When it comes to writers and authors selling books, there is a big difference between book sales from online retailers and book sales in brick-and-mortar stores. One of the first things people do when buying books in stores is look on the inside or read the blurbs on the back covers of books. However, this isn't possible for online retailers, as customers cannot get physical copies of books until after they've purchased them. Metadata information of books is available online and beneficial, but it's not always enough to make book sales. Authors have to use more means to grab readers' attention, and one of the main ways they can do this is by creating and using online book ads. Online book ads only allow potential readers to see the front cover of books, so it's important for authors to include more than their book covers on a background image. But first, let's check out what an online book ad usually consists of.
ONLINE BOOK ADS DETAILS
For a typical online book ad, there are four details in them. These include an announcement or call-to-action, a book image or mockup, a background image, and other info or available online retailers, such as the ad example of my debut novel Eva's Promise shown below:
Although all of the above details are typically used within online book ads, what I believe all authors should take into consideration when it comes to their online ads, (and especially self-published authors), is for them to ask themselves the following question:
Why should potential readers buy your book?
This is a question I thought about the other night.
We authors have hopes people will read our books and give us honest reviews, but rather than creating online ads that merely announce their availability or request potential readers to get a copy or buy our books, I think it's important to include some credentials or explain what makes our books exciting and interesting to read. People will likely be more intrigued to purchase our books if we give them a reason why they should or give a snippet of our stories and what they're about before they purchase our books. How can we do this?
The answer is simple: by writing a sales pitch.
As published authors, we're also running a business, and just as people who sell other items, we're ultimately attempting to sell something too: books. So, let's check out four ways we authors can include sales pitches in our online book ads to grab readers' attention.
4 WAYS TO WRITE A SALES PITCH
Sales pitches are words that are used to persuade customers into buying your products. For online book ads, these can add extra intrigue to draw the attention of readers. There are four ways authors can include a pitch into their online book ads, including 1) book reviews or book awards 2) short phrases or questions, 3) book quotes, and 4) nutshell overviews. Below you can see an example of each of these from my personal online book ads.
🥇1. BOOK REVIEWS or BOOK AWARDS
Below is an example of a book review ad I made for my Christian and women's fiction novel, Eva's Promise after it was reviewed by The Prairies Book Review. This type of online book ad can be especially helpful as good reviews or awards give authors' books more credentials and approval and can draw interest of why readers should read their books. Getting positive feedback from respected book review companies, such as Publisher Weekly and Kirkus Reviews and other fellow readers or winning an award for a contest can influence more potential readers to buy their books and give them a chance.
❓ 2. SHORT PHRASES or QUESTIONS
A second way authors can create a pitch for online book ads is by using short phrases or asking potential readers mysterious questions. Phrases or questions can be used to create intrigue around authors' books that pull the attention of potential readers. Phrases can be used primarily for fiction, while questions can be used for non-fiction books, as these can tell readers how an informative, non-fiction book would improve readers' lives. Some examples of short phases are book teasers, such as the ad below I made of my upcoming Christian and Historical fiction novel, The Pact of Freedom. Phrases can also be suggestions. For example, "A great summer read for women." Suggestions in online book ads can also help authors find their ideal readers, letting an audience know who their books are specifically for.
📖 3. BOOK QUOTES
For this online ad, authors can choose from some of their favorite or best lines in their novels or books to catch the attention of potential readers into wanting to know more and buy their books, such as the book quote ad example below of my debut Christian and women's fiction novel, Eva's Promise.
🥜4. NUTSHELL OVERVIEWS
Nutshell overviews are short summaries used to draw interest that explain what a book is about or what kind of reading experience potential readers would get by buying and reading authors' books. Below I created an online book ad with a nutshell overview to spark readers' curiosity for my upcoming Christian and Historical fiction novel, The Pact of Freedom, inviting them on an adventurous reading experience if they purchase my book.
CLOSING REMARKS:
Social media marketing is one of the least favorite processes among most authors after completing their books. However, by creating beautiful online book ads that are presentable, purposeful, and meaningful, it can make a difference in how well they're able to sell their books. I hope this post was informative and inspired other published authors to take new approaches to how they set up and create their online book ads for social media marketing. (I know it's some things I intend to include more in my online book ads.) If you found it helpful to you, please, give it a (heart❤️) and share your thoughts or comments 💬 below.)
Okay, that's it for this post. Stay tuned for more marketing tips and strategies in the future. 👍🏽
🤔What pitch methods do you like the best for online book ads?
🥇 Book Reviews/Book Awards
📖 Book Quotes
❓Short phrases/Questions
🥜Nutshell Overviews
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