How to Become a Bestselling Author Get on a Bestseller List

How to Become a Bestselling Author Get on a Bestseller List How to Become a Bestselling Author Get on a Bestseller List We know its your dream.Its almost every authors dreamto become a bestselling author- to have your name on a list indicating that people wanted to buy your book more than all the other books.It sounds great, right? But theres more to becoming a bestselling author than simply writing and publishing a book.There are steps you need to take both when writing your book and during the publishing process that will make the difference between landing yourself on a bestseller list and hardly selling books.As a bestselling author of 6 books, Ive got some tips to help you become one, too.Heres how to become a bestselling author:Decide which Bestseller list you want to be onWrite an amazing bookBuild your author platformMarket your book ASAPDecide between traditional or self-publishingBuild a launch teamCreate a strong launch planBecome a bestselling authorNOTE: We cover everything in this blog post and much more about the writing, marketing, and publishing process in our VIP Self-Publishing Prog ram- where we teach our students to become Amazon bestselling authors in 90 days!Learn more about it hereWhat is a bestseller list?A bestseller list is created by different publications indicating and recognizing the top selling books of a given time period in any given number of places.I think youve all heard of the New York Times Bestsellers list. This is by far the most popular list, but there are many other types of bestseller lists out there today.Types of bestseller listsNot all besteller lists are the same. Like I mentioned above, the New York Times Bestsellers list is among the most popular, but any publication can craft their own version of a bestseller list.And that means you, as an author, have more opportunitites than just one to become a bestselling author.After all, the term is bestselling author not just New York Times bestselling author.These are the most popular bestseller lists you can land on:New York Times Bestsellers ListPublishers Weekly Bestsellers ListAmazon Bestsellers ListUSA Today Bestsellers ListThe Wallstreet Journal Bestseller ListAre bestseller lists a lie?I cant continue with this blog post without touching on the controversary surrounding bestseller lists- espeically the New York Times bestseller list (but all of them are like this).Most of the bestseller lists you know about or hear about arent exactly all theyre cracked up to be.Ill explainWhen we hear or see the term bestseller list we automatically think that it encompasses all the books who had the most sales.Thats what best seller technically translates to.Theres only one problem.Bestseller lists (like the New York Times bestseller list) choose their own criteria for what constitutes a best seller and they dont only rely on book sales.For example, most lists only take into account the number of book sales in a very specific time period and from very specific places- and most of them dont count online book sales the same as in-store sales.What does this mean for you and yo ur desire to be on a bestseller list?While bestseller lists arent exactly a lie, they dont paint the whole picture. Someone who sells a lot of books right at launch and then nothing for a while can still make the New York Times bestseller listeven though they might sell far fewer books than someone else who just didnt have as many sales at once.Essentially, it means that becoming a New York Times bestseller is a great goal to have, but it doesnt mean that your book is any better than the millions of others out there.That being said, many of us love the title of becoming a bestseller, so Im here to walk you through how to do that in the way that makes the most sense for you.Benefits of being a bestselling authorEven if most of the popular bestseller lists arent necessarily fair, there are still some perks to becoming a bestselling author.Here are some benefits of landing your name on a bestseller list:The title. Theres really nothing that has quite as satisfying of a ring to it as be stselling author does. It makes you feel good and rightfully so! Its an accomplishment no matter how it happened and the confidence boost alone is enough of a reason to work hard to reach that goal.The credibility. People just take bestselling authors more seriously. Because theres some sort of proof that your book sold more, people think that means its better. When they feel that way about you being a bestselling author, theyre far more likely to respect you, your book, and anything else you put in front of them- like a business.It helps you sell more books. Just like I mentioned above, being a bestselling author increases credibility. That means people will buy your book simply because it has that title- even if theyre not quite sure who you are or whats in your book. Its a simple way to increase your book sales.Its easier to sell future books. Once you hit bestseller status once, you can then add that title to your future books. Because of the same reason I mentioned in the point above, people are more likely to buy your book because the public perceived a bestseller status as an indicator of a good book.You can charge more for non-author gigs. This includes if you want to be a speaker or any other side business connected to your book. Because you have that bestseller status, you can charge more.How to become a bestselling authorIf your heart is set on becoming a bestselling author and reaping all the rewards associated with it, we can help you get thereNo matter if you want to become a New York Times bestselling author or an Amazon bestselling author, weve got you covered.#1 Decide which bestseller list you want to get onThis will ultimately define which path you follow to get published.Our list above details a couple bestseller lists you can aim to get on, or you can shoot for all of them if youre really ambitious.Here at Self-Publishing School, we teach our students how to excel in becoming Amazon bestselling authors in order to gain authority, increase your books rankings on the #1 platform for book sales in the world, and ultimately, sell more of their books.Its up to you to determine if you want to get on one, two, or even all of the bestseller lists available.