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No matter what subject your book is about, there are several ingredients that are helpful when marketing your book. Some features are absolutely necessary if you want to sell enough books to make it a bestseller. Everyone knows that in order for your book to be sold in retail stores, it must have an EAN barcode, an ISBN number, and certain bindings and features.
However, there are several less known features you should add to expand the marketability of your book. Did you know that there are a few common features in almost every New York Times bestseller&63; You can take advantage of the marketing research of the giant publishing houses to help your own book sell more copies.
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 – Begin with a powerful theme and grow it. Find a flavorful title that makes people demand to know more. Write your book outline to be specific about what will attract the right people to your book. Just gathering a list of your best ideas and putting a cover on it is not enough. You may get a book written quickly, but it probably won't sell very well. You want something that you (and others) will be proud to promote.
Feature 2 – Get stories from people other than yourself and you will be viewed as the expert of experts. Ask people to share a personal story in such a way that it has a self-help element. 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. In every story, you should mix in Important resources, specific examples, strategies, tips, and insider secrets, whether they be from you or someone else.
Feature 3 – You can build in marketing value by quoting the top people in your field. Choose the quotes wisely so that they match the theme of each of your sections. Consider using quotes from "live" people who might be flattered enough so that they tell others to buy it and help with promoting your book to their customer list. And, they might even buy some for themselves to give away to colleagues and special clients.
Feature 4 – Proactively seek out interviews and testimonials, and find the right person to do the Foreword. 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 credibility to your book.
Feature 5 – List all of the people and organizations who helped in creating the book. You can also try to find a company to cover the costs in return for notable attention in your book. And it is often very helpful to seek out a sponsor to partner with in your promotion.
Feature 6 – Your book will be much easier to read and reference if you include an index. This is often an overlooked feature, however it makes your book more saleable to libraries, which of course is a huge buyer of books and will increase your reading audience..
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 feature will help increase your audience, and give those listed in the rolodex a reason to help you distribute and promote the book.
Bonus Feature – Have a bibliography in your book. Many people want to buy copies of books that reference their own book in a bibliography. Also, it makes your book more attractive those doing research. You can list the books of all the authors who were interviewed, quoted, or who gave stories and examples.
ACTION STEP: The more features above you can add to your book, the easier it will be to market and promote. Put emphasis on the features that cause other people to want to help promote the book for their own sake. This makes the Law of Reciprocity work for your benefit because as they are helping themselves, they are also helping you, and vice versa.
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