Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just trying to tell you why that lady thought your book was mediocre, and why that guy didn't even finish it, and why that woman over there didn't ever buy it to begin with.
Image by Christian Dorn
Don’t kid yourself. The best way to end up with little or nothing regarding book sales or good reviews is to convince yourself that your book is “for everyone.” We all feel that way about our children, and as a friend of mine said recently, “giving birth” is tough. Just as all parents think their child is the world’s most beautiful, and can’t understand why everyone does not want to look at photo after photo of him or her on Facebook, authors can’t understand why everyone in the world is not enthralled with their books.
"After all, even if it’s not their favorite genre, once they read MINE, they will realize that it’s not the genre they disliked, but merely that they never read a book in that genre by such a skilled and talented author as ME."
You’re kidding yourself.
People like what they like for a reason, and you need to use that to your advantage instead of to your peril.
Yes, but MY Child Really IS…
Our books mean something different to us than they mean to others. It’s natural for your child to be the most beautiful, the most talented, and have the best personality. What you need to realize though, is that the rest of the world just sees a child. (And they typically cringe when you insist on showing them picture after picture of said child.)
It’s the same with books, yet I’ve heard it a million times: “Yes, but my book really is for everyone.”
No. It’s really not.
Finding your niche market is the single most important thing you can do to rank your book and get sales. Now mind you, nothing you do will get your numbers to the level of books endorsed by celebrities or books the big five pour money into. It just doesn’t work that way. But you CAN sell a reasonable number of books with moderately priced ads if you make sure those ads target your readers, who we have now established are not “everyone.”
In fact, my recent numbers for my first novel, Hot Winter Sun, actually inspired this post. On November 1st, 2022, they were as follows:
Best Sellers Rank: #126,733 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
#469 in Gothic Romances
#858 in Medieval Historical Romance (Kindle Store)
#1,015 in Medieval Historical Mystery (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.7 out of 5 stars 45 ratings
You’re darn right, I’m excited. I have a right to be. I paid for the fool ad, didn’t I? LOL. And again...great numbers measured against the NYT Best Seller list? No. But for an Indie author, heck yeah!
Those numbers came from a moderately priced Facebook ad. What was different about this ad from the way a lot of Indie authors (and unfortunately some publishers and traditionally published authors) choose to advertise is that it was specifically targeted to a demographic who adores this type of fiction. The absolute biggest mistake ever made by new authors is going for masses of a*****. I’ve seen Indie authors do it a million times: “surely if someone on Fiverr tweets my book to 100,000 followers or Instagrams it to 100,000 readers, sales galore will follow.”
No, they won’t.
Why Pitch People who Hate Your Genre?
In fact, the odds of losing every single penny you spend on a venture like that are almost 100%. Every single post could theoretically go to someone who hates your genre. Buying yourself a new pocketbook is money better spent at that point.
It’s important to target age, genre preference, geographical location, and gender. For instance, if the target market for your book is similar to mine, you need to target a US or UK-based audience, women 35-40 and up, readers who are history lovers, and readers who prefer historical romantic-suspense, written in traditional, almost-gothic style. That’s a lot on the menu there! Let’s criticize that Fiverr promo again. I could have my novels tweeted or shared to 100,000 followers, but find out that the ad is primarily going to 20-somethings who prefer science fiction, don’t care about history, and wouldn’t read a goth-style mystery-romance if you paid them.
But wait!
Surely they’ll change their mind and begin to love that genre once they see what a wonderful book I wrote, correct?
See how silly that sounds all of a sudden? Of course they’re not going to like the book, because they don’t like that genre and have absolutely no interest in any of the elements and components it’s comprised of. This is SO simple it gets overlooked all the time. If you are a reasonably talented author and someone likes the genre you write in, there is a BIG chance that person will like your book. (Uh...but not if they never see an ad for it.)
Hit the Target
When you’re spending money, you have to default to the readers MOST likely to buy and enjoy your type of book. I can’t tell you who that market is, that depends on your book. However, again, you need to heavily factor in age, genre preference, geographical location, and gender. (Whether it's politically correct or not.)
If you get those things correct, use the proper keywords, and of course, write an eye-catching ad–or hire someone to do so–you will get a return, unless you signed up for a scam. But to keep things simple, let’s assume we're talking about social media ads and Google ads, where you’re fairly certain the platform is legitimate and will run your ad when they say they will.
Where are My Peeps?
I chose Facebook for my last ad because despite the insistence that it’s Instagram or bust these days, my demographic is simply not on Instagram. Statistically, according to Instagram themselves, less than 13% of members are women over 35. That kind of makes it an open and shut case for my series. Now that may be completely different for you. If your demographic is 20-somethings who like fantasy, sci-fi, young adult, etc., then run to Instagram and TikTok. If your demographic is similar to mine, Twitter and Facebook are where your peeps are with regard to social media ads.
Bottom line is, you have to hit the target! Your demographic is not “everyone” and if you keep telling yourself that, you’d be better off saving up for something you’d like to buy than spending money on ads. I know the truth hurts, but don’t kill me too bad. Write on!
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