Want a way to market your eBook that hits hundreds of thousands of buyers, is proven to be productive, and can bump your book onto the hot sellers list? You can find it with targeted book emails. These companies, such as BookBub, Pixel of Ink, and Ereader News Today, together reach millions of dedicated readers who use them as shopping catalogs every day. Not every book offered gets picked up by these review emails, but you can take steps to increase the odds that your eBook will be one of the featured stars on some future date.
Clean Up Your Book
Have readers found a few little typos that have been nagging at you? Go through your entire manuscript and fix every single mistake you can find. Take an objective look at your book cover or, better yet, open it up to opinions in your writer's groups. Change up the cover if needed to fit your genre.
Gather Reviews
Most sites say they don't have a set review minimum for acceptance, but those who have been accepted agree that it's best if you have at least ten great reviews before sending in your application. Be selective when getting these reviews. Send out ARCs to writers in your groups and ask for an honest review. Don't push for five stars everywhere, but send the books to people who already like your writing for the best chance of a good review.
Choose Alternate Dates
You're allowed to choose what date to have your book offered, as these sites like to specialize in temporary book sales. Be flexible and offer a number of alternate dates. Plan to discount your book to either free or $.99 on this date and a few days surrounding it. Amazon's rules make it impossible for sites to specialize in only free books anymore, but they still choose the cheapest books when possible.
Sell Your Book
Make your book as attractive as possible to the sites, since they're only going to pick the books that look like they'll sell well. Mention any awards your book has won, talk about how many days it's been in the top 100 listing, and include any professional praise your book has garnered. Success breeds success, and email sites choose books that will sell.
Coordinate Your Marketing
Remember the last time you saw something that was all over the internet, all day long? Your first thought was probably that this was a popular topic, and that you should check it out. Try to create that same impression with your book sales. If you can get ads on two, three, or more emails on the same day, readers who subscribe to multiple mailings will be more likely to look at and buy your book.
Keep the Faith and may the Force be with You.
