A book proposal reveals many things to a prospective author\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhether his or her book is a viable product, the scope of competition, who and how extensive is the audience and what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best way to market the book, for example. <\/p>\n
One important question we like to answer in our book proposal (for potential publishers and for ourselves) is, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How are other books on this topic and\/or in this genre doing?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But getting those sales figures or quantities is not an easy task.<\/p>\n
I advise my clients to find out how their perceived competition is doing. I send these hopeful authors in search of facts, figures, numbers\u00e2\u20ac\u201dany statistics they can get their hands on\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhich will demonstrate the potential for their own projects. If XYZ Publisher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book on uses for toothpicks is selling well, then maybe there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hope for your book featuring twist tie crafts. If ABC Publisher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s novels featuring all deaf characters are faring well, then your romance thriller about and for the blind ought to sell.<\/p>\n
But how do you get sales figures to prove the potential for your book? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just one of thousands who would like to know.<\/p>\n
So far, this is all I can offer my clients and faithful readers:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tCall Ingram\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s database number for their sales figures: 615-213-6803. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll need the ISBN. You won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get the whole picture here, but you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get an idea of how the book is moving.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tTalk to your local independent bookseller, or make friends with someone at a mega-bookstore. Ask if they can locate overall sales figures for a few specific books or at least quantity figures reflecting books sold through their chains.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tResearch the book title at the publisher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s site. Has it been reprinted? If the book is in its 8th printing, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good indication that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s selling. This is good information to use in your book proposal.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tNote if the book has made a bestselling list\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhich one, for how long? Be careful. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had people tell me their book was on a bestseller list and it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t what you would think. The list was for one independent bookstore or it was one regional book reviewer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s personal list of books. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tRead press releases posted at the publisher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s site to see if there have been any comments made public about the volume of sales. Note the date of the press release, where it was published, exact quote and who made the statement.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tResearch the book title using a Google search. See if you can find any additional stories wherein this book is mentioned. Remember to use quotation marks around your key words for a more refined search.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tSign up for Google Alerts ( http:\/\/www.google.com\/alerts<\/a>. Type in the book title and\/or the genre or topic, for example. You can stop the Google Alerts messages at any time.<\/p>\n If anyone has additional tips for locating sales or quantity figures related to specific books, please let me know. The more explicit we can be in our book proposals, the more ammunition we have in the difficult task of landing a publisher. PLFry620@yahoo.com. <\/p>\n And this crucial information isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just for potential publishers. You, the author, need to gather as much information as possible with respect to the viability of your book project. You need to know whether the book you have in mind is a good business decision or not. If not, and you find out early enough, you can change your course and head in a more successful direction.<\/p>\n For more about how to develop a book proposal, read my book: The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book<\/em>. http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/rightway.html<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A book proposal reveals many things to a prospective author\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhether his or her book is a viable product, the scope of competition, who and how extensive is the audience and what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best way to market the book, for example. One important question we like to answer in our book proposal (for potential publishers and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t