5 Reasons to Do a Pre Order on Amazon KDP

About this video

(Based on the video’s Arabic caption track.) Roberts argues that setting up a Kindle ebook preorder on Amazon KDP is, in his experience, usually a better launch strategy than publishing directly, saying he has used preorders several times with varying results but better outcomes each time than an unprepared release. He gives five reasons. First, a preorder lets the author finish producing the book completely and then focus entirely on marketing and promotion, creating buzz instead of racing to fix details at launch. Second, the extra lead time lets the author build a team of beta readers and potential reviewers and send advance copies for honest reviews before release, a process he says he details in his free report on book review secrets. Third, a preorder gives the book a head start toward Amazon’s special Hot New Releases category for top-selling books released in the last 30 days, and he says a book can even become a bestseller while still in preorder. Fourth, the countdown timer on the sales page creates urgency, especially if the preorder is offered at a discount versus the release-day price with a call to action in the description stating the release date and regular price. Fifth, there is personal satisfaction on release day: preorder purchases do not appear in the sales dashboard during the preorder period but are visible under the Preorders option in the Reports tab, so all those units appear in sales reports at once on launch day.

Key takeaways

• Roberts says his preorder launches have performed better than publishing directly with no prior preparation, even though his own results varied across uses.
• A preorder separates production from promotion: finish the book fully first, then spend the preorder period focused on marketing and building buzz.
• Use the lead time to recruit beta readers and reviewers and send advance copies for honest reviews before release day.
• A preorder can build momentum toward Amazon’s Hot New Releases category for books released in the last 30 days, and Roberts says a book can reach bestseller status while still in preorder.
• Preorder sales are tracked under the Preorders option in the KDP Reports tab, not the sales dashboard, and all appear as paid units on release day; a discounted preorder price with a countdown timer adds urgency.

Episode details: published June 15, 2017 · 5:07 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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