Some nonfiction authors wait until they publish their book to worry about marketing and how they will make sales. If you want to ensure your book will sell, you need to start thinking about that in the planning stages before you write the first word. Follow the four steps below to get on the path to bookselling success.
Step 1: Know Your Ideal Reader
You want to sell hundreds or thousands of copies of your book. You can sell books through bulk sales to corporations and associations, but for the most part, they will be sold to one person at a time. Someone will see an ad or social media post about your book. They may search for a solution to a problem, and your book is returned in the search results. If they think the book will benefit them, they’ll open their wallet and make a purchase.
It follows then that you should write your book for one person: the one who will benefit the most from reading the finished book. This is a powerful concept that will set the tone for your writing.
If your expertise is in learning disabilities, will your ideal reader be parents, teachers, or school system administrators? Your ideal reader will determine the language you use, the resources you recommend, and the chapter topics.
Take Action: Start by writing down a detailed description of that person. Be specific about gender, age, occupation, goals, values, and problems they want to solve.
When you write your book, keep a picture of your ideal reader in your mind and write as if you’re having a conversation with them.
Step 2: Keep the book short with a narrow focus
As writers, our goal is to produce a book that’s going to be read and acted upon. Today’s readers don’t have the time or desire to read a 400-page nonfiction book. A book that size looks like a textbook and feels like it would be too much work to read.
If you look at the nonfiction bestseller list, you will see most of the titles are in the 150 -300-page range. A short book is easier to digest, making it more likely they will finish the book and achieve the benefit you both want.
The second reason you want to hone in on one focus area for your book is people want personalized solutions. Amazon is the best example I’ve seen of personalization. If you have an Amazon account, when you visit the homepage, it is personalized to what they believe are your individual needs. The products and recommendations presented are based on your previous shopping habits.
It’s not just Amazon. According to Social Media Today, there is a real shift in consumer preferences towards more personalized shopping experiences. Findings indicate 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase when the brand offers a personalized experience.
As writers of nonfiction, we need to get the right message to the right person at the right time by writing a book that addresses the personal needs and pain points of our ideal reader. When we do that, the chances of that person buying our book increase significantly.
Take Action:
- Make a list of problems someone could encounter in your area of expertise.
- Beside each problem, identify the specific person or group of people who are looking for a solution to that problem.
- For each problem, describe a solution you could provide in book format.
Step Three: Hire professional editors, Book Layout Designer, and Book Cover Designer
You may be tempted to skip the expense of hiring these professionals and do it yourself, but it’s essential to have experts work on these areas so that your book looks high quality.
Get a trained editor to review your manuscript if you want to minimize errors in your finished book. After writing for so many hours, you tend to read what you think the book says as opposed to what it really says. Unless you’re an English major, you’re not an expert in grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation. Nothing screams amateur like a book that has grammatical errors, inconsistencies, and run-on sentences.
The two types of editing I’ve found most valuable for nonfiction writers are developmental editors and copy editors.
A developmental editor analyzes the structure and flow of a book. They look for inconsistencies in logic and tone. They will correct errors in the book’s outline and work with you through the re-write of each chapter.
A copy editor reviews the form of your writing as opposed to the content of your book. They ensure it conforms to the appropriate writing style manual. For nonfiction, I like to use the Chicago Manual of Style. The editor will review and correct errors in grammar, punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, and syntax.
A book designer will work closely with you to choose typefaces and a page layout that provides synergy with the overall theme of your message. They will focus on the overall page layout, the margins, page numbers, Typeface, and graphic elements such as images, call-outs, and charts. Typesetting each page ensures the text flows appropriately from line to line and page to page.
A cover designer will ensure your cover is attractive and enticing to readers. Ensure you hire a graphic designer who has experience with book covers and can produce covers for physical print books in addition to eBooks.
If you don’t know what questions to ask, hiring the right professionals who will bring your vision to life can be difficult. When I work with private clients, I act as project manager for your book production. I will hire the right people with the expertise to match and all you’ll need to do is approve the designs.
Step 4: Get a Fast Start on Marketing
Start marketing your book immediately as soon as you begin your writing journey. Copy the marketing strategies used by movie studios. They will announce an upcoming movie as soon as the project gets a green light. Then they will buzz about the film throughout the filming and editing process.
Actors will hit the talk show circuit months before the movie launch. Sneak peeks behind the scenes will be posted on websites. Video trailers will be shared with fan groups before being released to the general public.
These activities build excitement and anticipation in hopes they will translate to a huge opening weekend at the box office.
Take Action: Start marketing before you start writing: As soon as you’ve created a book description and working title, announce to your friends and followers your intention to publish a book.
Market while you’re writing: Think about your ideal readers and which social platforms they frequent. Those are the platforms to increase your activity. Change your headlines and bio on the social media platforms to say ‘author of the upcoming book and then your book title.’ It doesn’t matter if you don’t have your final title. Use the working title.
On the platforms you’ve chosen, start to make regular posts. Share snippets and quotes from the book. Share stories about your reason for writing the book. Share behind the scenes looks at your writing process. Start collecting email addresses so that you can notify your list of book launch activities. I recommend using a professional email marketing service to capture emails and manage your list. Include a link to sign up for your email list as a call to action in your posts.
On LinkedIn® and Facebook®, join groups related to your topic. Start interacting with the group, asking and answering questions. When you make a thoughtful answer to a question, people will check your profile and potentially invite you to connect.
Celebrate all the significant milestones leading up to the book launch:
- The planned publication date.
- The book cover creation. You can even have fun with this by sharing more than one version of the cover and asking fans to vote on their favorite.
- When advanced reader copies (ARC) for Beta Readers are available.
- When your book is available for advanced copy purchases.
- The book launch party date and details about the event.
Completing the actions outlined above will ensure your book is marketable as soon as it’s published. My Author Fast Track Book Coaching Programs will lead you by the hand as you move through all of the steps above from idea to ‘book in hand’.
