In the publishing business, as with most other industries,
it’s all about the numbers. Publishers
look at them closely, reporting stores submit them, Nielson BookScan calculates
them, and authors work hard to increase them. The quantity of units sold can
mean the difference between being able to publish another book, or the
beginning and end of a literary journey.
Pre-orders are an important component in book sales.
Essentially, pre-orders serve as the launching pad for a book’s success, giving
it wings to fly off the shelves—or in today’s marketplace, clicks to digital
download heaven.
When I self-published my first novel, Unexpected
Interruptions, in November 2007, I started my campaign for pre-orders five
months before my pub date. Although 2007, wasn’t so terribly long ago, it feels
like eons now, when I reflect back on it. Technology has changed so many
things, and social media combined with e-readers have provided a more efficient
way to spread the word about a book and increase access to sales. But whether
then or now, pre-orders still remain a critical part of selling a book.
Pre-orders generate buzz, which creates anticipation, and
ultimately drives sales. My goal was to generate enough pre-orders to pay for
my first print run, which was a modest 2,500 books. On the day of my book’s
release I had pre-sold 1,000 copies, and within 30 days I sold the rest of my
stock and ordered a second print run. I wouldn’t have been able to do that had
I not pre-sold units to cover those expenses. Readers who had pre-ordered the
book received it on the day of its release and quickly posted reviews, which
helped to build more interest, increase momentum, and boost sales.
Another important thing about pre-orders is that they count
toward an author’s fist week sales. As I stated in a separate post about first
week sales (January 29, 2013), those numbers help determine whether a book
makes its way to a bestseller list or not.
So how do you generate pre-orders? What kinds of marketing
and promotion strategies yield the best results? Check back next week for my
post on marketing and promotion.
Trice Hickman
www.tricehickman.com
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