9 Clever Li’l Tricks to Boost Book Sales for Indie Authors

As a self-published author, you face a handful of obstacles in the book market.

You don’t have the name of a major traditional publisher behind you. No one else is investing their marketing dollars to promote your book. There’s no advance to ensure you at least make some money from this endeavor, regardless of how well the book sells.

But you do have a few things going for you that a traditionally published author doesn’t. 

You make more money per sale, for one. You have total creative control. Most importantly, you have the power to pivot.

Book cover’s outdated? You can change it. Sales are down? You can reoptimize your listing. See an opportunity for a themed promotion, special edition, or updated content? The only person who needs to approve that venture is you.

In the world of self-publishing, writers assume all the risk, but we hold all the power, too. So let’s talk about nine of the best moves you can make to turn that unmitigated authority into more sales.

1. Study the Market

Before throwing all your time and energy into BookTok or that new podcast idea, step back and ask yourself if you’ve really taken time to study the market. In fact, try to get a sense of what’s going on in a few specific segments of the market. 

For the publishing market as a whole:

• What are the hot trends and tropes in your genre right now?
• Which trends seem like they might be on their way out?
• Who are the bestselling authors in your genre? How are they connecting with readers and what does their audience love about them?
• Where are readers in your genre buying books?
• How are they discovering books?

For the self-publishing market:

• What are the most successful marketing strategies for self-published authors in your genre?
• What self-publishing platforms do your peers prefer these days?
• Do indie authors in your genre seem to make more money when they’re exclusive with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), go wide, or sell direct?
• What strategies do self-published authors use to turn a single book into several products and income sources?

For the global publishing market:

• Are other independent authors finding success globally?
• Is your genre really booming in another country?
• What would it take for you to break into the global publishing market? Is the potential reward worth the expense?

Use the information you learn to inspire new marketing strategies, explore other formats, or even write another novel that takes advantage of current trends. We call that “writing to market.”

Of course, as long as we’re studying stuff, we can’t forget…

Getting to Know Your Target Audience

You’re not going to move a lot of books if you don’t know the folks you’re selling to.

Research your target readers if you haven’t already. Find out where they discover new authors and buy self-published books. Learn which genre conventions they adore and what they’re sick of seeing.

Try to get a sense of what they value, dream of, fear, and avoid. What TV shows do they binge? Which movies have they seen a dozen times? How do they spend their free time?

Some of these questions might seem like they have nothing to do with selling books. But trust me, it’s way easier to sell to someone when you have a clear picture of who they are and what they care about.

2. Build an Author Platform

Every successful self-published author has and maintains a platform. Having a platform basically means you’ve created a way to connect and communicate with readers.

Most of your platform will exist online because that’s how we discover and keep track of one another these days. But you can also boost your reach through things like speaking engagements and in-person book events.

You may have already established a few key ingredients of an author platform. If you have your own website or post about your self-published books on social media, that’s a start.

What you want to do next is add a little strategy. What’s the best way to reach your target audience? How can you use your platform to not just sell books but connect with readers on a human level?

There’s no exact formula here. Each author’s platform is unique, which is why it’s so important to study your market and audience in the first place. 

That said, there are three elements of an author platform that are considered almost non-negotiable.

Must-Have Elements of an Author Platform

Almost every successful self-published author has a platform featuring these key components: 

Email marketing - This is considered the number one must-have for a self-published writer’s marketing plan, as it enables you to reach your readers directly, right in their personal inbox.

I’ve heard of one successful indie author who doesn’t use a newsletter to connect with readers, which proves there’s an exception to every rule. But since he’s already the exception, you can’t be, so you might as well start building that email list. #AbiLogic

Author website - You need a website to promote yourself as an author and your books as, well, books. Bonus points if you can maintain a blog. This will also be where you build your email list.

Social media - Find out where your readers hang out online. Create an author account that’s separate from your personal account. Promote your books 20% of the time and spend the other 80% on sneak peeks at your writing process or discussions about romantasy tropes of pictures of your hamster. Whatever your readers are into.

Get these three things nailed down before you start recording that new podcast or rehearsing your TED Talk.

3. Research Book Marketing Strategies

Whether you’re new to book marketing or you’ve been advertising the crap out of your books with little to no reward, it’s time to research your options. The self-publishing market is constantly evolving, and that includes the strategies authors use to promote their books to new readers.

