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Top Ten Ways that Make One Book Outsell Another
By Judy Cullins
All authors want their books to sell well. Most don't put in
time and energy in the right place to see their sales soar.
Check out the 10 ways below to boost your book's sales beyond
your wildest dreams.
- Write a book that people need and want. People want how-to
books, they want skills. Notice the demand today for eBooks.
It's best to see the need and fill it rather than have an idea
and then look for an audience.
- Write and market non-fiction
books first. They account for about seventy-five percent of
total book sales. You can use your profits to finance a fiction
project.
- Write short books in any format, such as eBooks,
booklets, guides or special reports.
You want a book to get out soon. So look at the faster, easier,
and cheaper benefits of writing a short book rather than a
full-length book of 150-350 pages. Your short book will still
brand your business and bring your respect. It can be as short
as five pages (special reports), to eBooks that can be 15-100
pages. Your Online audience will gladly print up to 100 pages.
A common mistake of emerging authors is that they write books
that are too long. Today's audience wants fast, easy-to-read
information. Which kind of book would you want to read?. Divide
and conquer. Put most closely-related chapters into one book;
then, put other related chapters into another one Write a series
and price your books right. Most book coaching clients write
books of ninety pages or less in length.
- Angle your book
toward women. They buy far more books than men do, accounting
for about seventy-five percent of book purchases. If your
message benefits women, you'll do well in sales. The Chicken
Soup for Women series sold 20 million copies out of 68 million
for the total series sold. Remember that men buy books for women
too.
- Choose your title with care. Image is almost everything. Your
front cover and title have from 5-10 seconds to impress your
potential buyer. Be clear, use metaphor and make sure your
visuals connect to your title. Elicit an emotion through your
title words (preferably 5-7 words). What solutions and results
does your book promise? Include these in your title if possible.
- Expand your book into a series. Think of the huge success
of the Chicken Soup Series. Donald Trump's name is in huge
letters on each book cover he writes. These author/publishers
have one "brand" everyone recognizes.
- Create spin-off products that relate to your book. Some
people prefer to learn by listening to a cassette, downloading a
file or purchasing a CD-ROM. I recently bought a serial eBook
and loved getting two chapters a week-- so easy to digest. On
the Internet, you can make your book an e-course, and charge
much more money than for an eBook. These formats can actually
help you sell more books. Other spin-offs include coaching,
consulting, speaking, seminars, teaching teleclasses, writing or
making videos.
- Impress your potential buyer within fifteen
seconds with your benefit-packed back cover copy. At the top put
your headline, not the title. It must hook your readers, stir up
their emotions, and hit their desires. What benefits does your
book offer? How to get more money, heart-centered relationships,
more fame, or more health? Include from 3-5 bullets of what your
book promises its readers. The most important? Those important
testimonials.
- Create your written marketing plan before you finish chapter
one. This plan covers your first year's launch period and
lifetime plan. The biggest mistake new authors make is that they
quit marketing after the initial six months. Word-of-mouth takes
a while. Be patient and market your book for up to three years.
Your plan could include how much income you want to make per
month, your 30-second tell-and-sell and how you will promote the
book. That includes book reviews, news releases, writing and
submitting articles Online, book signings, talks, electronic
newsletters, and a book Web site. Without a written plan, an
author creates vague results.
- Put as much time into marketing as you did the writing of
your book. Remember that writing a book costs you time and
money. Marketing and promotion make you money. Your goal is to
have people read and learn from your unique message. Why plant a
garden if you don't harvest it? After I opened up to the
Internet sales from one book went from $75 in one month to over
$3000 in eight months. And, after few years, this income grows
exponentially. All because easier and less expensive Online
marketing--much better results than traditional.
When authors put time into marketing they will see great
results. It's good to remember that promotion and marketing are
the only things that bring the income. So merely writing a good
book will not get that book into your readers' hands.
About the author:
Judy Cullins, 20-year Book and Internet Marketing Coach works
with small business people who want to make a difference in
people's lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a
consistent life-long income. Author of 10 eBooks including
"Write your eBook Fast," "How to Market your Business on the
Internet," and "Create your Web Site With Marketing Pizzazz,"
she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Boo
Use Your Knowledge to Write Your Own Ebook
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