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Unpopular opinion alert:
Don't pin all your hopes on becoming an Amazon Best Seller.
Hear me out.
Every author wants that Best Seller title, right? Hell, I want this title when my book launches in a couple of week's time! Am I putting the ground work in to try to make it happen? Of course! But will I be devastated if I don't achieve Best Seller? No!
Here's why:
Becoming an Amazon Best Seller Has Many Intricacies
Best-seller status is (initially) less about book quality and more down to knowledge of the Amazon algorithm.
For example, on pre-order, my soon to be published self-publishing book (pre-order here) is topping all the Amazon hot new release charts and a couple of category best seller lists, and that's before anyone even has any idea of the content! So is this status based on book quality? Absolutely not!
Becoming an Amazon Best Seller is Knowing The System
Secondly, because a lot of it (not all) comes down to knowing the system, and you can KNOW the system like the back of your hand and cheat it in order to get to best seller status. For example you can stick your business book in a smaller, less contended category about gardening, top it, and unfairly claim the title. People do it. (Not us!) And it's a real shame as it diminishes the accolade for people who get to the top spot fairly by using relevant categories.
Becoming an Amazon Best Seller is a Popularity Contest
It's also a lot about popularity. How many people do you have on Facebook that would support you and buy your book if you asked them? How many people do you think Taylor Swift knows/know of Taylor swift and would buy HER book?! (And that's why traditional publishers love celebrity books... 💰💰💰) And hence it turns into a popularity contest.
Becoming an Amazon Best Seller is About Consistency
And lastly, It's also a lot about the consistency of your book sales. If you're relying on people you know (rather than your ideal target audience) to help you make it to Best Seller, you'll be in for disappointment when you check your rankings. If all your friends and family buy your book on launch day and then your sales stop completely, Amazon won't favour your book. However, if your book gets a consistent number of sales per day for the first three or four weeks of being on sale, the algorithm is much more likely to rank you higher in the charts. The trick here is really in the pre-launch marketing strategy. And if you have no book-marketing strategy, you might as well hide your book under a rock.
My point is that there is much more to claiming the top spot on Amazon than having just written a book that deserves it. And its not fair to put that pressure on yourself to achieve that status when it's not guaranteed that you'll make it there. There are plenty more attainable goals that your book can achieve than Amazon Best Seller. Wouldn't it mean more to you that you've marketed your book in such an organic way that your book reaches the right audience and your book ends up in the hands of your dream clients?
Of course, becoming an Amazon Best Seller IS achievable if you put in the ground work, do your audience/category/keyword research and have a solid marketing strategy.
Book marketing is excessively covered in my new book, along with describing the category and keyword research you need to do to be in with a chance of the top-spot.
Click here to grab your eBook or paperback now! 💪
