Legacy

Does Marketing and Pricing Your Book Right Equal Sales?

People have to like your nice new lovely book — not just say that they like it, but actually buy it, and if they don’t buy it you won’t make money. (Maybe it’s more likely that you would like them to buy it.) It’s also about leaving a legacy to people.

The reality is that even if your family promises you the moon, they won’t do anything for you, and you will have to pull out that money before you get readers.  Your book is your form of legacy to you, and to your family.  You have to promote your work, and yourself as an author, not only by blogging but by thinking long term.

Even if you traditionally publish, it does not mean instant sales.  The most common thing that can happen is that some people buy your book, and then interest fades. While you might get some good reviews, you might only get a few dollars for your efforts- because you didn’t create a relationship with your readers.  I understand that is not what you want to read; you want to hear about marketing and pricing your book.

Marketing and pricing make a difference in what people buy when they have a choice about books.  Price your book correctly and you will draw some more readers; price it wrong and you will lose money because you will have to market it more.  However, don’t forget the blog and word of mouth factor.Setting a price is a part of marketing of your marketing plan, and you have to make some choices. One of them is, how much money are you willing to spend after your book is published to get your readers’ attention and (let’s be honest here) their money?

Money is an issue when it comes to marketing, there are free ways to market your book, but in the end, you will have to decide: how much money are you willing to spend on marketing after your book has been out for a while?

It still has potential and it can still earn you some income, but there are two things that will hold you back from more success: money and laziness. Every writer has only so much time in their day, and to create more success they have to write, and publish, another book.  They have to then market that book, while still marketing their other books.

What is stopping you from using Twitter to promote your book?This social media is free and if you work with the right people there is more of a chance they will want to read your book.  However, there is the chance you can over promote.  Are you scared that your e-book has a 99 cent price and people will not buy it?

Did you price your e-book at $4.99 and now you are worried that not as many people will buy it?  If it’s the price you are worried about, stop worrying. Some readers will buy your book, if they like the subject matter, and others won’t for whatever the reason they might have.

Marketing is about price, and about who you talk to, or establish a personal relationship with.  Talk to the right person, at the right time and you will have a book sold no matter what price you list it at.Talk to the right person at the wrong time and you won’t.  Talk to the wrong person, and at the wrong time, then even if your book was free, they will still not look at your book.  People need to want your product for something, they have to find it useful, and you need to get to them in the right place, at the right time, and at the right price.  You also need to be human to them, and not a greedy machine.

How much should you spend on marketing your book?
It depends. Nothing is a given; you could have social media success on Twitter with a lot of people who find the link, and buy your book, or you could spend hours tweeting and have nothing to show for it.  Then again, you could spend a couple hundred dollars (or more) on marketing, and have sales.. or not.  It all depends.  It also depends on your budget. If you have the money and you spend it wisely, and have some purchases, then that is a good thing, but if you max out your credit card, and have similar sales, fabulous marketing and your book price won’t matter. In Search of The Lost Ones works well with a price of 99 cents, but it is because people know about me- as a brand. The same holds true with a blog, you can make money with your blog, and have people on there, and then you can possibly use the blog to guide your reader to go and check out your book.  Blogging and book sales do not go hand in hand.  You have to market your blog, too.  If you market your book well and sell it at a good price, people will buy it, but this is not a guarantee.