Maybe there’s an emerging social media platform providing an opportunity to engage your audience in a unique way. Maybe your peers have stopped highlighting a specific trope because readers are over it. Maybe there’s a new AI tool for creating a snazzy ad or book trailer for practically pennies.

Sniff around and see what you learn. 

And if you’re brand new to selling self-published books, here are a few common strategies worth looking into:

Marketing Your Book Online

Most of the marketing for self-published books happens online. Common methods include:

• Email marketing
• Social media marketing
• Author website
• Blog
• YouTube channel
• Paid advertising
• Newsletter swaps
• Blog tours
• Book trailer
• Podcast appearances

This is not even an exhaustive list. But don’t worry; you don’t have to seize every marketing opportunity. In fact, you shouldn’t. 

Focus on the strategies that 1) will connect you with your target audience, 2) you’ll enjoy trying, and 3) you’ll do well even if it takes building a few new skills first.

Marketing Your Book Offline

While readers are most likely to discover self-published books online, there’s a lot to be said for making an in-person connection. When your audience gets to see your face and hear your voice, they’ll experience your work on a whole new level.

In-person marketing includes things like:

• Book signing events
• Appearances at local book festivals
• Appearances at local book club meetings
• Live readings
• Pitching your book to a brick-and-mortar bookseller

In-person efforts have the added bonus of allowing you to connect with bookstores, libraries, and other businesses in your area. These relationships may help you promote your self-published books now and into the future.

4. Optimize Your Book Listings

If book sales are not as robust as you’d hoped, it might be time to revisit your listing. Look at details like:

Your book cover - Is the cover eye-catching? Does it match the current style of your subgenre? Would genre fans immediately recognize it as their kind of book? Can you easily read the title in the thumbnail?

Check out this article for tips on creating a book cover that sells.

Your categories - How have you categorized your book? Are you sure your novel fits the category you’ve chosen? 

Look at top-ranking books in your category to make sure your book is what readers are looking for when they browse your subgenre. Check out novels similar to yours to see how they’re categorized. Adjust as needed.

The description - Have you written a compelling blurb that teases the conflict without giving away the whole plot? Does the protagonist seem intriguing? Is the setting clear? What about the genre? Is there a hook to immediately snag your buyer’s attention?

Keywords - Maybe the issue is that your perfect readers aren’t finding your book in the first place and it’s time to try new keywords. 

You can use a paid tool like Publisher Rocket for extensive keyword research. Or, bare minimum, open Amazon (or whichever self-publishing platform you use) in incognito mode, start typing a keyword you’d expect buyers to use in the search bar, and see what autofill suggestions Amazon offers.

Those suggestions are commonly used keywords. If any of them describe your book, they’re probably worth trying.

5. Get Reviews

Encourage your readers to leave reviews. 

Put a link in your e-books directing them to your book listing. Ask for reviews in your next newsletter. Remind your social media followers that leaving feedback on a listing is one of the best things they can do to support self-published authors.

Because it is. Reviews don’t just (hopefully) proclaim that your book is good. They demonstrate that it’s relevant.

The algorithms that rule your self-publishing platforms are more likely to boost a book with a lot of ratings. And let’s be honest: human beings care about that number, too. 

If your book has four reviews, most shoppers will assume all those reviewers are your relatives. The more feedback you get, the easier it is for your audience to take your novel seriously.

6. Price Self-Published Books Wisely

As long as you’re taking a second look at your listing, consider whether your book is priced to sell.

To be clear, I’m not saying to make sure it’s cheap enough. Not necessarily. While an overpriced book is sure to turn people off, a shockingly low price can proclaim that this book isn’t worth anyone’s time.

Look at works by other self-published authors in your genre. What’s the average price for print books? E-books? Audiobooks? 

If yours is wildly different, make an adjustment. Don’t panic if that means you have to sell your book at a higher price point. If you’re in line with what other self-published authors in your genre are doing, readers won’t balk.

If anything, they’ll be thrilled when you run a promotion that stands to save them money. 

Running Promotions

It’s as true for self-published books as it is for traditionally published books:

A limited-time discount is a fairly reliable way to boost sales.

Now, the types of promotions you can run depend on your selling platform. On Amazon, you’ll have to set up a promotion that runs for a specific length of time and is available to all. If you’re selling direct through a Shopify store or something similar, you can offer an exclusive discount code and, for example, share that code with anyone who signs up for your newsletter.

You can even offer a free e-book like a short story or novella that provides a compelling introduction to the world of your novel. The hope here is that readers will get hooked and run out to buy the book.

