Why Your Books Aren’t Selling and How
to Fix That
I belong to a writer’s group and last night we had a new member, a talented and intelligent young woman, who appeared to be wholly devoted to the craft. She was putting the finishing touches on yet another novel and was preparing to send it to agents and publishers.
This one, she was convinced, would be the one that would garner her a writing contract and launch her career as a best-selling novelist.
Out of respect I did not laugh out loud.
Afterward however, when the usual group met for
drinks at the local watering hole, she chose to join us.
When she
said that the first thing she was going to do when her book was published and
the royalties started pouring in was to buy a horse…
I just had
to speak up. As a writer and publisher I have seen too many aspiring writers
fritter away a large portion of their lives writing books and hoping THAT one
will launch their writing career.
It doesn’t
happen that way anymore. And please don’t point out the very small exceptions
to that rule. If you read their stories you will see they were ASTOUNDINGLY
lucky and had they not gotten a writing contract they would have most certainly
won the lottery. And yes they were very talented but talent is a dime a dozen
and over the years I’ve met many extremely talented individuals who, if talent
was the only prerequisite, they would have become house-hold names. But it didn’t
happen.
So consider
the famous Clint Eastwood line: “Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?”
Ever see one
of those people who are constantly buying lottery tickets, their eyes wide with
the overwhelming belief that any day now, they are going to win the jackpot.
Silly, aren’t
they?
Believe it
or not, the odds of you getting that writing contract are the exact same as
those playing the lottery. The only difference is that the lottery winners get
to keep the money. Much of a novelist royalties go to their agents, publicists,
lawyers, taxes and paying back advances.
So here’s
what you need to ask yourself: Do you want to be a writer? OR do you just want
to be rich and famous? Any nit-wit with a sex tape and become rich and famous.
But if you want to become a writer, then you need to make some serious changes
in your approach.
First, lose
the ego. All writers have enormous egos that have convinced them that they only
need write a great novel to become a famous writer. Not true. There are a
number of truly awful books that have become best sellers because the writer
understood the marketing concept that made success possible.
I address
this concept in my book The Best Book on How to Write, Publish and MarketYour Novel into a Best Seller. I also show you how many so-called best-
selling writers, who have never written a word, collect thousands of dollars
each month in royalties without having to pay a dime to publishers, agents,
publicists, etc. To get a copy, CLICK HERE
But it all
boils down to one thing. If you are genuinely serious about becoming a
successful author, YOU MUST LEARN MARKETING.
Believe me,
I know you don’t want to hear that BUT publishing is a business and to quote Dan
Kennedy, this country’s most successful marketer, “All businesses are the same.”
The ugly truth is when it comes to getting
people to buy your work of art, your genius tale, your literary masterpiece, the
market strategy is the same as selling a bag of cement, women’s make-up,
bicycles, lawn care products, computers and every other marketable product.
So here is the reality and the choice you need
to make. You can either spend countless hours writing books that no one, other
than friends and family, will read or you will learn the basics of marketing.
And the truth is once you understand how book marketing works, you won’t need
to get a publishing contract, you’ll know how and where to promote your books
and keep all the profits for yourself.
And believe me, once the publishing houses see your success they’ll be lining
up at your door looking to sign you to a contract.
So what’s in
this for me?
Reasonable
question. If you download my book I’ll get a commission. To have a look CLICKHERE.
But I’m
going to go one step better. I’m going to give you access to a free video
marketing course. It’s the same one I learned from. And simply put, this is a
MUST if you’re serious about making writing your career.
Here’s all
you have to do. Click on the link below, type in your name and e-mail address
in the box and download the FREE course. That’s it. No credit card or
obligation involved. Once downloaded an icon will appear on your desktop, click
on it and the tutorials will begin. It will start with the basics-how to create
a website, domain names and webs hosting, which you likely already know how to
do but then comes the tutorials where you learn exactly how marketing works and
how to get your book out in front of people looking to buy it.
Think about
it. If your books aren’t selling the answer is NOT to write more books.
The answer is to learn how to SELL more books
