The essentials (do these first)
1. Fix your Amazon listing
Promotion sends traffic to your Amazon page. If the page doesn't convert, you're paying to lose money. Keywords, description, categories, cover — all four matter, in that order.
2. Run a price-drop promo with newsletter blasts
Drop the ebook to 99c for 3–7 days, then stack two or three newsletter promos (BookBub Featured Deal if you can get one, otherwise Freebooksy, BargainBooksy, Robin Reads, Fussy Librarian, Book Barbarian). Expect a sharp spike followed by an "afterglow" of organic sales.
3. Set up Amazon Ads — the boring way
Not the "auto-target, $5 a day" version. Build a Sponsored Products campaign with 100+ exact-match keywords (titles and authors of your ten closest comp books). Bid $0.10–$0.30. Let it run for 30 days. Cut the keywords with zero clicks and double the bid on the ones that convert.
4. Start an email list, even if it's tiny
Add a "join the mailing list" link in the back of every book and a signup form on your author website. Email subscribers are the only readers you actually own — every other channel rents them to you.
The high-leverage extras
5. Write the next book
Series sell. The single most reliable way to lift sales of book one is to publish book two with a clear sequel hook. Authors with three+ books in a series outsell single-title authors many times over.
6. Get reviews — slowly and compliantly
Reviews are conversion fuel. Use the back-of-book CTA, your email list, and ARC services like BookSirens or Booksprout. Don't pay for reviews. Don't trade reviews. Ever.
7. Apply for a BookBub Featured Deal
Hard to get accepted, but the single highest-impact promo in the industry. Apply every 30 days for the same book — rejections aren't permanent.
8. Be on the right Amazon categories
Use Amazon's "Browse Box" to find narrow sub-categories where you can realistically hit the top 20. Email KDP support to add categories beyond the default two.
The optional extras
9. BookTok / Bookstagram (only if you like it)
Real but not essential. If you'd enjoy doing it, post twice a week for six months. If you'd hate it, skip — your book sales won't suffer.
10. Podcast guesting
Useful for non-fiction. Pick one podcast a month whose audience overlaps with your reader, and pitch with a specific episode idea.
11. Author website
A simple one-page site is plenty. Bio, books, mailing list signup, contact. Don't overthink it.
12. Local press and bookstores
Low-volume but high-affirmation. Worth one afternoon. Don't expect it to move the sales needle.
What to ignore entirely
- Paid press releases.
- "Book marketing companies" that promise "exposure" without specifics.
- Buying followers, reviews, or ranks. Amazon catches it.
- Any course that costs more than two of your books would earn back.
Where to start today
Run a free Book Discoverability Score on your Amazon listing first. It tells you whether your page is ready to convert traffic — which determines whether the promo and ad work above will pay for itself or burn cash.