Planning Your eBook Holiday Sales Strategy

The holidays are coming up. As a writer, it's time to think about how to catch the attention of holiday shoppers. Whether you already have books on sale or you want to write new ones, you need to come up with your holiday sales strategy.

Making some changes to your existing book promotion efforts will help you get your fair share (or more) of the sales revenue this holiday season.

How Do You Plan Your eBook Holiday Strategy?

Having a solid marketing plan helps ensure your long-term success. But as the seasons change and the holidays draw near, you need to add a holiday sales strategy to your plan to accommodate the influx of shoppers looking for presents to give to their loved ones.

To get you started on your eBook plans for the holidays, here are some tips.

Think of an Amazing Idea for a Book Now!

If you don't have a book to sell yet or you just want to launch something new, try to come up with an amazing idea for your book. If possible, incorporate the holidays into your ideas to make them more appealing and increase your eBook holiday sales.

For instance, if you're a writer of children's books, you can write a Christmas story for the holidays. Or if you love writing cookbooks, come up with a whole book of recipes that your readers can make during the holidays.

Once you have your idea, you can start writing your book. And if you need help bringing your idea to life in time for the holiday season, you can always hire professional ghostwriters.

You can even reach out to other authors who share the same genre as you. Collaborate on a holiday-themed series of books, then launch them together. Doing this will increase your sales opportunities and your exposure.

If You Already Have a Book, Think of Ways to Improve it

If you already have a great book out there and you want more people to buy it, you can make it more appealing by finding ways to improve it. For instance, take a look at the cover of your book. Is it attractive enough? Will it catch the attention of readers easily?

The cover is the first thing people see. If you think that this part of your book needs some work, find a professional who will help you change or improve the cover design.

Another aspect you can improve to make your book more discoverable and appealing is the book description. When people click on your book online and they read a well-written book description, they will feel compelled to buy.

You can also think of an idea for a sequel to your book, then offer the original book and the sequel as a promotional bundle. These are just some examples of ideas where you can make an existing book better.

Take Advantage of Advertisements

One of the most effective ways to promote your book is by advertising it. These days, there are many options for you to choose from. These include websites, blogs, media-sharing sites, and social media platforms.

Try to do some research before advertising to find out where you will get the most engagement. For instance, if you have a self-help book on photography, you can create a personal website where you showcase your work.

Having such a website will help your target audience realize that you are an expert at the topic you have chosen (e.g., photography). Then you can advertise your book on your site and on social media too.

You can join groups on Facebook and share posts to let the other members know that you have something they might be interested in.

These days, many people look to social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Tumbler, Goodreads, and more for their gift ideas. Advertising on any of these platforms could go a long way into selling your book.

After choosing where to advertise and what method to use, decide whether you would like to opt for paid advertising or look for free ways to promote your eBook. Of course, this would depend on your budget.

Offer Promotions

The next step after creating a plan for advertising is to think of promotions to offer to your readers. Your holiday sales strategy should include a holiday message to introduce your book and cool promotions like:

• countdown deals (on Kindle Direct Publishing Select)
• promo day (on Kindle Direct Publishing Select)
• BOGO (buy one, give one) offers
• gift with purchase offers
• price drops (for a certain number of days)

You can also offer different types of discount schemes. Think of ways to do this that will boost your sales without compromising your profits.

Get Creative

As you think of your strategy for the holidays, let your creative juices flow. Apart from advertising and offering promotions, there are other things you can do to make your book more appealing. These include the following:

• Sign up for Amazon Author Central and add the details of your special promotions on the retail page of your book.
• Get media coverage from your locale by reaching out to media personnel and telling them about your book.
• Join special holiday events like Christmas fairs or get a table or booth when there are events in the malls.
• Think of some holiday hashtags that you can connect with your book, then use these whenever you are promoting or advertising.

As you can see, there are many ways to liven up your marketing plan for the holidays. It just takes time, patience, effort, and a lot of creativity.

Creating a Timeline for Your eBook Holiday Sales

Another important step you need to take in your strategic planning is to come up with a timeline for everything you will do. You might have amazing ideas on paper but if you don't set a timeline for when to execute those ideas, they might go to waste.

Since people are looking now for gift ideas for the special people in their lives, you should focus on seasonal advertising. A good idea is to download a free calendar template online and write down the most important steps in your plan on the calendar.

Then you can check every day to see if you need to do, launch, or think of something that will bring you closer to your goals. When creating your timeline, make sure to include the following ideas.

Start With a Blog Post

If you have a website, now is the perfect time to create a holiday-themed blog post. There are certain tips for writing an incredible blog post that you should learn to ensure that you create something that people will read from start to finish.

In your blog, you can promote your book and add a link for the readers to click on if they want to purchase your book. If you have author friends, you can even feature their books on your blog too if they will agree to help you promote as well.

Do this as one of the first steps in your plan. Then keep writing a few more blogs to add value to the knowledge of your readers. Just make sure that the blogs you write are connected to your book so that you can promote it organically.

Start Sending Greetings to Those in Your Mailing List

You should also include in your plan sending promotions to the contacts in your mailing list. Learn how to create interesting holiday emails where you will share details about countdown deals, discounts, and other promotional offers.

Send season's greetings to everyone in your current contact list first. Let them know about your book and any promotions you plan to offer. Then include a call to action (CTA) to encourage them to share or forward your email to their networks. You can even include a promotion like a referral code in your email with an offer of additional discounts.

If you get replies from your contacts, make sure to reply back. Engaging with your readers is essential if you want them to be loyal to you and the books you write.

Plan for all of the Popular Shopping Dates

Of course, the timeline for your holiday sales strategy should include events or activities on and around the most popular shopping dates. You want your readers to find your book easily when they go online to do their holiday shopping.

Highlight all of the important dates in your calendar and start thinking about the gimmicks you will launch for each one.

What are the Popular Holiday Events to Look out for?

Now that you have ideas for how to sell your book and a calendar to write down your plans, it's time to highlight those important dates. Make sure to post ads or send emails before, during, and after these dates to remind your audience about your book.

It will be a lot easier for you if you have a visual tool (like a calendar) to refer to. With such a reminder, you will always be on top of your eBook holiday sales plan. Here are the most popular events to look out for:

• Thanksgiving
• Black Saturday to Cyber Monday
• Christmas
• Hanukkah
• New Year's Day

As each of these holidays approaches, go all out in promoting your book. And when the last event is over (New Year's), you can still take advantage of the post-holiday season. This time, send messages about how they can read more starting in this new year, and so on.

While you might have to make some changes to your plans over time, marking these dates in your calendar will keep you mindful and on course throughout the holiday season.

Final Words: ‘Tis the Season to Boost Your Sales

As you start hearing Christmas carols and seeing decorations around you, it will also start to feel like time is flying by so fast. So if you want to make the most of this holiday season, you should create a plan as early as now.

In this article, you have learned so many tips and now, all you have to do is work on applying the knowledge you gained. Good luck!

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