Starting Your Own Publishing Company
While it’s many an author’s dream to have their book published, it’s unfortunately, also a rarity. Not only is the process of querying agents and publishing companies a lengthy and daunting one, it’s also one that ends in rejection 95% of the time—even for some whose writing is on the level of best-selling authors.
To avoid rejection and delays in getting their book to their audience, some authors choose self-publishing. You can contract with a company who specializes in self publishing books such as LuLu.com or Amazon.com’s CreateSpace, but in doing so, you’re still giving up some of your profit and handing over the success of your manuscript to someone else. But, did you know that it can be faster and more profitable to publish your book on your own? That’s why some authors are placing their manuscripts in their own hands and starting their own publishing companies.
If you’re a first-time author or the author of several books, the benefits of owning your own publishing company can be well worth the effort involved. There are certain skills which will be necessary, but many authors have successfully mastered the publishing industry. To determine whether you would benefit from owning your own publishing company, let’s look at the skills and steps involved.
1. Are you a good writer, one who is skilled at editing and proofreading? Can you learn the technicalities of formatting a book for print? Getting your manuscript print-ready is an important part of book publishing. If you don’t know how, you’ll have to learn or hire someone to help you.
2. Do you have the marketing skills necessary to give your books the publicity they’ll need to reach your audience? You’ll need a media kit and plenty of time to contact the media, bookstores, newspapers, and radio and television stations. The Internet has also defined itself as a marketing phenomenon and you’ll need to strive for massive exposure there, as well.
3. Do you have the time and desire to make public appearances? To be a successful author, you’ll need to book plenty of signings and interviews to receive maximum exposure and sales.
4. Are you a good businessperson? A publishing company is a business and it will require a financial investment, bookkeeping, inventory, and marketing skills. In return, though, you get to reap the rewards, keep the profit and enjoy the tax deductions it can bring.
5. Do you have an image? Your book cover is a big part of your image and the initial appeal which attracts your readers. Your name is also part of your image and brand, as is the name of your publishing company. Note: Naming your publishing company after yourself isn’t always a good idea. It’s a red flag that your book is self-published. Make your company’s name memorable, but professional, if you don’t want people to know that your book is self published.
6. Your publishing company will need to be licensed with government agencies, so you’ll need to fill out the appropriate forms and request a taxpayer identification number for it. This step will go a long way in establishing your publishing company as a professional entity. While you’re at it, don’t forget to open a business bank account, something that you’re surely going to need for tax purposes and expenditures.
Once you’ve set up your publishing company, you’re ready to get started. Here’s how:
1. Even great books won’t sell if they don’t attract customers. Design a book cover or hire a graphic designer who is experienced in book cover specifications and design to create an eye-catching cover for your book.
2. Purchase an ISBN, which is the publishing industry’s unique identification for your book. It’s also required if you intend to sell books at retail establishments, or independent or major bookstores. To get yours, visit www.isbn.org.
3. Decide how much you will charge for your book. A good rule of thumb is to compare your book to similar books on the market and price it competitively. Pricing it too high will turn off buyers, and pricing it too low might give the impression that your book is inferior. Also take into consideration your costs and how much profit you need to make from each book sold.
3. Hire a printer—look for quality print and good references. You can choose traditional printers or print-on-demand printers, such as LightningSource.com, depending on how many books you initially want printed and the financial investment you’re willing and able to take.
4. After your book is printed, review the galley print, which is a draft of the interior of your book. This is an important step in making sure your manuscript is polished and print ready and the last chance to make any corrections or revisions.
5. Develop a marketing plan and hit it hard. That plan can include interviews, book signings, press releases, virtual and physical book tours, affiliate marketing campaigns, and advertisements. It takes a lot of work to receive the exposure you need to sell a lot of books, but it can be done. You should also know that while you may not sell as many books as an author published with a high-profile traditional book publisher, you also won’t be sharing your profits with them.
