Monday, July 13, 2015

Make People Feel Good -- And Sell Books!



Why do you go on vacation?  To feel good.
Why do you donate to charity?  To feel good.
Why do you shop for new clothes, gadgets, or toys?  To feel good.

Why will people buy your book?  To feel good.

That’s right – that’s the formula or key to your success.  That’s not a secret, but rather a known truth. We do something when it makes us feel good, helps avert a pain, or mitigates damages.  When you discuss your book, whether non-fiction, or a novel, or poetry, or a board book for children, express it in such a way that the benefit of “feeling good” is clear and foremost.

This may seem obvious, but many fail the simple task of clearly stating: “This book will make you feel good.”  We may talk about attributes, benefits, or interesting aspects of a book, but we never summarize it by stating the affirmative command: “It makes you feel good.”

Try it.  Let the words flow.  Some books seem obvious as a fit – they end happily, they help people fulfill a desire, pursue a dream, or meet an important goal, or they make us laugh, feel good, and feel worthy of something.  So what do you do with a book that talks about suicide, cancer, going broke, or being abused by someone?  One way or another there’s a reason for reading a book and if one is to benefit from the experience it will make them feel better.  Maybe you’ll feel good because the book scared straight you to change your life.  Maybe you felt good to know your life isn’t as shitty as the one you just read about.  Maybe, even after reading about darkness, sadness, and confusion, you felt hopeful and better about the human spirit.  I don’t care it you read about genocide, or a catastrophe, somehow you have to be left feeling better for it, and it’s that feeling that you have to sell to others.

Either that, or change your book.  If it’s so filled with despair and discomfort who the hell wants to read that?  Find a silver lining, even in misery, so that the reader can be sold on your book. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t always need to have a happy Hollywood ending, but if we’re to immerse ourselves into the abyss of life we will need something to ground us and give us cause to wake up tomorrow.

Read my blog – it will make you feel good – even when talking about disease, depression, debilitation, and death.

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015




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