Author Publishing Tips

The Secret Of Viral Book Sales

Why do some books go viral while the vast majority fall flat? You might think it’s about advertising. You might think it’s about having a great book or an original idea that inflames the imagination of its readers, or you might think it’s luck. Yet what is indisputable is how word of mouth and social influence increasingly combines to drive people to talk about and share the books they have read.

With every passing day, social media quickens the pace at which information is diffused. There was a time you used to have to share with one person who shared it with someone else but now with the click of a button, you can share your favourite read with thousands of virtual friends through the power of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and many more emerging microsites.

As an author set upon the road to literary success there has never been a better time for self-promotion, nor a larger number of would-be publishing gurus willing to share the secrets of their success. In many cases, they represent the dark underbelly of self-publishing. Not all of them, there are some genuine trailblazers out there like Guy Kawasaki and the likes of Jonah Berger, but when faced with the cold hard reality of book marketing it is very easy to be beguiled by someone selling the answers you are seeking. The answers to questions you most likely never knew to ask whilst writing your book, but became ever so important once you broke into print. In short, how to promote and publicize your book and in doing so create the foundations for viral sales.

You can always tell who these amazingly insightful people are because they are all selling success. You just buy their book, follow their advice and you can achieve meteoric books sales with just a few hours work! The reality is that the only people who see a significant spike in their book sales are the authors of these books, who to their credit have realised how difficult it is to make a living out of writing fiction. They prey on your dreams of “becoming a bestselling author” and even though that voice at the back of your mind is begging for a reality check, you buy because you need what they are selling. Our favourites are those ‘gurus’ who tell you how to sell millions of ebooks when a quick look at their sales rankings on Amazon reveals the true and often paltry scope of their abilities. These are the same characters you will find on Twitter and Facebook claiming they can get you thousands of real followers and likes when they only have a handful themselves. In short, charlatans abound in the world of self-publishing. You may get lucky and find a short cut to the top, but with some 90% of self-published authors only ever selling a handful of their books, the odds are against you finding instant success in a book of secrets sold for 99 cents!

Despite what mass media might have us believe, there is no such thing as an overnight success. There is simply the point at which all your hard work becomes widely recognised and often that point is many years in the making. Success as an author is not about quick wins, it is about building a solid and diverse foundation upon which to build a successful author platform. It acknowledges the role of luck in conquering the odds to achieve success as a writer but stacks the odds in your favour by ensuring you have done everything possible to position your book to go viral.

There is an old adage that all writers should have emblazoned on their hearts – Publicize or Perish. Seasoned authors understand the truth of these words and combined with the art of promotion they form the singular formula for success and the foundation upon which your book is most likely to go viral. To an author, it is as important as E = MC2. It isn’t a mathematical formula, but a powerful aide-memoire:-

 P + P = BV2 P(Promotion) + P(Publicity)  = BV2 (Book Virility)

It’s so simple. Promote your book so that people are aware of it. Promote it to the right people and you gain publicity as news of your book spreads by word of mouth. Gain enough publicity at the right level and there is a real possibility your book will go viral. You can dress this succinct summary up in a thousand different ways and add fancy-sounding theories, but the bones of the facts still remain.

Let us know your thoughts and recommend a book for us to feature in one of our spotlights by clicking on COMMENTS below.

The Millennium Book Award

Trusted Book Reviews

We work with both traditionally published and “indie” authors who have self or independently published books and our mission is simple. It’s to discover new and talented authors and help them give their work the attention and awareness it deserves. We do this by providing professional and credible reviews which are respected by our readers. Our primary focus is on fiction across all genres, non – fiction with broad appeal and selected poetry.

  • Over 8000 Book Reviews And Counting
  • All Book Genres Reviewed
  • Books Reviewed In 14 Days Or Less
  • The Only Book Review Site To Offer A Book Review Guarantee

Celtic Knot A Clara Swift Tale

1868 Ottawa

D’Arcy McGee is assassinated. As John A. Macdonald cradles his friend’s bloody head, he blames transplanted Irish terrorists: the Fenian Brotherhood.

Read More »
Covid Satire

The Road To COVID-30

In the midst of a pandemic where every political pronouncement and any news update relating to Covid 19 is endlessly scrutinized, The Road To COVID-30: Self-Help Satire For The Soul proves cuttingly allegorical and refreshingly uplifting.

Read More »
Arthurian Fantasy Fiction Novels

Arthurian Fantasy Fiction Novels

The term epic has become too freely used in respect of Arthurian Fantasy Fiction but in the case of Godfrey’s Crusade it’s more than warranted with Mark Howard delivering the kind of rousing, large-scale adventure that marks the best sword and sorcery epics.

Read More »

Publishing Tips For Authors & Recommended Book Reviews

Books on Philosophical Movements
Book Reviews
Editorial Team

Books on Philosophical Movements

In a mind-bending investigation into the nature of reality, Tom Arant invites his readers to dive headlong into the proverbial rabbit hole with arguments that are intellectually rigorous and worryingly convincing!

Read More »
Book Reviews
Editorial Team

Crime Romance Thriller

Moore appreciates the value of having fun with a plot, turning its clichés into fresh experiences and infusing energy into the margins of what might otherwise have been a predictable story and on this level, Explosive Forces works great as both unconventional crime thriller and offbeat romance.

Read More »
Dystopian Science Fiction Thriller
Book Reviews
Editorial Team

Dystopian Science Fiction Thriller

It’s rare that a novel leaves you glued to your seat, wanting to read it again, but Like Shadows in the Night is certainly one of them as Armon Mikal delivers a unique and cleverly conceptualised Dystopian Science Fiction Thriller.

Read More »

Book Reviews That Readers Trust.

From humble beginnings in 2002 as a book review club BookViral has grown to become the first choice in book reviews for authors around the world and one of the biggest book review sites on the web. BookViral reaches millions of potential readers through best practice SEO and a trusted social media presence ensuring readers get unbiased, critical recommendations they can trust. 

BookViral also offers a full suite of author services, including, book editing services for unpublished and self-published authors, website design and bespoke SEO that help authors get discovered by more potential readers as well as industry influencers, such as publishers, agents and film executives. 

© Copyright 2019 BookViral Reviews. All Rights Reserved.
https://bookviralreviews.com/author-publishing-tips/the-secret-of-viral-book-sales/
bookviralreviews.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2022-40
87046
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:XGM46XRKQRWJVMKJGQS6S4E3LXUNC7QT
<urn:uuid:33ae56ed-e131-4c78-8f95-76f216c4107c>
2022-09-26T03:06:09Z
35.214.96.210
text/html
sha1:MW7ZWNGVGC4JIEZWRPJ2GEUPDCOAV64C
<urn:uuid:892c32f3-1ed6-46c3-b49b-7f7beadf4787>
https://bookviralreviews.com/author-publishing-tips/the-secret-of-viral-book-sales/
response
<urn:uuid:26aa52fe-50b7-4836-ab8e-de20ca75aba2>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2022-40
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for September/October 2022
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-28
software: Apache Nutch 1.19 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.4-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/