How To Increase Your Book Sales - It's Easy!

I was reading a Facebook post from an author over the weekend. This author was not unlike many other authors out there. She was complaining about how poor her sales were. In her case, she was especially complaining about the sales in terms of the number of people using the Kindle Online Lending Library. Apparently getting paid by the number of pages being read was not enough. And she is not the only person struggling this way.

Consider the number of people giving their books away for free. I have said it here in the past, but the number of authors doing this is astronomical. Try this some time. Get on Amazon and go to the Kindle books. For me, I go to Romance and the Contemporary romance. Now sort it by Lowest to
Highest. I generally give up after 400+ books.

I think you are seeing where I am going to here. To increase your sales, you have to actually "sell" a book and get people to "buy" your books. You have to promote people actually buy a book and not take the cheap route.

So, try these "ingenious" marketing techniques:

1. On your website, if you are linking your book to an online retailer, link it to the site that brings in the most money. If Direct Sales through your publisher is going to bring in a higher profit for you, then send the readers there. I should also add that if you are someone tired of Amazon being in charge of the world, then quit sending people to Amazon.
2. Quit selling your books for Free. Sure, there is nothing wrong with a promotion where you can show a "sample" of your book, but keep it to a sample. 
3. Get your friends and family to actually "buy" the book. Yes, I know they are family, but they should be there to support you and your work. They should be your strongest following. 
4. Remind your family and friends that "passing on the book to the rest of the family" is not helping you and your sales. 
5. Encourage your friends and family to quit frequenting those used book stores. No, I am not anti-small business, but the only person making any money here is the owner of the bookstore. You see no profits this way. 
6. As for marketing your book, have all of your friends and family support you with great reviews on EVERY site. Look, if they like your book, make sure they tell people. Quit just passing it on. 

I know this sounds really silly here, but simply giving your book away is not going to help you.