Does Best-Seller Status Really Matter Anymore?
There’s so much hype out three about becoming a best-selling author. It’s in your face every single day.
Either someone is promising you can become a best-seller in 90 days, or even in less than a day… without writing a word. (Yep, I saw that claim a few months ago.)
Or you’re bombarded with people shouting from the virtual rooftop that they just became a best-seller, when I know for a fact that some of those people sold less than a dozen books.
True fact.
It’s a world gone crazy when people think that selling a handful of books is a legitimate reason to tout themselves as a best-selling author.
In my opinion, there’s something terribly wrong with this picture.
First, if you ask any tried and true best-selling author, they’ll tell you it took years to write and publish a quality book that warranted REAL best-seller status.
Second, if “everyone” is a best-selling author, then “nobody” is.
The status has lost its meaning.
It is often just a bunch of smoke and mirrors with people placing their book in obscure unrelated categories where their book is more likely to become a best-seller.
Even I had an “expert” try to convince me to put my book into an irrelevant category because it was less competitive, and I had a better chance at becoming a #1 best-seller.
I opted out and chose the RIGHT category for the book even though it was highly competitive. Because that’s the ethical thing to do!
What’s happening out there is nuts. And in my opinion, it’s NOT sustainable.
So, you’re not alone if you’re confused about all this best-seller hype?
Or questioning if it’s worth it and means anything anymore?
So, I want to shed some light on the whole best-seller deal…
Through my recent personal journey in launching the ten-year anniversary edition of my book “The Freedom Formula: How to Put Soul in Your Business and Money in Your Bank.”
I launched it quietly… not a big hoopla bribing all my friends and colleagues to promote the book for me.
No bonuses, no fancy web site, opt-in boxes, complicated funnels or back-end commissionable offers.
Nope. I launched it first in pre-sale at my in-person Breakthrough event on 10/16/18 where 80% of the people in the room pre-ordered the Kindle version for $2.99 on the spot.
I offered a great book at a popular Kindle price and gave anyone who pre-ordered on Kindle a signed hard copy. I wanted them to be able to read it and post a LEGITIMATE review before it released on Kindle 11/1/18.
Reviews are more important than ever… so this was a planned strategy on my part.
This approach made total logical and ethical sense to me. It also felt right for my clients to take action to buy it. As a result, I ended up with 19 amazing reviews before I promoted the book to my community on 11/8/18.
The second wave of my “no frills” launch was to send a few emails to my community with a special $.99 offer if they bought the book within 5 days.
Again, no bonuses, bribes or back end. It was a regular no-hype straight forward sale. Easy. Simple. Clean. Authentic.
I didn’t care if it became a best-seller, so I never made it about that.
I didn’t beg people to buy the Kindle to get me higher in the rankings. I think it’s pitiful when people scavenge for sales like that.
I was motivated by wanting people to receive the life-changing message in “The Freedom Formula”… and keep it fun, simple and hype-free for me!
Here’s what happened…
I share these details to give you an inside look at what my “launch” looked like in hopes that when the time comes for you book, you can create a launch that feels right, aligned and authentic to YOU!
“The Freedom Formula” book launch step-by-step..l
1) I pre-sold 47 copies at my event… which were delivered to their Kindle device on 11/1/18 when the Kindle eBook was officially published in Amazon.
2) Next, I emailed those pre-sale buyers on 11/1/18 to let them know the book was LIVE on Amazon and they could now post their review. I sent them 3 more reminder between 11/2 and 11/6 to post their review. Gentle, not forceful nudges.
NOTE: I had them fill out a form on site at my event, so I knew who bought the Kindle!
3) Also, on 11/1/18 I emailed my affiliates promotional copy to share The Freedom Formula with their community via email or Facebook/Twitter.
A small handful replied that they’d be happy to share it!
You’ll sense a theme here…
But there were no bribes, bonuses or commissions. Those affiliates shared it because they knew my book was valuable for their community!
4) Then, during a four-day window between 11/8 and 11/12 I promoted the book to my email community sharing the special discounted price of $.99. The price went back up to $2.99 yesterday, on 11/13/18.
The numbers…
Keeping things clean, simple, ethical, easy and fun I sold a total of 397 copies (including pre-orders) the first 13 days the book was out.
I’m quite pleased with those numbers personally.
While this took some strategic thinking and pre-planning in advance, it did not require much effort at all.
I’m all for simple, easy, fun and ethical.
Now… below are the big question that I want to hear YOUR THOUGHTS on…
At the time of this writing… the book is noted as #1 New Releases in two categories… Kindle books for Startups and Entrepreneurship.
Here’s what the badge looks like (in orange)…
And here’s a snapshot of other rankings…
Ta daaaah! I’m a best-selling author.
But more important I want to hear from you in the comments below…
Does Amazon best-seller mean anything when you look at OTHER people’s books?
If you were ME would you tout yourself as a best-selling author given the stats above?
Do you care about best-seller status for your OWN book?
Will you launch a best-seller “campaign”, or implement a more organic and simple approach like I did?
Where do you stand with this whole best-seller craze?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts… and of course let me know if you have questions.
I’m heading out for vacation tomorrow (11/15) and I’ll be off the grid for the most part, but I’ll be sure to respond as soon as I can!
