What Sells an eBook? Secrets are Simple, Easy!

If you are interested in increasing your sales of an ebook title such as a Kindle or a Smashwords title or titles, or if you are just putting one up for sale, there are some important steps you must take. This is hard-won truths via experience as I am dealing with some 44 titles on Kindle and many on Fictionwise, and one on Smashwords.  First off....if you want to begin selling a kindle title or to catch attention of ebook readers for Smashwords or FictionWise, it has to be priced lower than you can imagine!

This may sound crazy but you can make more on a 2.99 book than on a 25 dollar one, so do not balk as pricing it LOW. Kindle owners believe they have a right to cheap, cheap, and cheaper ebooks; in fact, they so want free books. However, if their curiosity over a title can be piqued, they're willing to go .99 cents, 1.99 or 2.99. Getting much above this is flirting with turning your ebook into a stone as it will just sit there.

It is the way of Kindlers in particular. The entitlement has a history begun at the inception so roll with that. All my titles are 2.99 now. I had some cheaper at one time but bumped them all up by a buck as of July 1st. I am selling just over a thousand books a month from the Kindle Store.


Kindlers also go by cover art, title, and description. These may sound like simple steps, too simple (it can't be this simple, Prof. Walker), but this is me paying atteniton to those who have sold in the thousands on Kindle BEFORE ME.

The description must be flawless, not a letter out of place. Rewrite it as many times as needed, and it must excite the imagination. Fire it up; make it the most exciting story you ever wrote--the story of your story. The character name(s) need be there, the main thrust or "platform" along with the setting and some idea of the time period. The basic five W's of journalism.

Next if you intend to follow it up with a sequel, this sells more books ONLY IF the ebook readers KNOW this fact. My series titles do ten times the number of my stand-a-lones. Book length is important to kindle readers. I have a three-volume in one title, and I make that clear, and they love it. I play up the fact it is a FAT book at 160,000 words rather than the typical 80-90 thousand words. Kindlers love this as with the idea of a series.

I hang out at www.kindlekorner@yahoo.com and they have embraced their kindle writers on board there and in fact highlight kindle titles each month from KK authors ala the moderator, Bob.

I put up notices about the books on facebook, twitter, elswhere but I try to relay "facts" from my research or on the platform of the book to chat groups to lead into the book title, pulling back on htting folks over the head with buy my books statements.

There are also Amazon discussion boards where I drop in and do what I do on Kindle but they are not as embracing of author BSP there.

I am seeking other venues all the time. Finding review sites for kindle books and not kindle devices is hard to find. There are some e-magazines out there, and I am sure I am overlooking some possibilites.

Finally anyone interested in ebook salesmanship should follow Joe Konrath's blog and in his footsteps. Every step I have taken, Joe put me onto (or up to)save kindlekorner which I discovered. You have no idea how important it is to set the price right and get the descript down perfectly. Great. Now you know all the steps I took but of all of these steps price, descript, professional cover art, and sending the message of series or multiple volumes are the most powerful steps to take.

Rob Walker
Titanic 2012 - sneak peek opening chapters FREE for asking

http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/
http://www.makeminemyster.blogspot.com/
"Dead On takes the reader's capacity for the imagination of horror to stomach turning depths, and then gives it more twists than a Georgia backroad that paves an Indian trail." - Nash Black