Top Six Lies About Book Marketing: (And the Truths to Set Your Book Free!)
If you're like me, you have a book and the passion to spend the rest of your life making it a success. But, with all the ways to market your book, the costs and the inevitable sinking feeling of utter helplessness, what can you do? You COULD run around in circles trying to get your book in every bookstore in town. You COULD write Oprah or the Today Show, and hope for a call-back. You COULD spend months crafting a book proposal and wait another six months for the exact right time to send it to the exact right editor at the exact right publishing house with the exact right level of interest to stand behind your book. But those are lies (well, for most of us, most of the time, they are) and here are the TOP TEN LIES and how you can avoid believing them: Lie #1: You NEED to get your book in bookstores. No, you don't. Visit your local bookstore-any bookstore-and you'll see thousands (maybe millions) of books crammed, piled, stacked and displayed. Do you really think that simply adding your book to this haystack will catapult you to success? Truth: The right bookstore at the right location selling the right kind of books to the right customers CAN catapult your book to success. What is the right bookstore? One that sells your kind of book, whether it be a Christian bookstore, a success store, a health store, etc. For my book, "101 Ways To Pray Better And Get Faster Results," I am targeting Christian bookstores in my area, especially bookstores in churches. They will give me the greatest amount of exposure to the people who will actually be interested in my book. Who buys your kind of book? What is the best place to sell it? Maybe it is at a grocery store, a pet store, or at an airport. Lie #2: You MUST get on Oprah. Yes, it would be nice to get on Oprah. Certianly, it could not hurt your book sales. But most people with this goal ask themselves the wrong question: "How do I get on Oprah?" Getting on Oprah is not the point, albiet a good objective, though a long-shot for most authors. However, as a natural optimist, I must admit there's no reason for you not to try! Truth: The RIGHT question to ask yourself is: "How can I create a book that Oprah would want on her show?" Why is this a better, more powerful question? First of all, it is focused on Oprah's needs, and she will only care about your book if it helps her and her show get more people watching and talking about (you guessed it) her. After all, you want people to read and talk about your book, don't you? That's why you're reading this article. Start with the right question, and you will end up the right answers. So how do you create a book that will appeal to Oprah? Write one that appeals to her television audience, mostly women who are at home at the time of her show. You can get more detailed, of course, and you should. Case Example: the new book "He's Just Not That Into You." Oprah has had one of the co-authors of that book on her show twice since its release. Lie #3: You MUST get a big advance from a big publishing company. Again, good idea, but it doesn't guarantee succes anymore than carrying around a four-leaf clover ensures good luck. You need more than big bucks to get people to read your book. In fact, the only thing that a big advance gives you is the knowledge that the publishing company will try hard to make people buy your book. Yes, that's a plus. Yes, you want that. But it takes more than that to squeeze into the ranks with Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Seth Godin (author of Purple Cow, among others). Truth: What you really need is a good book, written well, formatted with the reader in mind, that entertains, informs, pursuades and gets customers talking to each other. No easy job, I assure you. But it can be done. And is done. Here's how you can do it, too: *Gather up the most popular, talked-about books in the last five years (Harry Potter, Da Vinci Code, among others).
*Ask yourself, "What makes people talk about these books?"
*Copy the strategies, change/add/delete whatever you need to make your book more success-friendly. Also, create something (a flyer, a bussiness card, a bookmark, something) that your customers can pass on to each other. Or post up on a wall or keep in their purse or wallet. Make it good, funny, entertaining, informative, but make it something people actually want to keep (like a good article on book marketing =). Lie #4: You MUST get radio or television interviews. Like the other lies, this one seems true because all the big-name, big-book, big-salary authors do them. And I must admit that we, if possible, should do them. But, the lie is that you actually NEED them to boost your book sales. They might and they might not. Truth: What you REALLY need is to get your book in the hands of people who are ready, willing and able to buy them. How do you accomplish this? First, sit down and write out a description of the people who are most likely to be interested enough in your book to fork over money for it. Second, figure out where these people congregate: online, conventions, magazines, etc. Where do these type of people go to find the type of information which is in your book? Be specific. Write it down. Third, and lastly, get your book infront of those people in those places. For example: My book is on prayer, so I want to get it infront of people who are interested enough in the topic to trade thier hard-earned money to learn how to improve their prayer lives and get closer to God. So, in addition to attmpting the normal routes (getting book in bookstore, creating a website, trying to get book on Amazon.com), I also will contact Christian groups and organizations to give FREE talks on prayer, after which I'll offer my book. Lie #5: The MOST important part of book promtion is having a good book. Sorry, no that is not true. Yes, you should try to write the best book possible and give it a great, eye-catching cover, with a mind-grabbing title to boot. But, none of those savvy stratigies are the MOST important part of your book promotion. They only work if you can do ONE thing... Truth: The MOST important part of book promotion is (drum roll please) getting the right people to experience the great benefits of your book. If your book entertains, then that is the benefit. If your book explains or teaches, then that is the great experience. Who are the right people? People who will tell others about your book. *What are the three MAIN benefits of your book?
