Okay authors here you go, this is a quiz to see how much you know about book marketing and how to promote a book. Book promotion is a numbers game, as in, you need to be utilizing enough of the right strategies in order to become a success.

You want to sell more books? Then get on board the author success train, first stop: Amazon. Let’s do this!

Did you have a professional designer do your cover?

• Yes
• No

Do you utilize Amazon’s Look Inside feature?

• Yes
• No

If you write non-fiction, do you have a subtitle?

• Yes
• No

If you write non-fiction, do you have a subtitle that includes your keywords?

• Yes
• No

If you have written a book series is the volume/book number listed in your title?

• Yes
• No

Do you have at least 20 customer reviews?

• Yes
• No

Have you asked your network to say “yes” the most positive reviews are helpful to them?

• Yes
• No

Are all your formats and editions linked?

• Yes
• No

Is your book description between 150 and 300 words?

• Yes
• No

Does your book description include a headline, bolding and italics?

• Yes
• No

Does your Amazon book page include all noteworthy reviews you’ve received?

• Yes
• No

Have you made yourself sound interesting in the About the Author section?

• Yes
• No

Have you optimized your Amazon Author Central page and linked all your books?

• Yes
• No

Have you chosen niche categories to list your book in?

• Yes
• No

Are you using all 7 keywords?

• Yes
• No

Bonus! Are all your keywords actually keyword strings?

• Yes
• No

Now give yourself 1 point for each yes, take away 1 point for each no. Only authors who write in multiple genres can get a perfect score, so don’t stress too much about acing this, but you can end up with a negative score – be honest with yourself about how well your book marketing is likely doing on Amazon.

13 to 16 points

You’re pretty much rocking Amazon, and likely book marketing in general. If you didn’t get the full 16 points you may not write both fiction and non-fiction and we won’t fault you for that, but if you said ‘no’ to any questions that apply to your book you now have a short to-do list to make your Amazon presence that much better!

7 to 12 points

You’re doing just okay on Amazon. Of course not all of these points carry the same weight when it comes to their importance for your big picture, but when have we ever been told to settle for being mediocre? Take all your ‘no’ responses that pertain to your book and commit to rectifying them in 2016. You’re probably also doing some of your own book marketing, so kudos, but if you need some fresh new ideas be sure to follow our blog!

0 to 6 points

Alright, what’s the deal? If Amazon and book marketing confuses you we get that, but there are a lot of authors that do make it work for them, and I assure you they’re not all tech-savvy 20-somethings. We’re all capable of a lot when it matters to us – and this should matter to you. Take the ‘no’ responses that apply to your book and start researching how to make these things happen. The info is out there, I personally have written about most of these things. If you still need additional help you should email us and we can put you back on track.

-1 or fewer points

Wake up and watch the money slipping away! You wrote a book and I personally know that’s no small feat. So why be so blasé about your Amazon presence and book marketing? Unless you wrote the book on a dare after losing a bet you have to do better, or you’re dead in the water. Pour another cup of coffee and start doing the research on all the topics I addressed in the quiz. If you feel you’re too far behind to make up the distance now please email us and we’ll get you in the game.