I’m back from a great weekend in Rancho Mirage. I spoke to nearly 100 members of the Palm Springs Writers Guild on the psychology of a book proposal. I saw several people in the audience there at the beautiful Rancho Mirage Library taking notes as I spoke. I got some great questions after the presentation—and some from people who clearly did not understand my message.
I hope most of those in attendance picked up the importance of taking charge of their book project and writing a book proposal before ever showing their manuscript to a publisher or considering self-publishing. Here are some of the points I hope I left them with:
• Think of yourself as the CEO of your book from the planning stage throughout the marketing process.
• Make sure you are writing the write book for an audience who needs/wants it.
• Understand exactly who your audience is, where they are and how to approach them.
• Learn all you can about the publishing industry so you know what your publishing options are and how to choose the one that is best for you and your book.
• Have a serious understanding of what it takes to sell copies of your book. Book promotion takes skill, time and effort in large quantities. You cannot sell a book that no one knows about and it takes enormous effort to get the publicity you need in order to sell even 100 copies.
• Book promotion is a full-time job for as long as you want your book to sell and this is true no matter which publishing option you choose.
If you are a new or struggling author, read and study hard, my book, “Publish Your Book.” If you are fairly successfully published, but need additional help with book promotion, “Promote Your Book” is for you. If you don’t understand that personality sells books and you would rather stay in the shadows or you want to know more about how to promote your book using your personality, order “Talk Up Your Book.” All available at Amazon.com and at my website http://www.matilijapress.com