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Imagine this, you’re finally holding your published book in your hands. What a joyful day. Next comes the hard part—getting word out to the right audience about your useful, informative and/or entertaining book. And this is no easy task.

Think of it, you have really accomplished a lot, lately. You’ve written a book. You may have done incredible amounts of research in the process. You shopped publishers and chose one. You managed details required to design and produce a book. Now you must change hats again and start promoting it.

If you wrote a book proposal, you know who your audience is. You know where they are. You know that they need or desire your book. So how do you convince them of this? How do you approach your audience and what can you do to persuade them to actually step up and purchase copies of your book? It’s no easy task in today’s competitive bookselling market.

The first thing you must do is get exposure for your book. Show it, flaunt it, flash it; make sure that it is everywhere. But then you have to sell it. How do you turn a potential customer into a customer?

Think benefits instead of features. Address emotions instead of intellect. Consumers want to know, “What’s in it for me?” “How will this book benefit me?” “What will I get out of it?”

Instead of telling potential customers that the book has 20 chapters, it was professionally edited and it features exercises at the end of each chapter, say, “This book shows you how to unlock the door to a more stress-free life.” Rather than saying, “This book is hardcover and tells the story of Goldilocks all grown up,” try, “This story will make you laugh, cry and fall in love with the three bears all over again.”

Book marketing and promotion are not natural byproducts of writing or even publishing a book. It takes understanding and knowledge of a different kind. In order to sell your book you must understand the mechanics of marketing and the psychology of salesmanship. After reading my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, which is designed to prepare you for the writing, publishing and book promotion road, I suggest reading Marilyn Ross’s, Jump Start Your Book Sales and Debbie Allen’s Confessions of Shameless Self-Promoters. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

There are varying degrees of authors. While some are writers, first and foremost, others simply have something to say and writing seems to be the best way to be heard. But there are a few authors who are also businessmen/women.

I teach and preach the importance of incorporating business savvy into your book even before you write it—especially before you publish it. And here are some reasons why:

Just this morning, a client told me that Oprah is no longer reviewing memoirs. My client’s book could be considered a memoir, but it has so many other elements to it AND she is just in the beginning stages of writing it, so she can make this book fit the genre of her choice. If this hopeful author had been holing up in her writing closet pouring all of her energies and concentration into the manuscript, this tidbit of information would have gone unnoticed and she may have made decisions that would prevent her from the Oprah option.

There’s a lot going on outside of your writing room—there are decisions being made within the publishing industry, rules being adopted and strict policies being set in motion. There are changes taking place, old-school procedures being adhered to and history in the making. And, as hopeful authors, you need to come up for air, look around and pay attention to what’s happening in the publishing industry. Here are some of the questions I get from hopeful authors each year:

• How do I get my book published?
• How do I approach a publisher?
• Do I need an agent?
• What’s a book proposal—do I need one for my book?
• How do I figure out what genre my book is?
• How do I get my book into bookstores?
• Can I get my book reviewed after it’s published?
• How can I find out about book reviewers for my book?
• Do publishers accept manuscripts via email?
• Do I have to adhere to those simultaneous submission policies?
• How much does a publisher charge to publish a book?
• What’s the first thing I should do now that my book is published?
• What is included in a press release?

And here are some of the complaints I hear from authors who didn’t study the publishing industry before producing their books

• The major reviewers have turned down my book.
• Bookstores won’t carry my book.
• I don’t know how to sell this book. Can you help me?
• I’m told that there isn’t a market for a book like this.
• How do I get people to come to my website?
• Libraries won’t buy my book because of the binding.
• My market is so limited.

To learn much more about the publishing industry, read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Don’t wait to be unpleasantly surprised by the hard truths in publishing. Start studying the publishing industry from day one. Remember that publishing is not an extension of your writing. Publishing is a business and your book is a product. The earlier in the process that you shift from closet writer to active participant in the business of authorship, the more likely you will experience publishing success.

I’m an author with books to sell. I’m also a teacher—some call me “mentor.” As such, I frequently recommend books and resources other than my own. For example, I have a list of resources for writers/authors/publishers at my website, http://www.matilijapress.com/forwriters/resources.html and it includes many books, websites, etc. that I think will help you, not just those that generate from me.

