30 mins to better sales

You've got thirty minutes, right? Sure you do. We all do. Skip that sitcom and devote thirty minutes this week to your backlist. This is what you'll be doing... 

1. Visit Author Central. If you don't already have an account there, log in with your Amazon credentials and look around the site. It's a pretty cool place, even if the tech is a little 2000s in its scope. 

2. Click on the BOOKS tab and make sure that all of your books have been added.

3. Go through your each one of your books and update the... 

Description. When's the last time you looked at that description? Look specifically at the first three lines of it - that is what will be visible to readers without them having to click the 'Read more' link. Does it GRAB them? Have you gained bestseller status that you can add to the top line? Tip: Always use Author Central to update your description. It's quicker, plus you can make it look fancy through HTML if you want to.

Editorial Reviews. These are only accessible through Author Central. Here's where you want to go and grab your best one-liners from blogger reviews and put them here! If you want to get fancy, bold some of the keywords in them, to make them stand out.

From the Author. Here's where you could put a Q&A, or an advance excerpt. Be creative and think about what you might use to further SELL the reader on your book. 

4. Click on AUTHOR PAGE and make sure that your description is current, and that your blog feed (if you have one) is linked, as well as your book signings are updated. 

Granted, if you haven't done this in years, or never done it at all, it's probably going to take you longer than thirty minutes. But do this every six months, and you'll whip through it quickly, and your sales (and your brand) will be better for it!

For more marketing advice, check out my How to Market Your Book course!