Reprints Online

Want to sell more books? Learn from an expert the five things you must do in order to achieve your goals.

1. You Must Find YOUR Market

Hopefully before you even wrote your book, you sat down and mapped out who your potential customers were. If you didn't, don't waste any more of your time selling books to people who don't want them. Knowing your audience before you write your book creates focus. Figure out who is most likely to read your book. If cat lovers are your market, don't bother wasting your time with all animal lovers. Spend your marketing efforts and budget on cat lovers. Can't find the cat lovers? See below...

2. You Must Create a Community

If you are having a hard time finding your market, find them by creating a community for them. The Internet allows you to create a place where all cat lovers can talk to each other, have live chats with you (the author) and ask their questions, get mailings about your events, find other resources for cat lovers, post their cat's picture in your forum... you can see that there is no end to what you can do with the Internet. You can use click-and-point services to create your own website like I did for the NAWW (National Association of Women Writers) or you can hire someone to do this for you. We feature writers every week in our newsletter who have built wonderfully large communities from scratch in a very short time (less than a year) using the Internet. Check out NAWW Member, Dotsie Bregel's site at www.boomerwomenspeak.com.

3. You Must Create a Database

To sell books, you must have a mechanism in place to store all your potential customers' contact information. Intimidated by the thought of creating a database? Please don't be, just go to your nearest office store and you can purchase a database program for less than $50. Some website providers even have this function built straight into their website. Keeping track of your customers' basic information is crucial to the success of your long and short-term sales. At the very least, you must capture (enter) their name, address, and e-mail. You will use this database to quickly and efficiently communicate with your customers through future e-mailings and direct mailings. Add customers to your database by networking (and speaking!) at conferences by simply saying, "I have this free (report, booklet, etc.--something you created that is what every cat lover would want to read) and I would love to send it to you with my free weekly newsletter." Just grab their card and put a little check by their e-mail so that you know you got their permission. Another faster and easier way to build your database is by doing it online. Have a sign-up box right on your website for new potential customers. Doesn't matter how you do it, just do it!

4. You Must Have a Call to Action

Busy people need a reason to act now. Whatever your form of communication is with your customer, it must have a call to action somewhere in it if you want them to stop what they are doing and make your book a priority. Include wording that says 'act now' because if you don't you will miss this opportunity. The best calls to action include date expirations, liquidation sales, early-bird sales, etc. Simple technique, very powerful!

5. You Must Have Fun

You must have fun creating your community, networking with future customers, and thinking of creative/seasonal calls to action. When you have fun doing what you love, people want to do business with you. Hopefully the book that you wrote came from your passion about the subject. Now that you are selling your book, you get to live the "sharing of your passion" on a daily, weekly, and/or monthly basis. It is up to you--the more you live it, the more books you will sell!

About the Author

Sheri McConnell is the President of the National Assn. of Women Writers (www.NAWW.org). She helps women writers and entrepreneurs discover, create, and profit from their intellectual knowledge! Free reports available with subscription to NAWW Weekly. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband Seth and their 4 children. Contact her at naww@onebox.com or her toll free number at 866-821-5829.