A Guide to Getting Your Self-Published Book Seen (by any means possible)
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Writing a book is hard work but what’s even harder is getting your book seen by readers amidst the hundreds of thousand of books already on the market.
Authors who have been signed by publishers or agents have a helping hand when it comes to marketing and advertising. These lucky authors will have publicists who make sure the next literary sensation is read by book reviewers and advertised in the press. This is usually accounted for in the marketing and advertising budget, and is one of the advantages of striking it lucky with a major publisher.
But what hope is there for those self-published writers who place their work on Amazon only to see their rankings plummet like a safe straight into the virtual bookstore bargain bin as the more savvy self-publishers employ sly, clever, and let’s face it, completely false advertising tricks designed to get their books seen? Here is a guide designed to get your self-published books seen or at least to keep the playing field level with the more experienced Amazon self-published authors.
Disclaimer: I have self-published on Amazon but have never used any of these methods to promote my work except the free promotional days (see additional disclaimer below). And with this in mind I do not recommend or advocate these methods. Then again, as the saying goes – whatever works. It’s not as if Amazon is going to stop writers self-publishing because they use certain advertising methods to promote their work. Amazon is a business you know.
Additional Disclaimer: of course I haven’t, honest.
Amazon’s Free Promotion Days.
Writers who sign up with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing Select (KDP) have the ability to offer their ebooks for free for a specific number of days. The promotion means that readers can purchase the writer’s work for free during the specified promotional days. This does seem to help books climb higher in the Amazon rankings. When I tested the free promotion on my short stories I did jump up to number 20 on Amazon’s Free Bestseller’s rank. As soon as the promotion ended however, my rankings did plummet back down again to around number 150,000.
The downside to the promotion is that writers are giving their work away for free. The upside is that these free books can help to garner those all important, ranking increasing, reader reviews. Around 600 copies of my short stories were taken when I used the free promotion, I didn’t receive one review, bastards!! This may go to prove the saying “if you are giving something away for free, people may take it too lightly” – actually that might not be the saying at all but it’s along those lines.
Manipulate those Bestseller Rankings
There has been a lot of controversy over Amazon rankings, and according to some writers these rankings are fairly easy to manipulate. In fact, a book called The Day the Kindle Died by Thomas Hertog, published on Amazon, allegedly gives an analysis on just how easy it is to manipulate Amazon’s bestseller rankings in order to get your book to the number one spot. Hertog claimed that he managed to hit the number one bestseller ranking in the personal finance list after selling only 32 copies in 45 days.
At the moment, Hertog’s book only has five reviews on Amazon, none of them complimentary. Writers who want to know if the rankings can be manipulated and how to do it need only shell out three bucks for the book. Interestingly, readers who did buy Hertog’s book (and I’m maybe not too off the mark in suggesting it was purchased by some self-published writers) also bought the book How I Sold 1 Million ebooks in Five Months by John Locke. No investigative journalism awards will be given to those who figure out the connection between these two books.
Get on Amazon’s Community Forums
Amazon’s community forums, this is where it’s all happening. It’s where writers come to share knowledge and promote their work. It’s also the place where certain writers use methods to get their books seen including:-
The Like Me, I’ll Like You False Advertising Method
One writer started a message thread in the community forums stating that every other writer who ‘liked’ her Amazon book page would get a like back in return. This initially sounds okay until you realize that the forum poster is getting a large amount of likes on her page while everyone else who takes part gets one like each.
This not so genius marketing trick does also seem like false advertising. People are actually ‘liking’ a book they have not read, which in turn gives a false impression to any reader who comes across her Amazon page. But it’s a writer eat writer world out there. I mean, valuing customers, building up a readership? These things mean nothing when you have a book to sell. It’s no longer a case of publish or perish, it’s sell or perish, goddamit.
Fake Amazon Reviews
Fake reviews certainly piss off a lot of self-published authors on the Amazon Community Forum boards. It seems that some writers are – shock, horror, stunned silence – using Twitter, Facebook, blogs etc to promote their books and solicit reviews from those within their social network. Some writers will even go as far as to rope in their family and friends to read their books and post flattering reviews -will their trickery know no end?
Again, this could be seen as false advertising if the reviewers have not actually read the book. But let’s not kid ourselves; most self-published writers have to do this when they are starting off if they don’t want to be stuck at the very bottom of the ranking list. It’s lonely and dark down there at the bottom of the list beside the Catlover’s Calendar ebook, and if you can’t even get your friends and family to buy and read your book you would be as well giving them away for free.
