“Why isn’t my book selling? I should be a bestseller by now.”
As a marketing consultant, I’ve been asked questions like these from numerous authors. There is no simple answer, but there are a few tell-tale signs that can offer clarify and steps you can take to rectify the problem.
To improve the situation, though, you must be prepared to look yourself in the mirror and take an honest assessment. If you’ve written a book that isn’t selling well, you cannot blame the public. It’s not their fault, because the marketplace doesn’t lie.
Millions of books are purchased every day.
If you’re experiencing low book sales, the issue generally stems from one of the following three areas:
1. The market is too small for your book.
You could write the best book in the world. But, if it appeals to only 1,000 people, then your sales will be low. That’s why literary agents and publishers use market size as a primary filter to decide which book projects they accept. They can’t afford to invest in a manuscript that only appeal to a tiny audience. If they don’t think a book can sell at least 10,000 – 20,000 copies in the first year, they’ll usually pass.
Underestimating the size of a book’s audience is a common mistake for first-time and self-published authors who overestimate their potential. They become blinded by the passion for their message, which prevents them from developing a pragmatic point of view.
A great way to avoid overestimating your audience is to check the sales history for other books that are similar to your content. For instance, you could look at various bestseller lists or talk to local bookstore managers.
Every author wants to be a bestseller, but most books are written for a niche that is too small to generate bestseller sales.
2. The market isn’t responding to your material.
On the other hand, the audience size for some books is huge. Yet, the masses still fail to purchase. Authors scratch their heads wondering why they’re getting ignored in the marketplace. This problem can be related to numerous factors, such as a saturated genre, weak economy, boring title, poorly-timed release date, high pricing, inappropriate page count, inadequate marketing, seasonal subject matter, etc.
If your audience is big but your sales are small, then you have to be willing to honestly assess the above factors and make significant changes. You may need to invest more time and money into your marketing efforts. You may need to drop the price. You may need to re-release the book under a different title or at a different time of year.
If people aren’t buying your book, then it’s your problem – not theirs.
Try talking with a knowledgeable person who can provide honest feedback based on experience, such as a literary agent, librarian, publicist, or bookstore manager. Let go of your ego, ask for candid feedback, and be willing to make necessary adjustments.
Legitimate changes can always breathe new life into a book.
3. The market doesn’t like your book.
The biggest factor that hinders book sales isn’t due to bad marketing or a bad economy.
Poor book sales usually result from a poor manuscript. The quality of writing might be too choppy, cliché, or uninspired to capture reader interest. Really bad writing can even create negative word of mouth that shuts down sales altogether.
People have a limited amount of time and money, and they make decisions based on their self-interests.
Nobody wants to waste their money and time on a bad book. As an author, you have to convince readers that your book provides tangible benefits, such as inspiration, entertainment, learning, or even being a part of the cool crowd. If your book doesn’t provide tangible benefits, then your audience won’t buy it.
Tweetables –
- What to do when your book isn’t selling. – Click to tweet.
- What to do when the market doesn’t like your book. – Click to tweet.
- What to do when your target audience is too small for your book. – Click to tweet.
- It’s time to take full responsibility for the sale of your book. – Click to tweet.
- Are you experiencing low book sales? Read this article. – Click to tweet.
What can you do to turn the tide?
If your books are meeting sales expectations, there are several steps you can take to right the ship or prevent future problems. I’ve coached over 400 authors, and I recommend these three ways to give your book the best chance for success:
a. Utilize focus groups
Never assume that your book is good.
Allow skeptical people to examine your work. Create test groups of readers who fit your target audience, give them your manuscript, and ask for blatantly-honest feedback. Many authors are scared to go down this road, because they fear the rejection, revisions, or extra work that might occur. However, the feedback you receive could be the key that unlocks your book’s full sales potential.
For example, when I wrote my first book in 2001, I put together three different focus groups who represented different aspects of my target audience. Their feedback was brutal and required me to rewrite every chapter three times – and my first chapter nine times!
