Complete Amazon fail... so far.

[Shenachie2010]

I published a book on big A and sold one copy to myself so far. I'm obviously wondering what to do to boost matters.

Suggestions welcome as it's a real ball of wax out there on FB with everyone telling me they know how to solve things at of course a price.

Pete

 

[BobbyBrandt]

There is a guy on the web named Dave Chesson with some great tips on how to increase sales on Amazon.

Things like which key words to use for better search results from readers. He sells an app but you don't need it to implement a lot of his suggestions.

I have increased my Amazon sales significantly following much of his advice.

 

[madelinemasoch]

It's possible that you haven't gained enough of a prior audience or marketed it correctly in order for it to get buyers.

 

[astuffedshirt_perv]

I published a book on big A and sold one copy to myself so far. I'm obviously wondering what to do to boost matters.

Suggestions welcome as it's a real ball of wax out there on FB with everyone telling me they know how to solve things at of course a price.

Pete

Link? What's your book about?

 

[AllenWoody]

I’m sorry to hear this. I *have* read that in order to be successful you need to be an active promoter of your work. Have an engaged social media presence with routine posts. Possibly have a Patreon where you maintain awareness of upcoming works. Follow authors in similar genres, advocate for them, and they will return the favor.

 

[ItsJustMeApathy]

I published a book on big A and sold one copy to myself so far. I'm obviously wondering what to do to boost matters.

Suggestions welcome as it's a real ball of wax out there on FB with everyone telling me they know how to solve things at of course a price.

Pete

Same. The story did so well here I thought why not try to make some money from it. And there it sits since July with no one at all interested.
There are a few people at my work that are interested in reading it, but they want to borrow my copy and not actually buy their own copy. There was someone at my old job who published a book on Amazon and as soon as I found out I bought a copy to support her, sadly so far no one is interested in supporting me

I don't do social media, deleted most of my accounts after my dog died nearly 4 years ago, so I don't really have anywhere I can promote anything.

 

[Shenachie2010]

The book is of course a sexy story. Link here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sallys-Sat...p/B0CTVHKWBH/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&sr=1-1

 

[lovecraft68]

Multiple reasons

1-Amazon is currently burying most erotica so people really have to look to find it.
2-Going back to one, the only people doing okay have been there a long time and have built a base
3-Refers back to two, this is your first book, so you have not gained an audience as of yet.
4-You-and smartly-did not enroll yourself into one of their bullshit programs where your book is free for X amount of days, and you get a few pennies if someone reads past a certain point in your book. THis works for vultures looking for free content, rarely for the author. Amazon will give you more visibility in that program, but you make next to nothing then when your book is no longer free, no one buys it because....you had it up there for free in their program.

All that, and any book on Amazon, in any genre, is a pebble in the ocean, and any initial sale is a stroke of luck in itself.

Now that's on the Amazon side of things. There are aspects where you are not helping yourself.

You have no cover image. It's just a block of blue with a title. There is nothing about it that catches anyone's eye as they scroll and it certainly doesn't look erotic in any way. Understand, people scroll quickly and only see thumb nails, you have a couple of seconds at best to catch someone's eye, and this isn't doing it. It's not hard to make your own covers these days, and people can make them for you pretty cheap. Its worth a $20 or so investment.

The title "Sally's Satisfaction" isn't all that bad, but your extended line of "Exploration etc... makes it sound like a self-help book.

But I really think the lack of cover is the big issue for you, so I suggest you have one made.

You mentioned all the people claiming they can help for a price. Keep avoiding them, they're a scam. Know what they're marketing is? They make a few posts on social media for you and that's about it. It's an erotic e-book, no one is going to hit the ground running to put any real work in.

You wrote and published something. Take pride in that, and don't get too caught up in the sales. If that is your focus, then what you need to do is write another one, and another one to try and build a base and a library.

Best thing though-and why its good you did not go into one of their programs which make you exclusive- Do not stick with just Amazon. Go to Draft2digital and publish there. They will put you on other sites including Smashwords which is at this point the best platform for erotica out there.

Stay with it, it doesn't happen overnight.

 

[Shenachie2010]

Many thanks lovecraft68. I wondered about the cover and tbh never thought of the thumbnail aspect. I'll pull the book and redo. Thanks again.

 

[lovecraft68]

Many thanks lovecraft68. I wondered about the cover and tbh never thought of the thumbnail aspect. I'll pull the book and redo. Thanks again.

No worries. If you have any questions about publishing there or elsewhere, feel free to PM me and I'll try to help.