One thing we do at TCK Publishing is make sure that we continuously market and promote our books. We don’t just do marketing when we release a book—marketing is something we do continuously and as much as we can, whether the book was just released last week or over a year ago.
When we know we have a good book on our hands, we’re willing to continue promoting the book and the author year after year, even if sales don’t seem all that impressive at first.
On July 27, 2020, we released a new legal thriller named Contempt. It was the beginning of something great.
The Book Launch Wasn’t Amazing
In the first 40 days after Contempt was released, we sold just under 500 copies. This was actually a pretty good result for the first novel from a debut author, but it wasn’t anything spectacular given the amount of marketing we did for the release.
Below, you can see a chart of the sales, and notice how the sales dropped off after August, and then slowly began rising as we continued to market the book.
KENP and KDP Select
You may also notice in the chart above that the KENP (Kindle Edition Normalized Page) numbers were also increasing steadily over time.
KENP are pages of eBooks read by Amazon Kindle readers for free through the Amazon Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime programs. In return for allowing readers to read the eBook version free through one of these Amazon programs, the publisher gets paid $0.0044358095 per KENP.
It may not sound like much, but 4/10ths of a cent per page read turns out to be a few thousand dollars per month in royalties for a book with 400,000+ KENP like this one is currently getting. (Since the book is 213 pages in length, 400,000 KENP is equivalent to almost 2,000 readers reading the entire book every month.)
So far, more than 15,000 readers have enjoyed reading the book through Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime borrows.
This is why we almost always enroll our books in KDP Select, because they can allow us to reach many thousands of readers and earn significant royalties that we couldn’t have earned otherwise.
What We Did for Marketing
Here are some of the things we’ve done to promote the book.
Pre-Release Marketing
One of the things we did pre-release to market the book was send copies to trade reviewers like Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and more. (As far as we know, it did not get reviewed by any of the trade reviewers, so it’s unlikely that this actually increased sales.)
Outreach to Blog Reviewers
Before we release a book, our team creates a custom list of 1,000+ book reviewers, bloggers, and influencers who have previously reviewed similar books (in this case, legal thrillers).
We then send each of those reviewers a personalized email, asking them if they would like a free review copy of the book. (To make sure their reviews are as unbiased as possible, we never compensate book reviewers.)
Outreach to Amazon Reviewers
We also created a list of a few thousand reviewers who have reviewed similar legal thrillers on Amazon, and sent them personalized emails asking if they would like to receive a free review copy (again, without compensation).
Book Promo Sites
We promote our books about every 90 days using Kindle Countdown Deals.
We often pair these Kindle ebook promotions with email promotions from various book promotion sites. For the Contempt promotions, we used ManyBooks, BookSends, Fussy Librarian, Bargain Booksy, Buck Books, Just Kindle Books, Robin Reads, and, of course, our own TCK Publishing book promotion service.
We also applied for a BookBub Featured Release, but Contempt was not accepted (BookBub is incredibly selective for those kinds of promotions).
Note: We created a list of sites that can help you promote free books and others that will help with promotions for discounted books.
Email Marketing
We also promoted the book a few times to our email list at TCK Publishing, along with some of our other new releases.
Outreach to Bookstores
We sent out promotional emails to bookstores and retailers promoting some of the titles we published at TCK Publishing.
Amazon Ads
We’ve promoted the book using Amazon Advertising PPC ads to potential readers on Amazon’s platform. We’ve only spent about $100 total in ads, so it hasn’t had significant results, but it has been profitable so far, and we’re continuing to run ads on Amazon for the book.
SEO and Keyword Research
We do our own in-house keyword research and search optimization for the book on Amazon and in Google. This helps the book get found when readers are searching for it (or related keywords).
Amazon Category Research
We also created our own custom Amazon category (best seller list) research tool called Bestseller Ranking Pro.
We use this tool for every book we release to make sure Amazon lists the book in the most relevant and accurate best seller lists so we can reach the right readers on Amazon.
Social Media
We promoted the book on our social media channels.
We also posted some of the initial book cover design concepts on social media and asked our audience to vote for which covers they liked the most. These posts got tons of engagement and votes!
Blogging
We promoted Contempt in some of our own blog posts like our list of the best thriller novels. These blog posts continue to get traffic and attract new readers every month.
Pricing
So far, we’ve kept the pricing for Contempt pretty low to attract new readers to a new author.
The ebook price is $2.99.
The paperback price is $14.99.
The audiobook is priced automatically by Audible based on length at $19.95.
Author Website and Squeeze Page
We also helped the author update his website (michaeljcordell.com) and added a landing page where readers can sign up for his author newsletter to find out about new releases and upcoming books.
How We Got So Many Book Reviews
The vast majority of the reviews for Contempt came naturally from happy readers who loved the book. We only tracked 18 reviews directly to our reviewer outreach campaign, although there were probably more reviews from that campaign that we weren’t able to track.
But that means 1,200+ of the reviews came from happy readers who found out about the book because of our marketing efforts.
