Sell the works !

Home 2011 February Sell the works !

The title sounds simple, isn’t it? Of course it is ! But the task isn’t!

The biggest challenge before a marketer while trying to sell a book is: How to sell the book? Well it is not difficult to sell a book authored by Tom Peters or Seth Godin. The real question is how to sell it when you are the author- an absolute newbie who has no previous name as an author. The key lies in driving the point home that it is an absolute value for money. How to do it ?There are no clear cut answers to this, but depending on the content of your book a combination of one or more of this should work out.
 
1. Know your target 
I have noticed this being the major issue in most cases. Most newbie authors write a book on a specific topic and then believe that everyone will buy it ! It certainly doesn’t work like that. For example if I don’t need to buy a soap and go to a market, I certainly won’t be buying it ! But if you are a soap manufacturer and I happen to visit your store to buy a soap, then you stand a chance to make sales ! Another thing which recently happened was one of my friends wrote a book on his college life but now expected everyone to buy it ! And sadly, that wasn’t happening. Moreover very few in his college were even aware that such a book exists. I mean here was someone cursing his luck and a market remained unexplored. Target it !! Books sell by word of mouth marketing and if your book is good, your readers will promote it for you !
 
2. How much can you give ?
As a newbie, you are an unknown commodity in the market. So give at least a couple of chapters of your coveted book for free. If you want people to spend their 2 cents on it, show them it’s worth the deal and much more !
 
3.Facebook
Social media provides a great opportunity to promoting the book and in particular Facebook. Create a fanpage, suggest to friends and build an initial fan following.Place ads on Facebook , and though it will cost your wallet- a consumer base of 500 million doesn’t come for free!
 
4.Hash tags
Hash tags are another great way to reach out to a wider audience and especially since the world lives on micro blogging these days. Register in the site hashtag.org as it provides a great platform for professionals who tweet and it does generate quality hits to your site! I repeat quality hits!
 
5. Build a good website !
Have a fully featured website for your book and get it professionally designed if you aren’t the computer savvy guy. Also do not forget to include online buying facility. Go for a light background for your site. Just make sure the message is clear. That’s all.
 
6.Testimonials
Most newbies ask their friends for testimonials, leading to a scenario with 50+ referrals. Honestly look for 4-5 quality feedbacks from people who have read the book. Any prospective reader can make out the difference between quality and referred testimonials.
Food for thought: If the newbie author has to do all these activities to promote his book, what is the publisher doing?
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Abhirup
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 MBA, Author of 4 books, Finance guy who loves brands

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