Change your Book Cover and Increase Your Sales?

Change Your Book Cover and Increase Your Sales?

Can changing the cover of your book really increase sales? Well the last couple of weeks I have been a little quiet on the blogging front because I have been concentrating on finishing my current book and marketing my other books. I had a rather lovely synchronicity whereby my friend had figured out how to market his company's health products to the world. In doing so he managed to completely wipe out all of their stock. What a success story eh? So after excelling at that marketing challenge, he decided he would like to see whether his formula worked on books. Yep and you guessed it - I am the experiment. I do like being an experiment in marketing - especially when it my money being invested rather than the budgeting resource of a company.

So how we went about it was go to Amazon Ad Sense. We created an advertising campaign using my top selling book. We started the campaign and registered the number of impressions according to key words. We then counted how many clicks are made on a key word and which key words generated the most clicks. Take for example my LOVE HUNT - The Love Game. This was listed under romance, contemporary romance, love, dating etc. All these key words are linked to your book and when a book in your genre is being looked at, yours joins a queue to be listed as relevant. When your book is noticed and the customer clicks on your book, that is when you are charged a small fee. The fee is based on a bidding process. In actual fact it is all quite simple: basically every time your advert is clicked upon you are charged. You can set an advertising budget each day which once it is reached your advert will no longer appear. That means you can invest as little as a few dollars each day to advertise your books to a specific target audience, according to your key words. In the case of LOVE HUNT - THE LOVE GAME - the most impressions and clicks were made by those who were looking up romance or contemporary romance.  The romance market is huge and one of the most popular so it was not a surprise that this was the 'big clicker!'

So how does this relate to a change of cover?
Well there has to be a reason that a customer potentially clicks on your book. What makes your book stand out against the others that are lined up to advertise at that very same customer? Well it is the cover and the 'strap line.' So I have to be honest my click rate was failing dismally. After 32,000 impressions, where customers had my book appear on the page, I had a whole - are you ready for this - 9 clicks! They did not result in sales. So I was affectively advertising and getting no response. Boooo!

Admittedly it takes time for a sales campaign to kick in; however, something has to make the 'customer' want it now. People don't have time to return to a book they might have seen briefly and they certainly don't retain the title unless it is astounding! So what do you do? You make a cover which screams click on me. So here is my 'before' cover - I quite liked this one... 

I thought it was clean, quirky and to the point. According to my marketing pal it needed to appeal to the 'romance market' and stand out as fun, mischievous and girly. Hmmmm!
So this is the new cover:

Yes it is very pink!!!! Very, very pink! The thing is I then had to change the second in the series too from:

I really liked this one too. I liked how clean it was...
So this then was changed to:

Again - it is VERY PINK!

So guess what happened? The number of impressions continued at the same rate and the click rate increased. What do you think happened with the sales? There was a gradual increase. So what did that mean? Well, it meant that my blurb had to change. I know... Something was stopping people going 'yeh! now! Now and NOW!' Also my friend said that the reader wanted to discover something: an insight.

So take a look - this is how it was:

Come on admit it - as much as we deny it - we ladies like a good love hunt.
We have tick lists, ideals, and we hunt in high-heeled packs. Of course, we're all hunting for that elusive right man who ticks every box and even has tidy nostril hair. Okay maybe not you, but you know other ladies who love the hunt.

Well, it's time for Eva and Gracie to love hunt, and their 'targets' are rich men - the golden sperm. Such exciting escapades would provide the pair with entertaining discussions during their dull office hours - or so they thought. What they did not anticipate was the discovery of the "booby man"; humorous but very hard truths about wealth, themselves, power; and the RichIdiot.com phenomenon.
The question remains: can love really be hunted?

THIS IS THE NEW VERSION

LOVE HUNT - Dating Game: A Kiss and Email Romantic Comedy

Did you know there are numerous secret female dating discussions taking place in your office? Discover the hidden world of women hunting rich men in hope of escaping office drudgery. All around you your colleagues are gossiping about their dating adventures whilst pretending to work. This laugh out loud romantic comedy reveals numerous dating disasters, female analysis and an insight into the world of ridiculous dating rituals - all of that in hope of finding that Mr Right. Does he really exist?

This and more from Eva, the Russian gold digger, who reveals a world of high-class meals and luxurious lingerie. While Gracie, the straight-laced female analyst demonstrates how the mind can run riot with random thoughts: what about the grey-knicker women who have settled for the men with sheds? Are they happy? Why are their knickers grey? Why choose a man with a shed?
A laugh out loud conversation in the form of emails about life, hide the sausage and dating blooming disasters! Be astounded by what is discussed during nine to five!

