Launching a book and getting it to the number one spot is a dream for every author! However, it is not possible for everyone and can take years and years of luck, consistency and top-quality books that can make you reach that number one spot and make your book a best-seller among readers. However, there are some tips and techniques that can be used to make a book reach the top spot! But, it is essential to remember that a book reaching the best-selling rank is not solely an author’s achievement. It is also an achievement of the book editor, the book publisher and everyone that has contributed to the launching of the book.
But before we further talk about the topic, it is necessary to have completed the below-mentioned three prerequisites prior to the launch of the book:
You have written a killer book! If you are writing non-fiction, it shows your readers how to meet a proven need. If fiction is your thing, are you writing to market? Is there a large enough readership waiting for you? Does your story have the potential to be a hit?
You have gone through having beta readers and a copyeditor look at your manuscript to give you a professional and error-free piece of prose. There should be no shortcuts when developing your book. You can only build a sturdy house on a solid foundation. For this step, you should definitely avail yourself of professional book editing services so there is no room for errors.
You have a professional cover that sits neatly next to the best-selling books in your subject or genre. Your cover doesn’t have to cost the earth, but it has to be in keeping with the traditionally published covers and meet your readers’ genre expectations.
With these elements in place, it is then very important to build these three key features in your Amazon self-publishing book launch plan.
- Metadata Research
- Launch Promotion
- Traffic Sources
Metadata, for author self-publishing on Amazon, using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), is essentially the information that describes your book. It’s crucial for readers to find your book through search and browsing on Amazon. Here’s a breakdown of the key metadata elements for KDP:
Basic Details
Title & Subtitle: Craft a clear, concise, and engaging title that reflects your book’s content. A subtitle can add further explanation.
Series Information: If your book is part of a series, include the series title and number.
Author Name: Use your pen name or real name, whichever you prefer to publish under.
Publisher: Since you’re self-publishing, leave this as your author name or a pen name variation.
ISBN: An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is optional for self-published ebooks on Amazon, but it can be helpful. You can purchase your own ISBNs or use KDP’s free ISBN service.
Content Description
Book Description: This is your chance to sell your book! Write a compelling description that highlights the plot, characters, and what makes your book unique. Use keywords readers might search for.
Keywords: Amazon allows up to seven keywords. Choose relevant keywords that describe your book’s genre, themes, and target audience.
Categories: Select three relevant ‘sweet-spot’ categories that aren’t too competitive yet accurately represent your book’s genre.
Where most authors go wrong is at the content description stage. The tendency to simply list keywords or categories you think are relevant to your book can be strong, especially when you are desperate to get your book published. The reality is this stage can be the making or breaking of your book. With modern-day publishing, we are no longer dealing with the manager of a bookshop but with digital algorithms. However, authors always have a choice to hire an editor for book finalizing! Now, you may question what does a book editor do? A book editor will help ensure that there are no errors in the book, whether it is grammatical errors, spelling errors, unclear sentence structure, formatting issues etc. There are multiple professional editors for hire available, so as an author, you should not take this responsibility on your shoulders but rather let a reliable, experienced and qualified book editor handle this job. A well-edited book will increase your chances of earning the number one spot on the charts, the same way a badly edited book can decrease the chances of you getting the highest ranking.
Moving forward, the metadata is the sequence of well-defined instructions that the algorithm can use to link relevant readers to any book. So the question is, how do you find accurate keywords and categories when self-publishing on Amazon’s KDP?
You need to find the ‘sweet spot’ keywords and categories that people are searching for, yet don’t leave yourself competing against the best sellers! The first step to finding keywords is to do your research. It’s important to think about the themes of your book. Are you writing a fantasy novel? If so, what elements could you pull from it to establish your pool of keywords? Does your book have a magic system in it? Wizards? A medieval setting or a mentor character? You can use these aspects as your starting point for keyword and category research.
Additionally, you can also hire a book editor and pay them a little extra amount but ask them to do this job for you. But the question is how to find an editor for your book? It’s simple: just reach out to a book editing company and tell them that you are looking for a book editor. They will share multiple portfolios with you and introduce you to book editors who are available to edit your book within your budget. Then, as an author it is your own choice as an author that which book editor you find the best in terms of work and behavior. A bonus tip is that you can also check out the customer reviews for each editor. This will make it easy to find the ideal book editor who can give your book a polished look and even incorporate keywords according to your requirements.
