 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
Five Book Back Cover Mistakes and How to Solve Them
Did you know that your back cover information is, after the cover, the best way to sell more books? And, that most authors, emerging and experienced, miss this opportunity to engage more potential buyers? Your book's front cover and sizzling title must impress your buyers in four-eight seconds. If they like it, they will spend ten-thirty seconds or so on your back cover-a great opportunity to convince them that your book is necessary for their pleasure or success. Does your back cover pass the test? 1. Mistake: Too many non-powerful words and too busy to have a focus. Solutions: A back cover of 6 by 9 inches should have fewer than 60 words. Use sound bites; picture and emotional words; benefits, not features; and testimonials to capture your readers' attention to keep your message focused. Make every word count and be willing to get five-fifteen edits. 2. Mistake: Too much superfluous material on it such a long author's bio or large photo. Potential buyers want to know how the book will help them, teach them a skill, or entertain them. Solutions: Print only a one or two-line bio on the back cover. Put your photo and more bio on the inside of the back cover. Omit features such as format information, which belong in the introduction. Connect with your buyer emotionally with specific, powerful ad copy. For self-help books use bullets with specific benefits, and enough of the right kind of testimonials (specific benefit driven) to sell your book in 30 seconds. For fiction, modify to include a bit of plot, with a powerful quote or dialogue. Use bookstore models to assist you. 3. Mistake: Repeating the book's title at the top of the back cover. Solutions: Since your potential buyers already know the title and are stimulated enough to look at the back cover, hook them with an emotional question or statement to read on. Create a "Hot Headline" that compels your reader to buy. Notice the headlines in your newspaper. Visit your bookstore and notice other best selling authors' headlines. "What's So Tough About Writing?" by word smith Richard Lederer, author of The Write Way; "Imagine Being an Author," in Dan Poynter's Writing Nonfiction; "To Age is Natural?To Grow Old is Not! In Rico Caveglia's Ageless Living, or "Imagine 1000's of People Reading your Book Next Month! for your coach's "How to Write your eBook or Other Short Book Fast!". 4. Mistake: Omitting testimonials. In her book, "A Kick in Your Inspiration," Ruth Cleveland got one testimonial from an ex convict! Jacqueline Marcell, author of Elder Rage, took eight months to get forty testimonials from celebrities. Her book is endorsed by: Steve Allen, Ed Asner, Dr. Dean Edell, Dr. John Gray, Dr. Nancy Snyderman/ABC, Regis Philbin. Jacqueline Bisset, and Phyllis Diller. It was worth the effort, because in April 2001, she made the cover of the AARP Bulletin distributed to over 35 million readers. It included a feature story, some how-tos and contacts and pictures of the author and her book. She had to dance fast, and order 10,000 books to get distributed by the time the piece came out. After it came out, she was inundated with speaking engagements. There's a problem you might love to have! After you write several books and become rich and famous, you, like other professionals, will fill your back cover with testimonials. You won't even need to add benefits, because people have already bought your other books and liked them. Potential buyers will purchase when they see people they trust and know recommend the book. Besides filling the back cover with testimonials, you may want to even add extra testimonials in the front pages of the book. The more testimonials, the better! 5. Mistake. Independent publishers submitting galleys to reviewers, distributors, and wholesales without ANY back cover information. Solutions: "Make the back cover your first area of concern," says Susan Howard, Director of Consulting Services at top publishing firm, The Jenkins Group Inc., who write "The Publishing Connection" She adds, "Waiting for testimonials is generally the reason the back cover of a galley is left blank. Failure to realize the value of the back cover seems to equate with the failure to realize that the text for the finished back cover can always be changed before the printing of the book." It's important for writers to "market while they write"-- To make each part of their book sell copies. The back cover is all-important. Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including "Write your eBook Fast," and "How to Market your Business on the Internet," she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says...and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Secrets to Selling Books by Mail This is intended for informational purposes only. Selling books by mail is one of the "ideal" spare-time business ventures that can be operated from your home, and with minimal investment. Why Would I Buy Your Book? Six Steps to Your Tell and Sell - Part 1 How would you like to have countless people clamoring for your book and willing to visit your Web site to buy them? How would you even like to presell your self-published book before they are finished?Most authors and entrepreneurs wait until their Web site is designed before they think about marketing their products on it. What a shame!Let's say someone expresses an interest in your book. Attract More Buyers to Your Book: Use Metaphors Surprise your potential buyers. Give them chocolate frosting!After we entered school we had a lot to learn. Design Each Part of your Book to Sell More Copies Whether you are an ebook author/publisher or a print book author/publisher, you can get your unique, helpful information. You'll help make other people's lives better, become a household name, gain clients, sell more books and make much more money when you design each part of your book to attract more readers. Book Club Sales -- Increasing the Odds What is a book club sale? It is actually a rights sale or a licensing agreement: you are granting permission to a book club the right to "borrow" your work. You have written a book, and now you are allowing a book club to print and distribute your book to its members. Book Talks: What to Say and How to Say It Great! The Chamber of Commerce, or a similar group, has asked you to talk about your latest book. Though words are your business, you may terrified of public speaking. Authors Should Be Optimistic A client wrote me recently and asked what I thought of his using a publicist to promote his book - to the tune of $4,000 per month. In my usual blunt fashion, I responded by telling him most self-published books never sell more than 100 copies, that 2000 sales is considered excellent in the industry and that the number of people who sell between 50,000 and 100,000 can probably be counted on one hand. Publishing Your Book-What Way is Best For You? - Part 1 Your print or ebook is nearly finished. You wonder if you should try to get an agent to represent you to the publisher. Plays Well With Others to Become an Instant Author You wrote a tips booklet. Maybe more than one. Dont Clone your Book or Business Marketing Remember that the miracle of cloning sheep has its drawbacks. The main one--dying young. Top Ten Basics on Internet Article Writing to Promote your Book Whether you have already written articles and published them or not, you may want to check out the difference between writing for online ezines and web sites and writing for print media. While some writing concepts work for both, online writing needs a shorter, more focused approach. Comments From A Book Reviewer For the past several years I have been reviewing books for my own site, Bookpleasures.com, as well as many other sites. Book Titles that Make Big Bucks Do you know how readers decide to buy a book? 1) They get a referral from a friend. 2) They see an interesting book title on the best-seller list. The High Cost of a Six-Figure Book Advance The six-figure book advance, like the New York Times bestseller, is the object of many a writer's fantasy. Whether it's also a realistic goal is something else again. Online Book Marketing: How to Sell Your Book Even If You Are Not a Salesperson What you do after you have written your book is as much, if not more, important than the actual writing of it. You can take a great book and poor marketing and have very poor results. Sell More Books With an E-mail Newsletter NOTE: Because many words in this article are likely to trigger sp^m filters, we've disguised them with symbols (e.g. How to Grab the No.2 Spot on Amazon for Advance Book Sales When my first book was published way back ten years ago, I thought that was it.I reckoned I'd never write another one. Why Testimonials are Number One in Selling your Book or Service Even if your book or service is excellent, they won't sell well unless you give your potential customers a reason to buy. Testimonials work harder than other promotional words, so be sure to start early collecting them. The Booklet Journey Opening a New World 1991 was a pivotal year in my life. My professional organizing business was 8 years old. 10 Reasons Why People Attend Book Signings This is the survey result of 325 people conducted by myself so I can improve at my own book signings. After completing the survey, I saw the wealth of insight it had given me.
|
|
|
 |
 |