6. Last, but not least, your publishing company must have a professional website which promotes its authors. Purchase a domain name and spread the word, driving traffic to your website with updated information, blogs, events, and links to social media like Facebook and Twitter.
As you can see, publishing and promoting a book takes a large investment. The biggest investment you’ll make will be required when publishing your first book. There is a learning process which you’ll have to master, but when it comes time to publish your next book, you’ll be experienced and more efficient.
Running your own publishing company isn’t for everyone. But for those who are dedicated and willing to learn, it’s an investment that can produce rewards down the road. You’ll enjoy full ownership and say-so in your book and how it’s marketed. You’ll also get to stake claim to all of your book and company profits. And, if you’re lucky, you’ll enjoy every author’s dream and have a successful publishing company which will guarantee that you’ll never have to read another rejection letter again.
Traditional publishing vs self publishing: A Comic
The reality of traditional publishing...
A writer/editor contractor, whom I often work with often, sent me this comic from The New Yorker magazine. The reality is, whether you self-publish, or publish through a Vanity publisher or traditional publisher, you will have to market your own book. Period! Actually, traditional publishers are only interested in authors (specifically non-fiction authors) who already have a built-in audience, a following, prospects, basically a list of people who are interested in your message.
Did you think writing the book was the hard part? Well, the reality is that marketing is the true challenge….
How to Use Public Domain Content to Write Your Book
What’s their secret? They use public domain material. It’s something I teach in my 17 Day Book Challenge Program. It’s a well kept secret, too. Virtually very few people know how to use public domain content as a way to write a book. That concept consists of taking previously written material and repackaging it in a different book.
Before we go any further, though, you need to know what public domain really is. It’s an intellectual property designation for the range of content that is not owned or controlled by anyone. These materials are “public property” and available for anyone to use freely for any purpose. For instance, the words “public domain” float around in computer lingo often to describe software code. These are programs that anyone can use at no cost—no purchase necessary. The social network site Facebook has public domain software called Dolphin which they make available for anyone to use. There are also books which in the public domain—books you can access for free, and you can repackage and repurpose them to meet your needs and call them your own. One historic book that has joined the public domain catalogue is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
How do you use public domain books and legally repurpose them? Well you can use programs which help you accomplish exactly that—one that comes to mind is a program by Yannick Silver which teaches what you need to know. Note, though, that using public domain books to write your own does not mean that you can copy or plagiarize anyone else’s writing and call it your own. But, you can take the message, the thoughts and the ideas and reword them so they’re in your voice. And believe me, that takes a large bulk of the work out of writing a book. First, though, I always advise and strongly encourage everyone to make sure they follow all legal channels when doing so, and that means consulting an attorney who specializes in intellectual property law.
If the idea of repurposing public domain books to jump start your own sounds like something you’d like to explore further, consider the advantages you’ll get when you follow this path.
1) It saves time. You do not have to write a book from scratch. Instead you can take the content as a base and add an introduction. You can adapt the work, copy it, and sell it. You can be really creative and make it your own. In this way, you have the ability to do more than personalize it, you can even make it better, more interesting, or more in-depth by adding your message, ideas, stories, and suggestions.
2) You can copyright the adapted version. This is really cool. Although other people can go to the original source material and do the same thing as you, they cannot adapt your material because it’s not in the public domain – it is copyrighted material that’s protected. Keep in mind though, that only new portions of your book can be copyrighted. Any use of the public domain material will not fall under the copyright and you have no true ownership over that.
3) You can create derivative works based on the public domain, and profit from those. You can create audio, video, DVD, and coaching programs based on the original public domain material. So what your doing is using the public domain material and repackaging it in another format with your name on it, and, of course, any variations or additions you choose to make to the content. You’re creating a totally new product on the foundation of someone else’s writing.
Using public domain books to write your own is like building a house – rather than taking individual boards, cutting each of them and nailing them all together to frame your house, you’re starting with the complete framework totally assembled and ready to go. What a timesaver! You know what it’s going to look like and how to build on it but you don’t have to invest the time and the labor to get it there. Imagine how much faster you can complete your manuscript when the thoughts, ideas, and words have already been pre-assembled for you!
