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Top Ten Ways that Make One Book Outsell Another

By Judy Cullins

All authors want their books to sell well. Most don’t put in time and energy in the right place to see their sales soar. Check out the 10 ways below to boost your book’s sales beyond your wildest dreams.

1. Write a book that people need and want. People want how-to books, they want skills. Notice the demand today for eBooks. It’s best to see the need and fill it rather than have an idea and then look for an audience.
2. Write and market non-fiction books first. They account for about seventy-five percent of total book sales. You can use your profits to finance a fiction project.
3. Write short books in any format, such as eBooks, booklets, guides or special reports.
   You want a book to get out soon. So look at the faster, easier, and cheaper benefits of writing a short book rather than a full-length book of 150-350 pages. Your short book will still brand your business and bring your respect. It can be as short as five pages (special reports), to eBooks that can be 15-100 pages. Your Online audience will gladly print up to 100 pages.
   A common mistake of emerging authors is that they write books that are too long. Today’s audience wants fast, easy-to-read information. Which kind of book would you want to read?. Divide and conquer. Put most closely-related chapters into one book; then, put other related chapters into another one Write a series and price your books right. Most book coaching clients write books of ninety pages or less in length.
4. Angle your book toward women. They buy far more books than men do, accounting for about seventy-five percent of book purchases. If your message benefits women, you’ll do well in sales. The Chicken Soup for Women series sold 20 million copies out of 68 million for the total series sold. Remember that men buy books for women too.
5. Choose your title with care. Image is almost everything. Your front cover and title have from 5-10 seconds to impress your potential buyer. Be clear, use metaphor and make sure your visuals connect to your title. Elicit an emotion through your title words (preferably 5-7 words). What solutions and results does your book promise? Include these in your title if possible.
6. Expand your book into a series. Think of the huge success of the Chicken Soup Series. Donald Trump’s name is in huge letters on each book cover he writes. These author/publishers have one “brand” everyone recognizes.
7. Create spin-off products that relate to your book. Some people prefer to learn by listening to a cassette, downloading a file or purchasing a CD-ROM. I recently bought a serial eBook and loved getting two chapters a week– so easy to digest. On the Internet, you can make your book an e-course, and charge much more money than for an eBook. These formats can actually help you sell more books. Other spin-offs include coaching, consulting, speaking, seminars, teaching teleclasses, writing or making videos.
8. Impress your potential buyer within fifteen seconds with your benefit-packed back cover copy. At the top put your headline, not the title. It must hook your readers, stir up their emotions, and hit their desires. What benefits does your book offer? How to get more money, heart-centered relationships, more fame, or more health? Include from 3-5 bullets of what your book promises its readers. The most important? Those important testimonials.
9. Create your written marketing plan before you finish chapter one. This plan covers your first year’s launch period and lifetime plan. The biggest mistake new authors make is that they quit marketing after the initial six months. Word-of-mouth takes a while. Be patient and market your book for up to three years.
   Your plan could include how much income you want to make per month, your 30-second tell-and-sell and how you will promote the book. That includes book reviews, news releases, writing and submitting articles Online, book signings, talks, electronic newsletters, and a book Web site. Without a written plan, an author creates vague results.
10. Put as much time into marketing as you did the writing of your book. Remember that writing a book costs you time and money. Marketing and promotion make you money. Your goal is to have people read and learn from your unique message. Why plant a garden if you don’t harvest it? After I opened up to the Internet sales from one book went from $75 in one month to over $3000 in eight months. And, after few years, this income grows exponentially. All because easier and less expensive Online marketing–much better results than traditional.
    When authors put time into marketing they will see great results. It’s good to remember that promotion and marketing are the only things that bring the income. So merely writing a good book will not get that book into your readers’ hands.

About the author:
Judy Cullins, 20-year Book and Internet Marketing Coach works with small business people who want to make a difference in people’s lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a consistent life-long income. Author of 10 eBooks including “Write your eBook Fast,” “How to Market your Business on the Internet,” and “Create your Web Site With Marketing Pizzazz,” she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Boo

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