Everybody’s Favourite Time of the Year!
As you may or may not know, Q4 (October, November, December) is the most lucrative time for self-publishers.
It isn’t uncommon to see royalties increase by 400% in December.
Here’s a screenshot of my royalties from December 2023. In just one month, I was able to earn just under $17,000 in royalties, which is remarkable!
Click Here – To watch the income report video for December 2023.
This isn’t a fluke; in December 2022, I earned $14,190.
In December 2021, I earned $11,727.
Hopefully, this December, I will break the $20,000 barrier. 🤞
The Reason for Increased Sales?
Almost all self-publishers look forward to Q4 and the money it can bring.
But why is Q4 so lucrative?
Because there are multiple holidays and occasions that fall in this three-month period:
- Halloween
- Diwali
- Thanksgiving
- Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- Hanukkah
- And, of course, Christmas.
Christmas alone is celebrated by 2 billion people. Because of these occasions, there is a huge increase in the volume of shoppers looking for gifts for their loved ones.
Amazon, being the biggest marketplace in the world, sees a massive increase in visitors. As sellers on Amazon, we benefit from these generous shoppers.
Some Christmas shoppers like to buy their gifts months before the big day, which is why we start to see an increase in sales from September/October.
Most will leave it until the month of December to buy their gifts.
I’m guessing most of these last-minute December shoppers are forgetful men (I’ll include myself in that category!).
So how can we leverage Q4 and maximize sales even more?
- Book Types: Certain types of low/medium content books tend to perform exceptionally well during Q4. Here are some great options to consider:
- Planners and Organizers: As the new year approaches, planners and organizers are popular gifts.
- Coloring Books: Both adult and children’s coloring books make for great holiday presents.
- Journals and Notebooks: Personalized and themed journals are always in demand.
- Puzzle Books: Sudoku, crossword puzzles, and other brain games attract a broad audience.
- Recipe Books: Holiday-themed or specific cuisine recipe books can be big sellers.
- Activity Books for Kids: These are perfect for keeping children entertained during the holidays.
2. Ramp Up Social Media Marketing and Amazon Advertising:
Increase your presence on social media and invest in Amazon advertising.
Start building your audience and generating buzz around your products. Share engaging content, run promotions, and utilize targeted ads to reach your potential customers.
3. Prepare Now:
July/August is the perfect time to prepare for Q4. Learn the self-publishing skills necessary to take advantage of the Q4 rush.
My step-by-step self-publishing success strategy program will guide you through how to perfect each part of the self-publishing process.
I made over $1,000 in royalties in December 2019, which was just three months into my self-publishing journey. It is very achievable.
The Q4 Ripple Effect
Another bonus of Q4 that no one really talks about is how it increases sales for your books into the new year.
For example, let’s say you launch a brand-new book in October.
During the Q4 madness, you get 100 sales (very possible with the strategies I teach).
From these 100 sales, you get two positive reviews. There is a rough rule that suggests you will get a review for every 50 orders.
Now, because we have two positive reviews going into the new year, our book looks more desirable to shoppers.
This helps with our natural conversion rate and also our conversion rate when running Amazon ads to this book. (shoppers love seeing good reviews).
Because of this, we can push more sales throughout the year and continue to get more reviews, etc.
So, by using Q4 as a boost, we can benefit throughout the following year too.
By the time you get to the next Q4, your book might have 20+ reviews and look even more desirable, then crush it even more during Q4.
As you can see from my December royalties above, you can see the effect of this snowball effect and the increasing royalties, year to year.
So, don’t wait until the time is right or waste time trying to figure things out on your own. There is a small window of opportunity before you will have to wait until next Q4.
Grab a slice of the Q4 pie that so many of us self-publishers love.
Here’s to your success,
Ben