___________________

So what do you think happened? Honestly I have no clue how life works....

Well the audio sales went up! Admittedly Helen is a fantastic narrator and her Russian accent is brilliant, I just have not quite figured out how that has worked. Also what is also interesting is there is a higher level of sales in the U.K. than the U.S.

My friend Matt says that is because the U.K. has 11 5 star reviews whereas the U.S. have not been placing so many reviews. Again I wonder why that is. So in answer to the question - Can changing your cover increase your sales? Most definitely; however, there are other factors such as 'strap line and your blurb.' If you manage to combine the perfect formula then you have a potentially winning advertising campaign! YEY!!!!

Good luck. I hope this helps all the other lovely authors out there who are also attempting to figure the marketing puzzle out. If I find out anything else I will definitely share. If you have any comments or findings please could you add them to the comments. I would love other authors to have an easier journey to making a living from the book market!

LINK TO KINDLE:

LOVE HUNT - Dating Game: A Kiss and Email Romantic Comedy
by Ruby Allure  LINK: https://amzn.com/B00ATF8QF2

LINK TO AUDIO :https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Hunt-Dating-Game-Idiot/dp/B015G4GAIU/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1470326107&sr=8-2

Oh and I just worked out why the audio sales went up - the audio is on at £3.99 rather than £15.69

If I had not written this blog I would never have figured it out. So that is why the audio sales increased because the advert worked - the customer just happened to explore further. The only problem now is how do I change the audio cover? Any ideas?

The Luxury of Completion

The Luxury of Completion

 

By any chance to you feel excited about starting a project and then lose momentum half way through? From nowhere you suddenly have another idea that is sooooooooooooo exciting that you just can't help yourself and you start that. Again, at about half way through, you stop and think ----'oooooh exciting another new idea....' The cycle begins again. Within a short time you have numerous ideas that are half started and you don't know which to do. When I have taught creative writing this is one of the main challenges for students. It seems that most struggle with finding completion. When I say completion, I don't just mean finishing the draft, I mean coming to a final resolution of the piece including the numerous layers of editing and then letting the finalised piece go.

The reason that I write about this is after twelve years I have finalised nine books in digital kindle, paperback and now seven of these are complete in audio with one still in the production process. With each book being released I felt a sense of liberation. It was as if I freed up space in my mind. It then occurred to me that every half-complete project was like a mini-asteroid floating about mental space and drawing thoughts and taking mental energy. I understand the concept of leaving things to brew; however, that brewing takes place in your mind as well as in reality.

As I have mentioned before, I also work full time in a corporation, and one of the main issues is persuading someone to finish their project. It is as if they are a car running out of fuel or they have that sense of losing momentum when running up a steep hill. This then made me think what is it that drove me to complete my work and how can that help others?

This may seem simple but the first thing I did is state that I would reward myself every time I came to completion. For me the reward is pampering or some sort nice girly event whether it is a facial, a hair do or a spa. When I taught I made the students list their reward when they completed work. Most said the fact they completed their work was enough. In my opinion, that is not enough of a motivation. They had to have a 'prize'. It was amazing how reluctant they were to give themselves a gift. In the end there were a few common themes: new shoes, a visit to the hair dresser or spa. The chaps went for race days, a fishing trip or a nice meal to celebrate. Once they all had their reward in mind I made them cut out a picture and stick 'project complete' in their writing journals to prime their unconscious. So when they found themselves straying or stuck they would remind themselves what they we going to be rewarded with.

 

On top of that, when half way through a project, a book or a piece of work, I have noticed that the procrastination fairy comes to distract. My house suddenly becomes the ultimate in clean. My toilet brims with white beauty due to toilet brush application. I had to find a way to overcome that too. So what I did was learn the 'give it a try attitude.' When I really didn't want to write or felt like scrubbing my loo rather than write, I simply said to myself I will 'give it a try' for ten minutes. What I found was that was like a literary warm up. I would then find myself immersed in my writing and complete my goal for the day. I used this technique when I was training for a half marathon too. I knew that after seven minutes I would be into running and warmed up. So if I said I would give it a try for ten then after that time I would be in the rhythm and enjoying it. So this technique can be applied to numerous things. As simple as it is, finding techniques for completion will free up your mind and energy for the new. I will be honest, since completing and releasing my books on Kindle, Audible and paperback, I have a rising energy that is ready for the new. I am excited; however, I want to go into this new phase with absolute completion. I realised that this sense of clean and clear energy can also be applied to relationships. It is worth tying up all the loose ends so that you have fresh energy for that new relationship without the baggage of the old:) I genuinely hope the above inspires you to complete so that you are freed up for the new exciting works in the future:)

