Self-publishing, discoverability
and commercial success
Aside from the self-satisfaction
derived from communicating thoughts and ideas, most writers are also striving for
critical and commercial success. A survey of authors at Digital Book World 2014
found that their number one priority was to publish a book that people will buy
and, secondly, to build a career as a writer, sharing stories with others.
Attaining success is not easy and, for a self-publishing author, it presents a
particular challenge.
In my previous blog I highlighted
five barriers to self-publishing success and showed how these could be overcome. I emphasised
that, firstly, you have to demonstrate knowledge of your audience, then select
an appropriate subject matter and, most obviously perhaps, write well. Add the
assistance of an experienced editor and good design for both the cover and the
internal layout and these factors combined will give you a great opportunity to
maximise your success as a writer.
Unfortunately just removing these
barriers is not enough. You now possess a beautifully crafted book, of which
you are rightly proud, but you need to get it read, reviewed, discussed and
debated. This is where discoverability comes in.
Discoverability is about making
sure your title stands out from all the others competing for attention; and it
is a very crowded and noisy marketplace. In the UK alone a new book is
published every 20 minutes. This over-saturation of the market poses a daunting
challenge for a self-publisher, as you have to ensure that your book finds its
audience and that your readers find you. Your voice has to be heard so that
your potential readers know your book exists.
Discoverability is down to the publisher or,
in this case you as self-publisher, and it requires considerable effort. The
reader’s role in the discovery process is, by comparison, somewhat passive. They
will react to stimuli that provoke interest and thus learn about the existence
of your book. As publisher you have to provide that stimulation and make the
reader’s discovery an easy and inevitable process that then converts into a sale.
Books sell by a combination of active
promotion and word of mouth. Promotion primes the process by drawing the
attention of not only readers but also other influencers such as reviewers,
bloggers and reader communities such as Goodreads. The ideal situation is
created when, as more people read your book, like it, talk about it and then
recommend it to others, the velocity of discoverability increases with more
readers drawn into a virtuous circle that propels your book to commercial
success.
But what are the steps towards
discoverability? Although promotion is one of the cornerstones for commercial
success it is a part of a much broader marketing activity. Marketing starts
early in the process that is publishing your book. It is about understanding
markets, defining your target audience, creating an audience development plan
(which PPS can help you with) and identifying influencers such as the leading bloggers,
reading communities, Twitter accounts, Facebook groups, and so forth that are
interested in your genre/subject area.
Promotion is concerned with getting
the message about your book to your target market and those influencers:
enhancing discoverability.
Finally comes sales, the activity
required to turn a lead into a sale. This will include demonstrating a USP – why
your book is a ‘must-have’ rather than a ‘might-like’ – and the provision of discounts,
offers and negotiation with retailers.
In marketing terms the complete selling
process is frequently described as a funnel that represents, in sequence from
the broad top of the funnel to its narrow tip: Awareness–Interest–Desire–Action. Discoverability is concerned
with that very first step, showing readers that your title exists. Solving this
challenge is crucial and that means creating awareness among your audience. It
is unlikely that more than a few readers will find you by serendipity or
accident. Therefore, the process needs to be proactive and you have to take your
book to the readers.
Andrew Rhomberg, the founder of Jelly Books
(www.jellybooks.com), has identified five ways in which readers are stimulated
to discover books beyond simple perusal of the Amazon or newspaper bestseller
lists. These are:
·
Serendipitous discovery—the random stumbling
over a book;
·
Social discovery—word of mouth and trusted
recommendations;
·
Distributed discovery—discovering books from
sources of distribution such as book reviews, conferences, blogs, etc.;
·
Data-driven discovery—books marketed to
readers through data, such as apps or adverts personalised based on shopping
habits or previous purchases;
·
Incentivized discovery—book giveaways,
contest rewards, promotions, etc.
Consideration of these channels can help
with your promotion plan as you determine how you can influence the discovery
process.
The first thing to do is to put yourself
in the shoes of the reader. Where do you find out about the books you like to
read? Where do you search for these books? How do you search? Which of the five
discovery channels above do you use most frequently, or infrequently? What is
it about a book that catches your attention? How do you find out about new
authors?
