Heavy Lifting: How a Shrug Book Sold Tons of Copies

January 22, 2010 by Sam Henrie, President

Call it your audience, your author platform, your tribe, your following, your posse, whatever ... building it is the single most important factor in the success of your book—more than the book’s content.

If your content is “the best ever written,” and you have no audience, you should pat yourself on the back for a job well done, and file your manuscript in your desk drawer. Got it?
After working with over 1,000 authors, we do!

Here, Paul Kelso, author of Kelso’s Shrug Book, talks about how he built his audience and made his book into a success.

“Mr. Henrie of Wheatmark has asked me for ... insight as to how I, make that we, created a modest niche book on weight training that has surprised everyone by selling over 6,000 copies.

“I have to date published over one hundred articles on weight-game subjects and reported eight World or Asian powerlifting championships and a World Games. I developed a lot of name recognition before I proposed the Shrug Book. In fact, I WAS FORTUNATE TO BE WELL KNOWN IN THE FIELD BEFORE GOING WITH THE BOOK. But a lot can be done to build that recognition.

“How did I market the Shrug Book? In addition to Wheatmark services, I used my contacts in the game to set up a number of retail distributors and sent out about four dozen freebie copies to website operators, equipment sellers, and magazine editors for reviews, and net forum operators for comment. Before publishing I solicited a dozen editorial blurbs for back cover and ad one-liners about how great my ideas are. Most of those guys already knew my work, but sending advance manuscript copies to them helped.

“Not everybody can have a breakthrough brainstorm or enjoy wide name recognition to help kick-start a book. But a writer might keep these approaches in mind for getting a book together.

“By publishing my ideas as a series of articles first and then compiling them into a book I got paid multiple times for the same material. This is an established way to proceed and not my invention. I got paid to write my books.

“Even if you are already established as a contributor, it is a good idea to query a magazine editor outlining your proposed article before you write the piece. If the editor says your article sounds interesting and he would like to see it, you have a leg up. You know you are on the right track, with less chance of rejection.”

Readers bought Paul’s book because they read his articles, read his web content, met him at an event, trained with him, heard of his unique training system, etc., and already cared what he had to say before they purchased his book.

Got it?

We do.

Read Kelso’s entire letter on our publishing blog!

Tags: author platform
Filed Under: Marketing