A couple of my completed books that resulted in a happy dance and an even bigger one when I saw they were downloaded on Audible:)

AUDIBLE LINK FOR A SHORT COURSE IN CREATIVE WRITING: http://amzn.com/B01390THLK

21/08/15

 

"An Unexpected Gem"

***I was provided a copy of this audio book for the purpose of a review ***

With the required disclaimer out of the way, let me be brutally honest, I had not expected this little gem. In fact, I had expected my listening would be a bit rough and was fortified by it being less than 2 hours.

The synopsis says the author wrote the book as a takeaway from her evening classes on creative writing. My mental context was ... Community Ed evening classes ...and expected a well intended but kind of amateur product. However, I am interested in adult education, and batter my own nerd head against a giant personal creativity brick wall.

So you have an idea of my mind set... low expectations along with high interest.

Amateur hour it was NOT.

I don't know where the author teaches her class, but Sign Me Up! And bring the narrator. Wow. Two hours of unadulterated, straight up, right on, good learning material delivered by a close friend just sharing the material. The narrator's voice was warm, sincere without any artifact or pompous patronising, and well modulated throughout. The material was mind opening for me, with the right mix of the mechanics of writing exercises, sufficient context that using prompts now makes sense to me, and a sprinkling of the inner heart work of creativity through written material.

This was just what I didn't dare hope for in a how to creative writing listen.

Truly an unexpected gem and a learning and growing experience for me.

A keeper and one I will return to many times as I deconstruct my own wall, one block at a time.

Thank You, Ruby and Thank You, Erin.

 

TO BUY MONEY FARM ON AMAZON.com http://amzn.com/B010F04W9O

· Frode

06/08/15

5 STAR

"M.O.N.E.Y. is bad? This book is not!"

So Money Farm by Ruby Allure was a surprise! When I REALLY did not read things about this book I review for Audiobook Blast, I sometimes get books I don't know something about. BTW: I read 99% about the books I want to review, but this book I can't remember I did that for. Anyways: This was a nice surprise, and I think it is one of those books that is better the second time you read it. No joke! I listen to this twice before I made this! Money Farm makes you thin, and who does not like to hear a book that makes you think? It is an awesome book, that I will recommend to all that likes audiobooks, and really to people that does not!

Helen Lloyd English accent its the topic like a glow and a hand! Her "lady like" voice is so cold, and clear I feel that the author made this book thinking that Helen Lloyd would read it out loud! That is how I feel those two fits together! The 2 times 14 hrs and 6 mins I spend with her never feels boring or uninteresting! I would love to spend it again, and I will because this book I will hear again, and again, even when it is 14 hrs and 6 mins long! That is saying something!

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com

MONEY FARM

· "Incredibly thought provoking..."

What did you like most about Money Farm?

It was an eye opener.

 

What did you like best about this story?

I like the way it made you think about the way normal everyday life is here and now, and the future...

 

Have you listened to any of Helen Lloyd’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Helen Lloyd narrated this fairly long audiobook brilliantly. Although the story content was very intense and thought provoking, her lovely smooth voice was very easy to listen to and I thought it was just perfect, a fascinating book wonderfully narrated.

 

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes it was, although it is too long to do so.

 

The Reality of Being an Author

The Reality of Being an Author

For some reason when people find out you are an author they have belief that you can waft around thinking of literary prose. The have images of cafes, days just dreaming and literary events with horsey-style laughter. In truth, I don't know many authors who have this luxury. In fact, most of the authors I know, who make money and are having films produced, still work. The image painted in films is remote beaches, romantic views and international jet-setting. Nope, and I don't want to disappoint, but the reality is usually a full time job, often in an unrelated subject, so that there is mental space for writing.

 

Let me give you some examples, my friend who is having a film produced of her book, by day works in a care home. The shifts enable her to attend literary meetings. She has an internationally renowned agent but can still be found bathing old people in their beds and you know what? She loves being able to care for others. Another friend of mine, who also writes and earns money from her book sales, works full time as an English teacher. So much of her inspiration comes from her students and what they say.

One author, who was catapulted into stardom overnight, maintained her job working in a bookshop because she loved working with books. She also said that she was going to remain humble and monitor her sales. The first book sold more than fifty thousand copies but her royalty was around fifty pence per book. That is only a basic wage for one year. It was a 'nice to have' in addition to her income and she was glad that she kept her job. Finally, another author I know works as a lawyer, her relaxation time is writing because she gets to dream.

