How to Train Amazon to Sell Your Book
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2016
- Today I launched a new series of videos with the clickbait-y title How to Train Amazon to Sell Your Book. The title is self-explanatory, but here’s the summary:
Companies like Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Netflix are leveraging the power of big data to create artificial intelligences. Those AIs have one focus, to learn about you (as mentioned in my article about how Netflix did this with Stranger Things).
As authors, we can tap into that same power. This video is designed to teach you how. I’d love to hear what you guys think!
Omg! Exactly what I did wrong with my first novel 10 yrs ago! 😱 But info and UA-cam channels like this weren’t really around back then. I shouted from the rooftops, friends and family bought it, I made it a free promo, but as soon as I stopped shouting it vanished into the void. But now, renewed with determination and a decade of knowledge hopefully I can revive the series and do it right this time. Because, I truly love to write. I can’t give it up!
Jami Albright mentioned your name -- actually, she said she would run naked through the streets carrying a live chicken if you told her it would help her sell more books -- so, I knew I needed to check out your content. She's right! You are the real thing. Thanks for the great info so well presented. Five stars and then some!
This was very eye-opening because you gave the information straight without BS. I appreciate your work, and I'll be watching the rest of this series to help market my own book.
Thanks, this was so helpful! I'm working on my first book and planning to self-publish. Now I can start off on the right foot with marketing!
This makes total sense, and now I see what is happening to my sales. I have about 12 ads going and had 8,000 impressions and a few clicks but zero sales on the advertising page, and only a spend of $3.00. But on the KDP page it shows 10 sales and a revenue of over $27. I couldn't understand where the sales were coming from. I have sold about 500 copies, so this makes sense. And i have been targeting my category through a few of my ads. Thanks Chris
Thank you for all the information in your books and videos. I am using some of your advice for publishing. Early days yet, but I am excited with how it is going. The hardest thing is NOT telling people I have published. I am trying to view it as building energy through 'keeping it secret'. I have a schedule for my next three books, and a reader magnet. My sales are small, but each one is a thrill, because it is a 'real reader'. Yay for purity of data. :D
Looking forward to the 'how to' bit in your next video. Nice to have another video from you, it's been too long. I enjoy your series and am employing your write to market methods. First two books out, and more coming soon! Six figures here we come :)
how are the six figures coming?
Thank you Chris! That was very insightful. I hope I can find more videos like this to give me tips to sell my book. :)
I'm standing by for the next installment. Thanks, Chris.
I was scammed by Amazon KDP Publications or over $3000 dollars. They knew my book was turned down by Amazon to be on their book list but continued to get more money out of me for promotion and will not give a refund.
Very informative, thank you. This is very interesting. I'm now a subscriber and look forward to more good info!
Very interesting stuff. I've been keeping a close eye on my also-boughts for my latest superhero book, and I think I definitely stumbled at promoting. It may have been better to have all that happen organically than to pitch the book to my circle of people. Hoping to fix all that with subsequent books in the trilogy.
So many starting authors make the mistake of pitching their books to friends and family exclusively! Which might get a few sales but, as you've shown, kills Amazon's ability to market to the demographic we wrote to! Thank you so much for showing us the importance of getting our books in the (kindles) hands of the right readers!
Pure and clear content, no BS. Great!
Thanks for being helpful to me. I just published my new book on Amazon and marketing is actually a problem.
Awesome video. Very informative. You absolutely rock, Chris and thank you for sharing this information. It's changing my author life!
OMG! I totally get it and it makes so much frickin sense! I feel like I just stumbled on to the missing link between success and obscurity! I can't wait to implement a logical plan of action based on what I just learned. Thank you thank you thank you!
This is really helpful. I've run the gauntlet w wide promos recently and it doesn't work well for me either: screwy also-boughts, 2-star reviews, etc. I've been working on trying to narrow my marketing, so I look forward to the next video.
Thanks for all you did for the Author community, Chris. We appreciate you.
The author community is filled with amazing people! Pay it forward. =D
Thanks cant wait to try it
Great advice. By the way, I loved Destroyer. Found it when I read another Sci-Fi book.
Nice to have you back. Missed ya!
I have a pen name which has been enjoying slow organic growth - each book has debuted higher than the previous one. The mailing list is small but super engaged. I have been toying with the idea of paid advertising, but it just doesn't feel right for this particular pen name.
Having watched this, I think I will leave things as they are.
Alexis Moore
Very insightful video! Thank you for sharing!
excellent stuff sir! keep it up.
Love Person of Interest! Oh, And your videos great too. :D
Love your stuff. I want all the science! 👍
Hi Chris, very interesting thanks. You said "You only want to sell to readers in your genre" and you said your next video would deal with how to reach these people. I subscribed to your channel but I don't see the follow-up. Did you do this video? Cheers
Wow! Amazing information! Thank you so much for sharing!