The biggest challenge you’ll have is finding the right material to use, but the search is worth your effort. You can find some really useful information and sources in Yannick Silver’s program. To get more detailed information on using public domain books, check out Public Domain Uncovered: Discover exactly how to find and use copyright-free works without fees or permission. It tells you how to “borrow” an almost endless source of content (on practically any subject you could imagine).
What is an ISBN and why do I need one?
An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a book’s identifier, much like a social security number. It’s a 13-digit number which is applicable worldwide and unique to your book. The ISBN system uses a 13-digit number on the copyright/information page, and it also uses a bar code and number on the back cover.
But what’s it for? I have a lot of people who ask me that question. Do you really need an ISBN?
That depends. Sometimes you do, and sometimes you don’t. It depends on where and how you intend to sell or distribute your book.
The ISBN provides a standard way for publishers to number their products so they cannot be duplicated by other publishers. You need an ISBN if you are going to sell your book in bookstores, through retailers, or online storefronts, like Amazon.com. There are no exceptions—if you’re going to sell your book in the traditional marketplace, you must have an ISBN.
That’s the big advantage to having an ISBN, and one that is usually the driving force behind acquiring one.
However, if you don’t intend to sell your book through any of the avenues mentioned above, you don’t really need an ISBN. For instance, if your book is a free promotional item that you’ll give away or package with another product, it doesn’t really need an ISBN. Or, if you use your book as a business card, distributing it free to potential clients, it’s not necessary to have an ISBN. Also, if your book will be sold solely at the back of the room during your speaking events, you won’t need an ISBN.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of an ISBN?
1. Advantage: You can sell your book in brick and mortar stores. By scanning the bar code, retailers identify the book title, publisher, and author, ensuring that you are credited with the sale and that their inventory is updated with each purchase.
2. Disadvantage: ISBNs, both the numbers and the bar code, cost money. Getting both in a package costs around $150, but you can check for current prices at Bowker.com
or BowkerLink.com, who is the exclusive supplier of ISBNs.
3. Advantage: An ISBN gives your book credibility to others. It’s viewed as a symbol of prestige to your book. By the way, the absence of an ISBN is one sign that your book is not published through a traditional mainstream publisher.
4. Disadvantage: It takes up to six weeks to receive your book’s ISBN, so if you’re not going to sell it through retail stores or on line sites which require it, it might cause an unnecessary delay in your book’s release.
5. Advantage: Purchasing an ISBN for your book puts it in the worldwide catalog of published books. You must be included in this catalog if you want your book available in libraries.
Given those points, the determining factor in whether you need an ISBN is how you intend to distribute or market it. Even if you aren’t going to sell your book through online or retail vendors, you might want to order an ISBN anyway, leaving the option open later should you change your mind. It’s your call—only you know the value that an ISBN will give to your particular book. Only you can determine the advantages it will bring to you in terms of sales and credibility.
Want to be an Amazon.com Bestseller: 3 Tips to get it right…
In my business, I encounter many people who want to go from being an author t
o being a bestselling author, particularly on Amazon.com. One of the most frequent inquiries I receive is how to become one. Well, there are ways. For starters, you can hire an expert at the rate of $20,000 plus to orchestrate a bestselling campaign for you, or you can do it yourself. The downside of doing it yourself is that most people simply don’t know where to begin or how to direct their energies to make it happen. That’s why I have provided the following three essential tips to become an Amazon.com bestseller. While there are no guarantees, following these tips, along with the support of a coach or mentor, have given many authors the level of success they’ve been looking for. So, let’s get started:
1. Ensure your book is appropriately placed in the correct browse and sub-categories.
Certainly, if you want your book to be a bestseller on Amazon, you’d love to see it ranking in the ‘Top Twenty overall category. But, you’ll see much more progress and have more success if you strive to become number one in a specific topic or sub-category. It’s also much easier to achieve bestselling status within a specific category than it is to hit the top 20 ceiling.
