Any onething that boosted your sales

[EliRey]

I'm still trying to find a rhyme or reason for my sales. I try so hard to track what i do each day to try and figure out what boosts the sudden sale surges. I went from averaging 1 a day for months and months even as I pushed and pushed ALL over the internet to now averaging about about 4-5 a day. So that tells me word of mouth and the reviews are helping to pick up the sales. There's no question that promotions like Pixel of Ink help. I jumped from about 50k in my rank to 1300 that day but of course my rank slowly descended. It's never climbed down to 50k but my rank has stayed in the teen k's for about a month now. However I really wish I knew what it is. Yesterday I was so busy editing my wip I hadn't so much as tweeted even once when i checked my sales I'd sold 8 by the end of the day my total was 13. Today I have 1 sale  Don't get me started on B&N I could go weeks without a single sale over there then have 5 sales in one day! 

But to be helpful I will share what I did notice helped overall.
My cover When I changed it I did notice not only an increase in sales but an interest in my blog/fb fanpage. Also before I changed it when I sent out review requests I'd get maybe a 2% response if any and even that was like WEEKS later. Haven't done so since April but when I sent about 15 requests with the new cover I got about 6 yes responses within days. Being featured on their blogs once they reviewed it really helped also. I tweeted those reviews and posted them all over. 

I probably would not have thought of this on my own. I will be releasing the second in my romance series and a related novella this year. I posted the covers and blurbs on my blog. I even mentioned that the third full length novel will be released sometime next year. I don't have a cover or even title for that one yet. Well an eager fan that loved the first in the series took all the covers including the one with no cover and added it over on GoodReads as coming soon books. I didn't even know you could do that! I now have people adding them to their "to be read" and "wish list" shelves! Even the one with no title or cover! It's crazy. I've definitely seen an increase in sales since then. So if you're planning on releasing something in the near future you may want to consider adding it as a "coming soon" book over on GoodReads get the buzz going early.     

Posting excerpts on my blog and joining indie groups that cross promote has also made a big difference. There are many. The ones I belong to are IAU (Indie Authors Unite) and IAN (Independent Author Network) Oh and Stumble Upon brings LOADS of traffic to my blog. As a matter of fact I only joined I believe in March. I've had my blog up since August of last year and it beats out any other traffic source of all time to my blog BY FAR.

Overall I think it's a combination of a lot of hard work and perseverance. The difference in sales from one day to another is what continues to stump me. *sighs* I'll figure it out eventually and when I do I'll be sure to come back and post!     

Eli       

[Brendan Carroll]

The best boosts are those unexpected occasions when popular blog sites feature your book.  Daily Cheap Reads and a few others can really give you a high, but getting onto those sites now is not exactly easy.

[Tina Folsom]

Having the first book of my series, Scanguards Vampires, as a freebie on Amazon has boosted my sales tremendously. I've heard other authors mention the same, but those with a series seem to be doing better and seeing more of an uptick in sales than those with stand-alone novels.

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

I probably would not have thought of this on my own. I will be releasing the second in my romance series and a related novella this year. I posted the covers and blurbs on my blog. I even mentioned that the third full length novel will be released sometime next year. I don't have a cover or even title for that one yet. Well an eager fan that loved the first in the series took all the covers including the one with no cover and added it over on GoodReads as coming soon books. I didn't even know you could do that! I now have people adding them to their "to be read" and "wish list" shelves! Even the one with no title or cover! It's crazy.
I've definitely seen an increase in sales since then. So if you're planning on releasing something in the near future you may want to consider adding it as a "coming soon" book over on GoodReads get the buzz going early.     

I wonder if you can add yourself as "coming soon" or have to be done by someone else. I could not fully comprehend Goodreads and don't even use much. I am concerned that if the author lists him/herself, it will be considered self-promotion. If anyone can, please share.

Thanks for sharing helpful info Eli.

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

Daily Cheaps Reads features Kindle books $5 and under and I think you need at least 5 reviews first before you can ask to be featured. There's another similar site called the Frugal eReader. Similar format. And there's an Amazon author who recommends tagging your books 'cheap kindle reads' (or 'cheap kindle books', I can't remember which) and he'll post him at his blog by the same name (but the minimum must be $1.99 so I don't get to be on that one).

I visited "Daily Cheap Reads" today. I have a silly question if you or someone can answer.  How do you get your books included at DCR? I could not figure out or they just pickup books.... All my books are under $5. Thanks.

[RobCornell]

Stupid newbie question: What is a KND? 

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

Stupid newbie question: What is a KND?  

I believe, KND should be short for Kindle but it is "Kindle Nation Daily" I learnt..... No question is ever stupid in my dictionary.  Inquiring minds want to know.

[Kimberly Spencer]

KND is Kindle Nation Daily

[kzoomoo]

Thank you for the great tips. I am totally new. How do you find a blogger to review your books?

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

I'm atheist, but I can see your point.

I see your point too. I somehow associated luck with God. By Luck you mean chance that plays in sale of books, I assume. Being at the right place at the right time.

This point under discussion reminds me this saying:
"Everything Works out in the end.
If it hasn’t worked out, it’s not the end."

So hang in there my friend, if it has not worked, if it has.. congratulations. Wish you all the best.

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

KND is Kindle Nation Daily

Thanks for the correct abbreviation. BTW, What is Kindle Nation Daily? Sounds like magazine..lol

[MachineTrooper]

Great suggestions on this thread--thanks, all. I noticed that Amazon will still let me play with tags for my print versions, but not the ebooks. Anybody else notice this? I went back to Kindle Direct Publishing and added the "cheap" tags.

[Kimberly Spencer]

Thanks for the correct abbreviation. BTW, What is Kindle Nation Daily? Sounds like magazine..lol

You're welcome. 
It's a website with a huge audience where a lot of indies purchase a sponsorship to have their books promoted. I plan to do it as soon as they have an opening. Here's a link to the site:

http://kindlenationdaily.com/authors-and-publishers-how-to-sponsor-kindle-nation-daily-2/

[EliRey]

Thank you for the great tips. I am totally new. How do you find a blogger to review your books?

Depending on what genre you write in, my suggestion is to just google for example "Romance novel review blog" or something like that you should get plenty of hits. Most of those blogs have lists of other review blogs. Just make sure you read their review policies. Many don't review indie's or e-books. Though I'm finding lately that more and more are. 

[*DrDln* (dr.s.dhillon)]

It's a website with a huge audience where a lot of indies purchase a sponsorship to have their books promoted. I plan to do it as soon as they have an opening. Here's a link to the site:
http://kindlenationdaily.com/authors-and-publishers-how-to-sponsor-kindle-nation-daily-2/

I think almost anyone can publish an ebook. So with so many people promoting their stuff, it is very hard to keep track of every site that promotes books one way or the other. It appears that there are more writers than readers. No wonder everyone is pushing their books.  It's wonderful for those who enjoy internet. BTW, I wouldn't know what to do with this site like many others.  Thanks anyway. Wish you all the very best with your book adventure.