*Who should experience them? Lie #6: If you do all the things in this (or any one else's) article, your book will out-sell the Harry Potter Series. Truth: The outcome of your book promotion will be the result of your tenacity, creativity, passion, talent, and willingness to try new things until somthing clicks. If you can do that, you will one day succeed. And, my friend, I hope that day comes soon for you. If you enjoyed this article, why not print it out and share it with a friend or your writing group! Good luck! Christopher Kokoski is the author of "101 Ways To Pray Better And Get Faster Results," http://www.lulu.com/ck His passion to write great books(fiction and non-fiction) and help others succeed with their own books. He wishes you well and a quick rise to publishing success.
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
4 Questions to Answer Before Contacting a Book Agent
Obtaining agency representation is your first step toward getting profitably published. Most publishers won't even look at unsolicited manuscripts.
How to Schedule a Book Signing
How would you like to sell more copies of your book? Would you like to read excerpts from your book to a captivated audience?
Top 10 Tips for Book Titles that Sell Well
A clever title is great if it is clear, but a clear title is always preferable. The best? A clear and clever title. A shorter title is better than a longer one. Your reader will spend only four seconds on the cover. While some long titles have succeeded, usually the shorter, the better.
Authors Should Be Optimistic
A client wrote me recently and asked what I thought of his using a publicist to promote his book - to the tune of $4,000 per month. In my usual blunt fashion, I responded by telling him most self-published books never sell more than 100 copies, that 2000 sales is considered excellent in the industry and that the number of people who sell between 50,000 and 100,000 can probably be counted on one hand. I just wasn't sure the publicist would give him the facts, since said publicist stood to make a lot of money off this author, whether he sold a book or not.
How To Promote A Book
Nowadays it's no longer a matter of whether or not an author should promote his or her book, but how aggressively one should go about it. The sad truth is that publishers often fail to promote books, and if we, the authors, don't promote your own book then it may be destined to a lifespan between that of butter and yogurt, to paraphrase Calvin Trillan. The author's extra efforts may make all the difference between a book becoming a long-lived seller, and being recycled so that some other author can take advantage of the paper.
Whats Killing Your Publishing Career?
With the large increase of books being published by self-publishers, and the up-rise of print on demand, there is still a lot of death taking place in the publishing industry. Thus far, 175,000 books have been published in 2005.
Why Writers Dont Do a Book Signing
Whenever someone suggests you do a book signing and you do not want to, here are five reasons you can give them:
Top 5 Book Selling Tips
TIP # 1
Marketing Virus ? Every Writer Needs to Catch It
For you writers aspiring to greatness, you might need a virus, before you can be great! You need a Marketing Virus. Every unknown writer needs a virus that will spread like the deadliest bug known to man.
Oh No! A Bad Book Review! Have No Fear...Advice For Dealing With The Blues Of A Bad Book Review
You've just been notified a review of your book has been posted. You're all excited and can't wait to see what has been written. You're clicking onto your book's page when...Oh no! They hated your book! This bad review is going to turn away customers from buying your book. Wait! This isn't the end of the world. Here's 3 tips to deal when you get a bad review.
Sell Your Book At Book Fairs, Festivals & Trade Shows
Play a bigger game with your book sales by expanding your audiences at local or nonlocal book fairs, festivals or trade shows. Can't afford a booth or table, rent a space on someone else's table and volunteer to be back for their book. In fact, rent a corner at various different tables in the same fair or show and triple your exposure.
How To Get The Most From Your Free eBooks Marketing Campaign
First, your ebook needs to have an attractive title.
The title should grab the attention of your intended
target audience. The more appealing the title, the
more your ebook will be downloaded.
Distribute Your Self-Published Book - Part 1
Where is your book now? With a distributor? In a book store? Or, did it already die an early death after a few months?
Plain Speaking ? 4 Secrets For Getting Your Book Purchased
What can be more infuriating to a potential purchaser of a non-fiction book than chapter headings which give no clue as to their contents? After all, if someone is looking in the non-fiction section of a book store, it implies they want facts, not a fancy and "clever" table of contents! Here are 4 sure-fire ways to make your text grab the reader's attention:
Quiz: Will Online Book Marketing Help Sales?
Most authors sigh a sigh of relief when they finish their book. Then comes the awesome task of marketing the masterpiece.
Is There a Book Hiding Inside You?
Have you always wanted to write?
FAQs about Book Signings
Since I self-published my first book, "101 Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills Instantly," in 1998 and began doing book signings shortly afterward, many people have asked:
Secrets to Selling Books by Mail
This is intended for informational purposes only.
The Bible Of Self Publishing
Any book that is in its 14th edition must be doing something right. Such is the case with author Dan Poynter`s, The Self-Publishing Manual: How To Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book.
Five Book Back Cover Mistakes and How to Solve Them
Did you know that your back cover information is, after the cover, the best way to sell more books? And, that most authors, emerging and experienced, miss this opportunity to engage more potential buyers?
|
