Fourteen Tips To Increase E-Book Sales

8. Give readers a sample.

Browsing a book's contents is another major way shoppers are converted to buyers. Free digital sample chapters are a powerful way to give millions of book shoppers a chance to browse and get to know a new book instantly.

9. Measure and analyze your digital marketing efforts.

Another great advantage of digital e-book marketing is the resulting information that shows exactly what's working, and what isn't. Through Google Analytics or other measurement tools, publishers can quickly learn if a book's title and cover message are irresistible enough to "click," or if the jacket copy is successfully converting browsers to buyers.

10. Earn personal 
recommendations.

A large enough initial group of people have to first read and love a book before there are enough recommenders to make a difference in the book's later sales. Personal recommendations are earned, not created. Before that can happen, the book has to be discovered, interesting enough to buy, and a strong enough read that the reader will be moved to want to share it and recommend it. Make sure that those who are most likely to respond to a given book's topic or story have every chance to discover and read it. BB

Peter Hildick-Smith is president of Codex-Group, a book audience research firm.