Written for an author, by an author, this is an unofficial definitive guide to increasing your book sales at Amazon. It covers: The basics of Amazon’s complex publishing systems A complete breakdown of every aspect of Amazon’s algorithms in unprecedented detail Sales Rank vs. Popularity Rank, advanced search optimization secrets, and so much more Changes to Amazon’s categories, author pages, following, and the new AI policy KDP Select vs. Wide marketing strategies and why it matters so much (one doesn’t work for the other) Some Amazon ads strategies and resources you need to keep your sales stronger and more consistent on the platform

Written for an author, by an author, this is an unofficial definitive guide to increasing your book sales at Barnes and Noble. It covers: How the Barnes and Noble algorithms work on both the storefront and the app How to get the promotions tab at Barnes and Noble plus specific uses of it that work Important metadata changes that help feed Barnes and Noble’s visibility algorithms How to optimize Barnes and Noble’s underutilized print-on-demand arm and the specific settings that help you get into stores more easily Special programs at Barnes and Noble that can help get you visibility in the store

Learn what selling wide means for ebooks, print books, audiobooks, translations, and subsidiary rights. In this book, you'll find: -- The five main strategies for going wide and how authors decide: Starting Wide, Moving Wide Cold Turkey, Partial Catalog Wide, Exclusive, Then Wide, and Wide, Then Exclusive -- All the places you can go wide across multiple formats—print, ebook, audiobook, and more—and the benefits and downsides of each -- The general strategies authors use to make money while having their books wide (and why they work or don’t work on various platforms) This book also covers the book industry as a whole from the perspective of an independent author. It answers questions like: -- What are the market factors that matter amongst some of the biggest players in the industry—Amazon, Google, Apple, Rakuten (Kobo), and more? -- What devices are important to pay attention to and how do those affect the ebook, print, and audiobook markets? -- How does global ecommerce play a role in shaping the future of the book industry? This book is meant to be a detailed overview of what going wide really means as an independent career author. Subsequent books in this series dive deeper into various platforms and how to better market your books on them.

Learn what selling wide means for ebooks, print books, audiobooks, translations, and subsidiary rights. In this book, you'll find: -- The five main strategies for going wide and how authors decide: Starting Wide, Moving Wide Cold Turkey, Partial Catalog Wide, Exclusive, Then Wide, and Wide, Then Exclusive -- All the places you can go wide across multiple formats—print, ebook, audiobook, and more—and the benefits and downsides of each -- The general strategies authors use to make money while having their books wide (and why they work or don’t work on various platforms) This book also covers the book industry as a whole from the perspective of an independent author. It answers questions like: -- What are the market factors that matter amongst some of the biggest players in the industry—Amazon, Google, Apple, Rakuten (Kobo), and more? -- What devices are important to pay attention to and how do those affect the ebook, print, and audiobook markets? -- How does global ecommerce play a role in shaping the future of the book industry? This book is meant to be a detailed overview of what going wide really means as an independent career author. Subsequent books in this series dive deeper into various platforms and how to better market your books on them.

We believe that direct sales is more than any one platform, or any one modality. It's a network of platforms and strategies that form a foundation for your author business. When you try to define direct sales across any one axis, you lessen its impact. We didn't want to do that. We wanted to show you the full scope of what is possible with direct sales, which ended up being a lot of words. The book became so long that we actually split it into two books. When we looked at what we've already written, and what we have planned, we realized this really is the definitive guide to direct sales for authors. Direct Sales Mastery for Authors Volume 1 This volume makes the case for starting direct sales, explains the publishing trends leading to so many direct sales avenues opening up, and explains our personal philosophy on direct sales for publishing and how it may differ from other approaches in the industry. We also dive deep into our signature archetypal framework called Author Ecosystems. There are five archetypes total—Desert, Grassland, Tundra, Forest, and Aquatic—and each matches up with specific sales and marketing patterns across six key areas: Trends: How each type approaches trends in the marketplace and uses trends to their advantage in their marketing efforts Fandom: How each type approaches building both a readership and a fandom Data: How each type approaches using data vs. using a more intuitive or creative approach Stages of Audience: How each type approaches the Sales Funnel + Flywheel diagram and who they are organically good at attracting Optimization: How each type attempts to optimize their writing, publishing schedule, and marketing and sales efforts Short-Term vs. Long-Term Thinking: How each type approaches approaches sales over time, and whether they are looking for quick wins or to build a sustainable business We go through all five archetypes in detail to help you identify your most likely type, as well as your most likely career stage. We show you what your archetype should be focused on right now from a sales and marketing perspective, since you likely don't have infinite time, resources, or attention and can't implement all of direct sales at once! We also show you what strategies and approaches might work for you across many different popular publishing platforms in the direct sales space.