There are many great reasons to write and publish your own Kindle book. Maybe you want to boost your authority and build a bigger platform. Perhaps you want to increase your brand’s visibility or use the book as a launchpad for your speaking career.
Whatever your reason for writing a Kindle book, you shouldn’t blindly jump into this new project. Instead, you’ll want to take your time and do your research and look into everything, even amazon marketing services for authors to help boost sales.
With the proper homework, you’ll be more likely to reach your goals. Here’s how to begin your research…
Look At Amazon’s Best Seller List
Amazon keeps a list of best-selling books for almost every genre, which makes it the perfect place to start your investigation. Click the link above and you’ll see the top 100 best-sellers on Amazon right now.
On the left side of the screen, you’ll see
a list of genres and book categories. You need to click on the category that
your book will be featured in. For example, if you’re writing a book on
branding, then you’d click the topic for Business & Money.
Drill Down
Once you have the top 100 books in your category, you should see another list on the left side of the screen. This list allows you to further drill down to the topic that your book is about.
Using the example above, you’re writing a
book about branding. You clicked on Business & Money. Now, look at the left
and decide which category your book would be under. In this case, your book would
probably be found under “Marketing & Sales”. You could also go one step
further and click the category for “Sales & Selling”.
Take Notes
Now that you know where your book will be located, look over Amazon’s top 100 books in that category. These books will be your competition, so you need to study them.
Start by looking at the top ten. You’ll want to write down how many pages each book is as well as the price. Pricing and length both have a direct impact on your sales number. After all, many readers don’t want to pay £9.99 for a 15-page eBook.
The only exception to this rule is if you’re publishing an eBook within a very narrow niche with little competition. In that case, you may be able to write a short eBook and still charge more for that content.
Read Reviews
Next, take some time to read the reviews of
the top books in your category. Begin with the 5-star and 4-star reviews. This
can give you insights into what readers expect and what they enjoy.
Don’t skip the negative reviews when reading. Often, negative reviews can show you what writing mistakes to avoid and how to reach your audience more effectively than other authors do.
Study the Covers
If you are thinking about how to improve your book design, one of the best ways to do this is to look at the covers of the best-selling books. Observe the colours that are used most frequently. What images are on the covers? What style fonts are most common? Do you see serious fonts that make the book seem authoritative? Do you see playful fonts that encourage creativity? Answering these questions will help you later when you’re ready to design your cover.
I use a fantastic cover creator tool that also provides low-content book publishing interiors. It’s also a keyword tool, that gives you access to real Amazon search volume data, and helps you find the best keywords for your listings and more… Try it for free and also get 20% off using this code at checkout: ‘suefoster’.
Remember, researching before you write and publish your Kindle book is important. When you know what the market expects, you can deliver a product that’s perfect for
