How To Sell Your Book When ‘No One Is Reading’
100,000 words, 3 cover revisions, and 2 book signings at your local bookstore later and you still aren’t seeing the sales you were hoping for from your new release.
You’ve spent hundreds of hours of your life writing a book and now you’re afraid no one will read it.
When you bring up this fear with your friends and family they all say, “That’s because no one reads anymore.”
However, you’ve seen a whole movement on social media that says otherwise. Those people just haven’t found your book yet and you’re wondering why. Especially since you post about it every day and are also trying to connect with other authors.
So, how do you sell your book when no one is reading?
Connect Through Similarities
People are more likely to buy a book if they think they would enjoy it based on something they’ve read before.
That’s why there’s a lot of advice floating around about knowing comparative titles to your book. That’s why you’ll often hear authors say that their book is like ‘X set in the world of Y’ or something similar.
“My book is Lord of the Rings set in the world of Harry Potter.”
“My book is The Hunger Games but with magic.”
Connecting to readers through what they already know is the easiest way to put your book at the top of their mind.
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Share Your Process
Readers love to get into the mind of the writer. Other writers do too.
By sharing your process, you’ll connect with people who want to understand how you wrote an entire book as well as those who just want to learn more about the process of writing.
You don’t need to have a fancy board with your plot laid out or a dedicated writing area. Just show how you work. Every writer has a different way of approaching how to write a book so just be you and show your way.
In addition to your process, share things that you’ve found helpful when writing. This could be a specific software, a way of organizing your plot, or just a piece of advice that’s stuck with you throughout your writing career.
Just remember not to give away any key points of your book. Wouldn’t want to spoil it before they even know what your book is, right?
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Post More Than Your Book Cover
Publishing your book is a HUGE accomplishment and you’ll be proud to show the finished product off but people want to see more than the cover with a caption containing your synopsis.
They want to know what they’ll get out of it if they read it.
What’s the genre?
Does it have any of their favorite tropes?
Are there situations that they can relate to?
It’s easier to justify a purchase, even something as small as a new book, if you know you’re going to get something out of it.
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Tell Your Story
You are a big part of the writing process so tell your future readers about you.
How long have you been a writer?
What made you want to become a writer?
What books have inspired you over the years?
There’s so much about you that readers would love to know and it gives people more reason to want to connect with you and read your book. After all, selling your book doesn’t always stem from someone being interested in the story. Sometimes it has more to do with someone being interested in you.
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Despite the popular belief, people do still read. There is a whole group of people who show their love for reading every single day on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. There are even more who don’t post on social media.
By focusing on the person you want to read your book instead of just sales, you’ll be able to better connect with readers.
The easiest way to sell your book is to relate to other people.
With these simple tips, you can create more content that will better highlight you and your book.
Ready to publish your book but don’t want to publish on your own? We are currently accepting submissions for finished books of all genres!
Here’s an extra fun Reel to share with your writer friends:
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