February 14, 2024
How do you get readers to buy books directly from you? When your self-published book is ready to get into the hands of your readers, authors can choose which channels they want to use to sell their books. While some retail outlets may be a great option, many authors choose to have readers buy books directly.
But unlike massive booksellers like Amazon, many self-publishing writers don’t have an unlimited marketing budget or reputations large enough to create a daily deluge of potential readers. Readers often want to buy books from the author, but knowing how to connect with potential readers can be tricky. Writers who want readers to buy books directly from them need to be creative to find, keep, and build a relationship with potential readers.
If readers are going to buy books directly from you and not from another bookseller, creating an interesting and engaging website will be a key component to your success. Your author site should be a place that fans want to bookmark and return to, ensuring that you are building a fan base that will eagerly anticipate your future work and turn to you for literary content.
Post Regularly: One of the easiest ways to engage your readers and develop an interest in your writing is to write and post blogs or articles on your site. When readers arrive at your site to learn about your book, they will be able to hear your writing voice through your posts before committing to the purchase of a book.
Link Social Media Posts: Your website should be a clearinghouse of all author or book-related writing. Add widgets to your site so visitors can read your latest musings and learn more about you the author, helping to build your fanbase.
Hype Your Fanbase: Many popular books or series have been given memorable names, like the Tributes for fans of The Hunger Games, the Moonies for devotees of the Sailor Moon manga series and the Twilight series’ Team Edward and Team Jacob. But you don’t have to wait for fandom to create a name.
Authors often create a name for their fanbase out of a main character, the book’s title or series or some catchphrase within the book. Once your fanbase has a name, be sure to refer to them often in your social media posts, blog posts, or other media to build excitement around your work and encourage potential readers to pick up your book to find out what all the hype is about.
Provide Engagement Opportunities: Get your site visitors and social media followers involved with interactive features like polls and surveys or even ask for feedback. When you utilize their feedback, make changes or do something that results from a poll or survey question, be sure to let your fandom know so they will continue to engage with you on your site or social media. Building a relationship with your readers is easier to do when you know what they love about your writing, what they want to see more of, or when they chime in on your polls or surveys.
When a potential reader is considering purchasing your book, they should be able to easily find your website. Using solid SEO practices will help your site become one of the top results in online searches. Mentioning your book’s name, your name, series name, fandom name, and your name online and on your social media will help your site gain traction. Use social media to point toward your site by linking your website in your social media bios and occasionally posting a direct link to your site’s retail link.
Another great way to convince readers to buy a book directly from you is to show them who you are as an author and a person.
Write a Newsletter: Reveal more about your writing process, how you develop your book content ideas, and provide other literary content for your fans through a regularly published newsletter. Pick up subscribers by offering them to all website visitors, at the point of sale, and also through your social media channels.
Live Events: Hold or attend live events that your readers can attend, watch, or stream. Seek out genre-specific conventions or meet-ups and offer to speak or be on a panel of authors. Create a live stream event to interact with readers and fans or even hold book signings or have an author’s table at a local venue where readers can buy books directly from you and you can answer questions from readers. Be sure to advertise the event on your social media channels.
Readers who buy books often know how much they are willing to pay and may be able to spot a deal. And sometimes when a reader thinks your book is discounted, they may be willing to take a chance on an author who is new or unfamiliar.
Best Pricing: Use your website to offer the most competitive price. Readers will buy books directly from your site if they see your pricing is lower than other sale locations so be sure to let them know that your site is intentionally offering the best pricing on your work.
Bundling: Encourage readers to buy books in bundles by offering a deal if they buy two or more books. Self-published authors may have more than one title to sell, so offering a bundle of the new title with a steeply discounted older title is a great way to build a strong fanbase and stir up interest in previous work at the same time. If you have only published one title, bundling two or more of the same book can be offered as a “read one, gift one” bundle to encourage readers to spread the word about your writing.
Discount Codes: Provide special discount codes for newsletter subscribers or even social media followers. Tracking who uses these codes can help you understand who your readers are and where you are getting some of your sales from as well, helping you to target potential readers in future marketing strategies.
Readers will want to buy books from an author whose site feels exclusive and special. You can make yours stand out by offering website-only merchandise and content to site visitors. Offering book or author-related merchandise on your site that is not available anywhere else can add to the intrigue of your site. Everyone loves to feel like an insider, and being one of the first to own something emblazoned with the fandom name or their favorite book character can be appealing to many book lovers.
Consider creating everything from coffee mugs with your book’s title or cover design, tote bags, t-shirts, bookmarks, or even branded notebooks for fans to buy. Your site can also provide readers with sneak peeks into new projects like short snippets of chapters, details about beloved characters, or insight into upcoming project content. Readers may be more likely to buy books directly from an author who provides them with exclusive content that those in the know can access.
Authors who want readers to buy books directly from them will have to do a little bit more work than just listing a book online for sale to snag a potential reader’s attention. Authors may have to invest a little bit into their efforts as well as spend more time creating content, communicating with fans and potential readers, and planning their engagement. But for many authors, putting extra time and energy into efforts to encourage readers to buy books directly from them can mean more money in their pockets as self-publishing authors as well as help build a relationship with fans along the way.
For your next book project, partner with a trusted printer like Publishing Xpress so you can take your idea from a finished manuscript to a printed final copy in just a few days. Let readers know that you will be ready for them to buy books to start building the excitement about your book’s launch while you wait for those boxes of books to arrive, ready to put into the hands of your readers.
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