Top ten tips in making your book a success

The quickest route to market is of course self-publishing, it’s easy and with some print on demand publishers (such as KDP) it’s even free to get started, this is great for every author who dreams of publishing but not so great when you consider the competition.
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So you will need to do more than just upload your manuscript and hope it sells, having a plan and a goal for your book is incredibly important, but this isn’t something that should scare you, there are lots of things you can and should be doing to make your book sell more copies, here are our ten favorites.

ONE - Use social media

The majority of authors take more than a couple of weeks to write their books, so you will have time to build interest, so start early with social media. It’s up to you whether you use your own personal account or create new ones specifically for your ‘brand’ as and author, but it looks more professional if you keep the two separate.
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The key with social media is to engage with others, post regularly and get involved with other people’s posts, you can run surveys, competitions and advertising across all of the worthwhile platforms.

TWO - Create your own website

Having an online presence for an author is easy and very cost effective, there are many services where you can build a beautiful website without any prior knowledge in web design, most services offer the use of pre-made templates that are easy to build upon and make very unique sites. Having your own website is a great way to sell yourself and promote books to an audience, it sets you out as a serious author and offers other avenues to promote from.

THREE - Build a Mailout List

Moving on from having your own website is building a mailing list, you will need to offer something for free (such as the first chapter of your next book or a complete eBook of an earlier one), in return the visitor to your website gives you their email address, over time you’ll be able to build an audience of people who you can advertise directly to when you have promotions or new book launches.

There are plenty of email list services you can use such as Mail Chimp or AWeber who make this easy and offer a host of packages to suit most author’s needs.

FOUR - Talk to others

Write a blog (again, start early and use your website), join writer’s and reader’s forums and help others, when people ask questions online join in the debate and try to answer, keep the link to your own website in your signature. 

FIVE - Polish your book
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There’s a temptation to start the publishing process the second you type the words ‘The End’ upon your manuscript, stop, once you have finished the manuscript you should begin the editing and proofing stage next, no exceptions. Experience shows that the majority of books that go straight to print without being edited or even proofread will experience low reviews and painful feedback from readers.

Take your time, get it edited, proof-read and fine-tuned for your audience.

SIX - Test your book prior to hard launch

Have a soft launch first, get your book out to a close circle of people to read, this could be 30 to 40 people who you either give the book to or discount down heavily. The soft launch is not about making money from book sales, it’s about feedback. This should give you the opportunity learn, revise where needed and hopefully get some quotes to use on your back page and/or website.

SEVEN - Don’t be afraid to edit

If you have taken your time with the manuscript you should have had it edited, proof-read and tested further at soft launch, once you have all of this feedback act upon it. Editing is not a dirty word and can elevate your book from good to great.
 
EIGHT - Publishing formats

Choice is great, offering your readers several formats to enjoy your book in is crucial, the two most important are eBook and Paperback, you should always publish in these formats as standard (the research shows us that traditional printed book sales has been rapidly going back up over the past few years, so ensure you have this option covered).

The other options are Hardback and Audio, Hardback is nice to offer but it will not make up a huge chunk of your sales, audio is rapidly growing and should seriously be considered, there are great services such as Amazon’s ACX which offer everything you’ll need to publish your book in audio (even the voice actors to read the book).
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NINE - Advertising designs
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Ensure that you have a great looking book cover which makes your novel stand out (and in a good way), DIY covers will save money in the short term but will do nothing for the credibility of your book. Use a professional book cover design and have tie in designs for your banners on social media and posts.
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TEN - Keep moving forward

As with anything you want to become and remain successful, the key is to keep going, the marketplace is very full but you can make sales and a name for yourself as an author. 
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