Your telephone can be a valuable asset to help you sell more books, especially in non-bookstore markets where you have to do the selling. Yet many people feel apprehensive about using the telephone to talk with strangers. If you can learn to use the telephone in spite of your fear, you could experience increased sales and profitability. There are techniques you can use to overcome your dread and improve your oral-communication skills. Remember these points, and you won’t miss your calling.

I looked up the word “sell” in the dictionary. This is what it said:”To persuade (another) to recognize the worth or desirability of something.” This definition assumes value. It assumes that you recognize the value of whatever it is that you are selling. Inherent in the definition is the concept of worth or desirability.

Some people looked at Goliath and thought he was too big to hit. David looked at him and thought he was too big to miss. You might look at the non-bookstore market for books and think, “Is that market big enough to approach, or is it too big?” The answer is yes. A special-sales market of $14 - $16 billion is too big to pass up

Every sales rep works differently—they have to be flexible in order to present your books in the way that a particular account or buyer wants to hear about them. Some buyers want to get a catalog and samples with the rep following up by phone.

Many independent publishers look at book clubs as the province of major publishers, and subsequently overlook them. The smaller firms think that the BookSpan clubs are too big for them.

When you hear vague put-offs like, “Call me another time, ” “I’ll get back to you” or “Let me think about it” make it a habit to ask, “Why do you feel this way?” or “Why do you need to think it over?” This simple technique will help you:

Book pricing depends more upon genre or category than on production costs. Here is a formula for determining how to price your book: You must look at price from the bottom up and from the top down.