Assuming there is enough interest in your book, you now probably want to know:

How Do I Write My Book if I’m Short on Time?

First, let us talk about how much time it takes. A book that is 120-150 pages in book format is about 55-70 pages in a Word document or Google Doc. Why? Because a Word document/Google Doc is 8.5 x 11, and a book is usually 6 x 9. Furthermore, you write in text, but books typically have illustrations.

You do not need to write 120-150 pages to have a book of that size. You need to write 55-70 pages.

If you only write one page per day, you can have your book in about two months. If you wrote two pages per day, you can have your book in one month.

Second, people speak much faster than they write. If the intention is for the book to have a conversational tone, you could use the talk-to-text feature. You may need to hire an editor to finesse it a bit, but if you used talk-to-text and you spoke for 30 minutes daily, you could have your book done in about 1-3 weeks.

Selecting the Perfect Title           

The title might be the single most crucial element when it comes to being a bestseller. Yes, more important than the content itself. After all, if someone is browsing your book on Amazon, they cannot see the content. The title and cover (and a few other elements) entice them to buy the book.

How do you take the guesswork out of selecting the title?

There are two ways:

1. Use Amazon’s auto fill feature. That is, start typing a search term or topic. And see what options it suggests. These are topics that people directly search on Amazon. Include certain words from the auto fill suggestions in your title or subtitle.
2. Think of 3-5 different titles, and have the people who responded “yes” in your Google Form vote on their favourite. This way, you are getting feedback straight from prospective buyers, directly telling you what title they are more likely to buy.

How Many Sales to be a Bestseller

How do you become a bestseller? It is in the name – bestseller. You become a bestseller by outselling every other book in that category on that day.

There are two elements to it:

• Category selection
• Timing – making all your sales in a narrow period of time

On Amazon, every book goes under a specific category. And the narrower the category, the fewer sales you need to become a bestselling author. For instance, my book, High Blood Pressure Reversal Secrets, could go under the broad category of books > health, fitness & dieting. But I would need fewer sales if it went under the narrower category of books > health, fitness & dieting > diets and weight loss > heart disease.

Furthermore, you need much fewer sales to hit the bestseller status if you publish on Amazon.ca vs. Amazon.com. Amazon.com is the most competitive marketplace.

Ultimately, “How many sales do I need to make to hit the bestseller status?” is not a single number but fluctuates based on the category and the day. In fitness and nutrition, you need between 3 and 10 sales in 1 day to hit the bestseller status on Amazon.ca.

How to Make Those Sales

Now that you have a ballpark of how many sales you need in one day, how do you make those sales?

Here is an outline of a launch plan:

Step 1: On Amazon, select the lowest possible price they will allow. This lower price will only be for the first week, before you increase it to the regular price.

Step 2: Send an email to the folks who responded to your Google Forms survey and said they would be interested in buying your book once it is published. On the day the book is published, let them know it is published and discounted by X% off the regular price until the deadline.

To encourage sales even more, let them know if you are willing to offer additional bonuses if they purchase before the deadline. Some examples would be free consultations, swag, gym memberships, and small portable equipment (bands, balls, etc.).

Step 3: On the last day of the promo, send another email informing them that it is the last day to get the book at the discounted price, and the bonuses go away after that day.