Fantastic advice, thank you!!
great tips thank you. I subscribed and liked. I would like to learn more about how to target a certain audience. Thank you.
Chris, I just launched a book on real investing on a shoestring budget and don't know where to begin to advertise it. This video at least gives me a place to begin. I will check out the other. Thanks
Just so you know, the comment Chris makes about large promotions hurting you in the long run... that has been my experience as of December 2020.
Thanks for the info Chris. I use this video to explain to my family why they can't just go buy my books on Amazon!
You had me at computer science.
Thank you so much, your words a gold.
Thank you so much, Chris, I learned so much! Terry Guilford, author of The Dandelion
thank you for this hope you post your next video soon
Chris, I echo everyone's comments. Your videos are fantastic and so helpful. This may be off topic, but do you happen to know whether google works in the same way as Amazon e.g. is it better to create a web site promoting my new book as a subdomain of my company web site or is it better to have a separate web site for each? Both fit under a broad theme, but each has distinct audiences, with some overlap. Said differently, is it better to have a web site with lots of traffic, even if it is from very diverse sectors, or different web sites targeted at different audiences to train google to bring you more of the same types of readers? Thank you so much!
Thank you! Good advice
Thanks for making things so simple
I love the undeniable logic behind all your ideas about books and writing. When learning from you, it's always a showdown between natural emotional tendencies and rationality. For instance, the natural response to the idea of not selling with the shotgun approach is negative because of the immediate emotional difference between selling 100 books and just five. But logic and reason come in to rescue me from myself. Thank you for this accurate information. I look forward to more details on how to reach a specific group of readers. I bet it starts before the first draft and the outline.
You are amazing, I needed to hear this s
you are my new rationale, data-backed kdp hero!
So we need to enroll in Amazon Marketing and do the stuff you are recommending is what you are saying sir?
Makes a lot of sense Chris.
Chris, in your opinion do you think Amazon can be re-trained after a book has been out for a year? With the same method?
Great book. Helped me immediately.
This Is Exactly What I been Struggling With! 😂 My BAM BOOM BANG! THANKS for the info to Sale My Books
Hi Chris. Maybe I misunderstood, but you said you'd explain exactly how to trained the Amazon system. Step 1: you said to sell a number of books. Then, Step 2: identify target audience. I know my ignorance is showing, but I feel like I'm missing something. I know my target audience is fantasy & magic; how am I training Amazon to sell to that group? More importantly, how do I do your 'Step 1"?
Please remember this book is supplemental to Six-Figure author. Have you had a chance to read that? If not, it's not going to teach you everything, unfortunately. This is a demonstration of the principles in the book.
The basic principle is that Amazon is using something called a classifier to establish links between your book and every book purchased by the people who bought it. If a bunch of people who bought book A and also bought book B also buy yours, then Amazon will begin showing it to both readers of book A and book B.
To get those first sales you need a compelling offering. Your cover needs to rock. Your premise needs to rock. Your blurb needs to rock. Then, once those are dialed in start a couple $5 a day FB ads. If you've done everything right, then Amazon will be more than happy to peddle that book. Your goal is that when you're running your ads they are directed at the right audience.
AMS makes this easy. Simply use automatic targeting. =)
awesome video very informative thanks
Pure gold.
Hey Chris. Question. You said in your video you wanted your book included in also bought of similar books on amazon. Once we identify those similar books, how do the customer profile those authors are reaching?
I read the books, and then I read the reviews on those books. Patterns often begin to emerge.
On point 👍
hi thank you so much I have just published my first book and I was totally confused how to promote it and I was actually going to tell people to download it but now I got the idea that how I can promote it. if please could tell me more about it that how to market it to get right audience and where to find right audience then it will be very much helpful. still
thank a lot.
Leher Mehta hi I'm Leonard A Wallace whats the title of your new book
Leonard Wallace hi thank you so much for replying. It's the title of my book "Online reselling - A startup without investment"
Leher Mehta , ok that's a subject i can surly use and if you get a moment read one of my books and leave me a comment. Get off the bus by Peter Logan (my pin name) or the trilogy of the bus by Leoard Wallace thanks for the reply and GOOD LUCK!!!
Chris Fox
Excellent Video clip! Forgive me for butting in, I would appreciate your thoughts. Have you considered - Proutklarton Winner System Plan (google it)? It is a good one off product for discovering how Stefan makes 6 figures passive income publishing books without the hard work. Ive heard some amazing things about it and my old buddy Taylor finally got cool results with it.
But...how do we even sell the first 100 books?
By producing a book with a great, genre appropriate cover, an evocative title, and a great blurb. Your first several chapters need to be gripping, because many people will read the sample. If you've done all those things, then a single $3 a day AMS ad can sell your first 100 books.