By categorizing your book correctly, people who are interested in books on your topic will be steered your way. When they review your book, they’ll see that it ranks number one in that category. Wow, that’s just what they were looking for! A bestselling book on a particular topic that is of interest to them. Besides that, becoming number one in a certain category will contribute toward raising your book’s sales rank in the “overall” category, as well. And even though your book is a bestseller only in one category, you still get the boasting rights of being an Amazon.com number one bestseller.
2. Ensure your book is available on POD (with a guarantee of 100 on stock) or there is at least 500 books on site at the Amazon warehouse.
If your book is not available and in stock at Amazon, or available via print-on-demand (POD) through a reputable POD company or Ingram distributor, your book will read OUT OF STOCK. Of course, when a book is out of stock, people don’t purchase it—it’s not available. Thus, you want to avoid the “out of stock” notation because it really discourages sales. Unless you’re famous or already have achieved notoriety as a bestselling author, Amazon.com will only keep on hand minimal numbers of your book. When they witness a steady sales flow, they’ll increase that number. Amazon.com makes it difficult for self-publishers or Independent publishers to provide stock-up requests, so you want to make sure you research this thoroughly before conduct your campaign. You don’t want to send 200 people to Amazon.com to buy your book if they only have 12 books on hand.
3. Select an appropriate Amazon.com bestseller date.
Amazon.com uses a formula to determine your book’s rank. The fastest and easiest way to move up the sales rank is to select one date to market to the masses. Heavy sales on one day will move you past the competition into bestseller status. However, you don’t want to pick just any day out of thin air. Other authors are using this strategic tactic, too. Look at your competition. Find out when their books are going to be released and choose a different day. It will not serve you well if your campaign push falls on the same day that the next Harry Potter book is released. Choose dates wisely – do your research.
There’s more to becoming a bestselling author than writing a great book—you have to know the inside tips to creating sales. Following these three tips are critical in achieving that status.
Want more help becoming an Amazon.com bestseller, listen to this.
More information about Amazon.com Bestseller Program, click Amazon Bestseller Homestudy Program.
10 Tips to Get Free Publicity (Blog with Audio)
My good friend, Sally Shields, and I recently held a teleseminar on Publicity Secrets Revealed: What Every PR Firm Doesn’t Want You to Know About! It was so successful that I want to share those secrets with even more business owners, entrepreneurs and authors, showing them how they, too, can navigate the world of publishing and marketing and get the publicity they need and deserve.
If you’ve already written a book, that’s great! But by now, you know that getting book sales and publicity takes work—and a lot of it. Well, we understand—we’ve been in your shoes, but along the way we’ve found some shortcuts and secrets that will help you to spark interest in your book and get free publicity—yes, free publicity! Sally Shields has used these very same tips to become a number one best-selling author on Amazon.com with her book, The Daughter-in-Law Rules.
One of the biggest obstacles authors have is getting publicity, so it’s not unusual for them to hire a PR firm. More often than not, they invest a heavy chunk of money in a PR firm, only to be disappointed with the results. You can actually get the same, and better, results on your own, and for little or no money. I’ve had tremendous success with these tips with my book, Goal Digger, and we already know the amazing results Sally got from them. However, while we encourage you to market yourself and your book on your own, we also encourage anyone who’s doing so to get media training first. Invest in learning how to deliver your message so when you get the publicity you want, you know what to say and how to use it wisely.
So, without further ado, here are the top ten things you can do to market your book and brand. Now, you don’t have to do all of them, but if you do several really well, you’re going to get some very surprising results.
1. Print business cards with your book cover on them. This is an inexpensive, but effective, way to reach a mass of people. Give them out to friends, drop some on the counter at the beauty shop, the bagel store, the corner deli, or even at doctor’s offices, clothing stores, and restaurants. You never know who will pick them up and who they might know.
