1. Hit the Ebook Bestseller Lists with
Preorders
A Guide to Preorder Strategy
February 21, 2014
Mark Coker
Founder, Smashwords
Twitter: @markcoker

2. About this presentation
• What we’ll learn
• Quick intro to Smashwords
• All about ebook preorders!!!!
• What’s a preorder?
• Who should do preorders?
• How to set up a preorder
• Preorder timing
• Preorder strategies to hit the
bestseller list

3. Smashwords Backstory

4. What is Smashwords?
• FREE eBook Publishing & Distribution Platform
 Free ebook publishing platform
 Distribution to major ebook retailers and libraries
 Free learning materials help writers become
professional publishers
 Free professional publishing and merchandising tools
( i.e. preorder distribution to Apple iBooks, Barnes &
Noble and Kobo!)

5. How Smashwords Works
• UPLOAD
• Word .doc or .epub
• Instant, free ebook conversion
• Instantly for sale
• DISTRIBUTE
• Distribution to major retailers and libraries
• WRITE MORE
• Consolidate distribution through Smashwords to spend
more time writing and less time fussing with everything
else
• GET PAID
• Author earns 60-80% list

6. Smashwords Distribution Network
Upload/Update Once, Distribute Globally

7. Ebooks published at Smashwords
140
28,800
6,000
191,000
92,000
276,000

8. Smashwords Started by Providing the
Three Essential Legs of the
Professional E-Publishing Stool
Ebook
Printing
Press
Retail
Distribution
Best practices knowledge

9. Over the Last Few Years, We’ve Built
out the Fourth Leg of the Publishing
Stool: Merch and Discovery Tools
Printing Press Retail Distribution
Merchandising &
discovery tools

10. Summary of Smashwords Merch
and Discovery Tools
• Free Smashwords tools (partial list)
 Smashwords Coupon Manager
• Custom coupon codes for promotions
 Smashwords Series Manager
• Enhanced series metadata improves
series discovery
 Social media-enabled author/publisher
pages
 Smashwords Interviews
• Self-interviewing tool
 *** NEW: Smashwords Preorders! ***

11. Smashwords Dashboard Tools
The Smashwords Dashboard enables centralized metadata management and
multiple tools to assist book pricing, merchandizing, distribution, sales reporting.

12. Preorders are one of the most
powerful new indie author
merchandising tools to come along in
the last 5 years
Preorders give you an advantage
over the majority of authors who
don’t yet do preorders
I view preorders as an essential best
practice

13. Introduction to Preorders
• What’s a preorder?
 Advance book listing at major retailers
 Allows readers to reserve a copy in advance
of release date
 Customer credit card not charged until
release date
Let’s look at some preorder pages!

14. A Smashwords Preorder at B&N

15. A Smashwords Preorder at Apple

16. A Smashwords Preorder at Kobo

17. Five Preorder Benefits for Indie
Authors
1. Generate sales in advance of publication
2. Capture the reader’s order the moment you have their attention
3. Fast track to the bestseller lists
• At Apple and Kobo, all accumulated preorders credit all at once the
day the book goes onsale, which can cause the title to pop in the
bestseller lists
• Several Smashwords authors have hit #1 at Apple iBooks with the assistance of
preorders
• Placement on bestseller lists increases visibility, which increases
desirability and sales, which sparks self-reinforcing flywheel of
sales leading to more sales
1. Same-day onsale availability at multiple retailers
2. Increased merchandising opportunities
• Merchandising managers can spot big books early based on
accumulated order counts, and give them even more promotion

18. A preorder is eligible to sit on virtual
ebook store shelves dedicated to
preorders
As with the physical world, more virtual
shelf space increases visibility and sales
Preorders are merchandized alongside
your other titles
Preorders are eligible for additional
merchandising promo (if the book earns it)
Let’s look at some random iBooks
examples from February 15, 2014 …

19. Apple iBooks Merchandising (1)
Your preorder is automatically
merchandized alongside all your
other titles, making it easy for
fans to reserve a copy now,
before they forget.

20. Apple iBooks Australia Home
Page Preorder Merchandising (2)
Cool beans. Three
Smashwords
preorders featured on
iBooks homepage.
Huge! Thank you
Apple iBooks
Australia, and
congrats to
Smashwords authors
Lili Saint Germain,
Kirsty Moseley and
Amy Miles!

21. Apple iBooks U.S. “Sneak Peeks”
Preorder Merchandizing (3)
Apple’s Sneak Peeks is
an ongoing
merchandizing feature
that promotes highly
anticipated preorders
with free samples.
Samples help sell
preorders.
Preorders with strong
preorder accumulation,
awesome covers, and
from authors with good
track records and
reviews at iBooks have
the advantage. Watch
my video on
iBooks merchandizing

22. REALITY CHECK:
A preorder alone will not guarantee success.
Successful preorders require careful planning,
preparation and promotion.
Behind every successful preorder is a talented
author who writes super-fabulous books that take
readers to emotionally satisfying extremes.
These books are backed by great covers and well-implemented
best practices (See my free ebook,
The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success).
Preorders give incremental advantage. Over
time, incremental advantages, properly exploited,
add up to help you build your readership faster
than authors who don’t take advantage of these
tools.