Many questions can be asked but the
purpose of this activity is to identify how your readers behave. It continues
and extends the ‘Need to know your audience’ that I highlighted when
considering barriers to success. Having mapped this behavior in an audience
development plan you can then more tightly focus your promotional activity.
So here are some tips and ideas.
TEN WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR DISCOVERABILITY
11)
Your personal website
Effective promotion for a
self-publishing writer starts with the creation of a personal website that
features you as the author and provides a showcase for you and your writing. You
can engage a web-designer but at PPS we know that it is feasible to construct
your own site quickly and easily using one of the many free or low-cost
options, such as Weebly or Wordpress. If you do only one thing to enhance
discoverability this should be it.
22)
Get active on social media
Your website should be supplemented by widespread
use of social media promoting you and your books. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest
and others can all be used to build a presence, generate interest and develop a
following. The emphasis here is on proactivity. It is not sufficient to expect
readers to discover you via a Google search. Readers normally search by title
or author, which indicates that they are already know what they are looking
for.
33)
Build contacts
One advantage of establishing an
interested audience is that you can build a database of contacts and use this
to communicate directly with these people in future. Obtain email and contact
details as a minimum and add more data if you can, although there is a balance
between maximizing your data gathering and turning away readers. A list of
influencers and potential customers is a valuable asset. Regular communication
with them ensures you maximize opportunities for promotion.
44)
Blogging
Regular blogging and blog tours are an
important part of the promotion process. You are a writer so this should be
easy! Offering opinion, providing comment and insight as well as responding to
other blogs will raise your profile. There is a lot of information available on
the web that suggests how you can use blogs to good effect. At PPS we monitor
our website analytics and have noticed that regular blogging significantly
increases website engagement.
55)
Community websites
Active participation in relevant reader community
websites will grow your presence and build audience contact points. Use your
blogs and website to facilitate the development of your own online reader
community. This offers an opportunity for readers to gather, socialize and
share their thoughts. Traditional publishers use this concept to establish a
direct rapport with their readers, as do successful self-publishing authors.
66)
Offline activities
Authors have traditionally used book
festivals to promote themselves and increase their profile. Although usually
the preserve of traditional publishers who want to highlight their ‘stable’ of
authors, festivals and other events provide an opportunity for the
self-publisher too. Depending on the nature of your book these can include
attending local interest societies, a reading at your local bookshop or library
and school events. Such events lend themselves to printed books but it is
possible, with some imagination, to promote your ebook effectively too through
these kind of activities.
77)
Data
Website and social media sites can provide
a lot of useful data and analytics about usage of your sites by visitors. It is
possible to track the behavior of readers, their interests, buying habits and
purchasing activity. Accessing and considering this information can indicate
what is, or is not, generating interest and enable you to fine tune your web presence
in order to maximize engagement with readers and influencers.
88)
Incentives
Offering readers an incentive to engage
with your site or provide information such as email addresses is a classic way
of driving more traffic towards you and your books. Sample chapters, free
ebooks, free downloads of ancillary material, or even competitions, are all
examples of incentives that can attract attention and encourage potential readers
and customers.
99)
Reader devices
Unless you have decided only to publish
in printed form it is important that your ebooks are compatible with the wide
variety of reader devices available. Whether an ereader, smartphone, iPad,
laptop or tablet your book should be available and look its best. At PPS we
have seen many ebooks that are poorly laid-out or incompatible for certain
devices. This applies to your promotional tools as well as to the book itself
as readers will miss the discoverability opportunity if their device is not
supported or the ebook is of low quality.
110) Building sales advances
The principle objective should be to
have sufficient advanced orders and sales leads to sell enough books on
publication that you cover the cost of production. To achieve this you have to plan
your discoverability campaign well in advance of publication. Traditional
publishers have always done this, positioning their authors and books to
maximum advantage so awareness and interest have been aroused and a desire
created among potential readers. The successful outcome is a large pre-order and
customers desperate to get hold of a copy of the book on the day of release. As
a self-publisher you need to work on discoverability from the start and thus
maximize your potential for commercial success.
And finally…
Commitment and persistence does pay.
Review your audience development plan regularly, update it and add to it.
Promotion should be frequent and regular, particularly so within social media
and among online communities where acknowledgement is often ephemeral and your
presence can be forgotten quickly.
