Top 10 things every best-selling book should have

If you talk to any author, they will tell you that writing their book was the easy part, compared to marketing it and getting people to buy it.

You can go to any bookstore and get a book on how to publish your book or do a Google search on book publishing. (I recommend Dan Poynter’s Desktop Publishing Handbook; he’s been called the desktop publishing guru.) You can even get a good editor to help you with your preliminary manuscript. If you really don’t want to do that much work and want to get your book published quickly, you can go to “iuniverse” or “lulu” and have the books you need produced. This is called Print-On-Demand (POD) – great for first-time authors; They take your Word document and turn it into a book. FedExKinkos is even in the book production game.

The production of a book is now quite common. This is why we see so many people making books.

But are the books selling? Once the books are back from the press / publisher, the real work begins. It is time to promote and sell your book. You just opened a business. Like any new business, you need a business plan as well as extensive knowledge of the field you are in and good advisors. A standard statistic you should know from sources in the book industry: More than 150,000 new books are published each year. And we usually see the same list of authors on the New York Times bestseller list.

As a book publisher for more than ten years in the Christian literary field, I see what flies and what goes off. Before embarking on this expensive endeavor (be prepared to spend at least $ 2,500 to $ 10,000 on editing, production, and promotion), I would like to share with you what I have learned about what makes a best-seller:

1. Qualification – Is it scathing, interesting? Would you know what it is about without reading anything else?

2. Cover– people judge a book by its cover. Make sure it has enough strength to stand out on the shelves among the thousands of other books. Is it clean, neat and fresh, but interesting? Hire a professional!

3. Endorsements – What others say about you is key. Who these people are is even more important. Gather the “best words from the best people.” It will pre-sell your book before you even open your mouth.

Four. Writer credentials – Do you have anything else with your signature? Do you have a blog? Do you have an audience that really likes what you write?

5. Market knowledge the book and the author’s reputation will arrive in that market. The author must create a market for himself by actually addressing the needs of that market, knowing that market, and communicating the right message to that market.

6. Moment – in relation to other events happening in the world / society. Are there movies, songs, or talk shows that are bringing up the topic you’ve discussed in your book? Do you read the newspaper regularly and respond with opinion editorials when they talk about “your” platform / topic?

7. Advertising – Direct the right message to the right media at the right time. Consequently!

8. Media coverage – advertising. The icing on the cake. Get out on radio, television, newspapers, magazines, and magazines. Consistently (with advertising as well).

9. Distribution – If you want to be a best-seller you must have your book available. Be sure to register with a distributor or wholesaler to make it accessible to bookstores. (Amazon is not national distribution … it is a website) Best sellers are sold in real bookstores and only buy from distributors or wholesale. (See Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers Market Guide for Distributors to Approach. Note: You must have a press kit and solid marketing plan for them to consider).

10. Mouth to mouth – The best advertising. The more “buzz” you have about your book, the better. How do you get people to talk about your book? Participating in their culture and creating messages in their media. Be relentless in your goal of being a “bestseller,” and it will happen if you commit to the advertising process and pray for favor.

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