It seems everyone has this idea that you write a book and are catapulted to wealth and stardom. For a few that happens; however, I was discussing an author, who was at the top of his field with my brother. It turned out that the author accidentally let it slip that he worked as a decorator to supplement his income. It seems that people prefer the ideal rather than the image of their favourite author painting a wall.

The years that I spent teaching creative writing evening classes revealed the aspirations and illusions so many people have. Numerous fresh students professed that they desired to be the next J.K. Rowling and that was their reason for learning to write. You never want to smash peoples dreams; however,  if that is the one and only motivation to write then there is a very long and arduous journey ahead.

I am not saying that it isn't possible to become a full time author; and I do know one author who earns their living purely through being an author. He gave up his job when he reached one million sales. He is signed with a publisher and releases a book a year. He has over ten books on the market. He said that once he had made a million sales and had a three year reserve in the bank he would then write full time. So it is possible, yet what you might not realise is your work place is the perfect place to observe characters, understand human dynamics and listen to people's stories. My advice is if you want to be an author live, work and gain inspiration. In the meantime, set yourself a goal: say three years income in your bank before jumping into the financially unknown.

NEW!!!!  RUBY WRITES BOOKS - LINKS TO AUDIBLE FREE TRIALS :)

LINK TO AUDILE FREE TRIAL http://www.audible.com/offers/30free?asin=B012OVUKE8

 

 

 

LINK TO LOVE HUNT FREE TRIAL: http://www.audible.com/offers/30free?asin=B015G4ICYA

 

 

CLAN DESTINE AUDIBLE FREE TRIAL::

http://www.audible.com/offers/30free?asin=B015YJ3P8K

 

How to Promote your Book

How to promote your book

Something that I have noticed is how reluctant people are to market their work.  Why is it so difficult  to let your audience know you have created something for them? After spening years crafting and creating a work of art shouldn’t you let people know? Maybe even celebrate the fact you have created something worthy of their attention. What you do have to remember is that people have a choice whether they choose to part with money to purchase one of your creations or not. No one is forced to buy your work remember that!

So what is it that stops people sharing their books with the world? It seems there is a lack of confidence, self-worth or value for what has been created. Once you understand that then you will understand that your competitors feel the same. Or maybe they don’t maybe they have complete confidence in their creation and are willing to put themselves on the line to achieve their dreams. Why should the person next to you achieve their dream and you wait in the shadows for something to happen. The expression everything comes to those who wait is one of the most ridiculous attitudes to adopt. The truth is more waiting comes to those who wait – and waiting is NOT everything. So suck it up Princess and stand by your creation rather than hope someone will do it for you! I know this is brutal, but this is what I say to my students because your work and your sales are your responsibility – fact!

So ask yourself what is your resistance… You might fail? So what? What if you do? At least you gave it a go. What might you feel? Humiliated? Stupid? Like you are not worthy? Well my friend you will feel the same if you don’t give it some welly too and go for it! So now we have discovered what is holding you back then maybe it is time to shift perception and consider how enjoyable it is to contribute to other people’s lives with your creations. What if your creation actually enabled the world to see an entirely new way? What if you held the answer to world change and you were lurking in the shadows fearing the potential of your own light! Yes stop being a dick!

So what do you need to do? You need to find a way that you enjoy promoting: a way that is fun and one that you will repeat whether or not you have an instant return. At this point I now realise why working in a bookshop while I studied my Masters Degree served me so well. I worked for a well known book retailer when Dan Brown released his books and I watched how word of mouth generated so many sales. What I realised is that it is better to have a few books released or available simultaneously. Make sure you have them in a variety of formats too. When one book sells it is quite often the case that people go back and buy the series by the same author. Try not to be a one book pony and never take a pony into a bookstore!

So how do you promote?  Simple - you tell people in as many different ways as possible. How do you tell people? There is social media. The era of social media is amazing. People can find out about you in an instant. I am sure you have heard of: Pintrest, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, SoundCloud and Facebook to name but a few. There is an ‘in person approach’ with books signings. There are author websites. There are blogs. There are magazines. There are radio stations and there are reviewers. If you have your work on audio – you post samples on audio forums such as Soundcloud. You take every opportunity to share on Youtube. If you have the opportunity to do interviews take it. You put yourself out there in as many ways as possible. You go beyond your comfort zone and approach reviewers.  What you do is you allow yourself one year of consistent promotional repetition. Each week you dedicate an evening or a two evenings to blogging, tweeting and sharing.  You allocate a specific amount of time and go for it!

