Posted by bigceebee on February 17, 2012 at 4:05 PM |
If you’re here to learn the answer to the above question, you’re out of luck because I’m asking it myself. What does make a book sell? Why do some books suddenly blast into the Amazon stratosphere while others sell a copy or two monthly, if that?
Of course, I understand that if an author releases a book and makes no effort to get the word out, chances are high nobody will buy it. Or if a book leaves to be desired due to a poor story or sorry grammar, spelling and presentation, we could expect sales to go stagnant as word of mouth gets around.
But what about when an author with solid writing does get the word out and works at bolstering sales through social media, website, blogging, reviews, interviews, cross-promotion, specials, giveaways, reasonable pricing, etc yet still fails to see any sky-rocketing phenomenon? This is a mystery which baffles me as well as many others writers I know.
I’m not saying I’m not getting any sales because I am. Though I don’t divulge specific numbers, I will state people are buying my thrillers daily and I’ve sold several thousand to date. What I have yet to grasp is what it takes to really get noticed and jump to the next level. I’ve developed a strong presence on Twitter with 237K+ followers and receive 4K to 5K visitors to my website monthly. I would have thought that this, combined with a growing number of strong reviews, would result in exponential sales increases but so far, the exponent is rather small.
If I take Vigilante, the first of my crime series, as an example, it now has 33 reviews, 30 which are 5 stars and 3 which are 4 stars on Amazon.com. My sales are such that it ranks consistently anywhere between #15,000 and #45,000 day after day. Comparatively, I see other novels in the same genre with a similar number (but even more mixed bag) of reviews ranking under #1,000. ASYLUM, my stand-alone psych-thriller released last July, has garnered 13 reviews to date,12 of which are 5 stars, yet currently ranks at #170,000.
Adding to my confusion is a growing number of dedicated fans who have read and praised all seven of my thrillers to date. Many downloaded my latest, Discreet Activities, and read it on January 31st, the day it was released and are impatiently awaiting my next which I just started writing, all of which tells me my work is worthy.
So, what am I missing? What makes a book sell?
If you're wondering which books I'm blabbing about, they're all right here: http://amzn.to/jfbH1k
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