In this two part series, I want to share some insights to help you understand how to establish a foundation that will set your book up for success, and build upon that foundation with strategies to sell more books. While strategy may sound boring, putting the right pieces in place can really help you sell books. Don’t believe me? Have a look at the current sales rank on Amazon:

Want to know how we did it? Let me explain.

The most important thing we did for this author was to set her up with a rock solid infrastructure. Why did we start there? Over the years, I’ve met a lot of authors who have this misconception that all they need to do to sell their book is list it on Amazon and watch sales roll in.

In reality, there’s so much more that must be done. You need to have an infrastructure in place to not only draw readers in, but engage with them as well. How can you make sure you have the infrastructure you need? I’ve outlined a quick checklist to make sure you are setting your book up for success:

• Website: think of this as your business card. Your website should be a representation of you and your books, which presents your book(s) in the best possible light.
• Newsletter: This is crucial! Your newsletter is a reliable way to stay in touch with your followers, so start building this list early. You can get a free account at sites like MailChimp (free up to 1,000 subscribers) and add the sign up to your website.
• Social networks: Again, this is another great way to stay engaged with your readers. Ready to get social? Find the networks where your market is most active and make sure and add the social icons to your website.

• Is everything linked? There’s nothing more frustrating than social links on a website that go to the wrong pages or, worse, that lead nowhere. Remember those social media accounts you created – make sure followers to your website can find you! Make sure that your social icons link to the correct accounts, and ensure that your “Contact us” works, too. Really important in case some big blogger, reviewer, or media person is looking for you!
• Branding: So branding is often misunderstood. By branding, I mean a create uniform “look” that’s consistent across all of your platforms. The idea is to create a “look” becomes recognizable to your reader. Keep in mind not to personalize it too much, or it’ll look more like your personal Facebook page, rather than your overall brand.

Once you have this infrastructure in place, it’s time to put it to work. In the second part of this series, we’ll be discussing strategies you can implement to leverage the infrastructure you’ve built to sell more books!