Authors
often dream big, if not wildly, about how many books they will sell. Many books – for the life of the book – don’t
crack five digits. So how many books do
you think you will sell – and what’s your marketing plan to achieve that
number?
Setting
goals is the first step in the process, but distinguishing between wishes and
reality is important to your success.
Some author have no idea what to expect in terms of sales. They certainly don’t want to limit the
possibilities of selling a lot of copies, but few have any idea of what constitutes
“a lot,” and even fewer have any realistic notion of what needs to get done to
get there.
Let’s
first look at what could influence sales:
·
Price
of the book
·
Distribution/availability
·
Title
appeal
·
Cover
appeal
·
Genre
and subject matter
·
Competing
titles
·
Advertising
·
Speaking
appearances
·
Social
media (generated by author)
·
Traditional
media radio, TV, print)
·
Digital
media (written about book/author)
·
Direct
marketing (i.e. email blasts)
·
Give-aways
and word-of-mouth
·
Lots
of strong book reviews
Next,
let’s look at various sales targets and how many you would need to sell every
single day for a year to achieve:
5,000
– roughly 15 per day
7,500
– about 22 per day
10,000
– nearly 30 per day
20,000
– up to 60 per day
50,000
– some 150 per day
Now
think about what you would need to do every single day to generate any of the
above sales levels. How much time,
money, resources, and effort will you need to dedicate to this? Sales won’t just happen out of thin air. It takes persistent, consistent, smart, hard
work to break through the clutter.
One
of the ways to get ahead of things is to work in advance. You don’t wake up today and say that you have
to sell 20 or 50 copies of your book.
Instead, you plan in advance of the next book and take action steps now
that will yield sales 6-12 months from now.
How many speaking gigs did you call about today? How many testimonials
did you seek out today? How many media
outlets did you research today? How many connections did you make on Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, or Linked In today? Plan ahead.
The
other things you need to do are as follows:
Line
Up Bulk Sales
– Which groups, companies, no-profits, schools, or houses of worship might buy
copies of your book to give away or re-sell?
Expand
Your Distribution
– Aside from traditional bookstores and libraries who else can carry your
book? Try contacting gift shops,
non-book retailers, non-Amazon websites, and affiliate sellers.
Partner
with Others
- Can you package your book with the book, product, or service of another where
you cross promote and sell each other’s stuff?
Update
your Website
– Your website is not static. It’s your
business card, billboard, and bullhorn.
Use it to spread the word about your book and any news relating to it. Post new media clips there. List upcoming
appearances to speak. Load new video to
keep it fresh. Post something that you’re giving away – a resource – that will
generate clicks.
Keep
Learning
– read up on book marketing, sales methods and branding. Things change by the minute. You’ll get better at things not only by
practicing them and experimenting but by learning from others.
It’s
okay to dream a little and to think big, but you have to also act big and do
the little things daily that position you to at least have a long shot at
success. It takes brains, guts, luck and
timing, but you can certainly achieve more book sales this year by empowering
yourself rather than merely wishing for things to happen.
There’s
no definitive formula for sales success, but we know there are formulas for
failure. Don’t just dream – act now and
often!
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
NEW! FREE! 2019 Book Publicity &
Marketing Toolkit
Study this exclusive author media
training video from T J Walker
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