They were honest, but they were right. Making the changes my focus groups recommended paid off, because that book can still be found today on bookstore shelves across America.
b. Work with a professional editor
Work with a professional editor who has a proven track record, regardless if you self-publish or go with a traditional house.
You may need to spend extra time and money, but it’s worth every penny. People hate reading poorly written books. If they browse your book and view the quality as low, then they won’t buy it.
Editing is one of the few issues that’s completely within your control. Don’t get cheap, do it all yourself, and settle for a bad manuscript.
c. Don’t write a book in less than 4 months
You might disagree, but I believe too many authors kill their book sales by writing manuscripts too quickly, such as less than four months. Books need time to percolate in your mind, test on focus groups, add new ideas, and revise to a higher level. When you rush the writing process, you prevent a book from going to market with all of the necessary elements.
A good book is like a fine wine. Most need time to develop complexity and a rich taste that will appeal to the masses.
When a book doesn’t meet your sales expectations, be careful not to blame other people, such as your readers or your publisher. That’s like a parent blaming teachers, friends, and politicians as the reason why their kids didn’t turn out well. This attitude simply keeps you stuck in your mistakes.
In contrast, take full responsibility for the sales of your book.
Use the three categories above to narrow down your problem to the core issue. Don’t beat yourself up. Rather, learn from your mistakes, and use that knowledge to improve your next book. Remember, the market doesn’t lie. If you write a great book for a large audience, they will surely buy.
You need a good copyeditor. Please know that I’m not saying this to be nasty or harsh, just as a statement of fact. There are at least 5 errors–from misspellings to simple typos–in this short article. This weakens its impact and undermines your impression of authority. For just one example, this sentence reads “If your books are meeting sales expectations, there are several steps…”–when it should read “If your book aren’t meeting sales expectations…”
This isn’t a pitch for my own services (I’m a content editor, not a copyeditor), but these errors were numerous and obvious. I make them, too–and am glad for the services of a great copyeditor to clean them up and make my writing its best.
Hope this suggestion proves helpful.
Cecile,
If you’re a pro, you would see that there are actually seven typos in this article. Keep on looking…
I suggest you read my article, “Marketing is About Success, Not Perfection” at: http://www.startawildfire.com/2012/07/marketing-is-about-success-not-perfection.html
Rob
All of these things focus on the writing. If we’re talking about Indie authors, lack of sales may have absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the book, but more to do with the perseverance and adaptability of the author.
Other than a handful of local stores, brick-and-mortar outlets might be elusive to the Indie author, so actual availability might be more the issue than a person’s writing skills. Most Indie authors are shocked to find the stigma of anything not traditionally published still exists in the world.
So, yes, maybe your book can be stronger. Maybe not. Maybe it takes an author willing and able to step outside the norm and find his or her market. I think a lot of authors are too polite and think they are being intrusive to push their book all the time to everyone. But that’s what it takes. Schedule one book signing after another. Eve3ryone on FB, Linkedin, and Twitter (to name a few) should know you’re an author.
Like it or not, you need to become the annoying used car salesman, the telemarketer, and the pushy Amway member all wrapped up in one. If you’ve written a quality book, people simply not knowing about it might be your problem.
I enjoyed your article and found it really helpful. However there is one thing I disagree with. You said if your book is badly written, word of mouth will spread that information to everyone and they will not buy your book. That makes no sense. I don’t believe that at all. In fact, quite the opposite. I site for my example the very bad word of mouth that is out there about that video “Friday.” If word of mouth is out there touting your books badness then everyone will want to see how bad it really is. If your book is badly written, I highly doubt that word of mouth spreads this warning out to everyone to make sure they don’t read your book. I also don’t believe that bad reviews cause people not to buy your book. I site for that example the book “Fifty Shades of Gray.” Nuff said.
