Business Post: Promotions for Low-Selling Authors (Advice) (Patreon)

Saw a post by someone talking about how most marketing 'courses' are geared towards authors who are already making a lot of money make more money. And that's not bad commentary. Unfortunately, part of the problem with providing advice at the lower level (i.e. making the first $100-$1k) is that it can be really finicky. Some work, no matter how well written never hits.

So let's talk about it.

An Example

Leveled Up Love (my LitRPG romcom) has MAYBE sold 2k copies. I've sold a heck of a lot more books than that in my other series like A Thousand Li or the System Apocalypse. It was just the wrong series of genres put together, released too early to an audience that has no interest in it.It's well written, well edited, even has an audiobook. But there's no real interest in it, so it doesn't sell. We've changed covers like 3 times, done multiple newsletter sales, AMS & FB ads, etc.Doesn't sell.

Advice

So, first piece of advice. Realise some books won't ever catch on, even if you put $'s and promo into them. Too small a genre, too weird an idea, too hard to find the audience. Just is.Secondly, it's worth keeping in mind that sales generally follow a simple equation. Numbers of those aware * Conversion Rate = Sales. Without awareness, you don't get sales.Conversion Rate is affected by a number of things, from the audience of those aware to covers and blurbs. Aka, presentation.

Conversion Rates

Now, assuming it's not a hard to sell genre, you'll want to look at your cover. That's the first thing people will see (mostly), which means you need to make sure it's on genre.The best way I've found to do that is the grid method. Grab 8 of the bestsellers in your genre (that are MEANT to be there) and put them in a 3 x 3 grid, with the center missing.Put your book cover in there next. Does it fit? Does it stand out? It has to do both of those things at once.

Covers tell the story of genre and content. If it doesn't do that, if it doesn't attract a reader, they'll glaze over and move on. You have less than a second to do that. It has to be on point.If your cover works, check your blurb. That is next most important. Is it too long? Is it too wordy? Is it too boring? Is it telling enough or not telling enough? Again, compare to bestsellers.Title comes after. A memorable title it makes it easier for readers to recommend your book. Least important of the three.

After that, you can then work on promoting (i.e. awareness). The reason I fix conversion rate FIRST is that it is work that can be done pre-launch. It also means that when you start throwing money (or time) at promoting your book, you aren't inadvertently driving away readers.Point to note - pure AI covers (that are discernibly AI) can and will drive a subset of readers away. % numbers I don't have, but you can see them quite vocally objecting. So worth noting.

Alright, Promo Options. Going with free-low cost- Social media. Terrible for conversions, but if you're good at it, maybe. Often a long game.- AMS ads (category ads can increase awareness, terrible at converting again. Actual auto ads only trigger if you already have sales quite often).- Paid promo newsletters. David Gaughrn has a great list, but these do not require previous sales to work. Often you need to discount your book to get on them though.- Newsletter swaps with other authors

- Your own newsletter (free short story / free book 1 and promo to generate subscribers). Often a longer game, but you can build a newsletter funnel to promote backlist.- Cross-promo with other authors. Group sales / bundles and/or a newsletter promo and giveaway (often feeding to above). And that's about it. If you've got other non-expensive suggestions (i.e. not Meta ads!), I'd be curious to hear of them.