- The - ULTIMATE AMAZON KINDLE BESTSELLER CHEATSHEET 7 Proven Steps To Creating, Promoting & Launching Your Own Bestselling Kindle Book
Step 1: Validate your book idea by identifying DEMAND Never write a book unless you know in advance that the topic you're considering is a PROVEN seller. And never write a book you have ZERO interest in just as a vehicle to profit from. Create long-term assets that matter to you that you can build and expand upon. Only use the Kindle bestsellers (http://amzn.to/2ommmzh) to establish demand. Google keyword search volume is irrelevant and doesn't correlate with Kindle book sales. Amazon sells 1.2m Kindle books every day. Go right to the source to find what's selling. Browse the Kindle bestsellers category or sub-category on Amazon and look at the top 20 books (the ones on the first page of their respective category) that get all the sales. Make a note of, and identify the "similarities" in the book titles and sub-titles, if any. Know in advance (IMPORTANT) how much revenue each book is generating, and how many daily sales you'll need to get in order compete for a FIRST PAGE ranking in a given category or sub-category. This software will tell you (https://www.kdspy.com). Ask yourself Is it worth the time/investment for the estimated revenue, and can I get on the first page here? Dig deep to find all the categories that your competitor s books are listed in. Research them all to see how many sales you'll need to get a first-page listing. Can you easily compete and generate "consistent" exposure in this category? Keep notes always. Step 2: Know your target audience & their MINDSET People buy what they WANT, not what they NEED. People need health insurance, but they want six pack abs (men) or a toned stomach and a firm butt (women). He/she who knows their target customer better... WINS. Never forget that. Creating a bestseller that generates consistent sales relies on more than just eyeballs. Sure, Amazon has serious in-built credibility, but unless your book captures attention, builds interest, and creates desire, your sale conversion will be dismal.
Understand their MINDSET. What are they thinking and feeling? What keeps them awake at night? What are the deep-seated reasons they are looking for "X" in the first place? Surveys, customer feedback forms, forums, Facebook groups and, of course, Amazon reviews are all places to mine for GOLDEN customer insights. Don't overlook this. It's critical. If you have an existing customer list, the most powerful insights will come from interviewing them about their problem/why they are searching for a solution to "X". Record the interview. Carefully observe their answers and identify the golden insights. Step 3: Carefully craft your books INFLUENCE mechanics Integrate the learning s (and distinct language, if any) about your target audience into your books content, TOC, introduction, description, title and sub-title (hook) to RESONATE with your target audience more than your competitors. Despite what you've been told, your book TITLE is the #1 most important component in creating a "consistent" selling bestseller. Your title is the first touch point to gain attention and get the CLICK to your book listing. Your cover may get attention, but if the title is not compelling and doesn't align with the wants/mindset of your target audience, you lose the click to your book listing. TIP: Highly focused 'targeted' books convert well. Never be too broad in your targeting. RCI. Repurpose. Combine. Improve. Repurpose what's already selling (title/description/toc). Combine with the DATA from your research and improve with hard-hitting "influence". Always, always, always get a professional looking cover. Ask yourself a simple question... could you see your book cover being in a physical bookstore? Find a competent designer on Upwork (https://www.upwork.com/) or 99 Designs (https://99designs.com). Have a plan to get your CORE set of reviews when your book is made live (before your main launch promotion). Ensure you get at least 5 as soon as possible. Friends, family, existing customers, reviewers.
Step 4: Construct a hard-hitting TOC & talking points A compelling TOC answers the deep-seated questions & frustrations that the market has about the subject. For this reason, it's imperative you know the "mindset" of your target customers. Write down ALL the questions your market has. Don't stop writing until you've exhausted a list of at least 20. More then better. Print out the TOC of the top 5 bestsellers in your Niche (look inside feature). Make sure these books are targeting the same target audience as your intended book. Use the same RCI framework. Repurpose. Combine. Improve. You don't want to copy these, but use them as ideas for your own. Even if you're outsourcing your book to an expert, you still want to create the TOC yourself. No one will care as much about the success of the book as you. You should lay these important foundations. You already have an interest in the topic. You've researched your competitors. You've done the research into your target audience. You have the TOC of the bestsellers. You should understand your audience and what sells, better than anyone. So put that research to good use by creating the skeleton for your book yourself. Take your questions list and all your other research and create a logical TOC with 8-12 chapters, 2-3 sub-chapters and add 3-5 talking points for each chapter and sub-chapter. Create the framework, then fill-in-theblanks yourself or outsource. Use WorkFlowy (https://workflowy.com) for this step, or simply use index cards to plan your book. Step 5: Write your book in 7- days or find an expert Writer s block exists for people who don't have a "framework" to follow. START with JUST one sub-chapter at a time the meat of the book and don't get overwhelmed thinking about anything else. Expand on your talking points and flesh out your first draft. If you're totally comfortable with the topic, record your voice and transcribe your words. (Far quicker). NEVER stop to edit your work. Spill out as much as you can WITHOUT stopping. It will look like a dog s dinner, but just continue until you've completed every thought in your head about those 3-5 talking points for
