How to sell an ebook online?

Hi,
I just listed my ebook on kindle store and am hoping for some feedback, or tips about how to boost sales.
Thanks

Are there any more alternatives other than kindle?
Thanks

 

Nook has a marketplace as well.

 

HELLO it's very easy google it and maybe you can see something , if u cant find anything please contact me

 

Yes there are many marketplaces you can sell it on like E-junkie / Clickbank ...etc

 

Please do not take it personally. The book seems interesting, and interesting topic as well. You need to have a separate website or page for it as well. Direct users through search engines to you website as well as your store. Since it is a cheap book you can get people to buy it, but is the information in your book available online as well?
If it is all available then there is virtually no reason to buy it.

I would start a blog or a website with blogs in it, then blog about the topics on the book, write a bit of teaser and then take them to the page to buy it if they want to know more. Do that constantly and consistently and that must work. Do not forget SEO and display ads on FB and social media.

 

Oh yes, the book is completely original.
I'm coding a website too, so I can get paid well. Currently, kindle gets most of the percentage.
The problem is that I can't find the book in kindle search. What is the point of listing it on kindle if I have to do all the marketing?
I can simply sell it via my own website, and just provide a kindle format download for kindle users.

I'll check those other websites.
Thanks for those.

 

Okay, where to start...

First, your cover is not appealing. The first thing Amazon book buyers notice is the cover of your book. If it's unattractive, then forget it. Books REALLY ARE judged by their covers - ESPECIALLY on Amazon.

Next, I hate to say it, but your blurb/description sucks. It DOES NOT inspire me to want to read your book, especially if it is any indication of the writing. Think of it like a sales page - it needs to draw readers in and hold their attention. Yours doesn't work - fix it ASAP.

Next, I'm going to point you in the direction of one of the most informative forums on the Internet when it comes to writing/marketing Kindle books: KBoards

You would also do well to check out Amazon's forum as well.

Seriously, you can't just expect to throw a book up on Amazon and make money overnight. If you REALLY intend to make money writing/selling books on Amazon, you need to study your craft just as you would in any other field. You will also need to learn how to market yourself and your books. There are MANY excellent courses available online, but you'll find a WEALTH of information in the forums I linked to above.

And before even THINKING about alternatives, please fix the issues above first.

To your success!

 

I'd just try to drive traffic to your Amazon page via http://www.backpage.com (see their biz opps section).

 

1. Give a few copies away to bloggers, friends, family, and get them to comment.
2. Find a crime junky facebook group. Join it. Share articles every day for two weeks. Showing you like to give to the community. Then launch send out a one time use coupon to the group.
3. Put it on every e-book website available.
4. Follow the other suggestions, better cover.
5. The things that drive traffic in amazon is, optimized words, reviews, paid advertising, amount of traffic you drive using your affiliate link.

Good luck!

 

If you ask me, I would suggest on creating a Facebook Ad targeting the potential market by directing the traffic from Facebook to a squeeze page which will eventually get you a list of potential buyers. If you come up with some other related eBooks in future, you can make repetitive sales with the list of subscribers you have obtained.

 

Thanks guys. I'll fix the cover and the sales page as soon as I can.

 

Your book needs to have its blog, Facebook page and Google+. Write teasers, pay an ad on Facebook, start discussions about related topics, join relevant groups on Facebook, contact some trusted and popular website from your niche and ask them to write a guest blog for them. Your ebook will be in your signature. Get people interested and motivate them to think about the topics you wrote about.

 

Thanks. I did make a facebook page: RealCrimeInvestigation

 

The only thing I've heard consistently works is reaching out individually to people who regularly review books and offering them review copies. It is painstaking and you have to be very targeted for it to work, and even then you can't control the results. You go through the list of top reviewers and look for people who are open to that kind of process, and shoot them individualized emails.

 

Btw, I can't see the link to your book for some reason?

 

I can't see it either. Here it is:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013E9C3X0

 

WRT Alternatives to Kindle, I use https://www.smashwords.com/
One big advantage of Smashwords is that you can set up an affiliate program and get other people to sell the book for you (for a % of the cost). However don't think you can just click the box at Smashwords and leave it at that, you have to work at getting affiliates too!

To give you some example of the work you have ahead of you if you really want to sell your book: I have a Facebook page, a Twitter page, a blog, Two dedicated book sites, a press release site, and an affiliates site. These get updated regularly.

If you want to take a look at my sites to see the sort of thing you will need to think about, here they are:
http://planetdominatrixblog.com/
http://mistressofplanetdominatrix.com/
http://planetdominatrixbooks.com/
http://makemoneyfromplanetdominatrix.com/
http://pressreleaseofplanetdominatrix.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Planet-Dominatrix/710030759066500
https://twitter.com/JedDarke
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/513884?ref=ecchi
http://www.a1adultebooks.com/ebooks/b1148-mistress-of-planet-dominatrix.htm?id=ecchi

Oh, and you have to think ahead. I have not yet finished writing the sequel, but I already have a pre-release website up and running:
http://revoltofthemanslavesonplanetdominatrix.com/

And to really scare you (sorry) most old timers tell me I am not doing enough!

 

Oh, forgot to mention, I also have two story sites (one science fiction, one crime) that I have just started as a way of advertising the books:
http://science-fiction-stories.info/
http://www.detective-fiction.info/

 

And a third point: look at my sig. I use whatever sig I thing appropriate for the board, on this one, sigs that will interest webmasters, on a sci-fi site I use the sci fi one and a couple of the book ones, etc.

 

Just thinking out loud here....

I have had some success on Amazon and a big part of that was having a series of books. At 239 pages your book could be easily divided up into smaller bite sized books that could each be used to promote each other. This would also give you the chance to use titles of these smaller books to target different keywords and just generally have a wider spread throughout Amazon.

You could take the longest most interesting story and use that as your intro book. Price it as cheaply as possible (free ideally) and then use that get interest in your series. Also with a greater quantity of books you can price them more cheaply and make more money potentially. Your book is now 3.99, if you create 5 books out of the content in that one book and sell them for 99c you make more (not much more... but more is more) and also your number of sales will rise.

Apart from that definitely fix the cover. I don't think it's that bad but hot covers definitely help the cause. Also the layout and content of your description could do with some work and tidying up. It's your books billboard and as it is now it doesn't encourage further exploration.

Also with a series of books you can put a couple in KDP and have free promotional days for your books.

The more books you have the better. You already have enough stories to divide them up right now and have a nice series of books rather than just this one and the one you've got coming.

I like to keep it simple. I'm a slacker at heart but am happy to give stuff away and chat with people interested in my topic. Remember the more promotional things you try to set up the less time you will have to create more books. In principle I agree with all the other promotional suggestions but you've got to weigh up the gain for the investment in time and possibly money. I would rather spend both creating more books and making them look really good graphics wise. You have to know yourself and fit the model to you.

Re Facebook I would be working the hell out of your page. Get as many followers as you can. Get to know your market spend some time discussing the cases and new ones. This will be where your reviews will come from. People really interested in the niche that you talk with regularly will support you and help you promote your stuff.

Have fun
S.