What
is the perfect book? Is such a book
something we can create? Let’s explore.
Let
me say off the top that I’m not necessarily talking about a book that’s
perfectly written, but rather, perfectly packaged. Besides, perfection is in the eyes of the
beholder. Every classic book has its
critics and detractors. You can’t please
everyone all of the time. But can we
create the perfect book to be marketed in a way that is guaranteed to bring in
millions and millions in sales?
There
are many factors that go into book sales.
Most of the all-time best-sellers, in terms of number of books sold,
come in the form of fiction. Books on
better parenting, sex, health, and wealth can do very well but it’s the novel
that, in the long-run, outsells all.
Let’s
explore perfect novels today.
With
novels, you never know what’s gonna take off.
Once a book breaks through it brings on many copycats. After the massive success of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, how
many titles have had “girl” in them, with all of them about women in
danger? Once a gold standard is derived,
you have copycats, traditional writers, and hungry upstarts looking to
challenge the status quo. Which one are
you?
They
say a picture is worth a thousand words and it’s true, even in the digital book
era – that a cover image is what draws so many readers to a book. People like to pick up the shiny, new coin or
flashy piece of jewelry.
The
title is very, very important too. If
it’s more than five words, you’ve lost your reader. Novels must have catchy, snappy phrases for
titles.
Length
alone doesn’t force people into a buy position, but there are some schools of
thought here. A longer novel provides
meat and perceived value to some consumers.
But, if it’s too long, some may feel overwhelmed at the prospect of
reading 760 pages. A 540-page or
460-page or a 380-page book may feel just right. Though people enjoy a quick read, especially
for non-fiction, the 180-page novel may not give you a path to perfection.
The
cover needs testimonials, an alluring tease, and just the right font and colors
to invite you in. The right book cover
copy can seduce even a hardened savage.
Pricing
a book just right is a little like trying to put your house up for sale. Though the number of zeroes before the decimal point
varies between the two, you don’t want to overprice it and turn people off, but
you don’t want it undervalued and leave money on the table while making
consumers wonder: “Why so cheap?”
The
perfect book requires the perfect launch, which requires the perfect pre-launch
buzz. This all begins with a
well-crafted marketing plan. Timing in
the book marketing world is quite important.
The
time to sell your book is not the day and subsequent weeks and months after a book
first goes on sale. Oh, no. The moment to sell the book is before it’s
officially available, months before, in the pre-sale run-up phase.
You know how the political primary season ends up giving us the final candidates for election day? Well, that primary season dictates election day and your primary season starts about six months prior to the day your book is officially launched.
You know how the political primary season ends up giving us the final candidates for election day? Well, that primary season dictates election day and your primary season starts about six months prior to the day your book is officially launched.
Though
many people self-publish books – and I support the practice 110% - the road to
perfection typically runs through a traditional publisher, usually ones of the
Big 5, which have been responsible for some 80% of all best-sellers in recent
years. So, just odds-wise, if possible, seek perfection with a major publisher.
But
regardless of the publisher, to launch the perfect book you need some
hype. What’s going to get people
excited? Many people buy on
recommendations, perceptions, and appeals to their needs or desires.
People
buy based on all kinds of theories and standards.
Just
by telling someone a book is a best-seller makes them want it more. Letting them know their favorite writer
endorsed the book makes it more appealing.
Having a respected media outlet talk about the book in a positive way
induces one to buy it. If someone tells
you not to buy it for political or social reasons – you rebel and want to buy
it.
Can
you get others to talk about your book way before it’s published – and then use
their quotes and comments in your favor?
Can
you create a controversy about your book before it comes out? Do you have a natural enemy, based on the
book’s content or who you are? If so, play that up.
Getting people to publicly love or hate you helps sell books.
Sometimes
luck brings us the perfect book.
Something happens in the world or news cycle that suddenly has us
craving a certain kind of story or allows us to see things totally differently
than before.
The
perfect book will do any number of things, including;
·
Discuss
a taboo.
·
Promote
or destroy a myth.
·
Tap
into our emotions, from fear and hate to love and hope.
·
Lead
us to see the world differently.
·
Entertain
us in a unique fashion.
·
Seem
to say what we think.
·
Speak
to what we’ve experienced in our lives.
·
Give
us direction to navigate through tough times.
·
Allow
us to completely escape reality.
·
Helping
us to feel a fantasy is so real.
·
Put
ourselves in the shoes of others -- at no cost to us.
·
See
into a viewpoint we never fully understood.
·
Appreciate
life and guide us through challenges.
The
perfect book doesn’t exist, but we find perfect passages, sentences, even
words We can fall in love with a book
and measure all others by it , but then we realize no one book can give use
everything that we need. The perfect
book is the one that people think they want or need and will extend themselves
to buy it. You need to sell perfection, not necessarily create it.
Novelists
need to extend their creativity off the book page and onto the book marketing
arena. Think Mad Men more so than Shakespeare. The marketing, promoting,
advertising, and packaging of a book will always go ahead and write the best
possible book. Only your marketing can
make it perfect.
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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 2016 ©.
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