What Bestselling Authors Know About Getting Readers to Click Buy

Top authors are not successful simply because they write good books or have bigger marketing budgets. The strongest authors understand something many writers overlook: readers are constantly deciding whether a book feels worth their time, attention, and money—and those decisions often happen before the first page is ever read.

In this episode, we unpack what top-performing authors understand about reader choice and how newer, midlist, and independent authors can apply those same lessons without trying to imitate a celebrity bestseller’s career. From Amazon and Goodreads to BookTok, newsletters, podcasts, social media, subscription platforms, and AI-powered recommendations, readers now discover books through more channels than ever. But the core question remains the same: when a reader sees your book alongside dozens of others, what makes them choose yours?

We break down the practical signals successful authors use to build reader confidence. That includes clear genre positioning, covers that immediately communicate the right reading experience, compelling retail descriptions, consistent series branding, strong author presentation, and messaging that makes it easy for readers to understand exactly what they are getting. The most successful books are rarely confusing. They are clear about their audience, their promise, and the emotional or entertainment experience waiting inside.

We also talk about the smartest way to study successful authors. Instead of comparing yourself only to household names with decades of visibility, legacy media coverage, and enormous reader bases, look for your true market neighbors: rising authors, successful midlist writers, and indie authors who are steadily gaining traction with readers now. Their categories, cover choices, series pages, pricing, descriptions, reviews, and reader conversations can reveal valuable clues about what is working in your genre today.

You’ll learn why readers often need familiarity before they are willing to take a chance on originality, why clarity consistently outperforms cleverness on a retail page, and how professional, cohesive branding reduces the perceived risk of trying a new author. Readers are not only choosing where to spend their money. They are choosing where to spend their time.

The takeaway is not that you need to become a copy of a top author. It is that you need to understand the reader-confidence strategies top authors use so you can make better decisions about how your own book is positioned, presented, and marketed.

Order Penny's latest book, Think Local Sell Global and start building a book sales strategy you have more control over!

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Transcript

Welcome And Quick Updates

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome back to the book marketing tips and author success podcast. Penny Sanseveri and David Cornell. And first off, welcome, welcome. We're so glad that you're here. If you're a new listener, welcome. We have six years for the show. You can go back. We didn't get an email the other day or a text rather than the other day from somebody who said, I just do show and I'm going back. I'm listening to all of your other shows. That's six years. If you are, if you are not part of our texting group, 888-402-8940. Send us show ideas, questions, all the things. If you think we got it wrong, we talked about this a couple of shows ago. Tell us why we're wrong. Send us a note through the podcast. We always love to hear from our listeners. I know I say this all the time. I'm really excited about this show. I'm really excited about the show. Also, if you haven't already gotten your copy, Think Local Sell Global is finally up on Amazon for sale. It's doing really well. I'm very excited. I'm so excited about this book. So, and thank you all for those of you who supported during the pre-order and everything. That was all very exciting. So, anyway, welcome, welcome. Amy, do you want to give us just a quick breakdown of why we both love this show so much, why we were so excited to do this show?

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Yes. So, what's great about this episode is that it also works with our recent episode on Amazon AI. They really do play off of each other a lot. But the crux of this is that, you know, readers have more choices than ever before. And they are discovering books everywhere. And that is why strategic marketing is so important. Personal plug there, but truly. So we've got Amazon Book Talk, newsletters, podcasts, social media, goodreads, AI recommendations, hence checking out, you know, our previous episode, subscription platforms. They're getting information from everywhere. And they have a ton of options, right? Like when you go to Amazon specifically, you know, 50,000 plus books will show up in any particular genre that you might click on, right? It's success in getting found and getting chosen, which is maybe even more important. Like, yes, you need to be found, but you also want to be chosen is really understanding what readers want and making it easy for them to recognize that your book fits their needs. And again, that is where a lot of the crossover with our AI episode comes in too. So listening to both of these around the same time is really gonna help all of this kind of land and make a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Yeah.