Cause Some Controversy
Causing controversy can help to boost your rankings. Say something stupid, be politically incorrect, post a picture on your Amazon writer profile of when you once attended that Ku Klux Clan meeting or Young Republican’s Party. Doing so will probably bring in racists or right wing readers – don’t knock it, a reader is a reader. When people start attacking you, feign complete bewilderment and say that the photograph or the controversial statement you made was taken out of context or was placed there by some devious hacker or even worse, some other jealous writer as part of a long running smear campaign. By then you will have the desired publicity, it’s a proven winner and has always worked for politicians.
Of course none of these methods actually guarantee books sold or readers won. Self-publishing is simple but actually finding an audience and selling books is not so cut and dry, no matter what John Locke or Thomas Hertog say in their books. Plus, just in case you forgot, there is also that little matter of writing the book in the first place – the road to fame, fortune and Oprah’s book club is never easy.
A Guide to Getting Your Self-Published Book Seen (by any means possible),
Garry Crystal is a freelance writer living in the UK. His short stories and articles have appeared in print and online including Expats Post, The Andirondack Review, Turnrow Journal and Orato as well as business writing for US and UK companies. Garry has two sets of short stories available on Amazon entitled The Last Busker in London and Other London Tales, and A Relationship, in Pieces. He says - "Never sleep with your arm hanging over the side of the bed. Have you never seen Paranormal Activity?" They say - "A bear of scotchman with little brain" - An insult that made Garry's year. View My Profile
Tags: amazon, books, dirty tricks, john locke, manipulate, rankings, reviews, self-published, thomas hertog, writers
I have a book, a memoir in fact, and I go back and forth about self-publishing it. I’ve been told not to by “Hollywood” people if I ever want it to have a chance of it being turned into a movie…haha -- Not that I think anyone would be interested in my life so much that it could go on the small screen let alone the big screen. But now I have so more information about “the game” of self-publishing.
I don’t think self-publishing is a game but as with anything where rankings are involved there will be some who will try and manipulate and game the system and these are just a few of the methods around. I wouldn’t think serious writers who self-publish for reasons other than money would be too concerned about it.
I don’t see why getting your book out there and seen, and getting word of mouth spreading about it would decrease the chances of a film option, that sounds like pretty weird advice to me.
I’m in the process of getting a book ready to self-publish and I am flat out scared! You’re right, there is such a deluge out there, with dreadfully awful mixed in with the great. I don’t know where my book sits on that spectrum, but I’m so worried it will get lost in the shuffle. And I don’t want to be one of those people who plug their book in the social media time and time again.
Anyway, wish me luck!
Janene, although the article was tongue in cheek (god I hate that term) I think maybe frustration does drive some people to use some of these methods, I doubt it’s widespread though. Amazon’s KDP does seem like a good idea when you read through it but a lot of writers are complaining that it doesn’t seem to be making any difference to sales of their books plus if you use this offer you are not permitted to publish your book elsewhere, that’s one of the downsides. To my mind there is nothing wrong with plugging your book using social media, writers who have publishing deals are expected to do this as well, how else are self-published writers going to be seen. I know self-published writers who have built up a good following using word of mouth, social networking and using sites such as Good Reads. Networking is a big part of getting the word out so go for it with regards to plugging, use all the means available to you. Good luck.
If causing controversy can get your book seen, I am going to be GOLDEN. Think about all of the trouble I caused in 2011…and that was just in my writing life
Great advice. It was good to know about the Amazon free promotion days.
You are going to be Awesome Jen! No doubts about that!
Work that controversy Jen, you can do it.
Interesting to read Brows and I’ve made notes! Hehe. I didn’t know about Amazon either, but I did saw it floating by from other writer friends, but never gave it much thought haha. When I have an Art book and/or story book ready, self publishing probably would be good as my network and audience hopefully expanded even more by then. We shall see!
I’d like to see a pop-up Migwi the Monkey storybook on the shelves soon. Actually I just like writing and saying Migwi the Monkey, it’s kind of relaxing.
Aww that makes me happy, Brows
Plus, now I totally recall the convo where you threw your hands in the air and yelled Migwi with…Jazz Hands. Haha!
Shh, don’t tell all about my jazz hands.
Oh right! Sorry. Won’t say it again. I shall leave the Mind Bleach here. The minds of the people shall be erased.
This is a great one, Garry and a hilarious one too since I’ve come across a lot of these “methods” as well. The best thing to do is not even care about your “ranking” since it’s essentially useless anyway. The best thing to do is try to slowly build your readership and that’s the point. I think some people think as soon as they publish their book, it’s immediately going to “fly off the shelves” because they have a lot of Facebook and Twitter followers, friends, etc. Not going to happen. I can tell you that from experience. I have close friends, people I’ve known all my life who’ve yet to buy or read my books. But they are selling -- albeit slowly, very very slowly, and hopefully those readers will find them enjoyable enough to want to read the other stuff. I have no control over that, especially since most of the time, I have no idea who’s bought them or what they even think of them. But I have no illusions that I’m going to be on the New York Times Bestseller’s list any time soon -- nor should those who choose to go this route. If you sell 20 books, be happy that you sold even that many -- that’s 20 more than you would have if you just let it sit in your drawer.
