I am a huge fan of book pre-orders. Offering pre-orders allowed me to bring in some extra revenue as I was finishing my book. They also helped me to build buzz around my book, too, as my book sales increased. Today I want to walk you through why you should offer pre-orders, and a few examples of how you can sell pre-orders of your book.
WHY SHOULD YOU OFFER BOOK PRE-ORDERS?
So why should you offer book pre-orders? Taking pre-orders will allow you to:
- Test your book idea and ensure that people will actually buy your book before you put a lot of time into finishing and polishing your book,
- Give yourself an extra push to finish your book if you set a launch date for your book (which you should), and
- Start to build excitement around your book launch. This is particularly true if you give your pre-order buyers an added bonus for placing their book order early, which I also recommend doing.
If your primary goal for writing your book is to sell copies and make money, taking pre-orders can save you a lot of pain. If you take pre-orders early enough, you’ll be able to test your book idea. Through pre-orders, you’ll see if your readers are actually interested in exchanging their hard-earned money for your book. If you decide it’s not worth it, you can simply refund any money you’ve received for the few orders that have been placed.
Once you have a hard launch date set up and you’re starting to receive money for your book, you’ll be more motivated to finish your book. Knowing that someone expects a book to be delivered on a certain date can be just what you need to finish editing and formatting your book. If you’re the kind of person who needs a deadline, pre-orders can be a huge help.
HOW TO SET UP YOUR PRE-ORDERS
First and foremost, I personally recommend setting up a pre-order page on your blog. This pre-order page can double as a sales page for your book, enticing visitors to invest in your book. Over time, you can revise this page to include testimonials and reviews as well.
You can also offer your book for pre-order via Amazon Kindle for eBooks and Amazon for physical books. Know that in some cases, like with Kindle Direct Publishing, you’ll need to upload at least a draft, if not the final version of your book, to allow pre-orders. But, pre-orders on Amazon count toward overall book sales, which can help drive up the ranking of your book. So, taking the time to set up pre-orders on Amazon can definitely be worth it in the long run.
SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT YOUR PRE-ORDERS
Once you have your pre-orders set up, you should then promote your pre-order page to your audience, whether it’s on your website, Amazon, or both. Post about your book regularly (at least once a week) on your various social media channels. Be sure to send out a few emails about the pre-order to your mailing list as well.
Marketing is particularly important if you’re using pre-orders as a strategy to boost your book’s ranking on Amazon. Don’t be afraid to ask your followers for help boosting your book’s ranking. They’ll probably be more than happy to help!
Questions about book pre-orders?
Contact me on social media and I’ll answer them!