that sub-chapter. Then move onto the next after a little break. Utilise the Pomodoro Technique. Set a time for 45 minutes and don't think about anything else while that clock is ticking. Your only goal for those 45 minutes is to unload what is in your head around those talking points as fast as you can. Get as many words down in that time period until the alarm sounds. Then take a 5-minute break. Grab a glass of water. Have a stretch. Cigarette (I m not judging). Whatever. Then come back refreshed and continue. One "focused" sub-chapter at a time. 300-400 words for each chapter and sub-chapter should come out to around 10,000 words, which is perfect for a "focused" Kindle title. 300-400 words should only take you an hour at the most. If you have 8 chapters, that's 24 hours of total writing. See how quick it can be to write a book when you have the right framework to follow? Spend a "focused" week during your most productive hours and get the book done (3-4 hours per day). START with your sub-chapters around your talking points. Then the main chapters, and finally write your introduction and conclusion, if any. Take a break for 1-2 days before you EDIT your work and polish up the final draft. If you're budget allows, it's always best to get a final proofreader to check your work. If you are outsourcing your book use Upwork (https://upwork.com) to find experts on the subject. Cheaper option is to use a ghostwriter to follow your framework, but expect to EDIT their work A LOT. Either way, I still recommend you add your own voice if you must outsource. Not required, but highly recommended. Step 6: Upload, set your launch day & PLAN your promotion Upload and enrol your book in Amazon's KDP program to give your book a flurry of downloads (leading to high exposure and sales when switched to paid) on your initial launch promotion. I recommend you launch your book for FREE for 24/48 hours "initially", as it will be easier to get attention and exposure not only with Amazon's algorithm but with influencing partners to promote. Choose your categories wisely (IMPORTANT). A good category can make or break your sales. Align it as close to your topic as possible. Always choose a sub, sub-category where possible that you identified from your research where you can COMPETE and still generate a "consistent" flow of daily sales. If you are unsure, find the categories with low competition and medium to high potential with the KDSPY software (https://www.kdspy.com/). And yes, they do still exist. Although it's not immediately obvious, the Kindle store in the US has over 10,000+ subcategories you can list your book in (they don t correlate with the selections in your KDP dashboard). Your research will pay off where
others are either misinformed about the volume of categories or simply are too lazy to find them. Tip: Cannot get listed where you want? Just reach out to Kindle support and ask them to list you in the category of your choice. Send them the full URL path and they will list you in less than 48 hours. Choose 7 keywords that Amazon allows you to list your book under. The same rules apply; you want to find "specific" NOT broad Keywords that provide good search volume with little competition. Amazon's search suggest feature is a great place to start as these are the popular searches. Check how many book results appear for each. Don't target keywords that have >2000 results. Ideally under <1000... but the lower the better. Amazon don't provide search volume, so stick to their suggest feature by starting with a SEED keyword and adding any letter from A-Z after it to see a range of results for each. Once your book is approved, set a launch date in 2 weeks time to give yourself enough time to reach out to potential partners and plan your promotion. Think outside the box in terms of promotional partners (most people never do this). While others are relentlessly spamming Facebook groups you want to look for key influencers with a large following who can promote you on launch day. Think in terms of "Linkedin groups", "Meetup Groups", "Forums" and "Blog owners" to find partners to promote you on launch day. Having a high quality, attractive book that aligns with the interest of their target audience and is FREE for a set period? Well, it's not too difficult to find 3-5 (more the better) people to promote you on launch day. Reach out to 30 people at a minimum and expect to get 10% of people to agree, assuming your outreach email is well constructed. Don't rush this step. Submit to the book directories that list FREE KDP Kindle promotions. They are FREE so why not. Outsource to Fiverr (https://www.fiverr.com/) or just use KDROI (https://www.kdroi.com/) to automate the process. Step 7: Maintain Consistent Sales & Build Your Audience If you're INFLUENCE mechanics are on-point and you choose your categories correctly (keywords too, but less so), you should have no problem reaching and maintaining a top page ranking in your categories. Always build an email list of readers. Add a link or offer in your book to get access to a FREE report, cheat sheet, interview etc. Send them to a landing page and collect their email address before delivering the gift. Build a relationship with your readers and they'll be more receptive to future offers and books you launch. This effectively is building your platform of raving-fans. This list will become the life-blood of your
business. An email lead will be x100 more profitable to your business in the long run than a Facebook fan. Nurture and respect them. Utilise Amazon Marketing Services (https://ams.amazon.com/) to drive more sales for your books at an ROI. Forget Facebook advertising, AMS is incredibly powerful (little competition) for driving book sales at a return on investment, which is near impossible to do for a $.99 to $9.99 Kindle ebook with Facebook ads. Tip: Add in 1000 keywords to the platform that makes sense for your book. Also add in the names of competitor books and author names. Set a low budget of $5 a day to start and then analyze your results. Remove the keywords that don't produce a profit after exceeding the cost of your book. Then you'll be left with a few hundred keywords that produce on-going sales and profit while maintaining your high category position. If you have more than one book written on your subject, ensure you cross promote your book(s) by adding a mention of link. Don't be scared to mention your other products and services if you have any, too. If they can help your readers, you're doing them a dis-service if you don't at least tell them about it. Although it's not a requirement, you have other options to drive book sales and build your list (most important), such as guest posting, blogging, podcast interviews etc. The list is endless. Just stick to a couple of strategies and get good at them. Avoid the B.S blogs listing 100 ways to drive traffic and book sales. Overwhelm is a killer. Stay focused. Let s wrap this UP! I hope you enjoyed this cheat sheet and use it to launch your next bestseller. This was meant to give an outline of the process of creating, launching and promoting a Kindle bestseller. A reference point if you will. If anything is confusing or doesn t make sense, then don t fret. I ll be back soon with more great stuff and to answer any questions you may have to make this all crystal clear. Talk soon, Wesley Atkins Creator of: https://www.kdspy.com & https://www.publishingaltitude.com