Here are the books I recommend in my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. Naturally, I recommend my book first. I wrote my heart and soul into it in hopes of guiding hopeful authors gently and successfully toward their individual goals. It includes the basics you need in order to succeed in the competitive publishing field and it is designed to use as a reference book for years to come—for as long as you have a book to publish, promote, distribute, sell…

Here are some of the other books I recommend throughout the pages of my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book:

Writers Market, (Writers Digest Books) This book tells you how and where to sell your articles, stories and book manuscripts. (A new edition is published each September)
The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, The Contracts and Services of 48 Self-Publishing Companies—Analyzed, Ranked and Exposed By Mark Levine (Bridgeway Books)
The ABC’s of POD: A Beginner’s Guide to Fee-Based Print-on-Demand Publishing by Dehanna Bailee (Blue Leaf Publications)
Write the Perfect Book Proposal by Jeff Herman and Deborah M. Adams, (John Wiley and Sons)
The Fast-Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal by Stephen Blake Mettee (Quill Driver Books)
1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer (Open Horizons)
How to Write a Successful Book Proposal in 8 Days or Less, by Patricia Fry (Matilija Press)
Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Editors, Publishes and Literary Agents, 2005: Who They Are! What they Want? How to Win Them Over by Jeff Herman (Harper Collins)
The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter (Para Publishing)
Grammar Traps by Stephen Dolainski (Paragraph Publishing)
Over 75 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book by Patricia Fry (Matilija Press)
Confessions of Shameless Self-Promoters by Debbie Allen (Success Showcase Publishing)
Jump Start Your Book Sales: A Money Making Guide for Authors, Independent Publisher and Small Presses by Marilyn and Tom Ross (Writer’s Digest Books)
Kirsch’s Handbook of Publishing Law by Jonathan Kirsch (Silman-James Press)
Literary Law Guide for Authors by Tonya Marie Evans and Susan Borden Evans (FYOS Entertainment)
The Copyright, Permission and Libel Handbook by Lloyd J. Jassin (Wiley and Sons)
The Writer Within You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing and Publishing In Your Retirement Years by Charles Jacobs (Caros Books)

And these are just the books listed at the end of each chapter of my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. There are over 15 additional recommended books listed in the Resource Section.

If you want to know more about some of these books, visit the SPAWNews archives. We frequently publish book reviews in SPAWNews. http://www.spawn.org

Whether you are just thinking about writing a book, you’re in the beginning stages, you’re almost published or you’re a published author with a book to promote, never underestimate the value of expert advice from people that you trust. No matter what stage of authorship you’re currently experiencing, you’ll make fewer mistakes and enjoy greater success if you pay attention to the professionals. Fill your home library with a generous helping of these useful books, read them and refer to them often.

Have you ever noticed that when someone asks you a question and they don’t like the answer, they will ask you the question again—sometimes rephrasing it?

“How much are you selling your car for?”
“$10,000.”
“What will you take for it?”
“$10,000.”
“What if I give you $5,000 down?”
“$10,000.”
“Is that a firm price?”
“Yes.”
“I’d sure like to have that car, but I can’t go the ten grand. Will you work with me?”
“Not likely.”
“Will you be lowering the price anytime soon?”

I relive this sort of scenario every week. People contact me and say, “I read in your book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, that publishers don’t allow simultaneous manuscript submissions. How many copies of my manuscript can I send out at one time?”

“One.”

Or they’ll say, “My editor says that I have some spacing errors in my manuscript. I see in your book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book that you agree with her—it is now one-space after the period, question mark, etc. Does this mean I have to go back through my entire manuscript and delete the extra space after every sentence?”

“Yes.”

We want to hear what we want to hear. But, in publishing, we need to hear what we need to hear in order to experience the success we desire. This is why I say, listen to experts with an open mind, embrace those things that resonate with you, but also be willing to consider the truths that don’t feel real comfortable at first. Examine them from all angles, check them out with other publishing professionals and be flexible enough to change where and when appropriate.

If you don’t have a copy of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book and the companion Author’s Workbook, order yours now at http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html