Market Your Book Before it’s a Book

They say that everyone has a book in them. Until recently, however, relatively few people ever put their book on paper. Major advances in publishing technology and easy access to this technology have changed all of that. Now, more and more people worldwide are producing books in all genres.

As a savvy author, you’ve probably been reading about the publishing trade. By now you know that, in order to sell your book, you must promote it. And this is true whether you’re self-published or have a traditional publisher. But did you know that the time to start marketing your book is before it’s published?

Many of you are saying, “Don’t bother me, I’m busy producing the book. I have no time to think about promoting it.” But those months prior to and even during production are crucial to sales. Keep reading and you’ll see what I mean.

Write a book proposal. Do this even if you plan to publish the book yourself. A self-publisher’s book proposal will differ slightly from the proposal for a traditional publisher. A book proposal is your preliminary guide to writing and marketing the book. You’ll include a Synopsis or Overview of your book (do you actually have material for a book?), Market Analysis (your competition) and Promotional Ideas.

The Market Analysis is particularly important in determining whether there is a market for your book. Check http://www.amazon.com and visit your closest mega-bookstore to find out how many books there are on your topic. How are they selling? How does your book differ? Is there an angle that hasn’t been explored? Don’t be so attached to your idea that you make bad decisions.

If you plan to produce a book of poetry and your market analysis shows that poetry books are not selling right now, consider shifting your focus. Maybe how-to books are the rage. Consider writing a book featuring tips for poets and include your poems to illustrate the various lessons you’re supplying. Or think smaller and consider publishing a mini-book of poems for the next season: Mother’s Day for example, or Easter. This might be a less expensive way to find out if you really are cut out to be a publisher.

Most people have limitations when it comes to self-promotion. When you list Promotional Ideas, you become keenly aware of your own. You may be willing to send out review copies, write press releases and approach bookstores throughout your state. But you’re not comfortable doing book signings, radio spots or public speaking engagements. You may plan to do some advertising, but don’t want to spend the money on a publicist.

Once you know your self-imposed limitations, you can take the steps necessary to move beyond them. You may decide to join a Toastmasters club and hone your public speaking skills, for example, set more money aside for promotion or rethink the whole idea of producing a book.

This is a good time to study book-marketing techniques. There are numerous Web sites and books on the subject. You may discover a plethora of promotional activities that you hadn’t even considered: writing magazine articles, doing piggyback marketing, tapping into a specialty market, soliciting online interviews, having your book included in a catalog or selling books through eBay, for example.

Make your book salable. A client once came to me complaining that he couldn’t sell his wonderful self-published book to any outlet. One look and I could see why. The book was not suitable for sale through most bookstores because it didn’t have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or a barcode. Neither did he fill out the Advance Book Information sheet for RR. Bowker, so his book was not listed in Books In Print.

Before producing a book today, do your homework. Find out what is necessary in order to sell your book in popular markets.

Most bookstore and specialty shop owners require the book have an ISBN and a barcode. Request a block of International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN) from R. R. Bowker. Contact them at 888-269-5372 or isbn-san@bowker.com or info@bowker.com . For more information visit http://www.isbn.org.

Bookstores typically reference Books in Print for ordering information on books they don’t stock. Request an Advanced Book Information (ABI) form from Bowker. Fill it out about six months before your book is finished and send it to R.R. Bowker (630 Central Ave., New Providence. NJ 07974). There is no charge for the form or for the listing.

If you expect to tap into the library market, you’ll want to order Publisher’s Cataloguing-in-Publication information from Quality Books. Contact them at 800-323-4241 or visit their Web site at www.quality-books.com. The cost for a P-CIP is now $150 for a first edition.

Choose an appropriate binding. Most libraries and bookstores prefer to stock perfect-bound books—books with spines. Some systems won’t accept spiral bound or saddle-stitched books. If yours is a workbook, however, you might want to use comb binding for easier referencing. Choose one with space for lettering so when placed on shelves spine out, customers can easily identify it.

Talk about your book everywhere you go. Even before it’s a book, start promoting it to friends, coworkers and people you meet in passing. I recommend that authors come up with a thirty-second commercial—that is a thirty-second spiel describing your book. When someone asks what you’ve been doing lately or what you’re working on now, you’ll be ready with an advertisement for your project.