2. Make sure you have a website and it can capture people’s email addresses. You can do this by asking them to sign up for your emails or your newsletter. Just get their addresses and build that client list and friend database. You can even entice them to sign up by giving all new members an opportunity to download a free chapter of your book, which will spark more interest in your book.
3. Create a book trailer. You can create your own 30-second book trailer for free at Animoto.com. Do it and put it on your website and post it on YouTube. This does generate publicity and a great deal of interest.
4. Fine tune your elevator pitch. HelpAReporterOut.com is free, and it’s a wonderful way to create and perfect your elevator pitch. Simply stated, your elevator pitch is a three-sentences giving: Your name, the title of your book and your vision and how you and your book can help others. Short and sweet, it’s an introduction to the media letting them know about you, why they should be interested in interviewing you, and why their listeners, viewers, and readers will tune in. Make sure you tell what’s in it for their listeners and readers…make it short and make it good.
5. Create a media-ready release. Now, don’t confuse this with a press release—it’s different. Your elevator pitch will help you. You’ll need a headline or a hook that is timely and which ties into the news or a specific time of the year or holiday. Your media ready release is going to lay out the main points that you can talk about. It’s actually going to make it easier for you to get on radio and TV shows because it shows you’re prepared and does most of the work for the producer.
6. Prepare letters and emails in an effort to get at least five celebrity testimonials. Now, you don’t have to solicit testimonials from mega big-screen stars, but that would be nice. By celebrities, we mean you can contact authors, athletes, radio hosts, and actors, as well as famous business people. Well-known names respected in their fields are always a plus. In your letter, include a few sample testimonials for them to choose from. By making their job easier and already providing the testimonial, you’re more likely to get a quick and favorable response. How are you going to find these celebrities? I like ContactAnyCelebrity.com. Visit that site and you’ll find contact information, as well as their PR firm, agent information, etc. Be kind, courteous, complimentary, and thankful.
7. Create a media calendar. One of the easiest secrets, this one is effective. Get a calendar and fill in the months and days where your message is pertinent. For instance, if your book is about mothers or parenting, Mother’s Day is a focal point, as are other holidays like Grandparent’s Day, etc. You could take advantage of the exposure of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, etc. Use your imagination and fill in the dates when your expertise could be relevant to that day or time of year. Then, write a media release when that time of year comes around, using a hook or headline which relates your book to that time of year. This catches a great deal of attention, showing why they should be interested in you and your book right now. Make sure the release contains the most popular keywords (you can find those on Google.com/alert.
8. Prepare articles and get them posted on five or more blogs in the next 60 days. Prepare one to three articles, and if you don’t feel confident doing that, use an article template. There are some free ones through Jeff Herring who is known as the article guy. His website is TheArticleGuy.com. Write an article or use a template, then google your keyword plus the word “blog” to find the highest-ranking blogs for your area of expertise. Pick five blogs and contact them. Introduce yourself, give the elevator pitch you prepared earlier, and volunteer to submit content or be a guest on their blog. Offer them a Question and Answer session, and of course, a giveaway, which will help promote your book. To curb costs, you can send electronic books, what we all know as ebooks, which are very inexpensive promotional giveaways.
9. Book a local speaking engagement at a library, bookstore, or event. Prepare a PowerPoint and a little speech, and do a book reading. You’ll be surprised at how many people buy your book when you’re done. If you’re afraid of public speaking, practice—attend Toastmasters—write note cards to help you stay on point. The hosts of these events often buy your book in bulk beforehand, giving you sales right away. If you’re speaking for a charity event, partner with that charity. It’s an excellent marketing tool and will give you sponsorship and a great deal more exposure. Plus, you’ll be helping a cause that’s important to you.
10. Always, always carry copies of your book with you. Tuck a few in your purse, your briefcase, wherever, but always have a copy of your book on hand, ready to give to the first person who can help you. You never know who you’re going to meet every day, and you don’t want to miss an opportunity. If your book is on parenting, the person you start talking to might know a radio host, a prominent pediatrician, or even a corporate retailer of children’s products. By giving them your book and talking about it, you’ve just made an inside contact to some influential people who can help you. So, always, always carry your book with you and don’t be shy about flaunting it!
