|
No matter what subject your book is about, there are several ingredients that are helpful when marketing your book. Some features are absolutely necessary if you want to sell enough books to make it a bestseller. For instance, it is common knowledge that you need to have an ISBN number and an EAN barcode, plus certain bindings and features, so that retail bookstores can sell your books for you.
However, if you add certain less well known features to your book, you will hugely expand your book's marketability. Did you know that there are a few common features in almost every New York Times bestseller&63; You can take advantage of the marketing research of the giant publishing houses to help your own book sell more copies.
Below are 7 of the top book features that will make your book much easier to market and promote to bestseller status. When you design these features into your book (right from the beginning), you will market your book faster and better than other authors who fail to do so.
Feature 1 – Begin with a powerful theme and grow it. Find a flavorful title that makes people demand to know more. Outline your book and be specific with what you want in it so you attract the right people. Just gathering a list of your best ideas and putting a cover on it is not enough. You may get a book written quickly, but it probably won't sell very well. You want something that you (and others) will be proud to promote.
Feature 2 – Become known as the top expert by collecting stories from others. Ask people to share a personal story in such a way that it has a self-help element. You'll reach many more people with stories that teach the reader how to apply a lesson to their own problem than just a dry list of instructions. Tips, strategies, insider secrets, specific examples, and important resources are things you should add to every story, whether it be yours or others.
Feature 3 – You can build in marketing value by quoting the top people in your field. Choose the quotes wisely so that they match the theme of each of your sections. Consider using quotes from "live" people who might be flattered enough so that they tell others to buy it and help with promoting your book to their customer list. They may even purchase books directly for their special clients and colleagues.
Feature 4 – Be proactive in asking for interviews and testimonials, and selecting a great person to write the Foreword of your book. Use interviews with experts to get topical examples for your chapters of the book, and get audio or video clips to use for promoting. Your book will have greater authority by including interviews and endorsements from experts.
Feature 5 – List all of the people and organizations who helped in creating the book. You might also seek a corporate sponsor who might fund some of the expenses in exchange for a prominent mention in the book. Finding a partner to sponsor you in your book promotion is often very beneficial.
Feature 6 – Add an index so that your book is easier to read and use. This is often an overlooked feature, however it makes your book more saleable to libraries, which of course is a huge buyer of books and will increase your reading audience..
Feature 7 – Create a resource section with a topical rolodex. List numerous agencies, organizations, associations, services, and other professionals related to your book's subject. This will broaden your audience and it might even cause some of the leaders/owners to actually purchase quantities of your book for distribution.
Bonus Feature – Have a bibliography in your book. Many people want to buy copies of books that reference their own book in a bibliography. Also, it makes your book more attractive those doing research. You can list the books of all the authors who were interviewed, quoted, or who gave stories and examples.
ACTION STEP: The more features above you can add to your book, the easier it will be to market and promote. Put emphasis on the features that cause other people to want to help promote the book for their own sake. This makes the Law of Reciprocity work for your benefit because as they are helping themselves, they are also helping you, and vice versa.
|