Marketing Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated
If all this feels a little too simple, that’s because it is.
This was the author’s first published novel, and he didn’t have a huge platform or email list. We didn’t have the luxury of the author being able to push a button and bring in thousands of sales in the first week of release.
Instead, we had to work on all the small marketing tasks that over time brought in thousands of new readers. It took a few months to attract a great group of initial readers and book reviewers before sales really started to take off.
Book Branding
There are a lot of “marketing” decisions that get made before a book is even released. Some might call these decisions branding, but it’s all the same more or less.
- Picking a great book title
- Cover design
- Editing
- Writing a compelling book description
- Even little things like setting up an author profile on Amazon can make a difference
When these fundamental marketing and branding decisions are made well, you’re setting up the book for success from the beginning. All the promotion in the world won’t sell lots of copies for a book with a bad title, bad cover, and bad editing.
If you can get these fundamentals right, you won’t need a massive marketing budget or a huge author platform to create sales success and momentum.
Remember, every author starts at 0 followers and 0 readers. Once you publish your first book, that’s when you should be able to start gaining more followers and readers over time as you consistently work on marketing and promotion (and writing more books, if that’s what you want).
Our Next Best Seller
Could your book be our next best seller?
TCK Publishing is a true no-fee independent publisher, and we’re looking to publish more great nonfiction and fiction books like Contempt.
We’re open for submissions from authors with or without literary agents, and we respond to all submissions with a yes or no within 21 days.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can check out our FAQ page and you can submit directly on our submissions page.
Did you find this post helpful? Share your thoughts or questions regarding book marketing in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:
- How We Sold 300,000+ Books without a Big Marketing Budget
- The Two Most Powerful Marketing Strategies
- How to Build an Email List: A Guide for Authors and Small Businesses
- How to Use BookBub Ads: 9 Steps for Promoting Your Book
Tom Corson-Knowles is the founder of TCK Publishing, and the bestselling author of 27 books including Secrets of the Six-Figure author. He is also the host of the Publishing Profits Podcast show where we interview successful authors and publishing industry experts to share their tips for creating a successful writing career.
Do you have a list of. Companies that will edit a chapter so I can see who to pick to do the final edit…I don’t know who to go to..Wrote my first book and very confused of all the information online. Thanks for writing this article.
You can find professional editors on sites like The-EFA.org, VoloPressBooks.com, or ACESEditors.org. All are seasoned pros so you don’t have to guess at who you’re working with like you do on places like Fiverr, PeoplePerHour, Craigslist, etc.
Hi Marmar, thanks for your comment! Would you mind telling me the genre of your book? We have lists of quality editors by genre that I could send you the links to
I have a book titled ” How to Stop Pleading and Start Leading” published on Amazon, both physical copy as well as a digital copy. The book is selling modestly.
Is it possible to publish digital copy with TCK alongside? If, so, what will be your terms and conditions.
I am working on my second book, ” She’s the Boss- Women in Leadership”. I propose to go for its publication with TCK. How can I register myself and discuss the title, cover page, contents with you?
Can someone call me to discuss this? Regards. Rajeev
Hi Rajeev, thanks for your comment! If you’re interested in publishing us, you can submit your manuscript (see submission guidelines here).
This is my second book; however, it’s in the name of another author because of the select material. The book is called, The Lonely Life of a Pornographer’s Wife, and I would appreciate your opinion of the blurb. Does it need any changes?
(Those who enjoyed The Godfather and Fifty Shades of Gray will love this story.)
If Carla knew her fresh interior decorating career would involve pornography, mafia, and murder, she could have taken other classes, such as Life Preservation: 101.
In 1973, Carla met Roy, a wealthy movie theater owner. He hired her to refurbish his theaters, and then their unique partnership led to marriage. Soon, her work was admired by the boss of the West Coast’s most powerful mafia.
His wife hired her to redecorate their Hollywood mansion, and then Carla befriended other lonely women married to prominent mafia members. When Roy joined them, he became involved in porno, parental child abuse, and murder. He dragged Carla into that shady underworld with him.
Carla loved Roy profoundly, but had to escape his deception and control. She found love with another man… a cop who set his sights on her husband. For other reasons, Roy later turned against her, which caused Carla’s breakdown. Then doctors worried about her sanity. A secret admirer loved her from afar, but his hands were tied. Could he stop Roy’s rampages? Perhaps a judge would put him behind bars.
Or did Roy just dig her grave?
I’m nobody special but have done a lot of both writing and editing. I like the first 2 grafs except for the passive voice in the last sentence (“her work was admired…”). I don’t know that “mafia” (lower case) works as a generic name for criminal organizations like the Mafia, if that’s what you’re going for. I would definitely trim your third graf and maybe try to keep its tone consistent. This graf also contains a certain amount of assuming facts not yet in evidence and throws in a little too much detail. I’d rework the first 3-4 sentences and then find a way to transition to that last sentence, which is a great note to end on, esp if you can tie it into some of the previous material (eg, “As Carla struggles with XYZ, she confronts a sickening choice: Is Roy trying to save her [or whatever you have him appear to be doing], or did he just dig her grave?)