23. Timing Preorders
• Budget preorder runway into your
publication timeline
• The more days it’s available for preorder, the more
days you have to accumulate orders
• 4-12 weeks runway recommended, though even 7
days can provide a small incremental advantage
• The math of accumulated orders (5 orders per day
for three months = 450 orders, enough to hit #1 in
many genres, and top 10 in most).
• Most big publishers release books on Tuesdays.
Release on a different day and chances of chart-topping
may increase
• Saturdays and Sundays are the biggest ebook selling days.
Consider releasing on a Friday or Saturday to leverage the
increased visibility of your sales rank. Holidays (that don’t
involve family gatherings) can be strong too.

24. Marketing and Promotion for
Preorder Success (Tip One)
• Plan an aggressive, multi-week, multi-part
marketing campaign
• Contests, chapter reveals, giveaways,
blog tours, etc.
• Unveil a different promotion or incentive each day
or week to build and sustain momentum
• Most authors do advance book launch marketing
for new releases anyway, yet without a preorder
they have no way to capture the order!
• Promote direct hyperlinks to preorder
pages
• Direct links make it easier for readers to reserve a
copy at their favorite store

25. Marketing and Promotion for
Preorder Success (Tip Two)
• Mobilize your fans as your street team
• Incentivize actions that help you spread the
word, or accumulate orders
• Offer a free Smashwords Coupon for another of
your titles to any fan who emails you their preorder
receipt
• Offer a free Smashwords Coupon to any fan who
takes an action that helps spread the word
(blogging about preorder, tweeting, etc)
• Promise to include a “Street Team
Acknowledgements” section in your final book that
names and thanks the first 100 fans who sent you
their preorder receipt, or performed the right action
• Set a deadline two weeks before the release date,
then two weeks before release click “upload new
version” to update your ebook file

26. Marketing and Promotion for
Preorder Success (Tip 3)
• Consider offering preorder customers
special pricing.
• Set a lower price during the preorder period to
incentivize fans to preorder
• If you’re planning to retail for $3.99, for example, offer
the preorder for $2.99 as a thank-you for your most
loyal fans and supporters
• Communicate that the price will increase shortly after
the book goes onsale.
• Preorder customers are guaranteed the lowest price

27. Marketing and Promotion for
Preorder Success (Tip 4)
• Use your other books to market your preorder
• Authors with multiple books have extreme advantage
here
• Advertise in the backmatter of all your books:
• “{Title X} coming {Month Day, Year}! Available now for
preorder at select retailers”
• Include free sampler in the backmatter
• A nice touch: learn how to
add navigation to your backmatter.
• Do a deep discount (free works best!) on another title to
draw readers to the preorder
• If your preorder is the #2 or later in a series, consider
pricing the series starter at FREE, if even for a couple
weeks or a month

28. Uploading Your Preorder to
Smashwords (Click “Publish”)
Uploading a
preorder to
Smashwords is
easy. Simply
choose a future
release date on
the upload page.

29. Preorder Listed at Smashwords
Note that Smashwords distributes preorders to Apple iBooks,
B&N and Kobo, but the Smashwords Store does not accept
preorders. The listing will appear as above, and the buy button
will appear on the release date.

30. Final Thoughts on Preorders
Smashwords has been doing preorders
since early 2012. We’ve helped multiple authors hit #1 on their
release day, and we hope we can help you too.
Most authors don’t yet take advantage of preorders (this is a big
mistake!). The tool is free and available today, and the strategy
knowledge (such as here in this presentation and at
http://smashwords.com/preorder), is free for the taking.
The authors who take advantage of preorders today have an
advantage over those who do not.
Some day, once all indie authors realize that a well-staged preorder
is a best practice for book launches just as great editing and great
cover design are best practices, then more will do preorders.
When everyone’s doing preorders, the unfair advantage the early
adopters now enjoy will diminish, yet the importance will increase
because those that don’t do preorders will be disadvantaged vs.
those who do.

31. Help Spread the Word
If you found this presentation useful, won’t you
please share it with a writer friend?
Facebook it
Tweet it
Download and email it
Blog about it, and use Slideshare’s “embed”
feature to insert the full presentation in your blog
post
Do a presentation on preorders at your next
writer’s group meeting (you have my permission
to use this PowerPoint)
Helpful resources and links follow…

32. Preorder Resources
How to do a preorder at Smashwords:
www.smashwords.com/preorder
Blog posts by Mark Coker on preorders and preorder strategy
Write NonFiction Now - How to Hit the Bestseller List with
Preorders
Huffington Post - eBook Preorders Help Indie Authors Hit
Bestseller Lists.
Smashwords Blog (original announcement) - Smashwords
Introduces Preorder Distribution to Apple iBooks, Barnes &
Noble and Kobo

33. Learn to e-publish like a pro with
Smashwords Tutorials at YouTube
youtube.com/user/Smashwords

34. Download Mark’s Free Ebooks to
Learn Indie Author Best Practices
• Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (best practices of
bestselling indie authors)
• Smashwords Book Marketing Guide (how to market any
book, build author platform)
• Smashwords Style Guide (how to format and publish an
ebook)
500,000 +
downloads!

35. Thanks for Your Time!
Connect with Mark Coker:
Twitter: @markcoker
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/markcoker
Facebook: facebook.com/markcoker
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+MarkCoker
Huffington Post: huffingtonpost.com/mark-coker
Connect with Smashwords:
Web: www.smashwords.com
Smashwords Blog (subscribe to receive via email):
blog.smashwords.com
Smashwords FAQ:
https://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaq