Low Sales mystery

[Cosmic Geoff]

I would guess, depending on how many copies you have sold, your five reviews sound pretty good to me. However having all five being 5 star makes it feel like these might all be friends and family. That may or may not be true; however, as far as new and self published authors, that is the perception of a lot and many readers who feel burned by all the five star reviews. As strange as it may sound, you could probably use some 3 star reviews.

But, for a moment let's get back to the blurb and the sample.

The author bio might be better in the back pages of the book not on the cover.
The quote might work better if it is shortened.
This will clean up the back panel and highlight the blurb.
Right now it looks a bit busy and sounds a bit like tooting your own horn.
That's just my opinion.

Thanks for your comments.
Yes I did wonder whether the all 5* reviews, gratifying as they are, might seem a bit too good to convince the sceptical.
The author bio is also inside so it could be taken off the back PB cover. Likewise the one-liner quotes could be trimmed from the back cover, which will leave space to quote one or two actual reviews (now that I have them).
It will be a pain to rework the PB back cover but it looks like I should.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Re reviews, it's now much harder to get a decent number of them. Amazon have cracked down on who can review, linked it to spend purchase etc. For me, then, now it's about the quality of the review, rather than the number. But all of this is useless compared to that old nutshell, word of mouth.

I've had one book that just didn't sell. It was very much liked by those who have read it and has great reviews, but just doesn't shift. This could be the cover (which I like, as it happens), it could be the blurb (which is better than most of my other ones, I think), the subject matter or whatever - the market simply doesn't want it.

TLR sometimes, there just isn't any obvious reason. Don't sweat it. Fix what you can, and move on.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

As I've said on many previous occasions, often to the annoyance of some here, there is a large random element to all this. Even if you're an established author with a back catalogue, that randomness still applies. A new self-published author has virtually no chance of making a mark because the internet has turned publishing into a gigantic level playing field. Almost nobody can be heard. That, Cosmic Geoff, means you might as well give up now.
I can't help noticing your comments such as "it will be a pain, but..." etc. Being a writer - let alone an author - takes a vast amount of work, discipline and persistence. If half of you thinks reworking something as obvious as a cover is a bit of a pain, you might as well give up now.
Expect to spend a decade or so establishing yourself - if, that is, you can manage long time scale, because you will have to. The second decade might show you a bit of success. More likely, it won't.

 

[tinkerdan]

If you advertise(not sure I would suggest this unless you have money to throw away)the name of your novel might get remembered by someone.
If you don't; then it has to be word of mouth or position in search.

Position in search:
I published three books each over 120k in ebook and paperback through kdp in 2019.
The first in March; the second in April; the last in the middle of December.

I spent a bit of time today doing various searches in Amazon.
Too general a search gives too many book choices with my books either not there or buried well beyond 700 books.

What finally yielded more in my search was to use something such as Young adult science fiction space opera, which is one of the categories I chose when publishing. That yielded fewer pages, then I thought to add something more specific like Clones at the end of of those .
So far the results look a bit like this.

Young adult science fiction space opera Clones and that yielded about 40 choices and my first novel was # 24
Young adult science fiction space opera genetic engineering and that yielded about 240 choices and my first novel was # 45
Young adult science fiction space opera female protagonist and that yielded about 114 choices and my second novel was # 62
Young adult science fiction space opera bio technology and that yielded about 7 choices and my second novel was # 3
science fiction space opera Clones and that yielded about 440 choices and my first novel was # 302
science fiction space opera female protagonist and that yielded about 724 choices and my first novel was # 409


Young adult science fiction space opera space station and that yielded about 79 choices and my second novel was # 33
Young adult science fiction space opera female protagonist and that yielded about 114 choices and my second novel was # 38
science fiction space opera female protagonist and that yielded about 724 choices and my second novel was # 213

science fiction space opera female protagonist and that yielded about 724 choices and my third novel was # 376

science fiction space opera Clones and that yielded about 440 choices and my novel from 2013 novel was # 249
science fiction space opera female protagonist and that yielded about 724 choices and my novel from 2013 was # 395

The point is that in some more refined searches there is a chance my book passes under scrutiny while in other cases it depends on how deep or how many pages the reader decides to go into the search.

One note: This is from my computer and my account so I really need to try this from somewhere else to rule out search engine bias.
I also have more search combinations, but have about spent all my free time.

I think my best chance is if someone searches for Female Protagonist in those two genre. More likely in YA.

 

[Boneman]

Are you not sleeping, Tinkerdan...?

