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Why are your book sales low? 13 biggest reasons!

Any writer, especially a newly published writer, can suffer from low book sales.

While there is no precise and definite reason for that, it is usually a combination of a few issues that result in low sales. So today, we shall introduce you to some of the biggest reasons for which your book may suffer from low sales figures.

By understanding the causes, you can take steps to correct the problems and improve the sales figures in the future.

Table of Contents

Why aren’t people buying your books?

Here are some probable causes:

1. You rushed it

New writers should never rush to publish their books. There is a severe lack of quality between a well-written book and one that was rushed. So never rush anything. Take your time, research, study the market, and get to know your audience.

Remember that, at the end of the day, you want to publish something you are proud of, so take your time!

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2. Poorly designed website

People these days have very short attention spans. With countless options, any sort of minor flaw or discomfort is enough to drive them away in an instant. So it is crucial to have a well-decorated and functional website.

A poorly built website may be a reason for your low sales. Whether it’s the aesthetics, functionality, or both, you should look into it and fix it asap!

3. Misleading cover

The cover of a book is the first thing a person sees and notices. Regardless of the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” people these days do exactly that!

If your cover is poorly designed or not related to its contents, people are more likely to skip over your book and choose another one over yours.

4. Too many free handouts

Giving away some of your books can be an effective way to get people hooked on your books. But, at the same time, it is a double-edged sword. Why? Your creative output loses its value when you hand out books for free, whether in physical or digital format.

For instance, people may take your free books just because they are free and end up not reading them. People tend to get greedy and take things for free and later end up throwing free stuff in a corner for years without even using the product.

On the other hand, when someone buys something, they will find a way to use that product because they spent their hard-earned money on it. So never give out too many books for free.

5. Wrong marketing

The marketing game is constantly changing. Proper marketing is crucial for any business. It could be that your marketing efforts were in the wrong place.

So it is wise always to consult a professional when developing marketing plans for your products.

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6. Miscalculated audience

This is a very common mistake that authors make, even experienced ones. Before you start writing your book, you must do proper research. And knowing your audience is of paramount importance here. You likely miscalculated your intended audience if you didn’t do adequate research.

7. Your blogs are too personal

While sharing your life and personal details with your audience can effectively create a deep bond between author and reader, it can also backfire. There is a thing called TMI or Too Much Information, which means to provide unwanted or unnecessary information.

Writers and authors often become self-obsessed; they start sharing too much about themselves and run a personal diary instead of a blog. This can be offputting to new visitors, which may result in low sales.

8. Misguided branding

Improper and misguided branding will cause a lot of problems in any business. Often, new and inexperienced writers get the wrong notion and advice to brand themselves, which often misfires.

Instead of focusing on what the readers want, writers often focus on less important and irrelevant things.

Remember, you are your brand. Instead of creating new branding strategies, focus on yourself and your readers; the branding will happen naturally.

9. No one knows you

This is a problem new and aspiring writers and authors face. Regardless of how many people know you in real life, the entire world becomes your potential customers when selling a product. So even knowing thousands of people is not always enough.

Proper advertisement and promotion are crucial here as those are effective ways to make yourself known to the world. You have no idea the power a properly made advertisement holds.

With the increasing use of social media worldwide and countless platforms, it is both an easy and difficult task simultaneously. So never stop promoting and advertising because one viral advertisement or promotion can make or break your business.

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10. The book isn’t unique

One thing writers and authors need to consider is they are not alone. Even if you think you came up with a unique topic to write about, chances are countless others have already thought of that exact thing and have written about that topic.

So again, prior research is vital here. Before deciding on writing on anything, you must conduct in-depth research on the existing market. And after collecting enough data, you need to come up with something that others didn’t write about.

Always try to add value to your writings, talk about things others don’t discuss, and include things others are too scared to include in their writing. Because if you are not unique, readers won’t have any reason or incentive to choose your book over other books on the same topic in the market.

11. It’s too expensive

Another common mistake new authors and publishers make is pricing their books too high. This can discourage some people from buying your book.

If you are a new writer or publisher, please do not mark up the price of your books too high. Because since you are new, potential customers would be discouraged from investing their money in you because they don’t know your work well enough.

Experienced and popular writers and publishers can mark their prices high and still get away with it because they already have a dedicated customer base and reputation.

12. You have no reviews

Having no reviews is one of the biggest reasons for low sales. When buying anything, conscious readers tend to look at reviews. They want to make sure that whatever they are spending money on is worth it or not. So ask your readers to post honest reviews. While you may opt for paid reviews, it too can backfire.

13. All your reviews are positive

Ideally, all writers want to have positive reviews. That being said, having too many positive reviews can be negative. “Too good to be true” is something we all believe in.

No book is perfect, as you cannot expect a book to be loved and appreciated by everyone. That is simply impossible.

Even the best books in the world have bad reviews as well. Having bad reviews can be a good thing, too, because having all positive reviews can appear fishy. So your book should have a balance between positive and negative reviews.

Final Thoughts

Now that you know the biggest reasons why your book sales are so low, I hope you were able to identify some of the mistakes you may have been making. It is okay to make mistakes; it is normal to make mistakes. But what separates a great writer from a bad one is that great writers learn from their mistakes and improve upon them!

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