|
No matter what subject your book is about, there are several ingredients that are helpful when marketing your book. If you want to sell lots of copies and make it a bestseller, then some features are essential. 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. 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.
Listed below are the top 7 features that will make it much easier to promote and market your book into becoming a bestseller. 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 – Start with a powerful theme and grow it. Give your book a zesty title that grabs attention. Outline your book and be specific with what you want in it so you attract the right people. 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 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 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. 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 – Quote lots of experts and you'll build in promotional value. Each quote should be selected to fit in the topic and message of that chapter. Some experts may be flattered enough that they will help promote your book to their customers, which helps both of you. 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 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. These interviews and testimonials will add authority to your book.
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 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 forgotten 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 – Include a bibliography. This is not only helpful to the reader who uses your book for research, but there are many people who like to own copies of the books that include theirs in the bibliography. You can list the books of all the authors who were interviewed, quoted, or who gave stories and 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.
|