#2 Write an amazing bookObviously, your book is important. While there is a lot of strategy involved in becoming a bestselling author, you do have to write a book worthy of selling.Heres how you can write an amazing book:Decide if you want to write fiction or nonfiction. Both types of books can land on their respective bestseller list. This is a fairly easy decision- just go with the first idea you have.Come up with a book idea. This can be made a lot easier with a list of writing prompts like this one right here. Remember that you have to be passionate about your book because if youre not, your readers will be able to tell. No bestseller banner will save you from negative reviews.Outline your book. One of the best ways Ive learned how to write a good book is to outline it. When you know where youre going, everything in between is easier to write, and that means you can focus on writing with quality.Write your book. It may take time, but if you follow our process for writing a quality book, you will be proud to have it out into the world. Keep our tips in mind throughout the process and youll write a better book, faster. #3 Build an author platformThis should happen before you write your book- or during it, if you just decided you want to become an author at all, let alone a bestselling author.What is an author platform?Your platform is your audience. In order to sell your book and on a consistent basis (which is key if you want to be a full-time author), people need to:know you exist andthat youre writing books for them to read.In order to do this, you have to be present on social media, have an author website, and market yourself as an author regularly.Where you spend your most time and how you go about that marketing will depend on what type o f book youre writing and who your audience.As an example, if your intended audience is an older generation between the ages of 45-60, theyre more likely to be on Facebook than other social platforms simply because those are Facebooks deomgraphics.Here are the demographics for social platforms so you can determine where youll focus your efforts:Facebook: 54% female, 46% male, 65% between 50-64 years oldTwitter: 24% women, 23% men, 40% between 18-29 years oldInstagram: 39% women, 30% men, 72% between 13-17 years oldPinterest: 41% women, 16% men, 34% between 40-49 years oldUsing these numbers, you can get a better idea of where you should start building up your author platform first.#4 Market your book NOWYes, before its even done.If you start on your author platform like I mentioned above, you can start marketing by simply creating social posts, videos, and more content related to your book and its contents.Here are some ideas for marketing your book before its done:Create social pos ts with tips and tricks related to your books contentsUpdate your followers on your books progressTalk about the process of writing a bookVoice your challenges with the writing or content itselfCreate countdown posts when it gets closer to time to launchEngage with your followers by asking them to comment below- and then have conversations with themReach out for interviews about you and your bookWe have more tips for marketing your book right here that will help you grow your following and get your books name out here.#5 Decide to pursue self-publishing or traditional publishingThis is where your earlier decision of which bestseller list you want to be on comes into play.If your goal is to become a New York Times bestselling author (which isnt all its cracked up to be, but you do you), youll have to go the traditional publishing route and commit to spending a couple years mostly waiting. However, if you want to become an Amazon bestselling author, that achievement is right around t he corner.Ultimately, you have to decide which is best for you, traditional or self-publishing?Here are some of the main differences to help you decide:What You GetSelf-PublishingTraditional PublishingSole control of your book's outcomeâÅ"“XSole control of your book's rightsâÅ"“XControl over the storyâÅ"“XControl over the coverâÅ"“X100% of royaltiesâÅ"“XEditing includedXâÅ"“Cover designXâÅ"“MarketingXXDeadlinesXâÅ"“#6 Build a large launch teamAnd make it a good one.If your goal is to hit bestseller numbers on the first week of your launch, you need a large and dedicated launch team to help make it happen.What is a launch team?A launch team is a group of people dedicated to helping you launch your book. They read it, review it on Amazon and other platforms, and participate in promotional activities.Heres what to look for in a good launch team:Theyre actually interested in your book.Theyre motivated and enthusiasticThey participate in promotional tacticsThey o ffer new promotional methodsThey have a moderate sized audience of their ownTheyve been on a launch team beforeYour launch team will be an integral part of whether or not you become a bestselling author- keep that in mind when recruiting volunteers.#7 Create a solid launch planWe have a very specific process for launching your book to become an Amazon bestseller.These tactics may not work for if you want to be a NYTs Bestseller. But they will get you that coveted orange #1 Bestseller banner on Amazon, which has relatively the same perks.Heres the launch plan we recommend (and you can read the full method right here):Price your book for maximum salesHost a soft launch and nail down your complete launch strategyGet book reviews from your launch teamReach out to book promotion sites for both paid and free promoStick to a minimalistic launch planAgain, our full book launch guide can be found right here for you to set up your book launch on Amazon in order to become a bestseller.#8 Beco me a bestsellerIf only it was that simple.This last step should really be something along the lines of mess up, try again, try it all over again, and then hope and pray, and try again instead of become a bestseller.Because thats what it usually takes:Luck, the right marketing, the best launch team, and a lot of hope.But if you have a system that is proven to make you an Amazon bestseller, then its almost guaranteed.NOTE: We cover everything in this blog post and much more about the writing, marketing, and publishing process in our VIP Self-Publishing Program- where we teach our students to become Amazon bestselling authors in 90 days!Learn more about it hereHow many books do you have to sell to become a bestselling author?There is no set specific number of book sales needed in order to become a bestselling author. After all, it depends on how many books other authors are selling at the same time.And it also depends on the rules and criteria of that specific bestseller list.Heres a g uideline you can follow when it comes to other lists: New York Times Bestseller list: 9,000 copiesThe Wall Street Journal Bestseller list: 3,000 booksAmazon Bestseller list: this number depends on current numbers being sold in the categories you listed your book inUltimately, we here at Self-Publishing School believe becoming an Amazon bestseller is not only the most attainable goal of becoming a bestseller author, but it also grants the same rewards as the others.How to become a bestselling author in the next 90 daysIts true! We help our students become Amazon bestselling authors within 90 days.Check this out if youre curious as to how.