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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. Everyone knows that in order for your book to be sold in retail stores, it must have an EAN barcode, an ISBN number, and certain bindings and features.
However, if you add certain less well known features to your book, you will hugely expand your book's marketability. For instance, almost every New York Times Bestseller has certain features and it would be wise to incorporate them into your book so that you improve your chances of being one of them too.
Below are 7 of the top book features that will make your book much easier to market and promote to bestseller status. When you incorporate these features into your book from the beginning, your book will have an enormous advantage over the other books on the shelf.
Feature 1 – Choose a powerful theme and build it out. Give your book a zesty title that grabs attention. Write your book outline to be specific about what will attract the right people to your book. Don't just grab a bunch of your best ideas and slap a cover on it. That will get you a book, but it won't be a bestseller. You need a book that you and others will be excited to market.
Feature 2 – Get stories from people other than yourself and you will be viewed as the expert of experts. Ask people in your field to share a personal story with a self-help element relating to something in your outline. 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. In every story, you should mix in Important resources, specific examples, strategies, tips, and insider secrets, whether they be from you or someone else.
Feature 3 – You can build in marketing value by quoting the top people in your field. Each quote should be selected to fit in the topic and message of that chapter. 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. And, they might even buy some for themselves to give away to colleagues and special clients.
Feature 4 – Be proactive in asking for interviews and endorsements, and selecting a great person to write the Foreword of your book. Interview other experts if you can and use the opportunity to get relevant examples for your section of the book and audio clips for promotion. Your book will have greater authority by including interviews and testimonials from experts.
Feature 5 – Give credit to the individuals and groups who helped create 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. And it is often very helpful to seek out a sponsor to partner with in your promotion.
Feature 6 – Add an index so that your book is easier to read and use. This feature will make your book much easier to sell to libraries which will enlarge your readership and help you draw more customers to your website. Yet this feature is often ignored in the book writing process.
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. Be sure to include the books from any experts who contributed stories, interviews, or examples.
ACTION STEP: Add in as many of the above features as possible to your book. Especially focus on the features that get other people involved in your book, because the more that you involve others and promote them, the more likely they will help you in promoting your book... it is called the Law of Reciprocity and it works like a charm.
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