This is the first part of a four-part series on creating enhanced visibility for your ebook through a variety of easy and cost-effective measures, thereby helping you increase sales in 2014. Consider this our list of New Year’s resolutions that every indie author should make for the coming year.
In part one of this series, we will discuss the benefits of using SEO to improve your visibility; in the second part, we will offer pointers that will help you create a better author bio. In part three, we’ll focus on building a better website to showcase your ebook, and in our final part, we’ll talk about tools and tips that can help get your ebook noticed.
Improving the visibility of your ebook all starts with being searchable. Think about a physical bookstore. When someone walks into a bookstore, all of the books are separated, first by fiction and non-fiction, next by genre or subject, then by sub-category and finally by author. As you create a description for your ebook, keep these distinctions in mind. Identify your book as fiction or non-fiction in the description, as well as by genre (perhaps mystery, historical romance, how-to or self-help) and then by subject (for instance: wizardry, French revolution, cooking or surviving divorce).
Use the words in your description that people would use when searching for answers. In other words, answer questions. If you’ve written a fictional account of Harry Potter’s life following his marriage to Ginny Weasley, ask and answer the question, “What is Harry Potter’s life like now that he’s grown up and married to Ginny Weasley?” Don’t give it all away; tempt your readers.
