5 Simple Amazon Sales Tips for Indie Authors

by | Oct 20, 2017 | Amazon Updates & Marketing Tips, Book Marketing Basics

Reading Time: ( Word Count: )

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Indie authors can’t really take a break when it comes to book marketing, but you know what, that doesn’t mean every strategy has to be labor intensive and sometimes simple changes can really help spike your Amazon sales.

Subtitles are Amazon Sales Tools

Super descriptive subtitles are opening doors for indie authors in ways we’ve never seen before.

It’s like being able to put your elevator pitch right there at the top of the page.

Non-fiction books tend to do this by default, but too many fiction authors forget how persuasive a powerful subtitle can be.

Plus you’re saving the reader time – if you write in a specific genre for a specific kind of reader – own that! Here are a couple of examples:

indie authors book marketing amazon sales 1

indie authors book marketing amazon sales 2

Keywords Belong Everywhere

Keywords are not just for the back-end of your account.

I’ve covered keywords a number of times, how to find them and how they can completely turn around your book marketing as an indie author. You can start reading up on that strategy here.

So once you’ve determined your keywords, be sure you’re working them into your subtitle, your book description, your About the Author section, anywhere you can that makes sense and still sounds natural.

Keyword Trends

Again, being able to jump to it and make updates is indie author gold.

Some of your keywords will stay pretty consistent, and those are likely the ones that are really specific to your genre or topic.

But keep in mind that I also see trends in keywords, especially timely ones, so if you have a current book this is something you want to watch out for.

A few examples that are doing well: book club recommendations 2017; best political thrillers 2017;  Christmas romance books 2017.

The Refine By Strategy

If you’re into romantic suspense books with strong female leads that are set near the beach – Amazon will show you which books fit the bill.

‘Refine by’ are categories for readers, but not technically for authors, as in, you can’t put your books there or ask Amazon to put your books there.

However, if your book fits into a few of these refine by options and therefore narrows your competition, I recommend using those refine by terms in your keywords on the back-end.

These are terms Amazon is invested in – play the game.

You don’t have to use them all at once, or hell, maybe try using them all at once!

Your goal should be to research and play with changing up your keywords once a quarter, just track what you’re doing to see if you can figure out what’s working.

Amazon Ads

Last but not least are ads. These can really help your Amazon sales when done right.

There are a few parameters though that tend to be more beneficial. Books in certain genres, authors who have multiple titles, and Kindle Unlimited titles fall into this category. These aren’t deal breakers.

I cover ads and more in my latest edition of How to Sell More Books on Amazon. If you pre-order it now, save your receipt. Everyone who purchases it early will get an additional bonus! Pre-Order Now!

If you want help getting your ads set up that’s one of the book promotion services I offer.

The Takeaway

Indie authors have a lot of work to do, but book marketing doesn’t have to be complicated.

The goal is to be consistent with what gives you results and if something isn’t working – try another strategy! You should never get to the point where you say “nothing is working” because that’s technically impossible.

If you’ve hit that point I’d be happy to do a book marketing assessment for you.  Let’s see if we can figure out where you can be stronger.

Save

Save

Save

0 Comments

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. 5 Characteristics of a Bestseller Every Indie Author Must Nail | Author Marketing Experts, Inc. - […] We’ve written more about subtitles here. […]
  2. Amazon Reviews Disappearing – How to Protect your Book | Author Marketing Experts, Inc. - […] a book, we know this for a fact. On average only one person reviews a book for every two…
  3. How to Manage Your Indie Author Real Estate | Author Marketing Experts, Inc. - […] help expand on this further, here’s a piece we did on maximizing your Amazon real estate.  And of course…
  4. When Amazon Pulls Reviews: What You Need To Watch For - City Book Review - […] to get reader reviews for a book. On average, only one person reviews a book for every two hundred…
  5. How To Publish a Book That Will Sell | Author Marketing Experts, Inc. - […] also suggest brainstorming subtitles. I wrote a piece on this because it’s become a really strong strategy for Amazon…

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *