Amazon book marketing

If you publish a book in 2013, you'll need to wrestle with Amazon. Don't get me wrong- I like Amazon and I think they do a lot of things that make our lives as authors easier. And the fact that Amazon is by far the largest online retail outlet for books actually makes it easier for authors with an eBook to promote. Because of Amazon's dominance, we can focus our energy and time on what works on just their platform.

While there is no simple way for everyone to get a bestseller (we wouldn't all want to do it if it was easy and anyone could, right?), there are strategies, tips and tricks that can help get you started. I've used many of these myself and am currently testing variations, so please do ask any questions you have- I love this stuff :)

Here's what I'll cover this week:

1. Amazon Information: How do you price an eBook? What should and should not be in your book description and author bio? I'll look at questions like these from personal experience as well as the latest research.

2. Dealing with Amazon Metadata: There are specific approaches to choosing the best keywords and genre listings to maximize your visibility and chances for success when you do start making sales. Do you know what they are?

3. Free Kindle Marketing: The KDP Select program, Kindle Free Days, and "The Amazon Effect" can all be huge factors in your book's success. I'll talk about what they each are and how to use them together to optimize your visibility.

4. Designing your cover: What should your cover look like? Should the author's name or the title be larger? What are good colors to use? I'll tackle the basics of designing a cover for Amazon.

5. Social media promotion: This could be an entire series on its own, but I'll cover the basic DOs and DONT's for promoting your book with integrity and success on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and Goodreads.

Image courtesy of zimpenfish via flickr