author who not only carts around a box of books, but a table, table covering, and stand-up posters. She sets up at malls, street fairs, wherever there are a lot of people. Be creative!

It’s not enough to sell books – you have to get people to read and review them. Talk up your book, get people excited! Yes, I know it’s the opposite of a solitary writer persona, but try to stretch yourself a little. Give away a few copies in exchange for a review or leave one at your local bookstore. You might have to go with a consignment deal, but that’s not so bad: you make a couple bucks and get more exposure. And exposure is good, at least in the case of selling books!