Stop Studying Only Famous Bestsellers

SPEAKER_01 2:45

So part of the reason why I really love this episode and why I was really excited about this episode is I think that it really disputes a lot of, I mean, it really tackles a lot of fallacies that are out there that I've told when I've talked to authors at writers' conferences. So for example, right? When we talk about authors doing competitive analysis, like we tell authors, okay, you want to do some competitive analysis. Where they focus on a lot of times is best-selling books, because that's kind of like the weird conversation that's had like you got to study bestseller lists. But the problem with that is is that when you're there's look, there's nothing wrong with aspiring to be a bestseller, right? But when you're studying bestseller lists, you're literally comparing yourself to authors who are frankly at an entirely different level, right? So the James Patterson, the Stephen King's, all of these big names, just to throw out a couple of examples, these are authors who have benefited from years of brand recognition and frankly started their career in a whole different when the market was wholly different, right? Frankly, they started a lot of these really top best-selling authors, with the exception of, you know, like some of the newer ones, like Freedom McFadden and et cetera, et cetera, they started as even before there was an Amazon, right? So they have tons of momentum and media exposure. When I've taught classes on, and I love to talk about success leave clues. So when I've taught classes on that particular topic, I will always encourage authors to find big names in their industry who aren't necessarily big names, who aren't brand recognized names, because those are the authors that are really, if you're trying to sort of learn from their success points, those are the best ones to go after. Amy, does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the biggest is that, you know, successful authors that, you know, have found success, I would say, more recently. Obviously, we're not talking about the people that have been successful for over a decade, right? Like they're set. But people that are moving up the ranks, so to speak, and finding success with their work, they're not just studying books, right? They're not, like Penny said, they're not just selling studying best-selling books, they're not just studying best-selling authors. They're really coming at it from a perspective of understanding why readers are going after certain books and what works in their marketplace. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And do you want to take do you want to take the first point under our our second segment? Because I think this will really help to drive home kind of the introduction to the show.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yes.

Familiarity First Then Originality

SPEAKER_00 5:43

And this is something that I think might surprise some of you listening, is that readers want familiarity before originality. So where you're going like, wait, but you guys have talked about like what makes me different, what makes it unique? Yes, that that is important. But at the same time, there is a difference between the book you create and how you sell it. And I think that's an important distinction too. So, yes, you want to create a book that is unique and different and that offers something that is, you know, specifically branded to you, but it needs to be familiar enough to the readers that are already there and hungry for books. So readers, and again, this this matches well with their last episode. Readers want to understand what kind of experience they're buying. You know, they're at that point, they want to know what to expect. At they're not specifically focused on, I want it to be entirely different from everything else I've ever read. That's really not how people shop. Right? Right, exactly. Yep. The familiarity is what makes somebody feel more confident that your book is for them. Yeah, exactly. The originality comes after, you know, like the originality is what sticks in their minds. And honestly, the originality, the sweet spot there is what gets them to recommend it to a friend or to write that fabulous review or to come back for your next book.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Right, exactly. And one of the things that that when we talk to authors who come to us and they feel like, you know, they want to do more marketing for their book because they feel, you know, it hasn't been successful. And look, we the marketing and publicity is our business. That's what we do. That's what we've done collectively for almost, I guess, over 30 years between the two of us. The problem is that authors oftentimes come to us with books that are problematic only because they didn't adhere to genre expectations, right? Right. They wanted to challenge those expectations, or in some cases, they're trying to create a new genre, which we've done entire shows on that topic. Successful authors understand genre expectations. And if you have written a book that doesn't adhere to, so as Amy said, the familiarity of a particular genre and what readers expect, because readers are like readers will take risks on new new books only if the book presents itself in a way that feels familiar, right? That that adheres to what their genre expectations are. And that's where the disconnect oftentimes happens with authors, is they want to be different. And by different, they think, I'm just going to find, I'm going to create a genre either a genre that doesn't exist or I'm going to create a twist on an existing genre because I want to be a trendsetter. And that never really works out well, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