 

[olive]

As I've said on many previous occasions, often to the annoyance of some here, there is a large random element to all this. Even if you're an established author with a back catalogue, that randomness still applies. A new self-published author has virtually no chance of making a mark because the internet has turned publishing into a gigantic level playing field. Almost nobody can be heard. That, Cosmic Geoff, means you might as well give up now.
I can't help noticing your comments such as "it will be a pain, but..." etc. Being a writer - let alone an author - takes a vast amount of work, discipline and persistence. If half of you thinks reworking something as obvious as a cover is a bit of a pain, you might as well give up now.
Expect to spend a decade or so establishing yourself - if, that is, you can manage long time scale, because you will have to. The second decade might show you a bit of success. More likely, it won't.

I find your words very realistic and supportive, not annoying or daunting. Much appreciated.

 

[mosaix]

A word about advertising. There’s an old advertising adage: ‘There’s no such thing as facts only emotions’.

When I was running Unix and Informix courses for contractors in the early nineties I advertised them as just that - Unix and Informix Courses for Contractors. Response? Poor.

When I changed my approach to ‘Getting Left Behind? No One Trains Contractors. Weekend Unix and Informix Courses for Contractors’ I had enough responses for nearly a year of weekend courses.

This may not be relevant to your books but, if you can, appeal to emotions.

 

[Toby Frost]

True - a huge amount of online hype and commentary about books is emotion-related. I don't read in this way, and I've been quite surprised how many people must end a good novel (if they are to be believed, and why not?) as a weepy, emotionally-drained mess. If I was to rank the things that people seem to talk about (or at least the ones I see), emotion and content, especially re characters (ie what is described within) get mentioned much more than the quality of the writing.

 

[Boneman]

True - a huge amount of online hype and commentary about books is emotion-related. I don't read in this way, and I've been quite surprised how many people must end a good novel (if they are to be believed, and why not?) as a weepy, emotionally-drained mess. If I was to rank the things that people seem to talk about (or at least the ones I see), emotion and content, especially re characters (ie what is described within) get mentioned much more than the quality of the writing.

Excellent book advert: Read this book and weep!

 

[Toby Frost]

In all honesty, I have more or less seen that said.

 

[tinkerdan]

@Boneman Yes I've left many of my readers weeping.

Sleep? what's that?

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Most people imo buy stuff, including books and music, on gut instinct, i.e. appeal to emotions rather than rationality.
Daniel Kahneman wrote a brilliant book on these two modes of thought (which I highly recommend).
Appeal to emotion is a ploy. There's a reason rock stars et al make controversial statements just before their works come out...

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

I've also posted elsewhere that IMO marketing a single book is pointless unless it's part of a series that the reader can prospectively buy into, as the cost per lead will likely exceed the initial single sale profit.

I expect you are right. The voice of experience? Fortunately, a sequel to "The Witch's Box" exists and just needs revision. And a couple of the beta readers wanted to see a sequel.

A new self-published author has virtually no chance of making a mark because the internet has turned publishing into a gigantic level playing field. Almost nobody can be heard. That, Cosmic Geoff, means you might as well give up now.

It is almost a relief to be told this. With the exception of the Witch's Box sequel, it is questionable whether I will want to try selling any further titles online. Looking at the current amazon.co.uk overall sales rank for my book, it seems that four or five million titles are selling even more poorly. What a farce.

I am heeding various pieces of advice given above, but the results may not show up immediately.
I have changed the Amazon selling page blurb to read as follows:

"This is a well-structured, fun read with some incredibly well done battles and an intriguing magic system." (Nikki B)

Life for the ambitious 17 year old Imperial Princess Maihara takes a disastrous turn when reformist rebels surround the Western capital, provoking her to dabble with the magical Box gifted to her by an unknown donor. She is blamed for the frightening results and her comfortable life falls apart. Soon she has to contend with the bruising reality of politics and warfare as experienced by those less privileged. An epic fantasy with romance.

I am not sure if this an improvement on what was there before, so would be grateful for some feedback. I may dispense with the bold line altogether, unless I can find a suitable quote from somebody known.

I also want to have the same "Life for the ambitious..." (or whatever I decide on) text on the rear paperback cover so I need to decide on a passable version before embedding it there.

A final tip - you can use simple HTML on these Amazon blurbs, but you can't preview, which is a right pain as it is so easy to get caught out. If you have a free online HTML editor open, you can paste your text in there and see how it is going to look.

Thanks for your attention and comments.

 

[Boneman]

Can I edit that?

