Ways for Indie Authors to Stand Out

Indie Authors need to focus on marketing, their book description, and book bloggers/ reviewers to help them stand out

Having embarked on the journey of self-publishing is considered a huge accomplishment.

But now the question is — I’m an Indie Author in a crowded market, how do I stand out in a sea of books?

Based upon a total annual number of 4 million books published each year, it can be estimated that almost 11,000 books are published daily.

This works out to around 457 titles an hour and 8 titles a minute.

Source: WORDSTRATED

Looking at these numbers is enough for many people to throw in the towel and feel as if their book will be lost in a millisecond.

But — there are some ways to help your book stand out.

Marketing

Marketing is more than you yelling at the top of your lungs ‘BUY MY BOOK!’

Marketing is about knowing who your target audience is as well as when and where to find them.

Effectively reaching your book’s target audience hinges on understanding where and when to connect with them. Consider this: if your ideal readers fall within the age range of 25 to 35, chances are they frequent various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest. To pinpoint the optimal times for engagement, experiment by posting content and analyzing when it garners the highest level of interaction.

But what types of marketing content should you be sharing with this target audience you may ask?

Well, first and foremost, the idea is to sell your book, so use it as a tool:

• Share quotes from your book accompanied by your book cover

• Share early reviews from alpha and beta readers

• Do cover, location, character, and description reveals on social media

• Test your covers with your audience and see how they respond

• Talk about your writing process

• Read a small excerpt (Too long and it could lose viewers. Think of your audience to have a 30-second attention span)

• Share books that compare to yours to give your audience a feel for it

• Once the book is released, share the reviews you gather

Marketing is more than asking people to purchase your book with a link to where to buy it. It’s about helping them see why they will love your book and making them want to buy it.

Book Description

In addition to the cover of the book, the description is the second thing that piques the reader’s interest.

As difficult as it is, you need to condense everything you have written into 350 words or so of a description that will make the reader want to read it. The good news is that it is achievable.

Just remember to:

• Have a hook at the beginning

• Break the description down into smaller chunks to make it easier to read

• If you can, include quotes from reviewers in bold text at the bottom of the description so readers can see them without searching through the reviews

Now, not all platforms offer this option, but Amazon offers a special section that can prove an advantage to authors.

Amazon’s A+ feature allows authors to place extra information on the book’s page which will hopefully increase the chances of a reader purchasing your book. Amazon provides a variety of templates to choose from, providing authors with the image sizes and text boxes to create your desired content.

Some authors will use the following for their A+ content:

• Character spotlights

• Memorable quotes

• Early reviews

• Spotlights of some of the illustrations from the book

By adding these special content features, readers know what to expect from the work and possibly be swayed towards purchasing as a result.

See What to Know About A+ Content on Amazon for more information.

Book Bloggers / Reviewers

Book bloggers/reviewers are some powerful people when you think about it.

They read tons of books a year, leave reviews and as their audience grows become a huge influence on readers as to whether they should or shouldn’t buy a book. And if you take the time to show you value their content, and their audience, and establish a relationship, you could snag a review from them.

And trust me. If your book manages to snag a review from one of these book bloggers/ reviewers, your book appears to be on a next-level status.

Taking the time to research who would be a good fit to read your book is essential. And this can be done by reading through their reviews and reviewing policy statements. Believe it or not, too many authors don’t do this.

You can learn a lot about the reviewer this way.

Comb through their website to see what all they have to offer readers and authors. You can see who they affiliate with and find out where else they are through social media. Taking the time to do this will benefit you.

Now that you have a solid base of research completed for your book blogger, here are some ways to build a relationship with them.

Commenting on reviews: For the reviews that really resonate with you, take the time to comment on them. Doing so will show you value their opinion and how much effort you made.

Interact on Social Media: Making the effort to interact with them on social media speaks volumes. This means more than a simple comment. This means making conversation and showing your interest in what they have to say.

Do Your Part: Sharing their reviews and their site helps a ton. It helps your readers find your future reviews and new books. It helps the blogger widen their audience to a new pool of readers as well.

When you are checking around these blogger’s websites, be sure to see what they have to say about promotions and blog tours as this is useful information for later on.

See more on this with Tips and Tricks to Know When Submitting a Review Request to Book Bloggers.

As an Indie Author, you will come to realize that sometimes you are required to think outside of the box in order to get your book the recognition it deserves.

Don’t be afraid to take a leap:

• See if your local library will add your book to their collection

• See if your book fits with any local events and if you can be a vendor

• Are there any blogs or podcasts looking to interview new authors?

• Can you talk with other authors in your genre about trending topics/ what each of you writes/ and more and then post it on YouTube?

• Use Free Little Libraries to your advantage! Yes, you need to pay for a paperback, but you could earn a new reader this way.

Sometimes, helping your book get recognized means stepping out of your comfort zone and helping it shine.