If you’re an indie author, the world of information on publishing can be overwhelming. We wanted to break down some of our top tips that can help authors to increase their sales at Kobo. Whether you’re an indie veteran, or totally new to digital publishing, there’s something here for you.

Improve Your Sales on Kobo: Good Metadata Sells Books

We consider ourselves book nerds at Kobo, but we’re also data nerds. We love talking about metadata and how you can optimize your data to sell more books. You may have a series that you’ve published through KWL. If so, make sure you’ve got clean and relevant metadata in the series name field, and that you include the number. This is key, as it links your books in our system. Machines are great and all, but they still can’t recognise a typo.

If your books aren’t linked, you could be missing sales! At Kobo, if a customer is reading a book that’s part of a series, we’re going to try our darndest to get them to read the next book in that series. And without good metadata, we don’t know what that book is.

Improve Your Sales on Kobo: Gain Visibility with the KWL Promotion Tab

Did you know that Kobo Writing Life has a promotions tab that’s exclusive to KWL authors? That’s right! There’s a dedicated area for authors to submit their books to be featured in prime spots in Kobo’s store and emails. Whether it’s a free title you’d like to promote, or to be featured in Kobo’s Daily Deal, you can access all of these easily from within the KWL dashboard.

If you don’t see this tab in your account, don’t worry, it’s kind of an open secret. You don’t need to knock three times and tell us a code word, all you need to do is email the team at writinglife@kobo.com and we’ll enable it for you.

Improve Your Sales on Kobo: Reach an Audience of Listeners

Not only can you get your eBooks out there to the Kobo-verse but you can also upload your audiobooks directly. If you have a finished file that’s ready to be listened to, what are you waiting for! You can upload that book directly and see it live on Kobo within 72 hours.

On top of this, your audiobook will also be available with Kobo’s friends that also sell audiobooks. That’s our buddies at Walmart in the US, Booktopia in AU and more! We also have exclusive promotional opportunities for KWL authors that’ll boost their visibility.

Improve Your Sales on Kobo: Box Up and Bundle Your Books

An interesting fact about the Kobo customer, beside them being awesome, is that they love to buy box sets and bundles of books. If you have a long-running series, or even a duology or trilogy, consider making your books available as a box set.

And I know what you’re thinking, you don’t want to lose money by bundling. Here’s the thing: KWL doesn’t have a higher price cap, which means you earn 70% on all books that are priced over $2.99 (£1.99). If you want some tips on creating a box set cover, we’ve got some advice on do’s and don’ts here.

You also get an awesome map of all the countries your books have been bought in, like this one from my account.

Founded in 2012, Kobo Writing Life is a global DIY publishing platform that empowers authors to take their publishing career into their own hands. With Kobo Writing Life, you own your rights, set your prices and distribute your books in any country you choose. We don’t ask for any exclusivity so you are free to publish wherever else you please.

We are a small team with a big vision and we are proud of our reputation as the most author-friendly platform out there. Sign up today at www.kobo.com/writinglife.

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