One thing authors long for is a high Amazon rank, but
that’s not always the easiest thing to get.
I discovered this when I tried, first to get a friend’s gardening book, Garden of Visible Prayer, then to get my
newest story, Greater Treasures, into
the Top Ten. I’d like to share some tips
I learned.
#1 Make sure your book is classified! Before you consider
a campaign, make sure your publisher or you have put your book into its proper
category. Margaret’s Garden of Visible Prayer was lumped
under “books,” and as a result had a hard time getting that coveted status. It’s a testimony to the quality of her book
and the efforts of her promoters that her book, which is targeted at Catholic
gardeners who want to create a spiritual prayer garden, rose from over 110,000
to 5608. By contrast, I classified mine
under Urban Fantasy, and it rose from 117,000 to the top 60.
#2 Recruit some help.
Get some folks to help you out, especially those who are well followed
in the social media for your genre. Equip
them with information on your book, tweets, posts, and links to share on your
Amazon day. These are called “book
bombs,” and I’ve seen several done very successfully.
#3 Put your book on a free tracker. Amazon does not track individual book ranks,
and sometimes, even if you’re constantly refreshing, you’ll miss something. I never saw Greater Treasures make #60—my husband caught it. I may have gone higher and missed it. I found novelrank.com and metricjunkie.com to
provide free services. Ranktracer.com
does it for a fee. Sign up BEFORE you do
the campaign; they cannot get old information.
#4 Build the
buzz. For Margaret, we sent out the book
information and got people to blog it the week before, with the note that April
15 was her Amazon Day. We also mentioned
it in the social media, with frequent reminders. I didn’t do that with Greater Treasures, and I think I’d have gotten more response if I’d
prepped folks.
#5 Make it an occasion and appeal to readers’
generosity. I’ve seen book bombs where
the price was cut—or free—but I’ve also seen equally successful ones that were
specifically to raise funds. Often, the
author had a tragedy or financial issue (like a major medical bill, not
“Overspent on shoes again!”) Sometimes,
that can push someone over the edge of buy now/buy later, so don’t be afraid to
mention it if it’s a big factor. You
might have a different occasion. I’ve
seen Amazon promotions to celebrate an anniversary of a book’s publication, and
for Greater Treasures, I asked for
purchases as a birthday present to me.
#6 Didn’t make Top Ten?
It still helps. Margaret’s Amazon
Day didn’t get her even into the Top 1000, but it did boost her author rank
overall into the top 11 percent of authors in Amazon—and she got some
attention, including a request to interview with the international Catholic TV
station, EWTN. Be sure a few days or a
week after your Amazon day to ask folks to post reviews if they enjoy the book.
It was fun to watch the books rise in the ranks. I wish you all the best of luck in reaching
that Amazon Holy Grail of Top Ten Seller.
Winner of the 2010
INDIE for best Fantasy (Magic, Mensa and
Mayhem), Karina Fabian has imagination that takes quirky twists that keep
her--and her fans--amused. Nuns working in space, a down-and-out Faerie dragon
working off a geas from St. George, zombie exterminators—there’s always a
surprise in Fabian’s worlds. Mrs. Fabian teaches writing and book marketing
seminars, but mostly is concerned with supporting her husband, Rob Fabian as he
makes the exciting leap from military officer to civilian executive, getting
her kids through high school and college, and surviving daily circuit
torture…er, circuit training. Read about her adventures at http://fabianspace.com. http://tinyurl.com/greatertreasureskindle
Book tour link with
all the stops: http://dragoneyepi.blogspot.com/2013/04/greater-treasures-book-tour.html
Give-away Here’s your chance to win a free
electronic copy of Greater Treasures.
Leave a comment or question for Karina, Vern, or Sister Grace.
