Sell That Book - For Authors

For Authors

The Three Rules of Book Marketing
Although you will see the theme covered in many aspects throughout this site, it can never be repeated too often.

The plan is quite simple:

1 - Identify your ideal reader

2 - Determine where they gather information for entertainment and education

3 - Make sure information about your book reaches them.

1 - Identifying the Ideal Reader
Stand back and take a moment to be objective about your book. You will want to have a reader's perspective.

If you visit a bookstore you will note there are no aisles marked "A Really Great Book", "Books That Will Sell a Million Copies" or anything remotely similar. That's because readers are not interested in your opinion of your book. For a book to become successful, it must become THEIR book, with as many people claiming personal ownership as possible. If it is fiction, they must become a bystander in the story. If it is non-fiction, they must consider you an authority and your words valuable enough to take part in their busy lives.

Thus, let's be analytical. Will your book be of particular interest to men? To women? To children? To Catholics. To teachers? To fly fishermen? To clown collectors? To New Yorkers? Don't be afraid to be very precise in this endeavor. Saying "my book appeals to everyone" means you will have to market to everyone, and that's an impossibility. You will get a very poor return on investment.

This is not to say that your book cannot have universal appeal. You must begin with a focus group and allow the ever-widening ripples of positive response gradually include more and more readers. Even if you are invited to guest on Oprah's show, you will still need to appeal to her producer's particular theme.

2 - Where Do Your Readers Gather?
The Internet has made determining this factor tremendously easy. By the simple process of a website having a targeted audience, they use the search terms and keywords that attract a particular group of viewers. if you were to make your book a website, what would your keywords be? Plug these into your favorite browser and you will discover the online watering holes.

Don't stop there. What do your readers have in common? A religious affiliation? Membership to an organization? The fact that they generally have a weekly salon appointment? Do they wear plus-size clothing? How old are they? Male? Female? Married? Single? Offline you can use these similarities to target the sources of entertainment and/or education for these groups.

3 - Let Them Know About Your Book
For many, this is the most ambitious step in successful book marketing. It is not enough to have an outgoing personality, nor is it even necessary. What IS important, although, is determining your personal strengths and enlisting others to carry on in place of your weaknesses.

If you do not mind public speakings, booksignings are a start, although generally this only works on a local basis. If you are comfortable in front of a camera, perhaps filming a brief commercial to run in off-times on cable television in your targeted regions would work best. If you're more comfortable with privacy, a website base from which to market can be more successful for you. Perhaps you are not technically comfortable and need someone to do this for you. We can provide that service. As a matter of fact, Sell That Book can provide all the tools to successfully market your book. Take a look at some of the packaged services we offer...

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