How do you entice people to your website? Do you have something there that your audience wants? Why do people stop by your site? You know, they aren’t coming there just because they want to support you and your book project—well, not very many people will do that.
If you want to lure potential customers to your website in hopes of them buying your book, you need a reason for them to come—I mean a reason beyond the fact that they want to buy your book. They’ll probably go to Amazon to buy it if they want it, anyway. It’s cheaper and they already have an account there, so it’s easy to make the purchase.
If you have books or services to sell and you put up a website in order to showcase these things, you want visitors. And if you want visitors, you had better have a reason for them to come by.
Here’s what I suggest you add to your website:
• Create a resource list related to the topic or genre of your book.
• Provide a list of other books on the topic or in the genre.
• Post informative articles or interesting stories on the topic or in the genre of your book.
• Run a contest or game where visitors can participate.
• Offer something for free—a downloadable ebook, for example.
Of course, there’s more to this great idea. Once you have something worth showing at your website, you must promote it through every avenue available to you. Just as with a book, no one is going to visit your website if they don’t know it exists or that you have something there of value to them.
I’m working on a new ebook for my website as we speak. So far, I have offered “50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book” and “50 Ways to Promote Your Ebook.” I currently offer “50 Ways to Prepare for Publishing Success.” Download your free ebook here: http://www.patriciafry.com
The two ebooks I retired are now for sale at my website for $3.95 each. And this is an exclusive offer—they are not available at Amazon or anywhere else. Order them here: http://www.matilijapress.com
Okay, so what sort of free ebook could you offer your readers? You notice that I write freebies for authors. That’s because my books are designed for authors. Let’s say that yours is a self-help book featuring a particular disorder. You might prepare a pamphlet offering tips for helping a loved one understand your disorder, ideas for how to take one day at a time when suffering from this disorder, a list of case histories from people who have learned to live with the disorder, little known facts about the disorder, etc.
If it is a memoir focusing on an ancestor who left a journal, consider writing an ebooklet with facts about the country this person hailed from, pointing up the history of a particular period involving your ancestor or noting other books one could read to learn more about an event or time period in this country.
For a novel, a collection of short stories or a novella might be perfect freebies you could offer in order to entice readers to purchase your book in the same genre.
There are hundreds of ideas for spin-off books, booklets, pamphlets and brochures you could produce in order to promote your book. If you have a book and are clueless as to ideas for freebie ebooklets, let me know. Maybe I can help. Maybe some of my followers can help. Leave your comment here. It would be refreshing to receive a real comment rather than so many from spam.
Remember, to order “50 Ways to Sell Your Ebook,” or “50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book,” http://www.matilijapress.com They are $3.95 each.
To download my current freebie, “50 Ways to Prepare for Publishing Success,” go here: http://www.patriciafry.com