Chris Fox Still trying to figure out AMS. Thank you for this information
Where is the second video
Personally, I knew that I got it right when I saw the KU and KOLL share numbers. My first novel, that I published this week, has a share rate of about 70%. Royalties are going to be crap, but as for finding that audience... that's a jackpot.
Very informative
Interesting how this mirrors retail in the physical world...
Chris, do you think this would work with a book that is older than of the 2 month grace period? I'm talking 4 years out of date. Don't ask.
It could, but if the old book is dormant you could upload it again as a revised edition. That would make it a 'new' book, as far as Amazon is concerned. It would mean starting over with reviews, of course.
It's never too late to resurrect a book, but it's easier with a new release.
Great info, thanks.... where's part two?
Yep wondering the same
How do reviews figure into the data, if at all? Does the number of reviews and the information in those views help? That is "I am a sci-fi buff and this is excellent, etc." Does the fact that someone identifies their interest help with that target group?
Reviews do not factor into the data in any way we can measure. Books with no reviews make it into the top 100 of the entire store all the time. Reviews can help readers determine whether or not to purchase, but it turns out authors care a lot more about them than most readers do.
I just published my first children's book titled #Enough. It's on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I listened to your informative video but I need more specific tips on how to market a children's book dealing with social justice.
I have no answers for you. I don't write children's books, and I certainly don't tackle social justice. Children's books sell, as I understand it, primarily in print. That's not a world I know nearly as well as audio or ebooks.
Thanks
The take away: don`t sell your book to friends and family at first, sell it to people who like your genre.
Is this stuff still working in 2020?
It will still work in 3020, except it will be even more true =). Genre appropriate cover, great blurb, catchy title, and a little ad spend. Start building your audience and teaching Amazon who that audience is. The rest is just time and commitment.
@@ChrisFoxWrites very much appreciate your swift response. Thanks Chris!
Mmm, to be honest, even though this is sound advice, there is no guarantee of success. My books have always been advertised by targeting books/writers of similar genre/storyline and it has been a bit of failure. My book The Epsilon Syndrome was targeted along the lines of Altered Carbon and even though loads of people clicked on that 'Altered Carbon' link, no-one bought it. So, use this tactic with a pinch of salt, as there is no guarantee of success.
Respectfully, did I say anywhere in that video that success was guaranteed? Success isn't guaranteed in any business. The best we can do is make an educated guess, and then conduct an experiment in the form of a launch. This may be hard to hear, but The Epsilon Syndrome failed primarily due to your cover, and your blurb. Both badly need to be retuned before your book has any chance of success on Amazon. The problem here isn't the data science. It's the book.
Your font isn't readable on a thumbnail, and there is too little contrast between the DNA strand and the blue background. If a reader's eye is scanning down the cyberpunk category it will slide right past yours, and land on a cover with a title they can read, and an image that piques their interest. Even if they do click it your blurb isn't doing the job it needs to do to get them to buy the book.
I strongly recommend you read Write to Market, and then Six-Figure Author. It won't take more than a few hours of your time, and will explain exactly what you need to fix to get your book selling. Your premise is great, but your marketing is not, and that is why the sales didn't meet your expectations.
Oh! Thank you Chris for the free advice and praise. I am pleased that you think that my "premise is great". I am sure you read the free chapters on Amazon when you assessed my book. Most people agree that it is fabulous! It has a spectacular plot...and I am sure you agree that it is UNRIVALLED in its originality, and I have read a lot of books and screenplays! It's fast-paced, packed with conspiracy, with fabulous dialogue, 'geeky' precognitive-like glimpses of a utopian-dystopian future and has a wicked twist at the end. Everyone can check out more on Facebook @EpsilonSyndrome . I will check your books out and see if they can offer me anything. Good luck for the future! I might see you there!
Data science is the precursor to the blockchain.
Well, shouldn't amazon know your target audience based on the category your book is in? If my book is in the Christian nonfiction...then guess who should amazon know to advertise it to.? .. Doesn't it make sense from the category who my target audience is?... and why isn't it enough?
Your book can and should be in more than one category, and if that’s how readers are finding your book great. If other people are buying it that can sabotage future sales. Don’t take my word for it if you’re skeptical. Try it yourself.
@@ChrisFoxWrites Thank you for your reply. I appreciate the way you explain everything in the video.
The first five minutes of this video are irrelevant to the title. Skip to the meat.
please add me to your subscription list
Why are you wearing ear phones???? It's very off-putting. Also, you may need a haircut, and try to better trim your beard. Otherwise, a very good video!
Or I could just keep making a six-figure living writing bestselling novels and making videos as a hobby on the side.
Chris Fox , hahaha ;)