Whatever type of promotion you run, time it strategically. Do you want to grow your fan base a month before you announce the release of your next book? Want to get in on the Black Friday frenzy? 

A carefully orchestrated deal can help you sell a lot of self-published books.

7. Reach More Readers With Paid Advertising

I know it can be a little intimidating to wade into the waters of paid advertising. It might even feel like gambling—investing money without knowing for sure if you’ll get that money back. 

But then, this isn’t strictly a game of chance. You’ve researched the publishing market and your target reader. You know the tactics that work for other self-published authors. You know where your readers hang out and what they look for in their next read.

While there are no guarantees, you have the information you need to create ads that are at least likely to sell more books.

How to Create Effective Ad Campaigns

We don’t have the space in this article to go deep on best practices with paid ads. However, I can give you a few basic tips that will help you think strategically about your next campaign.

Three major considerations when you set up paid ads are:

Where to advertise - Most social media platforms allow paid ads, and that’s where a lot of self-published authors find readers. Other popular options include Amazon and Goodreads. Explore the possibilities and select the platform where you think you have the best odds of connecting with the right readers at the right time.

What messaging to use - Do you want to highlight a specific trope? Draw attention to a promotion? Emphasize that this is the perfect summer beach read? Choose the message you think is most likely to snag your audience’s attention at this moment in time.

What image or video to use - You’ll want something that’s eye-catching, clean, easy to read, and evokes emotion—specifically, the emotion the reader can expect to feel while reading your book. If you don’t make the image or video yourself, make sure you have the rights or license to use it in an ad.

Another crucial aspect of a successful ad campaign is your testing and monitoring strategy. If you’re not sure which platform, message, or image will get the best results, try both and see which performs better. 

When you have your answer, pull back on the strategies that don’t work and double down on those that do.

8. Collaborate With Other Self-Published Authors

Do a newsletter swap with another self-published author. If there’s one you really gel with creatively, consider co-authoring a book with them. Join up with several self-published authors in your subgenre to create an anthology of short stories or sell your books together in a boxed set.

We say it all the time here at Dabble: your fellow writers are your best source of encouragement and support. Bonus: they can also offer powerful cross-promotion opportunities. 

By joining forces with other self-published authors, you each benefit from exposure to one another’s audiences. 

Just remember that this kind of collaboration should be mutually beneficial. Everyone is out to boost their self-published book sales, so promote them as enthusiastically as they promote you.

9. Monitor and Analyze Your Marketing Strategy

One of the best moves you can make in your efforts to sell more self-published books is to constantly ask, “What’s happening and why?”

What happened when you shared that hilarious typo on Instagram? Did you get more likes than usual and a few comments from readers and fellow writers?

Why do you think that happened? Do your followers like seeing behind the scenes of your writing process? Did showing your mistake give them a chance to connect with the real, authentic you? Was it just really friggin’ funny?

You might not come to a definite conclusion. But the more you get in the habit of noticing your results and trying to think through the possible factors, the easier it becomes to detect patterns and refine your approach.

Do this with everything: paid ads, newsletter content, discounts, even collaborations.

You and I both know that non-authors tend to imagine the writing process as some kind of magic, as if the muse draws us to the desk and brilliance streams through our fingers. 

Meanwhile, we writers know it’s an ongoing process of trial and error. Testing and revising. Failing, learning, and eventually succeeding.

It’s the same story with great marketers. Behind those impressive sales numbers is a long process of analyzing and refining. You’ve nailed that system as an author. Now you just have to apply that same patience and curiosity to your goal of selling more books.

Create Your Best Marketing Tool With Dabble

Before you go, I have one last sales tip:

Write another book.

Your self-published books are your most powerful marketing tools because they sell each other. If a reader loves one, they’ll want to see what else you’ve got, especially if the book they read is the first in a series.

Now, this is where I tell you to consider writing your next novel with Dabble. It’s not just that Dabble comes with tons of incredible features to keep you organized and motivated throughout the writing process.

It’s also that Dabble Premium gives you exclusive access to bonus content, live workshops, and even feedback opportunities, all of which will help you refine your craft, build your community, and stay up-to-date on the latest conversations in self-publishing.

You can get a sneak peek of all those perks at the links above. As for the writing tool itself, click here to start a free 14-day trial. You don’t need a credit card to sign up, so there’s zero risk of accidental charges.

Now go forth and build your backlist.