Seven Tips To Write A Book That Sells

It seems everyone wants to write a book or their next book. Me included.Wanting to write a book is just the first piece of the publishing puzzle. It’s one thing to write it and it’s an entirely different thing to write an ebook or book that sells well and is wanted by consumers.

Guaranteeing the success of any book is something even the biggest publishers haven’t been able to do.
Many things can affect the way a buyer prefers to purchase at any given time. Everything from trends to world events have an effect.

I have found through many hours of study and research though, there are some ways you can leverage sales in your favor.

Here’s seven tips to help you.

Know who your readers are.

I’m not just talking about the basics of gender. Dig deep. Are they married, single or divorced? What’s their age range? Where do they live and what do they do for a living? What types of books or blogs do they read? Where do they shop and do for entertainment? Be a specific as possible. If you have to, visualize your reader.

For example, my reader visualization for a craft book  might be like this: She is a woman in her twenties to thirties, married with kids. She loves creating things she can share with others. She lives in small to medium size cities, with access to local hobby and crafting stores, reads blogs by other artists and crafts persons and spends money learning new crafts.

Knowing who your reader is important since it helps you incorporate those aspects into your book. (Not to mention unearthing potential marketing opportunities from publications and stores.)

Know the market for your book.

What’s the market trend like for your book? Is there a trend out there you’re positioning yourself toward? Are you reading publications related to this topic/trend? What “holes” could your your book fill? Is this market/topic a green topic, meaning it will be around forever? What are the trends related to your book, topic or audience?

For example, let’s say you’re a fiction writer looking to publish chick lit. Go to any bookstore and you can’t help but spot the cutsie, pink, cartoonish covers. Many thought this trend was dying out, but it has recently seen another surge.

Similar books.

Look around at the other books that’s been published on your topic. Look at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Clickbank (ebooks), and other online retailers. Are there at least ten in your category that you’ve read? You should read at least that many so you can learn everything you can about what’s out there and how well it is accepted in the market.

When I published Release, Refresh and Renew To Relieve Stress, I knew there were many stress reduction books already on the market. So don’t be afraid of competition.

Becoming and staying current.

You have to stay current with what is going on in your industry. Lopk for some hot buttons. What are people searching for? What’s the trend of what’s on the horizon for this topic or audience? One way to find out about your topic is to survey your target audience. There are many places that run free surveys, Survey Monkey is one of them.

Follow the media.

What’s in news? Stay up on what the media is buzzing about–what they’re paying attention to and what they’re writing about. Go deeper than the front page of your paper to see what’s filling the pages. Look at local and national papers if possible. Is there something that seems to be getting more buzz even if it’s on page six?

Talk, teach, listen.

Teaching a class and speaking to those in your niche is probably one of the best ways I’ve found to be in touch with my audience. And it’s probably one of the most underused methods. Teaching a course, whether in person or online provides you with valuable information form your audience.

They ask questions you may not have thought of. I recently taught a class locally on how to create scented candles. One of the questions I received was how to make the scent last. I wouldn’t have thought to put that into a book (if I was writing one on candle making) since it’s something I take for granted when creating my candles!

Timing is everything.

Do you know when you plan to release your book? Will it be around a holiday or anniversary? Or is it something that needs to be out quickly since it relates to what is happening now? Could you take advantage of any upcoming event and/or holiday for your book launch?

Writing a book is just the first step in the publishing process. Getting sales is the end goal. With these seven tips you can definitely tip the marketing scale closer in your favor.

Have you published a book? Or an eBook? What tips would you share with someone getting started in the world of books? Leave a comment below.