Did you know that Amazon sells nearly 50% of all printed books and more than 70% of all e-books in America? No other retailer comes close to its dominant market share in the industry. If you want to sell more books, you should master selling books on Amazon.
(3 Crucial changes in the book publishing industry.)
For example, if you have a book on Amazon that looks outdated or lacks compelling marketing copy, you could lose sales on a daily basis.
Fortunately, you can take easy steps to improve the appearance of your book on Amazon. Here are three reasons why you should keep an eye on how your book appears on their website and when to make the necessary adjustments:
1. Your book description directly affects the sales of your book.
When readers view a book on Amazon, the marketing text they see will either help tempt a purchase or lose interest. If you have excellent marketing copy, it will encourage people to buy your book. If your marketing copy is boring, blurry text will hinder sales.
However, most authors rarely take the time to review their books on Amazon and make sure people see a compelling description. One reason for this indifference is that some authors don’t think they can make any changes to their Amazon description.
I have good news. Did you know that Amazon allows any author to upgrade their book detail pages for free? Central Author Account is a system that enables you to make unlimited improvements to your book description on the Amazon website. You can also add additional endorsements and edit your author bio. It’s a simple tool that gives you control over upgrading your marketing copy. But, if you don’t take the time to make these updates, you are missing out on a golden opportunity to attract more book sales.
2. Different versions of your book need the same marketing text.
Did you know that each copy of your book has a different page on Amazon? This means that one book may have four different editions on Amazon, including paperback, hardcover, audiobooks, and e-books.
Different people will view different versions of your book based on their reading preferences, which leads to a potential problem. Publishers and self-publishing groups routinely upload different marketing copies of different editions of the same book to Amazon. Authors rarely check their publisher for these errors.
For example, a book’s description for a paperback might appear differently than an e-book description. These differences between formats can confuse readers. When readers are confused, they usually refuse to buy.
Examine each copy of your book to make sure that shoppers see the most up-to-date and most compelling marketing text. Does the description match every format you sell?
why does it matter? You never know which version of your book a reader’s first impression will be. Therefore, you want the paperback, hardcover, audiobook, and e-book to have the same promotional copy and format. If there are differences, fix them using your Author Central account.
3. Poor formatting can lead to a loss of book sales.
Imagine you’re a reader on Amazon browsing through new books to buy. If you saw a book that had all the marketing copy in one big paragraph, what would your reaction be? You probably don’t want to decipher all this text. Unprofessional coordination looks very annoying to your eyes.
(How do writers demand publicity in their books?)
Even worse, imagine that you’re trying to read that big blob of text on the screen of a smartphone or small tablet. Doesn’t look attractive, does it? Amazon customers don’t like being forced to read a huge mass of text on small mobile devices, which now account for half of internet use.
If you show a description of a book that seems hard to read, many Amazon shoppers will ignore your book and never consider buying. Why risk losing new readers when the problem is so easy to solve?
In order to maximize your sales on Amazon, you must display marketing copy that is easy to read. Poor formatting can cause your book to be overlooked by shoppers as of lower quality. For example, the following issues can hinder sales of your books if they appear on the Amazon website:
- Marketing copy smashed into one big paragraph
- No bolded data or easy-to-read bulleted lists
- Not displaying compelling certificates, certificates or awards
- Inconsistent marketing text across different formats for the same book
- Show too much text, rather than concise marketing copy
Your book is your child. Therefore, it is your responsibility to take care of it. Go to Amazon today and do a quick review of every title you sell. Check for formatting issues across each format that can cost you lost sales.
If you see problems or errors in your book’s marketing text, don’t get angry with your publisher or blame someone else. Use the Amazon Author Central system to update your book for free and fix problems yourself at any time.
Do you know how to update your book on Amazon?
Unsure of how to use Amazon Central Author System to make improvements?
Check out the online course with Writer’s Digest University named, Amazon mastery for authors. This self-guided course explains how to promote your book on Amazon and make it more attractive to shoppers. In addition, you will learn everything you need to know about self-publishing, marketing, and advertising a book on Amazon.
Over 500 authors have purchased this course and their reviews have been very positive.
Act fast! Registration for Amazon Mastery of Authors ends Thursday, February 24, 2022.
Click here to view the course syllabus, watch a free video, and register today:
https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/mastering-amazon-for-authors
Get a sneak peek into the course and ask Rob Eagar your Amazon questions during a free preview webinar Wednesday, February 16 at 1:00 PM ET.
Register here for the free webinar
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6923784565286458125
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