And yeah, and if you're and if you ever caught yourself saying, you know, internal monologue going like they'll get it once they start reading. Nope. They won't get that far. The reality won't get that far. So the clarity beats the cleverness. You know, like Penny said, readers respond to books they understand quickly. And top-selling books are often painfully clear about who they're for, what experience they offer, and why readers are going to enjoy it. One, two, three. Like it sounds so simple, but it's amazing how easy it is to miss the mark on the clarity around those three points.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Yeah, exactly. Because once you create confusion, you create hesitation. And once you create hesitation, you've lost your sale. I understand. And you know, the thing about it is, and I do feel for authors because you and I talk to enough of them that we know that they feel the pressure of the industry that's out there and how many books are published. And oh my gosh, I have to be different. And so I want to be, you know, I want to be clever, I want to be unique, and hence, you know, the genre that isn't really a genre where there's really no fit for it on Amazon, or they want to be just super clever and they want to create a book cover that doesn't look anything like the industry standard that readers expect, you get this hesitation, and that's where books oftentimes struggle. So

Consistency Builds Reader Confidence

SPEAKER_01 9:57

consistency, that's the other piece of this, too. So consistency builds confidence.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

I know I feel like we need the like clapping sound effects for this because I love this one.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

I do. I love this one too. Successful authors create consistency across covers, descriptions, websites, social media, series, branding, author messaging, right? And this is a really big one. We have done shows individually on all of these topics. So if you've listened for us to us for a while, you've probably unpacked them with us. If you haven't, you know, or if you want to go back, you can find all of them in the library on our website, certainly. But these are really important things because readers feel, you know, the other, you know, you have to build reader confidence, especially when you're first starting up. And big best-selling authors, and I'm not talking again, that's distinct to like the big brand names who existed before there was Amazon. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about authors who just do really, really well consistently, who aren't necessarily household names. They understand that readers are more comfortable buying when everything feels cohesive and intentional.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

Absolutely. And I think we all do that in our everyday lives when we're shopping. It's you know, across the board when we decide what brands we trust, what websites we buy from, there are confidence clues everywhere. And that absolutely applies to your retail pages and your, you know, your bookshelf on Amazon and how all of it works together. Shoppers notice that. They absolutely do. So if each one of your books shows up like, you know, you were an entirely different person that day who decided to publish, that eats away at their confidence.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And, you know, I mean, to that end, and we're kind of sort of saying the same thing, readers consistently look for risk reduction. To my point, readers are risk averse. Absolutely. You know, because it's not so much, and Amy, you've talked about this many times in our episodes, it's not so much the cost of the book. Because generally, I mean, you know, that's pretty inconsequential, right? But it's the investment of time that the book is that you as the author and the book is certainly asking for, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Yeah, very few of us have just extra time on our hands to take chances on authors we've never heard of and that don't have a ton of reviews yet, whose cover may be a little iffy. I mean, now I'm going down, you know, a path, but but truly, you know, if you hit all those key points and you show up with confidence and professionalism, you're already so far ahead of the other unknown authors that are, you know, presenting themselves either on Amazon or through all the other channels we talked about, where people are discovering books. That level of professionalism, consistency, you know, building that confidence, reducing the risk, even just visually and how you present your work is huge.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Right, exactly. And that's I'll tell you something. This is something that I actually obsess over. And Amy knows I really obsessed over this with the local, with my, you know, think local sell global book. I obsessed over that book to the point that it was sort of bordering on maybe unhealthy, but I also know that the market that I am trying to appeal to is maybe feeling a little bit burnt out. Like they've tried a bunch of stuff and everything seems all shiny and new, and then it doesn't work and blah, blah, blah. So I I mean, I take that risk reduction very seriously when I put these books out there, all of them. Like it's not just for this local book. Every single book becomes an experiment and obsession, which I realize is not very healthy, but that is the thing that, you know, these authors that you really aspire to to emulate, that's the thing that they that they also invest a lot of time in, is making sure that the reader is getting enough reassurances through credibility and professional presentation and all the things.

