8 Ways to Sell Your Book

There are many ways to sell your book. Be creative and think of unique ways to sell your book in your community and online. It is important that you feel comfortable talking to others and asking people to buy your book. Take a sales course to get you going. Eight ways to sell your book are listed below. Choose one of them and get everything set up so that by the time your book is published you are ready to sell your book.

1. Get listed in online bookstores. Barnes and Noble and Amazon are two you can list on if your book has an ISBN number. Find online services that specialize in your type of book such as, religious, self-help, personal success, business, etc.

2. Your Website. If you already have a Website then set up a page for your new book and promote your book on it. You need to develop words or phrases that you feel someone will enter into a search engine to find a book like yours. The Internet is the most powerful and inexpensive way to sell anything if you know how to do it. However, you are competing with millions of Websites out there who want to do business. If you are not familiar with the importance of knowing how to attract people to your site (traffic) and how to do keyword search and use it, then hire a keyword expert to do this for you. It is worth the money to have it done right the first time.

3."Pay-per-click" advertising. With pay-per-click, the advertiser only pays if someone actually visits your website. You buy keywords that you think your type of reader would search for. You don't want to buy the most popular keywords because it's too expensive. Test different words or phrases that your prospect would search and only buy ones that are reasonable. Keywords can cost $1.00 per click -- that is too much. You need to keep your keyword under 25 cents. Be careful with this. Sign up only if you know what you are doing. Get an expert to help you with this. Check out the local colleges. There just might be a student out there waiting to help you.

4. Book signing events. Find some independent bookstores in your community as they can give you more attention than a big box bookstore. Also find big events that offer exhibit space. Share the cost with another small business where you each use half of the table top. Create an attention getting display for your book. Use flowers, bright colors, banners, etc. Be proactive and invite visitors to your table to sign books. Ask them an open-ended question to get them involved in interacting with you. For example, as a book coach I could ask, "What is more important to you -- attracting more clients or getting recognized as an Expert?" A good conversation could begin once I know the answer to my question.

5. Sell to libraries. Send a mailing to the libraries to order your book. Most libraries buy books that are on the review list of Publishers Weekly, the Booklist, or the Library Journal. Your book must have created a lot of buzz for libraries to take an interest in it. You can sell a lot of books to libraries if your book is a good one.

6. Sell to book clubs. Don't forget to promote your book -- include some reviews -- to book clubs.

7. Sell your books to corporations as gifts. Phone the corporate executives you know and ask them if they would be interested in buying books for management and key people in their company. You will have all of them personally autographed for them. Check with your publisher to find out how many copies does a corporation need to buy to get a discount. If they are interested send them a copy of the book with a personal letter.

8. Sell your books to corporations with company imprints. Invite companies to buy large volumes with the company imprint. They can give them out at company annual meetings, parties, etc. Check with your printer and ask what the minimum volume is to print with a company imprint.

Close The Sale

Once you have a potential book buyer ask the right questions to get him or her to buy the book. You can't be shy. If you can't get rid of your introverted style then ask a dynamic friend who you feel could sell anything to help you. Award your friend with a Starbucks or American Express card for a selected dollar amount to give them as a gift of appreciation. Once you've attracted a prospect, once you've explained the book, shared the benefits, it's time to close the sale. Assume they want the book and ask something like, "Shall I dedicate this book to you, or to a friend?" Or, "If you buy one for a friend I can ship it for you." For business owners you can ask, "Would you like to give some of these autographed books as gifts to your employees?" Always be enthusiastic and have fun promoting and selling your book. Be persistent and keep on planning ways to sell your book. You are on your way to a best seller!

Copyright 2008, Joan Clout-Kruse.