An author wrote in this week, asking if I thought updating her book would give a boost to her sales. Her book is a memoir.

If a book is in the how-to genre, yes, it should be updated when necessary. But, that would not apply to this author’s book.

Since the book deals with decades of life stories, updating it with the highlights from the last two years of her life isn’t going to make that book start selling. Instead, her book simply needs a marketing reboot.

The book in question sold well in the beginning (it was published in March, 2020), but, as with most books, it appears the author got bored with marketing, and simply stopped.

Now, she has some time on her hands and she is considering whether to update the previous book, or publish a new book of fiction.

If an author is not going to promote a book consistently, updating that book will be a complete waste of time. If nobody knows your book exists, you can update it until your fingers bleed but that’s not going to sell copies. Instead of going back to the writing and editing process, leave your memoirs, historical book, or fiction as-is, and spend your time promoting your existing book(s) instead.

Many writers don’t realize that book promotion DOES involve a lot of writing! And, that is FUN!

You can see how in this free book:

55 Dos and Don’t of Book Selling

And, in this one (that is not free, but is still very reasonably priced):

90+ Days of Promoting Your Book Online! (Note: BookLocker authors DO receive this book for free.)

And, finally, it’s always best to have more books for sale rather than fewer. Having two books on the market doubles your chances of attracting readers. Having four books on the market quadruples your reach in the market. It’s common knowledge that authors with multiple books on the market make more money than authors with one book on the market.

Follow Angela: twitter | facebook | linkedin