Every author wants to see his or her book make best-seller lists, get reviewed by The New York Times, and to favorably impact the world. At the very least, they want to break even in their venture, and where possible, sell enough books to not be in the red. But the vast majority of authors are bound to question why they don’t have more sales than they think they deserve.
Here are some reasons why your book may not be selling well. Which ones represent your situation? Which ones can be fixed – and will be fixed? Is it time to throw in the towel after adding up your shortcomings -- or you can take corrective action?
1. Your
book sucks. It’s horrible.
2. Your
book looks too ugly – the cover is a mess and/or the layout, font or typeface
size challenges readers.
3. The
price is too high.
4. Your
distribution access is poor.
5. You
have had many negative reviews that are not balanced out by plenty more
positive ones.
6. You
lack a website – or a BUY button/link on the site.
7. It’s
way too long or short for the tastes of most people.
8. It
focuses on a subject that is neither interesting, likeable, needed, nor
desired.
9. Your
pool of potential readers is small, due to the niche content.
10. Your
genre is overcrowded with better, more popular writers, who outmarket you.
11. You
haven’t advertised your book.
12. You
don’t blog often – or at all -- about your book.
13. You
fail to grow your social media – or to use it to market your book.
14. Your
family tells you the book is not so good.
15. Your
book was poorly edited and spelling or grammatical errors fill every other
page.
16. The
title is so confusing or not representative of what it’s really about.
17. You
haven’t applied for any awards.
18. You
don’t speak anywhere to talk about the book – not even bookstores or libraries.
19. You
haven’t drummed up interest by giving out free copies to get reviews and
testimonials.
20. You
don’t seek out opportunities to guest-post about your book.
21. You
haven’t initiated a media campaign to reach out to newspapers, radio shows, TV
stations, magazines, newsletters, or online reviewers, bloggers, and major
websites.
22. You
haven’t pursued bulk sales or reached out to organizations that should have an
interest in your book.
READ UP!
Writers,
please never violate these three rules!
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in
this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on
Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels
more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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