When reformist rebels surround the Western capital, Princess Maihara is forced to use untested magic to defend the city. She is blamed for the unforeseen results that follow, and she loses almost everything. Hunted at every turn, she must battle politics and warfare as an ordinary citizen, to save her people and regain her life.

Not sure you need the last sentence of an epic fantasy with romance, it dilutes the visceral emotion of magic and fighting...

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

"This is a well-structured, fun read with some incredibly well done battles and an intriguing magic system." (Nikki B)

I would shorten that. When a reader goes to buy a book they don't think, "What I really want is well-structured book." It is important for a writer to know about structure so they can recognize a problem if there is one, but the average reader doesn't think about how the events of a book are organized. They think about the characters, they think about the things that happen (like battles) and often in fantasy about the magic.

So I think the quote should be, "A fun read with some incredibly well-done battles and an intriguing magic system."

The rest of the blurb ...I think it needs to be more specific. As a prospective reader, the most important things I might like to know is just what the frightening results are of dabbling with the Box—in a few words, can you tell us what happens when she made use of the magic box?— and how does her comfortable life fall apart? You say "the bruising reality" but just how is she forced to contend with that reality—does she lose her home, is she disowned by her family, thrown out on the streets, forced to flee, or ????—or does she merely find herself a spectator witnessing for the first time reality as experienced by the common people?

 

[AlexH]

I'd cut the quote even more, to "A fun read with incredibly well-done battles and an intriguing magic system." But how far can you edit before it's paraphrasing?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I agree that it would be better without the "some"—which rather weakens the effect, since it could be read as saying only some of the battles are incredibly well-done, the rest less so.

Maybe "A fun read ...incredibly well-done battles and an intriguing magic system."

 

[Bagpuss]

But how far can you edit before it's paraphrasing?

If you are representing that something is a direct quote made by someone else, then that quote must either be re-produced verbatim or be re-produced with ellipses to indicate that some parts of the original quote are missing.

You could remove some words and go for: "This is ... a fun read with ... incredibly well-done battles and an intriguing magic system."

Putting the ellipses in indicates that some parts of the quote are missing. This is legitimate. Equally, you could start with: "A fun read with" and then have the ellipses to indicate something from the original quote has been removed and continue with: "incredibly well-done" to the end of the original quote.

What you can't do is change or re-write the quote to make it seem like it's a single continuous sentence with no words removed when it's not. Now you could go back to the original reviewer and get them to change their quote to the one you want. That's between the author and the reviewer. Although in this case, the reviewer is nobody that anyone could recognise and so it's probably entirely pointless to include the quote at all. However, that's just my opinion.

Not sure you need the last sentence of an epic fantasy with romance,

Well, it depends what kind of book this actually is. If the book is basically a fantasy and there's a sub-plot of romance, then I would agree with you. However, if the book is more a romance book where the relationship and romance between the Princess and the conqueror is the main point of the story, then I would argue that that needs to be in the cover copy, because it indicates that the genre of the book is primarily romance-fantasy rather than epic-fantasy.

All depends on what the author is trying to write.

 

[Galactic Bus Driver]

Life for the ambitious 17 year old Imperial Princess Maihara takes a disastrous turn when reformist rebels surround the Western capital, provoking her to dabble with the magical Box gifted to her by an unknown donor. She is blamed for the frightening results and her comfortable life falls apart. Soon she has to contend with the bruising reality of politics and warfare as experienced by those less privileged. An epic fantasy with romance.

I would likely not read this, and I read a lot.

When reformist rebels surround the Western capital, Princess Maihara is forced to use untested magic to defend the city. She is blamed for the unforeseen results that follow, and she loses almost everything. Hunted at every turn, she must battle politics and warfare as an ordinary citizen, to save her people and regain her life.

I would be much more likely to read this.

Your blurb is your hook. How you bait that hook will, at lest in part, determine what kind of fish, if any, you catch.

 

[WhitneyLHuggins]

That said all four are also not attributed to anyone. Who said those things? Was one by your family? Who your reader comments are from is almost as important as what is said. When you see big publishers doing this they always attribute and they always attribute to a known entity. Most often another author within the same publishing house - GRRM saying that he loved your book carries weight. Dave loved your book carries none and "I loved this book" even less. Another option is to quote reviewers - be they online or newspaper etc.... Again its providing someone of a known value and quantity and honestly also trading off their name, in part, to help get attention to yourself.

Along these lines, I’ve wondered whether or not to put any stock into the numerous people who offer to write reviews or ”readers” who are strangers. Is there any merit to that approach whatsoever? As much as it is a numbers game, that strikes me as inauthentic or am I just cynical?