A fabulous expression of one’s beliefs often manifests into a book. For many, this is the ultimate outlet for their creativity, expression and beliefs.
There is nothing that quite compares to the writing and publishing of a book. Yet… this is where many authors stop. Many fall short of doing what needs to be done to make their potential readers aware the book has been written.
If an author puts a lot of time and effort into writing their book, wouldn’t it make sense that they put equally as much effort into getting their book into the hands of eager readers? One would think so, but this is the exception rather than the rule.
A great many authors erroneously believe that somehow, some way, their book will take on a life of its own and make its way into the hands of their readers.
This is just one of three erroneous beliefs that hold authors back.
This is the very belief why many authors will never be more than hobbyist writers. There’s nothing wrong with being a hobbyist writer unless your goal is to make money. In that case, you absolutely must put effort into marketing and promoting your book(s).
Actually, there are three top erroneous beliefs that prevent an author from reaching their full potential with book sales.
Erroneous belief #1: You don’t need a marketing plan because a well-written book will find its way into the hands of lots of readers.
FACT: Having a well-planned marketing plan can make a huge difference in the success of a book. Marketing a book should start long before the book is published. It needs to start in the time period referred to as pre-launch. This is the period when a book website is developed, messaging for promotions of the book is created, interviews scheduled, media releases sent out to create ample visibility opportunities.
Pre-launch can begin as far as six to twelve months before the book is published.
Erroneous belief #2: Expecting the book to be an overnight success.
FACT: It takes time and planning for a book to become a success. Not only are there online means of getting the word out about your book, there are plenty of traditional methods including selling from the platform. What “selling from the platform” means is to give a power-packed presentation followed by an offer. When done right, this can be an incredible way to sell books.
On the other hand, many authors have fallen flat with an offer from the stage due to rushing through, making an offer to an audience who is not a good match for the subject matter or feeling uncomfortable when they make the offer.
Bottom-line on selling from the stage; believe in what you have to offer and plan out your offer.
Erroneous belief #3: Doing a high run rather than using POD.
FACT: This is likely one of the costliest mistakes an author can make. Years ago, high runs were the rule rather than the exception. Until POD (print on demand) became readily available, the financial burden to authors was extremely high.
With the popularity and choices now available with POD, the best choice to launch a book is with low runs. The beauty of POD is you can literally have one book printed at the same unit cost as 100. This allows a great deal of flexibility for authors.
Conclusion
Writing, publishing and selling your book is definitely a dream come true for many experts. There are ample opportunities that open up as a result. However, in order to fully optimize what you are doing, it’s essential to know how to minimize the cost and time you put into the end result in order to get the highest return on investment.
If you’re wri
ting books simply for the pleasure of writing, this is one conversation. If you’re writing books to enhance your market position, expert status and increase revenues, take the time to plan out exactly when the book will be published, the marketing behind the book and the back-end opportunities. The payoff will be worth it.
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