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If you are like me, the Holidays have snuck up you!

Here is a handy checklist to make sure that you are ready to maximize your Online Book Sales during the Holiday Season

Perhaps you are thinking, “But Kiffer, it is December 8th! Isn’t it too late to do anything about this holiday season?”

And, I would have to reply, “No, it isn’t dear Chanticleerian. It is is just in the nick of time because of GIFT CARDS!”

GIFT CARDS and GIFT CERTIFICATES (some useful information)

  • More than 35 billion dollars (billion, not million!) are spent on GIFT CARDS each year for the Holiday Season.
  • The majority of recipients of these GIFT CARDS do not begin shopping with them until Dec. 26th.
  • Gift Cards have extended the Buying Season all the way through the month of January into February. 

Make sure that some of those GIFT CARDS are used to purchase YOUR BOOKS! 

INCREASING ONLINE BOOK SALES

When was the last time that you checked out your Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Bookchain, Smashwords, etc. page(s)? 

Visit your Selling Platform Pages and Tidy Them and Add some SPARKLE! 

  • Most importantly, do you have the latest cover of your title uploaded?
    • I see this all the time, the author sends me her latest cover (because as you know, I am all about the cover!) but then for some reason fails to upload the dazzling new cover to the title’s selling pages on the different platforms.
  • Update your selling pages with the latest tweaks to the title’s description. Is the description as compelling as it can possibly be? Amp it up! 
    • Make sure that every word of your book’s introduction/marketing blurb (that first paragraph that comes after the title and to the right of the cover) is effective—especially the first ten introductory words. These first ten words are “crawled” by the online sales platform’s search engine whenever a reader does “a search.” If it is a series or you are planning to make the work a series, then be sure to conclude the book’s marketing blurb with this information.
  • Have you listed the title’s latest awards and kudos near the end of the description to seal the deal?
  • Have you updated the reviews in the Editorial Reviews section? Add new ones and author blurbs (recommendations) in the Editorial Reviews section.
    • Sixty-one percent of customers read Editorial Reviews before making an online purchase (Harvard Business Review)
    • Editorial/Trade Reviews set the tone for Customer Reviews – which is (from what I hear) quantity is more important that than quality (number of stars). 100 customer reviews tend to be the magical number.
  • The Editorial Reviews section is where blurbs of reviews from Chanticleer, Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly should be posted.
  • Or to that matter, do you have anything in the Editorial Reviews section? If not, you are missing some SEO goodness. 
  • If your books are available in other languages besides English, list the languages in this section.
  • Is it time to liven up your author bio? Does it reflect the latest YOU? Does it make the reader want to meet you (like at your next book event?) as someone who he/she would enjoy meeting at a cocktail party?
    • Make sure that your photo resonates with readers’ expectations. A great example of this is Diana Gabaldon’s Amazon photo; it is one of her standing in front of the Stonehenge monument with a timeless black shawl wrapped around her. The Stonehenge background hints at the historical/fantastical nature of her works and the opening of her series.

Author Photos

    • Take a close look at your Author Central photo. If it doesn’t move your author brand forward, take a look through your photographs for one that does. It doesn’t have to be a photo taken by a professional photographer. It does have to have a layering effect and convey your author branding/personality. If you have a photograph that does convey elements of your author branding and is taken by a professional photographer, then that is even better. Here is an example of a professionally taken author photograph that exudes the author’s branding as a post-apocalyptic fiction writer. Notice that the setting and outfit exude the dystopian aspects of his Deserted Lands series:Robert Slater author of ALL IS SILENCE
  • In your Author Information section, list any other published works that are related to this particular selling page–especially if you have series or multiple titles in the related genre.
  • While you are on the title’s selling pages, double-check that all the different formats that your title is available on in any given platform are available and ready for sale!
    • Print? e-pub? combo — purchase a print book and receive the digital e-pub version for a discount or for free? (Amazon used to call this package “matchstick” )
  • Make sure that the links to purchase books from your website work and do not go off into cyberspace.
  • Test your “Look Inside” feature on Amazon and make sure that it works and that it isn’t just opening to the Table of Contents or the front matter of the book.
  • Double-check your pricing on each selling platform that the title is available for sale on. Really. 

OVERALL

Make sure that your information is up-to-date, fresh and relevant!

Like a well-written book plot,  make sure that each piece of information on your title’s selling platform moves your book and author branding forward and into the hands and minds of eager book buyers? 

Handy Amazon Links

Holiday Book Buying Online

Now make sure that some of 35 billion dollars on Holiday Gift Cards are used to purchase YOUR BOOKS! 

Happy Holidays! from Kiffer Brown

Speaking of Gift Certificates, did you know that we offer them for Chanticleer Reviews services? We do! Click here for more information about Gift Certificates

Chanticleer Reviews gift certificates make great gifts for the writer in your life! And we are offering a 15% discount on all gift certificate purchases from now until December 31, 2019. And we can mail them out in fancy gift boxes anywhere in the U.S.A.

If the recipient lives abroad, we will send out a fancy email with the gift certificate embedded in the email along with an access code.

Gift Certificates may be used for any Chanticleer Service or Product. 

Use this code upon checkout to receive the 15% discount     GCTGIANAT

Click here for more info and to checkout.