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Most Important Marketing Strategy For Book Sales is Your Book's Cover

I'm currently doing a marketing course and it finally dawned on me that there's no need to stress about having an author brand. I realised the way to look at book sales and getting readers, is to come at book marketing from my own perspective. And what's the first thing I do when looking for a new audiobook to listen to?

I see the book's cover. I might not even see the title at first. The cover as a whole will stand out with the right typography and imagery. It all needs to blend and strike out at a potential reader at very first glance. Like love at first sight, but with books. Think about it. When you make eye contact with a stranger you become intrigued as to why they strike you so suddenly, that you want to know more. Of course, with strangers you're not really going to find out more, especially not out on a daily run or walk, but when you see an enticing cover, you're already hooked on finding out more about the book, and you most certainly can.

So you look at the cover some more and decide the title is hella interesting. You think to yourself, "wow! A book with a cover like that must have a great story within." 

Which brings me to the next most important thing in grabbing a readers attention onto your book.

The description. The blurb. What your book is about. This has got to be enticing. However, I actually prefer to read as little as possible of book descriptions. I feel sometimes it can lead to expecting certain things to transpire while I'm reading a book, and that can be frustrating. So obviously don't lie in your book description, just for attention. You just need to get across what your book is about in an exciting and gripping a way as possible.

In conclusion book covers are seriously the biggest grab. Occassionally I read books that someone else has recommended to me, but that's rare. I always go onto Audible and search for myself. There are a lot of great audiobook covers out there. I get duped, a lot. Judging a book by it's cover truly isn't the truth of what's inside, but it snagged my attention right off the bat. And of course if your book is as good as your description says it is, then you'll win with the reader who bought it and loved it enough to leave a glowing review.

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