Targeting is good but right now I need sales to climb the Amazon ladder.....that will ultimately increase sales as the Amazon algorithm goes to work.
That will only give you a temporary boost. Amazon is always updating its numbers. In the end, what sells a book is word-of-mouth, and what starts word-of-mouth is getting the book into the hands of the people who are going to like it and talk about it. That means targeting sales and giveaways (for those who do them), and if you are lucky one of those people who read your book and love it will be someone that a lot of people listen to. For science fiction, it might be someone who is already a popular and respected member of the community. For fantasy, if GRRM says on one of his forums that he likes a book, that is probably good for tens of thousands of sales. One can't plan on the occasional
phenomenal luck that comes to a writer, like Rosie O'Donnell mentioning the first Harry Potter on her talk show. The book was already doing very well, but you can imagine how the sales went through the roof because millions of people heard her rhapsodizing about how much she loved the book and recommending that everyone bought it.
If there are discussions about your books that attract a lot of people, that's going to bring in sales. Even if there are readers saying they
hate your book it may pique the curiosity of other readers who want to know what the fuss is about. The very fact that there is
a lot of conversation is good. On a forum like this one, it's nice to have discussion, but it has to spread outward and outward from there.
Some books are easier to promote than others. Writers of YA and children's books can go into the schools. Teachers love to have writers speak to their classes. If the writer has a good presentation that inspires kids to read more, or one that gets children interested in writing, word will spread and he or she will be in demand. Mark Robson (who used to be an active member here) did a lot to promote his self published books by visiting schools. He did a lot of other things that were effective, too, but that was one of the more effective, I think. (I believe that Christopher Paolini also visited a lot of schools.) And the result of all his efforts was that he built up sales of his SP books to the point where he was offered a contract for his next series by a major publisher.
If there is something
central to your book that will appeal to a particular community, then that gives you a way to promote. For instance, if you write a murder mystery where the crime takes place at a dog show, the victim is one of the judges, and the amateur detective is a breeder, you can sell the book at dog shows, advertise it in their newsletters, etc.
