Selling Your Book on AmazonThere are lots of things you can do to help in selling your book on Amazon.
With Traditional Publishers If you are working with a publisher they should get your book listed on Amazon. Check with them to be sure they do so. Even if they list your book, there are still things you can do to help promote your book and you'll find them here.
With a Self-Published Book If you have self-published your book you'll probably need to do more than those who have gone through a traditional publisher. You'll have to list your book yourself as well as taking care of all the other details. Follow along and I'll give you all the information you need.
With Print-on-Demand Books Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't list any POD books unless they're published by their own POD company, Booksurge, so if you used another POD company, you won't be able to list on Amazon.
When selling your book on Amazon, you can choose from several different ways to list it. There is Amazon Marketplace, where you take care of the shipping. This is not something I would highly recommend but it may suit your needs. You could also choose to sell your books through Amazon Auctions, although I'm not sure why you'd want to as they probably would not sell for the retail price. The best program, however, is Amazon Advantage, described at the bottom of this page.
The following information applies to all types of published books, whether traditional, self-published or print-on-demand.
Your Book's Detail Page You should use all the tools Amazon makes available to you. On your book's detail page you can include:
This information may be provided to Amazon by your publisher if you went through a traditional publisher, but check to be sure that they include all this information. If not, you can add whatever is necessary to round out your profile.
Search Inside the Book Program This is a truly useful free program that will help in selling your book on Amazon. I can't begin to think of the number of books I've purchased because this program is available. By allowing prospective readers to take a look inside your book, it encourages them to purchase it. You can learn more about it at Amazon Search Inside Check your book's detail pages to see if your publisher has signed up for this program. Along with the front and back covers, an excerpt and the table of contents, there's a text box for searching inside the book as well, so customers can search for information on specific keywords in your book. Amazon doesn't accept digital files for this program so you have to send them an actual physical book. It usually takes about five to six weeks for the search functionality to become active.
Encourage Others to Review Your Book If you have some solid reviews from readers this really helps in selling your book on Amazon. If anyone gives you positive feedback on your book you should encourage them to write a review. You can ask your local librarian, your friends, some of the people in groups you belong to on the Internet and other people you know to do a review too.
Your Amazon Profile This is like an author bio but on Amazon it's called a profile. You can include a bio, photo, email address and very importantly, a link to your website. This will allow you to direct prospective customers to some of the other products/services you offer. Each time you post on the Amazon site, for example with a book review of someone else's book, Listmania list or a So You'd Like to...Guide, your profile shows up. So you're spreading the word about your book and other products each time you do any of these activities on Amazon. It's a great way to spread the word about your book. This is another great tool to help in selling your book on Amazon.
Listmania! Lists With Listmania! you can create a list of books or other products that Amazon sells that are related to the topic of your book. Amazon uses these lists all over their site when customers search for products that relate to the topic of your list. The list includes your name and a link to your profile. You can, of course, include your own book on your list as well.
Amazon Tags Tags are like keywords and this feature helps potential readers find your book. Tage are on your book's detail page and you can add any keywords that relate to your book. If you want to get some good ideas of tags you might use, take a look at other books similar to yours.
Amazon Advantage Program This program is only needed for self-published and print-on-demand authors. It's the most common program used in selling your book on Amazon. Amazon charges a small annual fee plus a commission of 55 percent for each book sold. Books in the Advantage program are also available on the Target, Borders, Waldenbooks and VirginMega websites. This program ships books 24-hours a day, makes your books available for immediate shipment, provides fulfillment services including customer service, credit card processing and shipping. It also has automatic reorder notifications and makes payments monthly. It's a wonderful program to help in selling your book on Amazon.
Our Amazon ServicesIf you'd like us to set up your Amazon detail page, arrange for a Search Inside the Book feature, create your Amazon profile and arrange for a minimum of 2 customer reviews for your book, we can do this for you.Fee: $295.00
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