Hi Jay, thanks for sharing! Sounds like a thrilling read. I agree with most of Karen’s comments below. I think you could give away fewer details (you can keep some, but don’t need to mention everything, like how she falls in love with a cop, then roy turns on her, then she has a secret admirer…). Choose just the details that are necessary to hook readers and give them an idea of the overall plot. However, I think saying “the West Coast’s most powerful mafia” is acceptable as long as you don’t capitalize mafia
I enjoy the flow and my problem is to go about it
How to the review has been my biggest concern.
Are you to do it for me or how much does it cost?
Hi Bonkoo, thanks for your comment. For books that we publish, we help the authors with outreach to reviewers, but of course expect some effort on their part as well. You can learn more about getting reviews for your book here
I really enjoyed this article, thank you for all you do :)
Thanks for reading, Marni! We hope you found it helpful :)
Thank you for this advice. These are all practical solutions to raising profile. I have previously been published and wish I had this knowledge at that time as I would have worked with the publisher to achieve some exposure through these methods. Great site and company ethos.
Thanks for your comment, Julian! We’re so glad to hear you found the article helpful.
I am working on a nonfiction book, and I will keep TCK in mind as a possible publisher.
I my name is Youseline and i want to know if you offer translater services. My book is in french. So do you offer this kind of service. To a french book for a English language for my book. If t yes how Much it cost?
Thank you to Answer me. Have a good Day!.
Cordially
Youseline P
Hi Youseline, unfortunately we don not offer translation services and only accept English submissions. However, for books that we publish we do make them available in other languages if there is demand.
Thanks Pamela, we’re happy to hear that! We’re always on the lookout for great nonfiction. Best of luck with your book and let us know if you have any questions! :)
If this article was meant to be inspiring and encouraging, I’m afraid it had the opposite effect on me. Every marketing tool you used requires more knowledge and experience about marketing than I have. I am a writer. I don’t know how to do any of the things you mentioned. I’m discouraged.
Hi Lisa,
I agree with your comments, any links suck me into that
great swirling mist that is the ethernet.
I do not have the foggiest idea what to do.
Because of my age, the terms KENP & KDP, Amazon Ad Words,
SEO Keywords etc mean nothing to me.
Plus I am in Australia.
Good luck with your journey
David
Hi David, I’m sorry you’re feeling discouraged. I know it’s a lot to take in! As I suggested to Lisa, you might start with some free marketing courses to get familiar with some of these terms. And fortunately, there are also freelance marketing specialists you can hire for help.
Hi Lisa, I’m sorry to read that you’re feeling discouraged. That definitely was not the intention of this article. We know that marketing can be overwhelming for many authors, so we’ve tried to offer as many resources as we can to help. You might find this overview of how to market a book helpful, or maybe some of these free marketing courses.
Thank you, great article, will visit some of the links.
Quick question for you: I have a book that I published last year April 2020 in Amazon (titled “The Dead Hand – short tales of a long dictatorship).
The book was published originally in Hebrew in January 2020 and sold well.
Then it was translated to english, and published with a marketing firm, it did a nice splash at the beginning’ but since then has performed poorly.
Now I am about to publish a version in Spanish. My question is:
A) Do you work also with books in languages other than English? meaning’ the ability to find the right categories and keywords and reviewers for the Hispanic / Latino market?
B) Can you help revamp sales of an existing book (in English)?
Thanks, it was a very interesting article. But reading it I found myself being frustrated. First book published in early 2019. The sales were very sad, all be, all those who read it; loved it. I have say, I thought I would enjoy assisting on the marketing but found it so time consuming and not straight found at all, hence backing away from the effort very quickly. I just want to write. The problem being most publishers and agents can only go so far in an over subscribed market.
Hell, it’s frustrating. Yep, one can write for pleasure, but after years of creating hopefully worthwhile stories, it would be good if publishers and agents actually fully took on the marketing.
So, maybe foolishly, I continue to write and hope for miracles, equaling sales.
wow, so much know how! and of course time! to market a book properly; I’m impressed AND enlightened, but sadly now I understand even more fully that writers NEED professional help MARKETING!
Having 4 Non Fictions on my bookshelf with pathetic sales, I do need marketing help to get off the ground.
Great article. I am already listing potential bloggers to hopefully review my next book, which is still in the working process. I want to reach out to Amazon reviewers, except that Amazon no longer allows people to access reviewers’ email addresses. Or did they lift that?
Hi Sunayna, most top reviewers remove their personal email anyway, but if they have a website listed, you can use that to contact them directly.
Hi Bob, thanks for your comment! If you’re just getting started, you might want to check out this post for an overview of marketing a book: https://www.tckpublishing.com/how-to-market-a-book/
Hi Afiena, thanks for your comment! I hope you found the info from this article helpful. Don’t be discouraged—while marketing is essential to any author’s success these days, it can easily be learned (and there are lots of people out there who can help too).