Let The Market Show You The Way

SPEAKER_01 14:10

Okay, so this is a big one. So I really love segment three. And I know Amy and I have very strong feelings about this. I'm gonna start this, Amy. I want you to carry this over the finish line because we could both talk about this for probably an hour. The market, the market is trying to tell you if if you're listening to this and you're like, okay, I get it, I don't really know what to do. I promise you, your market has already told you what it wants. Yes, the market leaves clues everywhere, and there's evidence of what you need to change, and you need to listen to that evidence. Amy, sorry, I I I could go on an hour for this because I think this is a really important piece of this show.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Right. So you have to pay attention to what readers are buying. Yeah. What they're saying in reviews, what they're recommending, you know, bestseller lists. Believe it or not, it's, you know, it's worth checking on these, you know, periodically because believe it or not, bestseller lists are not always dominated by household names. You would be surprised at the books that will pop up on there. So it is not that, you know, holy grail that is wildly unattainable. You will see up-and-coming authors on the bestseller list all the time. Those are really important to pay attention to. Category rankings for sure, that matters. And then books that people keep talking about. This is where, you know, I'm sorry if you're not a social media person, that's fine, no judgment. But I will say if you are on social media, there's a lot to be gleaned from what people are talking about on social as well. And not just because somebody did like an influencer did a post on it, but dig into some of the comments because honestly, that's where I get a lot of my stronger insight, Penny. So if I see that somebody recommended a book, it's like, okay, well, you've got a book account. Of course you're recommending books, right? But when I dig into the comments, I find it so fascinating what people have actually said if they've read the book already, or if they started it, or if they're part way through it, or if they think, you know what I mean? I find that kind of insight way more valuable than even what the influencer said. So exactly. Read comments if you are on social and and you're trying to do some research on there. Definitely read what people are saying about the book beyond just the influencer.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

Right, exactly. And I think that, you know, studying market neighbors, not market giants, is really where you want to be, to Amy's point. Right take a look and see what the rising authors are that you've never heard of. And as I said, success leaves clues. So start to look, you know, look at what they're doing, how they're being presented. Maybe even authors with a similar catalog size, if you have a number of books out already and you feel like you're, you know, that you feel like you're struggling. Authors who are doing well absolutely pay attention to and obsess over. There's a lot of things when it comes to marketing that Amy, you know, and again, if you've listened to the show for any length of time, you know that Amy and I don't really give a lot of credence to. But this is not one of them. Because if your starting point is not solid, you're not going to finish solid either.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Exactly. And I think another point that people all, you know, in addition to reading the comments on social media posts that, you know, influencers initiate, I think another area that a lot of people don't look into enough is other books that their reviewers have reviewed pending. You know, if you get a great review, awesome. Congrats, those are amazing. Click on that person's profile and check to see if they're a pretty consistent reader and the kind of books they're reading. And you that could be some great market analysis too, that you may not typically follow that path. But if somebody really enjoyed your book and they were thoughtful in their review, go see what else they read. And you're gonna find some success clues, I guarantee you, on some of those other retail pages and those author brands as well.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

Yeah, exactly.