Those are the top ten secrets that you need to know to get your books out of the garage and into the hands of people who can give it the exposure it deserves. Do a few of these, and do them very well, and you’re going to find that you are the best PR firm your book and your business will ever know.
To listen to the replay of this info-packed call, click here.
6 Advantages of Amazon Bestseller Status
The Secrets of Female Sexuality places #8 overall...
As I’ve coached authors, helping them make their book a business, I’ve had a front row seat to their success. A successful book is quite a feat, but I’ve witnessed firsthand how transformational it is when a book reaches bestseller status. The perks are phenomenal!
Why should anyone want to be a bestselling author? Here’s a quick list of the benefits:
If your book becomes a bestseller:
- You get bragging rights! And you’ll deserve them! Very few authors achieve bestselling status, so when you uncover the secret to marketing your book the right way, you are among the cream of the crop. That’s something to talk about. It also helps you to create more buzz about your book and the interest it receives.
- You can add the title “Amazon bestseller” to your marketing materials and website. Everyone knows Amazon, and everyone knows that to become an Amazon bestseller, you have to beat a lot of competition. There are millions of books available through Amazon, so when you become a bestseller, you’ve earned a prestigious title that is more than an opinion—it’s indisputable and based entirely on fact—sales numbers which outrank all the rest!
- People can introduce you as an “Amazon bestseller” before radio and TV interviews or speaking engagements. Being called an “Amazon bestseller” automatically provides you with credentials. It makes you an expert in your field, stating that you have something different to say and that people want to hear it. It’s an accomplishment that automatically portrays success.
- You gain credibility in the corporate world. As an author, you are one of millions. As a bestselling author, your commendable achievement is acknowledged. Suddenly, you’ll become a sought-after speaker or consultant to businesses who place great value on credentials and accomplishments.
- You establish yourself as an expert in your field. If you want to be an expert, write a book. If you want everyone to agree that you’re an expert, write a bestselling book. When you’ve written one of the top ten books in your industry, your expertise will have much more value and people will view you as the authority on your topic.
- You can distribute a press release the next day – toting the fact you are a bestseller. By quickly getting the word out that your book is a bestseller, you spark more interest, accolades, and prestige. A press release that once might have gotten buried will go to the top of the pile when it touts such a remarkable achievement. When it does, you’ll benefit from the speaking engagements, interviews, and articles it will produce.
Best of all, your bestseller placement puts you in front of an audience that may have never heard of you at all. Once Amazon and Google know who you are, the sky is the limit.
- Final numbers for October 7, 2009
How I Became an Amazon.com Bestseller and How You Can Too!
More information about Amazon.com Bestseller Program, click Amazon Bestseller Homestudy Program
CALL-IN DETAILS
Host Name: Sally Shields and Alicia Dunams
Teleseminar: How to become an Amazon.com Bestseller!
DATE & TIME: Tuesday, October 13th at 9:00pm Eastern
FORMAT: Simulcast! (Attend via Phone or Webcast — it’s your choice)
TO ATTEND THIS EVENT, CLICK THIS LINK NOW…
http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=9506163
3 Tips to Become an Amazon.com Bestseller…
As of 9:58 am PST, my client and colleague David Shade became an Amazon.com bestseller.
There are many authors, or wanna-be authors, who also want to achieve this status, and I always get inquiries on how one becomes an Amazon.com bestseller. Well, you can pay an expert 20K + to orchestrate the campaign for you (Currently, I charge anywhere from 12 to 15K to coach and strategize all of the intricacies of a bestseller and book launch campaign for my clients.) Or you can do it yourself, which is tough if you don’t know where to begin (see 3 tips below to help you get started). Or, there is always something in between.
