Book Sales Strategies

The answer to the question, "Why does one book sell super well on Amazon while another does not but sells well in the bookstores?" is the question of the super sleuth. So many variables drive book sales. Public relations and marketing, of course, play important roles in exposure and visibility. But sometimes even a book that has received abundant, positive reviews may not sell well on Amazon but sell well in its market of interest. For example, Daughter of the Caribbean appears to be a big hit in the bookstores near the Caribbean, but still faces low Amazon sales. On the flip side, Fertile Kitchen Cookbook has enjoyed rich Amazon sales and can't sell worth a darn off our table displays. In each case it has to do with the markets these books appeal to. Most Daughter readers may be from regions of the country where online book sales don't appeal to those shoppers so they rely on the bookstore. Fertility is personal, and most couples don't want their personal problems out in the public eye where someone could question why they need that book. A Feast at the Beach is doing well everywhere ... but not my table sales. Why not? Well, I network with eWomen mostly -- and maybe most eWomen aren't terribly interested in France. So, it's not easy to predict the sales channel in which a book will enjoy the most success. The key and the trick to satisfaction is to enjoy where it does well and focus your attention on those channels and markets.