When you think about your readers’ buying behavior in the current economic condition, you may have this notion that they must be in survival mode right now.

With not much money at their disposal and their saving depleting due to the rising cost of living, it doesn’t leave them much choice other than to cut non-important stuff out of their budget.

And that includes buying a new book.

Well, I don’t blame you if that’s what you have in mind when we talk about the buying behavior in today’s condition.

Just take a look at the news around you and all you hear is the word recession being yelled at you by the media pundits.

With the high chance for the economy to slip into recession, you can’t help but question your book pricing.

If you already have a lot of books under your belt, then you may think that your pricing is way too high.

And if you’re about to publish a new book, you’re considering listing the book lower than what you’ve planned.

You want to move as many units as possible. So, reducing your book pricing seems to be the logical thing to do.

After all, pricing can have a significant impact on your readers’ buying behavior in a big way.

But my affiliate commission data paints a different picture

When you think of the people who will be cutting their spending, you probably think this type of buying behavior is happening all across the board.

And that was what I thought too when it comes to my book sales.

Sure, my books aren’t really that expensive.

But it can still be hard to get people to buy my books through my Payhip store even if they can get the book cheaper than buying my books from retailers.

With none of them taking the bait, I assume these people just don’t have that much money to spare.

But I was wrong about that.

It was only when I take a look at my affiliate commission data that I realize that people do have some dry powder at their disposal.

Not only that these people have the money to buy all the things they want on the website that I have affiliation with.

But they also buy a lot too, with many of the orders being around $50 to $100 per person.

Yes, I know that it doesn’t seem like a huge number to some of you. But it sure is a lot to me considering that the things that this website sells are mainly entertainment stuff.

What’s more, this website is based in Japan.

You can guess how much these people have to pay for shipping considering how expensive oversea shipping can be.

And it’s even more so when you’re buying heavy and bulky items.

The fact that these people can afford to buy something pricey from overseas mean they do have the money to spare.

Of course, we don’t have a clear picture of their financial situation.

For all we know, they could be someone who lives alone and doesn’t have anyone under their care.

But suffice it to say that people do have some money to spend regardless of what the media pundits are saying about our economy.

How does my affiliate commission data tie back to your book pricing?

It’s good to know that people do have money to spend regardless of what economic situation we’re in.

But what does my affiliate commission data have to do with your book pricing then?

When things are uncertain, we tend to assume that our pricing must be at fault here.

While it’s true that some people tend to avoid buying your book because it’s way too expensive than other books within the genre, in many cases that may not be necessarily true.

Provided that your book is within the same price range as the other books in that genre, your target audience will still be buying your book no matter how budget-conscious they are.

In other words, the reason why your target readers don’t buy your book may have nothing much to do with your pricing.

It could be something else.

What you should do to get more people to buy your books

It goes without saying you need to make your book look as polished and professional as you can.

One of them being your book cover needs to reflect the genre that you write. The last thing you want is for your book to stick out in a bad way.

Of course, you also need to be sure that you’re in the right category. There’s no point for you to list your book in the romance genre when it’s clear that your book shouldn’t be there.

You just want to list your book in that category since the romance category is one of the best-selling categories.

And let’s not forget the book description. You may have a professional-looking book cover that fits the genre. But it’s not going to get people to buy your book if your target audience has no clue what your book is all about.

If you think that your amazing writing can make up for it, then you’re in for a rude awakening.

People will only know how amazing your book is when you did a good job of writing a book description that converts.

If you need help with writing a book description, then I highly recommend you have a look at The Sizzling Synopsis by Bryan Cohen. This is the book that I use to learn how to write a book description for my books.

Always be marketing

Even if you nail everything right, it’s still not going to move the needle if you don’t market your book.

Yes, I know that it’s a hard pill to swallow. But it’s the only way for your target readers to know that your book exists.

So, how you should go about marketing?

All I can say is to pick any of the book marketing strategies from this list and stick with it.

You can only see the result when you do it consistently.

Slashing the price shouldn’t be your only option

Yes, not going to lie that’s what many of us tend to do when the book sales suddenly plateau or you’re not making any sales at all.

But believe me, slashing the price isn’t going to help you when you don’t get the foundation right.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t see anything wrong with running a promotion once in a while.

But it shouldn’t be the only thing you have in your arsenal.

Get the foundation right and learn how you can market your book effectively.

When you do that, your readers will be more than happy to buy anything you publish regardless of the price tag.

P.S. Believe it or not, social media platforms such as Twitter aren’t the best way to generate book sales. But it can be a perfect way to get to know your readers.

The problem with Twitter is that it can be a time-suck if you’re not careful. But with the right strategy in place, you can be active on Twitter without sucking the life out of you.

If you’re wondering how you can do just that, take a look at my Twitter Marketing for Business Guide.

You’ll learn everything you need to know about Twitter from setting up your profile to managing your profile without sucking you dry.

Interested in buying the guide? You can get the guide right here on my Payhip store:

Twitter Marketing for Business guide on Payhip

Don’t forget to use the coupon code THEEFFICIENTYOUBLOG to get 20% off on your purchase.