 

Personally I create a visual image to motivate me. For some it might be pictures of your children or you ideal home. I put that image in where I can see it from my computer. Also there will be days when you don’t want to promote. Well ‘give it a try.’ When I say give it a try it means sit at the computer and say I will give it a try for ten minutes… You are likely to find a couple of hours pass and promotion is out there.

Sometimes you will hit a wall with promoting and that is when you spend time brain-storming ways to find contacts and then contact them. Ask yourself how you found out about your favourite books. Was it word of mouth? If it was from whom? Find that person and give them your book to read. If they like it then they will share it. The thing is the world is full of information so you have to contribute worthwhile information. What is your book about? How can you be an expert on related subjects and then write articles on that? What you do have to remember is that there are people searching out what you have created. If you wanted to find what you had created where would you look? That is precisely where you place it. Look at Ad words, look at tags and look at the best blogs on your subject. What are they doing? How do you equal that or do better. The act of promoting yourself is easy. The only resistance is you. Imagine how your life will be different once you succeed. Allow yourself that year of consistent promotion and re-evaluate what works and what does not work along the way. If anything you will emotionally expand and grow because you are stepping beyond your comfort zone. Go for it and win! Oh and in the meantime write your next book.

In the meantime here are a couple of mine  that are selling rather well:)

AUDIBLE LINK FOR A SHORT COURSE IN CREATIVE WRITING: http://amzn.com/B01390THLK

21/08/15

 

"An Unexpected Gem"

***I was provided a copy of this audio book for the purpose of a review ***

With the required disclaimer out of the way, let me be brutally honest, I had not expected this little gem. In fact, I had expected my listening would be a bit rough and was fortified by it being less than 2 hours.

The synopsis says the author wrote the book as a takeaway from her evening classes on creative writing. My mental context was ... Community Ed evening classes ...and expected a well intended but kind of amateur product. However, I am interested in adult education, and batter my own nerd head against a giant personal creativity brick wall.

So you have an idea of my mind set... low expectations along with high interest.

Amateur hour it was NOT.

I don't know where the author teaches her class, but Sign Me Up! And bring the narrator. Wow. Two hours of unadulterated, straight up, right on, good learning material delivered by a close friend just sharing the material. The narrator's voice was warm, sincere without any artifact or pompous patronising, and well modulated throughout. The material was mind opening for me, with the right mix of the mechanics of writing exercises, sufficient context that using prompts now makes sense to me, and a sprinkling of the inner heart work of creativity through written material.

This was just what I didn't dare hope for in a how to creative writing listen.

Truly an unexpected gem and a learning and growing experience for me.

A keeper and one I will return to many times as I deconstruct my own wall, one block at a time.

Thank You, Ruby and Thank You, Erin.

 

TO BUY MONEY FARM ON AMAZON.com http://amzn.com/B010F04W9O

· Frode

06/08/15

5 STAR

"M.O.N.E.Y. is bad? This book is not!"

So Money Farm by Ruby Allure was a surprise! When I REALLY did not read things about this book I review for Audiobook Blast, I sometimes get books I don't know something about. BTW: I read 99% about the books I want to review, but this book I can't remember I did that for. Anyways: This was a nice surprise, and I think it is one of those books that is better the second time you read it. No joke! I listen to this twice before I made this! Money Farm makes you thin, and who does not like to hear a book that makes you think? It is an awesome book, that I will recommend to all that likes audiobooks, and really to people that does not!

Helen Lloyd English accent its the topic like a glow and a hand! Her "lady like" voice is so cold, and clear I feel that the author made this book thinking that Helen Lloyd would read it out loud! That is how I feel those two fits together! The 2 times 14 hrs and 6 mins I spend with her never feels boring or uninteresting! I would love to spend it again, and I will because this book I will hear again, and again, even when it is 14 hrs and 6 mins long! That is saying something!

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com

MONEY FARM

· "Incredibly thought provoking..."

What did you like most about Money Farm?

It was an eye opener.

 

What did you like best about this story?

I like the way it made you think about the way normal everyday life is here and now, and the future...

 

Have you listened to any of Helen Lloyd’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Helen Lloyd narrated this fairly long audiobook brilliantly. Although the story content was very intense and thought provoking, her lovely smooth voice was very easy to listen to and I thought it was just perfect, a fascinating book wonderfully narrated.

 

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes it was, although it is too long to do so.