Now coming back to the main point, which is Amazon’s KDP has over 16,000 categories. Wading through these lists on Amazon and trying to find the right category is both time-consuming and very hard to know which ones your book could rank for. There are some handy Chrome browsers that expand the usual list of keywords when searching on the Amazon store. However, you can also use any tool that will help you in this regard. A little research will help you find the best tools that will help you hit the top spot! These tools help you in four main key areas, which include:
- Finding the best keywords for your book,
- Finding who your competitors are and what their books are earning (so you can learn from them)
- Finding the best categories for your book
- Finding the best keywords for your AMS ads
Furthermore, such softwares lists all of Amazon’s categories and subcategories, along with how many books you would need to sell in order to be the #1 best-seller in that category in the USA, UK, and Germany. So, instead of sifting through all those categories yourself, judging things purely based on relevancy, these tools give you the extra dimension of letting you know how competitive the category (or keyword) is. This is extremely helpful for any author! You can also buy the premium version of these tools to get more advantages and more perks than the unpaid version.
In a nutshell, achieving the number one spot is not an impossibility! If you create amazing books, come up with a unique storyline, and follow clever tips and techniques you can easily achieve that ranking in some time. It’s all about determination and being focused.
Now, let us talk about how to make a living as a freelance book editor in today’s economy.
Educate Yourself
First and foremost, educate yourself! When you call yourself an editor, you’re letting the world know how comfortable you are pointing out other people’s mistakes. It hardly needs to be said that you need a thorough working knowledge of the style book most popular in the author population you’re serving. Grammar intimidates people, so you should also be able to explain grammar concepts to your clients in an approachable, understandable way.
If you’re offering content or developmental editing, you need to know the language of critique and literary terms. You can’t build career-slinging adages like “show, don’t tell”; instead, you have to articulate what you see and experience in words that have actual meaning. How do you define voice? What makes a protagonist’s development successful? You need to know what makes a successful novel before you can help authors be successful.
Charge the Right Amount
You can frequently click through freelance editors’ websites when you meet a peer on social media. Surprisingly, very often a lot of editors are charging very low, which is upsetting because they are putting in so much hard work, but because they want more projects as freelance book editors, they reduce their rates so more people approach them. But this is not the right approach, as it will cause you to underestimate your value over time. Moreover, once you increase your rates, all your old clients will disappear.
So, don’t offer discounts just because you’re new. Too many newbies offer cut-rate prices to gain traction and experience, but this essentially sets you up for a lifetime of taking less than you’re worth. New editors should seek out smaller jobs but charge a regular rate; most non-fiction and middle-grade fiction tallies under 50k words, and some adult fiction (particularly genre fiction such as romance) will fall in the 50k- to 60k-word range.
Set a salary goal. How much do you need to earn this year? Once you figure out that magic number, you can determine how many jobs you need to get there.
Protect yourself
What is the professional freelance editor’s most important weapon? A good contract. Your’s should clearly state that you retain the copyright on all editorial marks and suggestions until you are paid in full, at which time the rights revert to the author. In addition to defining scope, a fee schedule, a cancellation policy, and an indemnity clause, your contract should protect you from non-payment by articulating that you own your work until you’re paid for it.
Keeping Working Hard
Working hard and being consistent will ensure that you reach your set goal in less time than people who take multiple breaks, get distracted, and lose focus! Getting burnout is a real thing, so make sure you don’t push yourself so much that you are unable to work any further. However, working for yourself takes an incredible amount of discipline and a relinquishment of some of your freedom. Making yourself available to your clients on the weekends to honor their effort and their monetary commitment to working with you is a choice that you have to make for your own good! At this point, yes, you have to sacrifice your personal comfort and time, but it is crucial to make a mark in the industry and get success! Once you reach that point of fame in life, you will realize how worth all your hard work has been over the years.
Don’t Get Sucked Into the Void
It’s easy to be a loner when you freelance. But that’s not an excuse to stop growing as an editor. Professional development is your responsibility, both to yourself and your clients. However, with time and because of work commitments and the nature of your work, you will be able to connect with other editors. You can bond over work, your future plans, or anything that you both have in common. In this way, the work will not seem too hectic, and you will always have a friend who can also be your critique. This approach will help you to progress as an editor over time!