Know Your Reader To Sell More

SPEAKER_01 18:10

And I think that, you know, it's people ask us all the time, what's the secret to selling more books? What's what the secret, they want to know the secret marketing tactics. As if Amy and I are keeping these secret tactics only for a select few people, and you're not getting them. That is absolutely not what we're doing. It is the secret marketing, is that marketing is not really the secret. The secret is you've got to start, you gotta start strong. You have to pay attention to your market, you have to have a genre. And we're not talking about copying what other authors are doing. Let it inspire your own path, right? You don't want to become identical to other authors out there. Then you're just like AI book, chat GPT book guy that we talked about last year, who's just out there generating like 50 or 60 books a year written by Chat GPT and copying everybody else. That's a non-starter. What we're what I'm suggesting, what we're suggesting in the show is is start to follow authors who are, you know, maybe even independent authors or newer authors who are seeing some some really astounding success early on in their career, or maybe have had cons success consistently throughout their books and continue to do well and see what they're doing, see how they're communicating with their readers, what their reviews are saying. And the problem is, and you know, here's the other piece of it though, too, is that a lot of authors that I talk to, some authors are really dedicated to this, but a lot of authors, you know, then there's a whole set of authors that that I that I talk to who aren't really paying, they're not paying attention to market signals, but they're also not clear on what their market is. And if you're unclear about what your market is, that is also a non-starter because there's no way for you to do any kind of smart or cohesive research in your area. Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

Yeah. You know, successful authors don't know more about books or about, like Kenny said, about secret marketing tactics. They really just understand more about who their readers are because that really makes everything that they do so much simpler, so much more thoughtful, and so much more personable. And that's why they get the conversions that they do, because the people they're trying to reach immediately go, This person gets me. They're writing books that I want to read. I'm in, you know.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

Right, right, exactly. And this is also part of the reason why we've always said throughout other shows, you really want to bring people on board to help you get this, you know, getting this book out there and positioning it correctly, but getting you to that final product and that final positioning. You want to align yourself with people and work with people who are really going to push you to the point that you really don't like them. I've said this before about my editor. I love my editor, but sometimes she'll send me back, and and she's currently editing five-minute book marketing for authors, which is my next book. I expect to get that back. And for me to send a text to Amy and say, I really hate my editor. Yep. Because you really want to surround yourself with people. You know, writing is a very isolating profession. Like, I get it. It's like you sit behind your computer, you do all the things, you read some threads on, you know, Reddit or whatever, and you think that you've got it handled. And the problem is that the more that you can surround yourself with people who can really give you some smart, crucial, significant feedback that's going to change the course of your book, the the better that your book will do. But also you've got to be willing to dig in and do that research as well and get to know your market. That's empower yourself with that knowledge. That is one of the best things that you can do. What did we not cover?

SPEAKER_00 22:04

No, I think we covered all of it, honestly. I think that the main overarching idea is that you really, you know, instead of focusing on trying to keep up with the bestsellers and the best-selling authors, one, make sure you're super confident about who your reader is. Because again, I, you know, I sound like a break broken record, but once you know who your reader is and what they're looking for, I assure you everything else you do will make a lot more sense and you're going to feel a lot more confident that the effort that you're putting into any marketing or exposure is actually going to work for you, which takes a huge load off, right? I mean, there's already so much uncertainty in this industry and it's already super hard to compete. Knowing that you're doing all the right things to the best of your ability is something that everybody listening deserves. And starting with knowing who your readers are is key.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

Well, but the other reason that this is important is that, you know, marketing is can be time-intensive and it can also cost you quite a bit of money. And you can spend a lot of money doing a lot of things that aren't really serving your market. So the clearer that you can be on all of the pieces that we talked about in the show today, the less that you're going to spend on things that really aren't serving where you want your book to go. So that's the other piece of it, though, too. This is also a money-saving show. Not only that. We just covered it all. I love that. I love this show.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

I know. This was one of my favorite topics we've done in a while because it really, it really gives everybody something super straightforward to focus on, which is always the goal.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

Yeah, exactly.

Reviews Text Line And Wrap

SPEAKER_01 23:45

Once again, we love reviews wherever you listen to podcasts. Text the word podcast to 888-402-8940. Let us know what you thought of the show. Give us show ideas, send us your questions. We'd love to answer them. We went a little bit long on this show, so we don't have time today. But we do have your questions for next time, and we will see you next week. Bye bye.