And with that, here are the following programs I recommend:
My friend, colleague and best-selling author, Sally Shields has crafted an amazing program called the Amazon Bestseller and Free Publicity 101 Homestudy Program. She walks you step-by-step through the Amazon Bestseller Campaign Process, and shows you exactly what you need to become a Amazon bestseller and garner FREE national publicity. *An aside: I just spoke to Sally today and she was taping the Rachel Ray Show – so this woman is definitely someone to follow!
Also, if you are a wanna-be author who needs to write their book before they even think about becoming a bestseller, you want to check out my coaching course and product, The 17-Day Book Challenge. In this course, I coach you on how to get your book done in less than 17 days, as well as develop your book marketing plan, which goes into depth in launching your book and making it an Amazon.com bestseller. I’ve gotten steller reviews about the 17-Day Book Challenge, which also includes as a bonus a private 1-on-1 60-minute telecoaching call with me.
Nonetheless, if you do decide to ‘go it alone’, here are a few tips to get you on your way to being an Amazon.com bestseller:
1. * Ensure your book is placed in the correct browse and sub-categories.
As you see from the screen shot, David’s book is not only in the top-20 overall, but is #1 in specific sub-categories. That way, people interested in dating topics will see it’s the #1 book of the day. Also, this step is crucial, because it is much harder to become an Amazon.com “Overall” bestseller. The chances you are a bestseller in a specific category are greater.
2.* Ensure your book is available on POD (with a guarantee of 100 on stock) or there is at least 500 books on site at the Amazon warehouse.
If you book is not available in-stock at Amazon, or available on print-on-demand (POD) through a reputable POD company or Ingram distributor, your book will read OUT OF STOCK and discourage sales. Amazon.com makes it difficult for self-publisher or Independent publishers to provide stock-up requests, so you want to make sure you research this thoroughly before conduct your campaign.
3.*Select an appropriate Amazon.com bestseller date..
Authors don’t normally do these campaigns on days that Harry Potter or a similar powerhouse book comes out. Choose dates wisely – do your research.
Of course, I hope this information helps. If you want further support, I offer 15-minute complimentary sessions to discuss what is the best route to go! – To your success – AD
How to Attract Customers with your Book Title
Being Fat Sucks!
It’s not easy for an author to create buzz about his or her book. That’s especially true for first-time authors who don’t yet have a following. But, it’s not impossible, and a couple authors have found a unique and effective way to attract readers.
Experienced authors know that the competition is fierce. In order to vie other authors for you percentage of sales, you need a lot of PR and marketing. To get the word out and brand your name and message, you have to cut through the clutter and find your own niche—your own market. One great way to do that is to give your book an irreverent, controversial title that will attract curiosity, promote conversation and create “shock and awe.”
What's Your Poo Telling You?
Recently, two books which have used this concept have demonstrated its value: Being Fat Sucks by Lisa Lewis, and What’s Your Poo Telling You, a book penned by a doctor who coincidentally calls himself Dr. Stool. Think about it—how many people do you know who would rush out to buy a book about poo? Not many, I’m sure. But by writing about the subject in a comical way, complete with some very innovative illustrations, Dr. Stool has turned a serious and dry medical topic into a novelty or gift book, earning it a strategic placement next to the cash register at major book retail stores. Because he made light of a serious medical concern, millions have been entertained while they were educated on the importance of looking in the toilet.
My client, author Lisa Lewis, had a similar approach. She wrote Being Fat Sucks in such a way that it would hit people in gut and sock them in their ego. The title tells it like it is, and so does the book, which is why Lewis was able to take a personal development story and use it to create an individual brand as a frank, open, and sincere speaker and weight-loss consultant.
The end result? Both have authored business books in the self-help genre which are successfully marketing their message, building their brand, and establishing themselves as experts, while benefiting from their book’s profits.
So, when you’re writing your book, look at it from all angles. Is there a better way you can position yourself within the industry, attracting more readers and becoming a household name? Whether it’s changing your title or the delivery of your message, find the best way to create a buzz about your book and attract more readers than the competition. You’re unique, and your book should be, too.
Check out the books today!
What’s Your Poo Telling You?
Being Fat Sucks!