On my Twitter page, there is no shortage of self-published writers who will go to any extreme to get you to buy/review their books. The best one came recently. A woman author from South Africa “tweeted” me to give her book a mention. Not a big deal since it’s just a matter of hitting the “retweet” button. Her book was a horror story -- not something I normally read -- but I didn’t mind. There are a lot of people on my “followers” list who are either horror/fantasy writers or fans of the genre. I “tweeted” it, figuring perhaps it would be something they might want to check out. So I did, and the following day, this woman thanked me, then promptly “unfollowed” me. Nice, right? But this is the kind of thing you have to be mindful of as well.
I, like you, never resorted to any of these methods, preferring to allow nature take its course. Yes, I’ve blogged about my books, created links, etc, but never resorted to the fake reviews or even ASKED anyone to review anything. If they’re interested, they’ll come to you and let you know, which I had been fortunate enough for it to happen (you, Cher, and others).
Some people are obsessed with rankings and sales. You’re always going to have this. I think a lot of writers, artists, musicians, etc are seeking “fame” rather than finding the fulfillment of actually creating something for its own sake. To each his own, I suppose. Like anything else, there is a lot of nonsense floating around. The trick is to try to be as professional about it as possible, especially if you’re doing things on your own. Resorting to these kinds of things isn’t going to work at all. It’s hard enough, like you said, to get people to buy and read your book. Trickery, hype and all that kind of stuff doesn’t work and selfishly trying to do it, like this “like me and I’ll like you back” stuff usually doesn’t work either. It’s not easy and no one said it would be but unfortunately, some of those who manage to break out and actually sell a lot of books make it seem like it is.
Wonderful piece, Garry. A pleasure to read this early Sunday morning.
That example you gave about the woman adding then unfollowing is a bit over the top I think. I couldn’t imagine doing that, it’s just completely rude -- do something for me, thanks, see ya -- incredible. But just imagine how many people she is doing this to, karma will hit sooner or later…not sure how though.
I think the rankings can hook people on Amazon, I know I was checking mine a lot at first until finally the novelty wore off and I no longer bother about it. But i’ve noticed for some people on the Amazon community forum the rankings have become a bit of an obsession and they admit it’s a big part of the process/fun for them.
“If only twenty people read a novel, the fact of its existence would still be important” -- Vaclav Havel
All of that is great, but why not get yourself a “platform” and start getting yourself on the morning talk shows? It is easier than you think. OK, thanks, Edward Smith.
If by morning talk shows you mean News At Noon then I might just manage that, anything earlier then no chance. But good point.
Garry, this is such a great article for those who want to publish or be published. I like the idea of Edward Smith and getting on talk shows. My guess is that a thick skin is required if you have any thoughts of publishing. You and Julian have fared well and advice from both of you should be carefully considered. In the end, I suppose it is art for art sake, but I admire those with the tenacity to pursue the dream.
Thanks Cher, always good to have your support. As for the television idea, couldn’t imagine me ever doing that, remember the article I wrote on my radio appearance, the horror.
All-in-all the best way to get your book noticed is still the old-fashioned way.
1. Word-of-mouth. Tell everyone you know.
2. Call every book store in your City and surrounding area, and make arrangements for a book signing. Most of these book stores can’t afford, or get, a major author, so they’ll be happy to have you. Even if no one buys your book or wants your signature, you’ve gotten more exposure.
3. Go on local television ( here it’s called community public-access television ). You can even get your own TV air-time if you set it up.
4. Use the local public information channel that offers free listings.
5. Give a half dozen, or more, books away to local communities…especially seniors housing, hospitals,libraries.
6. Set up a table in your local library and community centers.
If you sit on your ass hoping Amazon, Twitter, or Facebook, etc will sell it you for you…you deserve to only have a few bought.
This may go to prove the saying “if you are giving something away for free, people may take it too lightly” – actually that might not be the saying at all but it’s along those lines.
The quote you’re referencing is (approximately) ‘What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly. It is dearness only that gives everything its value.’ It was written by a great self-publisher named Thomas Paine about 1776. I’m not surprised that it might be somewhat obscure in the UK. Mr. Paine was writing about the effort of the colonies to secure their freedom from tyrannical British rule. It’s not the kind of thing YOUR historians would like to highlight.
I enjoyed your article.
Thomas, that’s the quote I was looking for thanks, it had been stuck in my head while writing this article but couldn’t find the original quote, and he self-published, ties in nicely.
Thanks for reading, glad you enjoyed the article.