Anthea,
Glad you enjoyed my article and found it helpful. Per your comment, I think you’re forgetting that the “Friday” music video is free, whereas books cost money. Negative word of mouth has bigger influence when people have to open their wallets. Regarding “50 Shades of Gray” selling in the midst of bad reviews, it’s because people will read about sex – regardless if it’s poorly written.
Thanks,
Rob
I believe you mean “cite.”
Excellent post – completely agree with (especially), testing with a sceptical audience, using a professional editor and not writing a book too fast. There are coaches who specialise in getting an author to churn out books at speed and the results are rarely good. I’m posting a link to this on the Rethink Press Limited facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rethink-Press-Limited/170755143007307?ref=hl#!/pages/Rethink-Press-Limited/170755143007307
Please come and like us there.
Thanks, Lucy. Glad you enjoyed my article.
None of this rings true. You can’t accurately track sales on titlez.com or any other website, and even if you could it would tell you nothing about the prospects for your particular book; market research is too complex for such simplistic measurements and irrelevant because it can’t predict individual characteristics. Length of time it takes to write a book is equally meaningless; some bestsellers flow, some take years. And if you really, really need an editor, you’re not meant to write a book.
Ken,
I would beg to differ with your comments. TitleZ.com is used by publishing professionals across America to observe historical sales data for other books based on Amazon rankings. Nielsen BookScan data is the best source of info because it’s actual cash register sales. But, it’s too expensive for most author to afford. Agents and publishers demand market research on new books, so get used to it.
Writing a book is about more than just writing the manuscript. You need to include time to test the content on potential readers and focus groups. Then, you need time to edit based on their feedback that’s legitimate. I wish it was possible to do all that in under 4 months. But, I find it takes most authors well past that time frame…and I’ve coached over 400 writers at all levels.
Thanks,
Rob
“If you really, really need an editor, you’re not meant to write a book.”
Thank you for the laugh that just made my day.
I think Maxwell Perkins and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pat Covici and John Steinbeck, Malcolm Cowley and Jack Kerouac, Robert Gottlieb and Toni Morrison, and Diana Athill and Jean Rhys would all beg to disagree.
This is good advice . . . if you haven’t published the book yet. The title implies that this is what to do AFTER sales aren’t good (which implies the book is published). Sorry, but it’s not very helpful in that context.
Thanks, Rob, for your insightful posting. There are so many things to consider these days when it comes to writing a book … kind of makes your head spin in a Linda Blair kind of way.
Have to chime in on Ken’s comment …”And if you really, really need an editor, you’re not meant to write a book.”
With all due respect, Ken, I beg to differ. I’m working on book #28 right now and I’ve had an editor for all of them. In fact, I’ve been blessed with the same editor for the last seven books I’ve done for Harvest House…and I’d be lost without him! A good editor who understands your voice can add amazing polish and shine to a manuscript. The value of a professional editor can never be underestimated, just ask Stephen King, Danielle Steele, and Patricia Cornwell. I’m just sayin….
Interesting general overview, with some caveats that the necessary generality precludes precision and that those willing to fool themselves may shake-off their warnign sign as not pertaining to them.
For example, a focus group may work wonders on a book about investment planning, dealing with an aging parent, or building a food cooperative. I doubt the efficacy of that kind of approach for a novel. Even switching out “focus group” and putting in “writers group” or “writing workshop” has faults since many of those are aimed as much at socializing as at real improvement. Many new novels suffer from workshop-bland because the rough edges of style and personality are buffed off by trying to listen to everyone.
By the way, the same blandifying process occurs with children’s books, where the effort to make a book sweet or light or important — as seen by others — can make for a very bad deal for the writer/publisher.
I do agree that overestimating a market is the a major difficulty. This is especially true in autobiographies, family histories, books of poetry or local humor, and political tracts. All of these tend to suffer from the in-directed eye, and in those cases perhaps your focus groups could help save money and heartache for folks.
