Everyone
searches for the best-seller formula or a proven strategy to grow one’s brand,
sell more books, and be a successful, even famous writer. We know there’s no one-size-fits-all approach
to anything – not with books, relationships, careers, parenting or any aspect
of life. But there are some best
practices, the things that give you an edge or a better than 50% chance to win.
So what are the best practices for selling more books?
1.
Tell everyone
about your book – and talk to everyone.
Simple enough. No
accessories needed. No permission
required. Just tell anyone you meet,
even the person standing on a Starbucks line, that you wrote a book.
2.
Give incentives to
people to buy your book.
Is it a great
book? Do they know, respect and like
you? They still may not buy. Explain how it will benefit them – they need
to want it. Then offer a discount, a
free add-on, or some extra reason to inspire a sale.
3.
Get those you know
to sell for you.
Sure, if they
write a review or give a testimonial, that’s nice. But see if you can leverage the relationship
to ask for a favor. Can they share stuff
about your book on their social media, in a blog post, in a newsletter, in a
mass letter email to their connections, or with groups they belong to. Can they take a moment to help you in some
specific and timely way? Ask them. Demand help.
Beg. Call in favors or agree to help them in exchange for their help
now.
4.
Promote yourself
to the news media – or a outsource it.
Don’t rely on luck
to build up your word-of-mouth sales.
Get media exposure and third-party validation from the media and you
will sell more books.
5.
Develop a strong
work ethic-and some ethics.
Quite simply: work hard, wisely; and ethically. You can’t do anything else as a substitute.
You want to succeed as an author. Good.
Work at it, daily, for many hours. Read up, get educated, and learn what to do.
Lastly, act legally and morally, and in a selfless manner. People will respect you and want to buy from
those they respect and like.
6.
Believe in
yourself and your book.
It all begins with
your attitude, confidence, and beliefs.
Either you think you can succeed, or you don’t. Either you feel your book is good and
helpful, or you don’t. No one will
believe in you until you do. Your mindset determines all that you do and how
you are seen by others. Go see a therapist, motivational coach, or a gym. Build
your mind and body for success. Read an
inspiring, motivational book or 10 of them.
7.
Be organized, time
efficient, dedicated, and rested.
Those are the
basics to succeed in anything. If you
can’t stick to a schedule, file things correctly, set priorities, feel
energized, or remain committed and focused to your book’s success you need to
step aside and retire from writing.
8.
See obstacles as
opportunities, setbacks as lessons, and weaknesses as strengths.
Yes, turn shit
upside down. See things differently, try different things, or do things
differently. But don’t just succumb to the moment, to your fears, or your
failures. Persevere.
9.
Clean up your act.
Change your look –
your clothes, your image, your attitude.
Sound differently in your greetings.
Give a firmer handshake. Make eye
contact. Tell a joke. Energize others. Find a
way to elevate your game.
10. Engage others.
When you show interest,
whether online, in person, or on the phone, do people sense your enthusiasm,
wisdom, or level of value? Show how
friendly, motivated, resourceful, and intelligent you really are.
11. Identify your strengths and play them up.
Ignore your
weaknesses, unless you are prepared to improve them. Figure out what others
like in you and why they find you attractive, interesting, helpful, funny, etc.
What makes you memorable or different?
12. Tell stories.
People buy from
those who inspire, educate, impact, entertain, or enlighten them. Can you tell
a good story.
13. Tell stories.
People buy from those who inspire,
educate, impact, entertain, or enlighten them.
Can you tell a story that demonstrates what you offer – and that moves
people to reach into their wallet?
14. Have a game plan, unless you just plan to
play a game.
Quite simply,
write out your goals, strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. Put a timeline
in place for specific micro-action steps that are needed to enact bigger
things. You need a roadmap or else you are mapping a road to a dead end.
15. Help others, not just sell to them.
Figure out what another wants or needs.
Show how your book fulfills something that they perceive as valuable and
useful. As super salesman Jeffrey Gitomer says: “People don’t buy for your
reasons. They buy for their reasons.”
16. Remain opportunistic and don’t fall victim to excuses.
What didn’t work
yesterday does not matter. Change things, work harder, get help, get lucky and
seek out new opportunities in all circumstances. You can’t script everything. Sometimes an
opportunity is right in front of you, but you need to recognize it and seize
it.
17. No is a delayed Yes.
A “no” is just a momentary rejection for
something. It’s not permanent. People change their minds. Circumstances change. Moods change.
Try again and again. Assume the
book sale is yours and act as if it will happen. Do not accept a no. Keep going
until others say yes – and then re-pitch those who initially rejected you. They
may give in at a later date.
18. Surround yourself with positive people.
A good attitude rubs off on others and is
catching. A bad one also rubs off on others and is catching. Find resourceful, supportive, strong
individuals to motivate you.
19. Be driven with passion and purpose, to
succeed.
You need to always
keep your eye on the prize, to be really good at selling books by focusing your
time, energy, and mindshare on it. By single-tasking
and zeroing in on this sole goal, all that you do and think gets filtered
through a prism.
20. Exploit your successes.
Each time you
break through and get a book sale or secure media coverage, seek to reproduce
what worked. Build on a foundation of success.
Parlay one sale into another and leverage one media hit into another.
21. Take a break.
Sometimes you work too hard and all that
you can see is your book. You’ve walled yourself in and have lost perspective
of the outside world. Cleanse your mind. See a movie, hang with a friend, eat a
sinful snack, take a hike, go on a date, or visit a museum. Change your scenery
and reboot.
“It
is literary true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to
succeed.”
--Napoleon Hill
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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views,
provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are
his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should --
follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in
the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2019. Born and
raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often
featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.
This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and
recognized by
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