The Four Things That Will Make Your Series Sell

Most indies have heard having three books in a series is the magic that starts to get us noticed. We’ll talk about why that is in another post. If you have three books out and your sales are remaining stagnant you may want to take a look at your marketing tactics. Here are four things to look at:

1. Pricing: Pricing is your first line of marketing in this instance. In a world where anyone can and does publish, readers have learned to be weary. Weary of unfinished works and unedited books. As a result, it is in your best unrest to severely discount the first book in your series. Some even go as far as making it free and see amazing results. I know a lot of you are thinking, “Hey this is my hard work, I don’t want to give it away or charge less then $3 for it.” But guess what, your first books value isn’t in the money it brings it on its own, its in the money it brings from the rest of the series. That’s right, your first book is the bait to get readers to try you out. Making that first book free or $0.99 (once you’ve published the others) will help you get readers to give you a chance.
2. Blurb: The blurb on the back of your book is lot more than a summary. It’s copy. As in marketing text. If it doesn’t make people want to download your now-discounted first book, you need to rewrite it. If you are having trouble ask an author friend for help or hire a copywriter. The idea is to get people to look at the sample in the beginning of the book. I have left free books on their virtual shelves because of a bad blurb, or one full of typos, so be sure to read it over and have your editor and betas take a look.
3. Covers: Professional looking covers are even more important than pricing and equally as important as the blurb. I usually try to create my own covers and if it doesn’t work out I then seek help from a designer. The trick is to know the quality you want and realize when you are unable to attain it. If you can tell you cut a guy out of white background and pasted him next to a girl in a field… just stop. There is a lot that goes into the process and if you don’t know enough to do it well (and in proportion) you need to find someone to help you. Keep practicing and keep someone who will be honest with you close to help you progress.
4. Reviews: Reviews are important. We all know this. That being said, if you have all 5 star reviews, readers are going to think only your friends and family have read your novel and be turned off. Readers might also be skeptical if many of your reviews contain typos and other errors or are poorly written. In a forthcoming post, “All Reviews are Good Reviews, Even the Bad Ones,” I will go into more detail on this. However, if you get a 1 star review, and they explain why they didn’t like it, that is a good thing. You don’t want people to buy your book if they won’t enjoy it so those reviews help readers make an educated decision about purchasing your novel. 

There you have it! Four things to look into if your series isn’t sell as well as you’d like. 

DISCLAIMER: If you have not professionally edited your book these things won’t help you. Editing comes long before publishing. If you have published your book and found minor typos you can simply fix them and upload a new version, but if you find yourself making major changes, you need to do the professional thing and pull the product until you have made the necessary changes.