After a lot of effort and sleepless nights, you’re finally done with your book’s final draft. It’s a cathartic moment for you, one that’s a mixture of pride, joy, and relief. You, maybe, struggle with stifling thoughts of what people might think about it upon release, and fear creeps in. It’s a long and fierce battle. Thankfully, you win. And now, your book is finally available to the public. Your work is done.
But is it, really?
A lot of writers believe hitting the publish button brings an end to their labour of love and signals an automatic ascension to the revered league of “published author” in their bios, but the truth is, all that happens in that moment of actually publishing to the OkadaBooks store is an exchange. You give up the internal fears and doubts you’ve carried with you all this time for a more public battle, one where only the fittest survive: book marketing.
Since publishing to the OkadaBooks store is simple, easy, and free, the platform seems like a good place to publish, wait and make sales. But the true reality isn’t that simple.
Every day, dozens of new stories are published with us, and simply adding your book to the mix is not the best way to go. If you want your book to stand out in the bookstore, you’ve got to make sure to push for it. People can’t buy a book they don’t know exist, no matter how primed it is to solve their problems. As a published author, you’re your book’s own first evangelist and we have some tips to help you better maximize the OkadaBooks platform for a potential increase in book sales. Read on to know how to give your book a better fighting chance on the OkadaBooks store.
1. Take a Second Look at Your Book’s Price
At OkadaBooks, authors have full autonomy over their book’s pricing. However, I have a question. If you go to the market and see three new, similar products with prices of 1,000, 3,000, and 5,000, which of the products will you go for? Bear in mind that you’ve never used any of these products before and can’t unwrap any to test on the spot.
That is the same way it is for users who encounter your work in a sea of other books in the same genre. Giving your book a better fighting chance might just be you taking a second look at its price. There has to be a level of intentionality before deciding on your book price. You want to ensure it is reasonably priced.
An easy logic we’ve seen work over the years is: If the hard copy is 4,000NGN, you can price the eBook on OkadaBooks at, say 2,000NGN.
2. Books Are Judged by Their Covers
The popular saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” isn’t entirely true when it comes to book marketing. The truth is, some books have been known to experience better sales because of their book covers. It is a very important aspect of the publishing process.
Your book cover is the first impression anyone has of your book. The implication is that there must be some form of intentionality when deciding on a book cover. A good book cover must:
- be able to effortlessly pass a message that is in line with the content of the book,
- be catchy, attractive, and have the right amount of colors and people/images that lend credence to the theme of the book.
Thanks to the multiple design apps available, these days, more authors can now design their book covers themselves. Yet, you don’t want to ignore the importance of having a professional handle this for you. If you’ve got the funds to, trust me, it’s a worthy investment.
In case you didn’t already know, OkadaBooks offers book design services. Feel free to reach out to us at services@okadabooks.com for a conversation where, together, we’ll walk the road to what’s going to be the best possible book cover for your upcoming book.
3. Your Book Blurb Is Everything
A non-descriptive blurb is a major turn-off. Do you see that part on the publishing page titled ‘Description’? That’s where you are meant to woo your prospective readers with a few words. Your blurb should include, but may not be limited to, the following:
- Introduce the main characters.
- Mention the primary conflict.
- Ask some questions which will draw the readers in.
In simple terms, your blurb is your written elevator speech that will convince the readers to take a second look at your work.
We recently had a chat with Osar Adeyemi, a consistent OkadaBooks bestselling author, on why book blurbs are so important and how to write blurbs that sell. Catch up HERE.
4. Promotions Are A Must
People have a healthy fear of buying an unread book; this buying behaviour transcends the OkadaBooks store. When a book has zero reads, prospective readers’ minds start to run wild. They can wonder about anything from, “if this is such a good book, why has no one read it yet?” to “I won’t be gambling with my money on this over-priced piece of sh*t.”
What this means for you is that you need to get things heated up by actively promoting your published book to your family, friends, and loyal fans on your social media accounts. Charity, they say, begins at home; if your loved ones can give you their stamp of approval with their purchase and reviews on the OkadaBooks store, this better increases your book’s chances of being bought by those who don’t know you yet. Remember, you’re your book’s Chief Evangelist. If you don’t talk about it, who will?
Don’t know how to go about blowing your own trumpet across the Metaverse Internet? Check out some of the media we can use to advertise your published books and their corresponding promotional rates.
There you have it. These four (4) simple tips should help put the odds in your favour in this very competitive market.
I’m rooting for you.
Do you have any questions about publishing and/or using OkadaBooks? You can drop a comment or contact us via email.
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