Say, for example, “I’m working on a book that will help teens and their parents adjust to the huge transition they face when the student goes off to college for the first time.” You have twenty seconds left to add some of the benefits built into your book. If this person expresses even mild interest, ask for his/her card and add them to your mailing list.

Become a walking billboard for your book. I’ve known authors to walk around at public events wearing sandwich boards advertising their book. Not many of us are that brazen, but here are a couple of less flamboyant ideas. You could wear a tee shirt with the cover of your book stamped on the front of it or a pin that says, “Ask me about my latest book.” If the title is provocative, use it on the pin. Who could resist asking about a pin that says, “Tickle My Funny Bone,” or “Bats in the Belfry, Rats in the Basement”?

Line up experts to give testimonials. Whether you’re writing a book featuring rescue dog stories, kitchen recipes for facial treatments or 101 summer activities for kids, find a couple of experts in the field to review your manuscript. Use his or her testimonial on your back cover and in your promotional materials. Big names sell books.

Don’t you consider a book on self-publishing more seriously when you see that Dan Poynter has endorsed it? Wouldn’t you take a second look at a cookbook if there was a testimonial on the back by Julia Childs?

Involve a lot of people and organizations in your book. When I wrote my local history book, The Ojai Valley, An Illustrated History, I interviewed dozens of people and used the archives of several organizations. I listed all of these people and agencies in my book. This effort resulted in numerous additional sales. Most of these people bought books for themselves, their immediate family members and as gifts for friends. The agencies bought the book for their libraries.

An organization or agency might take special interest in a book that mentions them. They may want to buy a large quantity to give away or to sell through their catalog or on their Web site. I know two young brothers who wrote a book on diabetes for children. When they contacted the American Diabetes Association to tell them about it, this organization offered to publish it.

Create a mailing list. Here’s something you can do whether you’re self-publishing or working with a traditional publisher. Log names from your Rolodex, Christmas card list, address book and business files. Be sure to add family, friends, neighbors, former neighbors, your children’s teachers, coworkers, your yoga classmates, the folks you met on your last cruise and so forth. Keep adding to this list as you continue to meet new people and make new business contacts.

While your self-published book is being printed, send pre-publication flyers to this list offering a discount for orders received by a certain date. I paid over half of my printing bill for the 2nd edition of The Ojai Valley, An Illustrated History with pre-publication orders.

Tap into the phone book. Prior to the publication of my books, I typically spend several evenings gathering names from telephone books for my mailing list. For example, if your topic is healthy grieving, list funeral homes, family counselors, psychologists, doctors and hospice groups that might want to have your book on hand for their clients. Reference telephone directories from other counties and states at your public library, use an Internet telephone directory or buy mailing lists from companies that provide them.

Find your niche market. Contact specialty storeowners and/or professionals who might make up your niche market. For the book on rescue dogs, for example, you would contact pet storeowners, veterinarians, pet groomers and animal trainers. Take this step even before starting the writing process to make sure you are developing a book that is needed and wanted. For example, by talking to these retailers, you might learn that there’s a very limited market for a book on training rescue dogs, but a large interest in a collection of stories featuring rescue dogs.

Arrange to distribute copies of your book for resale though specialty outlets. Offer storeowners the typical 40% discount. Discuss the display arrangement. You might want to design a display rack. For help, contact a point of purchase expert. Here are a few: http://www.displaystands4you.com and http://www.royal-display.com.

Create a Web site. Whether you are self-publishing or you have a traditional publisher, build a Web site to showcase your new book. Clarity and simplicity are key. Make it clear on your home page that you have a book to sell. Provide easy-to-follow ordering information. List your URL on the cover of your book, your business cards, your letterhead and as a “signature” in all of your emails. Make sure that your site is listed with all of the major search engines. And exchange links with related sites.

As Dan Poynter says in his endorsement for one of my books, “Writing your book is the tip of the iceberg; promoting it is the larger part under the water.” And he’s right. That’s why, the time to start thinking about promoting your book is before it becomes a book.

Patricia Fry is the author of 24 books, including “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book,” (www.matilijapress.com).

Patricia Fry

Patricia Fry is the author of 33 books, including The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. www.matilijapress.com. She is the Executive Director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writer’s Network) www.spawn.org. Visit her daily blog often: www.matilijapress.com/publishingblog. For author services, visit www.patriciafry.com.

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