What You Are Really Selling

When you are doing your book marketing and book publicity you are selling a book but when you sell a book you are not just selling a book. Instead, you are selling:

·        An idea, an image, a hope

·        A possibility

·        A desire or a need fulfilled

·        A topic, personality, or a fantasy

·        Yourself – experience, personality, energy, looks, etc.

·        A benefit or potential end result

·        An ideal

Are we clear here? When you sell a book you are selling some type of promise – without a guarantee – that the reader will end up being happy or fulfilled or helped in some way, that they will be the better for having read your book.

So how do you express your value to another? You would need to first assess what others perceive you to possess. Do they think you are a nice guy? Do they think you are qualified to help them? Do they like what you believe in? You need to know not just who you are, but whom you believe others think you to be – and then you must make them feel comfortable with you. Or they won’t buy.

Do you know what people value about you? Do you know what they hoped to get from reading your book? You are not merely selling what ‘is’ – you are selling what people think you are selling and it is done so in the context of what they believe they need or want. Yes, there is a deep psychological game unfolding when consumers purchase things, even a low-cost book.

So figure out what you are selling because you are not just selling a book.

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