Why can’t I make money with a POD Publisher? I thought it was appropriate that I write the answer to this on April 1 because this industry represents one of the largest April fool’s joke on the Internet. As potentially successful as the POD publisher’s salesperson or website makes it appear, the numbers just don’t add up.

You might be the best speaker in the world—but if you don’t know how to behave on the speakers’ circuit, you won’t end up with a lot of bookings. Agencies and organizations far prefer to work with and book professional speakers who know how to conduct themselves. Whether you’re just breaking in to a speaking career, or you’ve been speaking professionally for years, consider the following suggestions to catapult your speaking career to the next level.

Special-sales marketing is the process of selling your books to individuals — or to professional buyers — in businesses other than bookstores. In non-bookstore marketing, a successful title is written in response to an identified need, is published in the form desired by the reader, then is properly priced, distributed and promoted directly to a defined group of prospective customers. There are two major advantages of special sales over traditional bookstore marketing. These are control and segmentation.

If you’ve ever channel-surfed your way to QVC you’ve probably experienced the QVC “buzz” firsthand. You don’t watch QVC as a rule but for some reason, you can’t seem to switch the channel once you’re there. It’s engaging, fun, and dare I say, even a bit exciting. As the time ticks by with only seconds left to sell a product, you feel so compelled to buy it you’re already reaching for the phone when the smiling host says: “Sorry folks, we just sold out.” And suddenly you feel like you just missed out on the buy of the century

Congratulations! You have not only written a book, but you have it published. If you have a mainstream publisher, you will most likely be given some type of publicity schedule which will include book signings at book stores. If you are self-published, you will be setting up your own promotional tour. Clients always tell me how excited they are to be invited to sign books at a store. After the event, I get calls describing their disappointment that no one came to hear them speak. They feel embarrassed and insignificant. Not to worry, this is the name of the signing game

#1- Take Risks—Be willing to put yourself in uncomfortable situations (like speaking and selling) to market your books. Pretty soon—you won’t be uncomfortable anymore and you will be selling books.