Mining the gold from the glut of useless or out-of-date information about modern book marketing can be treacherous, expensive, and time-consuming, but recently I uncovered a free motherlode. 

Last week, Jim Azevedo, Marketing Manager at Smashwords, the world's largest distributor of indie eBooks spoke at my local Sisters in Crime Coastal Cruisers chapter meeting. It was a double-barreled presentation on "Secrets of eBook Publishing Success" and "Ten Trends Impacting the Future of Publishing."  

Here’s a handful of the nuggets I gleaned.

Bestseller Secrets

• Write a great book

• Edit professionally

• Use professional cover art

Azevedo’s point in suggesting writers use professional-level work in editing and cover art is that competition is tough. Editing and cover artistry are skills that require a high level of expertise and experience. It is difficult for a prolific author to be a gifted practitioner in all these fields.

Statistical Gems

Azevedo offered statistics backing up suggestions for maximizing sales, all based on analysis of the sales performance of Smashwords 526,000 titles. 

• Series offering first books free sell well — 39% better than stand-alone titles and seven times better than series with a first book priced at 99c. 

• Pricing books is tricky. Some readers avoid free titles and 99c books while others flock to them. Smashwords recommends authors with series books offer their titles at a variety of price points. Most authors price their work at $2.99 even though those with a $4.99 price tag sell better. Books selling for $1.99 tend to underperform. Novels priced at $4.99 reach four times as many readers as those priced at $9.99 and earn about the same amount overall. (Non-fiction pricing differs. Buyers are willing to pay top dollar for books that promise to give them the information they need. Don’t underprice your non-fiction titles.)

• Avoid exclusivity (listing your book on only one platform). Azevedo says readers tend to be fans of particular platforms. If they read your first book on Kobo, that’s where they’ll look for your second title. If they can’t find it, they won’t migrate to another platform, they’ll just be annoyed. Exclusivity also limits your global reach. 

• Smashwords offers some features that aren’t available elsewhere. For example, authors who list their books on the Smashwords platform can offer discounts to newsletter subscribers. They can also sell and deliver their books to superfans before the release date. Azevedo took care to explain that these pre-sales differ from the pre-orders available on Smashwords and other platforms. 

Where to mine more gold

Whether you’re already traditionally published, self-published, or planning to publish, Smashwords marketing has much to offer authors. Including:

1. Book Marketing Guide: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/305

2. Secrets to eBook Publishing Success: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145431

3. Style Guide: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52

4. Podcast: https://www.smashwords.com/podcast

5. Online Video Workshops: https://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaq

6. Slides from Jim Azevedo’s Talk

7. Recording from Jim’s Talk to Coastal Cruisers

8.  Want Jim to talk to your writer’s group? Contact Jim at jim@smashwords.com

Note to Readers: This is not an endorsement of Smashwords, as I’ve never used their services. I was, however, very impressed by the presentation Jim Azevedo gave to my Sisters in Crime Chapter in July 2020. This is a review and summary of that presentation.