My background includes 18 or 20 mid-list novels with 15 of them due out as Audible.com issues come September 4, running a small press, a stint as a children’s librarian and rare books librarian, writing instructor, workshop leader, and workshop attendee. Good luck with your work.
Rob,
There were many valuable takeaways in your article and thank you for sharing your wisdom and experience…for FREE. What is most surprising is the tone of the feedback for this post. There may be disagreement with your finer details, but folks, the three bullet points are spot on. It’s called marketing, because you are constantly being evaluated by the market! It may be true that you’re the only writing genius on the planet and the REAL problem is that the editors, agents and readers are all idiots. Even with this being the case, you’re going to have either settle on being the only one to read your masterpiece or learning how to sell to dummies.
You go Michael! The best written manuscripts don’t always make it to the top. As a matter of fact some of the worst one’s i’ve read are there and it’s because of excellent marketing. To me, “50 Shades of Gray” is not well written but who am i to talk? The lady’s book outsold Rowling and is being made a movie out of. So i need to shut up and pay attention so that i can learn.
I know, Rob—I’ve already commented on this great post, but I do want to say (aside from just responding to others) that your excellent advice to find a professional editor you can trust is simply a fact of life in today’s publishing landscape. (Not a copyeditor! We all make typos. A full-scale editor.)
If you want to be a writer and don’t know this fact by now then you’re going to be almighty bent out of shape when it finally dawns on you. Boy howdy, there’s a lesson that can cost some long time and heartbreak to learn!
I edit writers all across the board—from prize-winners and the critically-acclaimed in traditional publishing, to #1 best-selling self-publishers, to brand new, inexperienced aspiring writers who have come to this craft humbly, with their hats in their hands, simply because writing is what they love and most long to do.
There are things I know about this work that they don’t, and my job is to apply my education and experience to their dreams in order to fulfill the needs of their (hoped-for) readers. The necessity for editing even the greatest writers is something publishers and professional authors accepted a hundred years ago. Now the stories circulating behind the industry scenes about the demise of publishers’ editors are hair-raising.
The real danger lies these days in accidentally hiring a self-titled “independent editor” who doesn’t actually know the work. Do hire an editor you can trust. However, even before that, do your due diligence in sorting the snakeoil salespeople from the experienced professionals. In this field, as in so many others, you get what you pay for. Don’t throw away money paying for nothing or (worse) exactly the wrong bad advice.
I’ve been working independently for almost four years now—after decades in the professional field—and the explosion of fake editors in only the past year has been truly extraordinary.
Also, your advice to take no less than four months to write a book can’t even be argued. Four months is an insanely short period of time in which to write a book for which the author expects a reader to shell out money. Traditionally, authors have taken years to create fiction worth selling.
The industry may be crazy right now, but the distinction between professionalism and amateurism has never altered.
It’s defined by the transfer of somebody’s hard-earned cash for something they truly value.
are you kidding? i know a couple of authors that’s been selling a lot writing books for only 3weeks! Like they will shut to their room or somewhere else, no phone, no internet.. then released the book with all the marketing strategy. voila! still earning a lot.
Another reason books might not sell is if they are too widely focused, e.g. they’re too generic, or their niche is already saturated.
Great post Rob,
It is possible for a book to be to narrowly focused but only very rarely. The primary problem most of the time is that the author can’t find the people who are in that niche. I was talking to a guy the other day who had sold thousands of copies of his self published organic beekeeping book. It is a niche within a niche and it is selling like crazy.
But the reason it is selling, though, is that he has a popular YouTube Channel on beekeeping.
In my experience, publishers are very sensitive to small markets and are unwilling to take risks on small niches.
How do you get people to tell you the truth about your writing? I’ve used several focus groups comprised of people that know me and people I don’t. I had one honest person that gave me constructive feedback. I listened and made some changes based on her comments. Most people told me they enjoyed the book. It was like pulling teeth to get them to say anything good or bad. Honestly what I wanted was good honest criticism. How do I let my readers know I can handle hearing my book stinks.