Do you ever think about this? You should, because no one will buy your book if they don’t know it exists. And didn’t you write it and produce it so it would be read—so people would buy it?
How can you find out how many people know about your book? Now that’s a tough one. You might have a counter at your website that clicks each time someone visits. But does it count unique visitors or every visitor, including spam? Even though I have a barrier in place here at my blog site to keep spam out, spammers still find ways to bypass it. I get around 20 to 40 spam “comments” here every day.
You can count your facebook “friends” and your twitter followers. If you’ve been diligent in your promotion, they may know about your book. What is that, maybe a total of 200 people? 2,000, maybe? Don’t forget to count those on your mailing and email lists—another 500, perhaps?
What percentage of those people have or will purchase one or more copies of your book? Maybe 5 or 10 percent? That’s 125 to 250 books, right? Not bad. This may pay your publishing expenses. But don’t you want more? Wouldn’t you like to sell thousands, instead of hundreds of copies of your book? Then you need to become more well-known how? Here are ten ideas to get you started:
• Continue adding to your mailing/email list and use it.
• Offer free reports, chapters, stories, etc. at your website.
• Blog every day and speak to your particular readers.
• Get out and speak to groups of your potential readers.
• Get tons of publicity for your presentations before and after the events.
• Join appropriate organizations and participate.
• Get involved in online discussion groups related to the theme/genre of your book.
• Get speaking gigs at conferences related to your book content.
• Sell your book at book festivals.
• Continually seek opportunities to become known to your potential audience.
So how many more people will know about you and your book after you’ve involved yourself in these activities for six months or a year? Perhaps another 1,500 to 5,000 people or more? And that could be another 75 to 500 (or more) copies of your book sold.
No one will buy a book they don’t know about. And some people won’t buy a book they’ve seen or heard of until they meet or know something about the author. Personality sells books and certainly exposure sells books. That’s why I wrote my latest book, “Talk Up Your Book, How to Sell Your Book Through Public Speaking, Interviews, Signings, Festivals, Conferences and More.” Available at amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio. Also available at most other online and downtown bookstores. Or order your copy here http://www.matilijapress.com