Here's a book marketing advice I hope you'll take the right way:
Forget about trying to sell your book. Nobody is interested in buying your book.
What people are interested in is you, your services, your cause—and not a book.
There are many, many great books. But hardly any book out there can sell itself on its own. The bestselling books out there became bestsellers not because their authors were trying to sell books.
You will sell the most copies when people you have sold yourself to will want to get you and your ideas packaged between two book covers. It is not a book they are looking for, therefore, it's not a book you should be selling to them. Sell them yourself—in the form of a book. Most authors get it backwards: They are trying to sell a book instead of selling themselves. They are using their profession to sell their book, when in fact they should be using the book to sell their professional services.
What you want to do is to market not your book, but what your book is about. Use your book to promote your business, your practice, your cause. If you are a professional speaker, sell your speaking service using your book, rather than try to sell your book using your speaking business. If you are a counselor, use the fact that you've written a book about relationships as a way to solidify your credentials. If you are exposing human rights abuses in your book, all the more you should be thinking about advancing (marketing!) your cause, not your book.
"I don't know how to market a book!" is the most common excuse I hear from authors. Forget marketing books. How good are you at marketing YOU? Are you or your service marketable? Can you sell yourself? If the answer is yes, you don't need to know that much about book marketing. When you "market your book," do not market it, market yourself. Market your practice, your services, your advice, your concept, your cause! If you do a good job marketing YOU, your book sales will follow.
Forget about trying to sell your book. Nobody is interested in buying your book.
What people are interested in is you, your services, your cause—and not a book.
There are many, many great books. But hardly any book out there can sell itself on its own. The bestselling books out there became bestsellers not because their authors were trying to sell books.
You will sell the most copies when people you have sold yourself to will want to get you and your ideas packaged between two book covers. It is not a book they are looking for, therefore, it's not a book you should be selling to them. Sell them yourself—in the form of a book. Most authors get it backwards: They are trying to sell a book instead of selling themselves. They are using their profession to sell their book, when in fact they should be using the book to sell their professional services.
What you want to do is to market not your book, but what your book is about. Use your book to promote your business, your practice, your cause. If you are a professional speaker, sell your speaking service using your book, rather than try to sell your book using your speaking business. If you are a counselor, use the fact that you've written a book about relationships as a way to solidify your credentials. If you are exposing human rights abuses in your book, all the more you should be thinking about advancing (marketing!) your cause, not your book.
"I don't know how to market a book!" is the most common excuse I hear from authors. Forget marketing books. How good are you at marketing YOU? Are you or your service marketable? Can you sell yourself? If the answer is yes, you don't need to know that much about book marketing. When you "market your book," do not market it, market yourself. Market your practice, your services, your advice, your concept, your cause! If you do a good job marketing YOU, your book sales will follow.
Labels: author promotion, book marketing, book publicity, bookselling
posted by Atilla Vekony on 3/05/2008
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15 Comments:
You can increase your book publicity, or even as the main article states "Sell Yourself" at BiblioScribe.com, a site where authors and publishers can still market their books in the same place that they can be purchased. BiblioScribe.com allows members to use free article and Press release tools that embeds their book as part of the article, and readers have the opportunity of locating and buying the subject book directly from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s, as well as corresponding UK and Canadian online booksellers. Additionally, the Biblioscribe.com members’ public profile provides links to multiple books specified by the member, as well as the memner's own website. BiblioScribe membership is also free as well as an account on the BiblioScribe Blog.
if i understand the writer correctly, you need to find something you feel passionately about and write about it. when you are marketing your book, you need to focus on the subject matter and not yourself. this seems like good advice.
Getting Oprah to back your book is a great idea also. ;) I’m kidding. This is great advice. It makes total sense.
While it's true that having a popular author aka selling yourself is a good idea, it also boils down to the book. As people say it, "content is king!"
I mean even popular authors have their flops (because their book is really crappy). My point is that even though you are popular, the readers still appreciate reading something worth reading.
As a professional editor I can say that this is certainly good advice. We turn away many people not because their books were any worse than the ones we do accept, but because they themselves didn't make an impact.
As far as self marketing goes, while that works very well for nonfiction writers it can sometimes be more difficult for creative writers though. But as long as you feel passionately about something, anything can work.
I have to agree with the comments about selling yourself, it is the same as a job interview the person looking at you must believe that you know what you are talking about. That applies to both the publisher and the people who will purchase the book. Try and establish a link of commanality (rapport) with the person looking at the book and you will do very well.
Selling a book is more about the idea of sharing information, ideas, and stories. A book should be interesting. In order for that to happen, the writer's compassion, drive or motivation should bring the words alive. The reader should feel like they are experiencing the content. They want to feel a connection. To do that, in a sense, you're right, we have to put our whole selves into it.
Selling a book is more about the idea of sharing information, ideas, and stories. A book should be interesting. In order for that to happen, the writer's compassion, drive or motivation should bring the words alive. The reader should feel like they are experiencing the content. They want to feel a connection. To do that, in a sense, you're right, we have to put our whole selves into it.
If I am reading this correct, It is not just about wrighting to book it is about selling your self and sellig your self thru you book. If you do love what you write about you will not sell it.
It can be tough trying to rack up sales, So if you are an accomplished speaker your right, selling yourself is the way to go. Some writers however are not great speakers. All those hours alone talking to cats yo know :)
I think the subject (I mean the book) is more important than who wrote it. But anyway somtimes people buy books for their writers.
These days many people are taking chances in the publishing business. But still your book need to have good content; your brand or popularity wont help you cross the river.
This advise is just like anything in life. You have to sell yourself. Make it look like there is no one more special out there than you.
It is very good advice. There has to be something about you that stands out to grab the consumers attention.
Atilla,
Excellent article! I love reading books that are not only well written, but reveal the author's real personality.
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