Why
do you go on vacation? To feel good.
Why do you donate to charity? 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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