What
will inspire someone to buy your book?
How will you show the value in purchasing it? If you can answer these two questions, you
will sell many books – provided you execute a strategy based on supporting the
answers to those questions.
You
believe people will love your book once they read it, and it may be true that
readers will clamor for more once they invest their money to buy it and time to
read it, but how will you convince them it’s a great read?
Perhaps
if you speak with passion, enthusiasm, and energy, you can persuade someone of
the appeal to your book. But how often
do you get to talk someone into buying a book?
Maybe
the book jacket or Web site copy perfectly describes the benefits one will
derive from reading your book, but how do you get them to read this copy in the
first place?
You
can sell it on the fact it’s unique, different, new or written from a voice
that has not yet been heard. You can
sell it on price, though some people don’t even want a free book if they don’t
believe it’s worth their time. You can
sell it with glitz -- fancy cover, color photos, glossy paper, cool packaging –
but people want substance and good content too.
You can have great testimonials from known experts, celebrities,
bestselling authors and your mother – assuming you can get such endorsements
(hopefully mom’s not holding out).
Individually
– and collectively – these things can make a difference to influence some
on-the-fence customers. But what really
puts it over the top is this:
1.
Show
how the book fulfills a true need or desire – and why it’s better than any
competing books or options.
2.
Be
available and be discoverable. People
must know the book is available – online or at a store. When it’s out of stock or hard to find you
can’t sell it.
3.
Use
the news media to validate and give credibility to your book. A third-party endorsement from a trusted news
source can’t be beat. Engage in a book
publicity campaign.
4.
Build
up word-of-mouth. You need to seed your
campaign with a few hundred or a few thousand advocates – these are people who
read it, love it, recommend it when asked, and proactively and unsolicitedly
(is that a word?) gush to others how they MUST read your book. That little army of supporters will talk your
book up in a way that will create demand for the book. Be prepared to give out advance review copies
or heavily discounted copies, initially, so you can get a buzz going.
Lastly,
to sell a lot of books requires luck.
But you make your own luck when you put yourself out there and
experiment, take a risk, and try something new.
You
make sales happen – no one else.
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Do You Believe In Book Publishing’s False Prophets?
http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/beware-false-prophets-of-book-publishing.html
A look into the future of books and language and the struggle for relevancy
http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-glimpse-into-the-future-for-your-book.htmlWorking your own book publicity miracle
Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Media Connect, 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. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2014.
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