Maximize your sales to Amazon
02 June 2002 Amazon is the world’s
largest bookseller. Net sales for the first quarter of 2002 were
$847 Million dollars. At Amazon consumers find books not stocked by
their local bookstore. Thru Amazon publishers reach consumers that
would be too expensive to reach through direct mail.
Yet although, Amazon will list a publisher’s book,
publishers often do not do the extra work required to maximize their
sales through this sales channel. How
often have you seen titles listed with availability as special order
or 3 to 4 weeks? How often have you
come across books with only the title, author and price listed?
Many tiles are not properly classified
by subject and thus do not show up in all relevant subject area
searches. The following tips will help
you to maximize your sales thru Amazon.
1. Get your title listed in the
Amazon.com database.
2. Submit title information - table of contents, description, cover
jacket, reviews, etc to Amazon.
3: Encourage your authors to comment
on their own titles at Amazon. Every book
has an author. Tell him, the author, that an author's review will
help increase sales of his book.
4: Encourage readers of the book
to post truthful reviews about the book on Amazon.
5. If you are a small
publisher consider joining the Amazon Advantage program.
Under this program Amazon stocks your title on consignment for
immediate shipment and scans your cover jacket for free (in exchange
for a 55% discount on trade books).
6. Fulfill Amazon &
Ingram purchase orders ASAP. Why? They base the
availability information for your title based on their real life
estimate of how long it takes for you to restock them or their
supplier; Ingram. If an Amazon order comes in during the morning,
ship it that afternoon.
7. Book Cover Images are very
important. "Books
with a cover image sell 50% more copies" - Amazon.com Book Buyer at
BEA 2001.
8. Ask that your book be
listed in their Look Inside Program. This allows
customers to view sample pages from your title, along with the
jacket copy and table of contents.
More Info
9. Increase your chances
of getting an Amazon Review or become a featured book. To
submit your book for possible feature or review, send it via the
U.S. Postal Service to the address below. Please refer to Amazon's
extensive list of subject areas to determine which category would
best represent your book. Indicating a category will ensure that
your request is processed in the most efficient manner possible.
Editorial Department
[Relevant Category]
Amazon.com
PO Box 81226
Seattle, WA 98108-1226
10. Ensure that your
title is fully searchable by subject and that it is eligible to
appear on appropriate browse (or bestseller) lists.
According to Amazon "Up to 10 subject headings can
be assigned to each title. The subjects are drawn from industry
standard or U.S. Library of Congress (LOC) assigned title headings.
We'll probably need your help to classify your title. Since the LOC
has thousands of headings, it is easiest to browse our site for
suitable subjects. The validity of one or more specific subjects can
be determined by performing a Subject search. If the search results
return other books, then that particular subject is most likely a
valid LOC subject.
You may also consider looking on our site for a different book on
the same topic or a similar topic, and seeing which subjects are
listed. The subjects assigned to a book can be found at the bottom
of the book's information page under the caption "Look for Similar
Books by Subject."
Once your title has correct subject headings, it should be eligible
for related browse lists. A title must fall within the top 100
bestsellers in the category in order to be included.
Send a message to book-typos@amazon.com with any subject
suggestions for your title. We will do our best to classify your
title accurately in our database."
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Tips for Publishers is a weekly
column authored by Edwin Fager. If you have any suggestions for
future articles please email tips@kensailtd.com
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