I publish and sell books for living, so this question is always at the top of my mind. Over the years, I’ve observed a few key factors that directly influence book sales and it is information that I want all of the authors I work with to understand. Ranked in order of importance they are:

1. AUTHOR
   • If you are a name author with a big following, your books will sell just because you wrote them. Stephen King can put his name on anything and it will sell because he already has a huge fan base. Likewise, any other well known name will likely experience some of this benefit. Familiarity with the author is still the #1 thing that will influence a book sale. Readers love to follow authors (not just individual books). And if you are already well liked by a lot of people, you will probably have an easier time selling them on your book. If you haven’t developed your reputation as an author enough that you are a household name like King yet, you can still focus on growing your personal platform through the use of social media and by becoming known within the communities of people that you are trying to attract as readers.
2. BLURBS FROM ROCKSTAR AUTHORS
   • If you get a blurb from an author who has such an obsessed following that the author is basically treated like a rockstar or major celebrity, then you’ll attract a lot of readers no matter what your book is about. This is because these obsessed fans can’t get enough of this author’s work and are constantly searching for similar authors out there. Of course, your work has to appeal to that author’s readership for this to work.
3. TITLE
   • The first thing a reader sees when they discover your book is the title, whether they are seeing the spine on the bookstore shelf or seeing it in an online bookstore search. A catchy, interesting title that stands out on the shelves is a sure way to grab a reader’s attention.
4. COVER
   • They say that you shouldn’t judge books by their covers. But ask any bookstore employee or librarian and they will tell you that many readers buy books based solely on the covers. A really good cover could make your career.
5. DESCRIPTION
   • If the concept of your book is interesting enough, then people will buy the book on the description alone. But the concept must be presented in a way that appeals to the target audience. Descriptions are what make or break a deal for potential readers. If you have a good title, good blurbs and a good cover, you could blow it all with a bad (confusing or unappealing) book description.
6. OTHER BLURBS AND BUZZ
   • Blurbs and buzz by non-rockstar authors, other celebrities, and influencers can help with selling a book, especially if the content of the blurb or review is appealing to certain readers. However, this type of attention won’t sell the book unless the reader is already at least somewhat interested in one or more of the above.
7. THE ACTUAL BOOK
   • The least likely thing to actually sell a book is the book itself. It could be brilliantly written, but if people aren’t grabbed by the title, cover, and/or the description, they’ll probably never read a single word from the book to find that out. However, if people do read a sample of your book after having their interest piqued by the other factors, this might seal the deal for them. (The opening lines being the most important ones). And if the book is good, readers might recommend it to others or buy another one of your books.

The good news is that most of these things are within the control of the author and the publisher, so addressing them before you release a book will put you on a path towards success. All of these factor heavily into the decisions I make when publishing books on Eraserhead Press. I focus on making sure the books I publish have beautifully designed covers and appealing descriptions. And on multiple occasions, I’ve asked authors to change the title of their book to make it stand out to the right readers. Getting blurbs and reviews that impact an audience can be a little more difficult to control, because it relies on other people’s high opinions of the work. The opinion game is played on volume, the key is getting lots of eyes on the work. So whenever possible, I put books into the hands of influential people who might enjoy them. And of course, selecting brilliantly written books by talented authors is fundamental.

I’ll say as one final note, something you may notice that all of these factors have in common is a basis in understanding who the audience is for the book. Understanding your audience is actually the real answer to what sells a book, because that’s what drives all other decisions. Even the decision of what book to write. And there are many pathways to gaining a good grasp on who your audience is pre-publication, but that will need to be something I talk about in another article!