| Want to sell more books? Learn from an expert | | | | quickly and efficiently communicate with your |
| the five things you must do in order to achieve | | | | customers through future e-mailings and direct |
| your goals.1. You Must Find YOUR MarketHopefully | | | | mailings. Add customers to your database by |
| before you even wrote your book, you sat down | | | | networking (and speaking!) at conferences by |
| and mapped out who your potential customers | | | | simply saying, "I have this free (report, booklet, |
| were. If you didn't, don't waste any more of your | | | | etc.--something you created that is what every |
| time selling books to people who don't want them. | | | | cat lover would want to read) and I would love to |
| Knowing your audience before you write your | | | | send it to you with my free weekly newsletter." |
| book creates focus. Figure out who is most likely | | | | Just grab their card and put a little check by their |
| to read your book. If cat lovers are your market, | | | | e-mail so that you know you got their permission. |
| don't bother wasting your time with all animal | | | | Another faster and easier way to build your |
| lovers. Spend your marketing efforts and budget | | | | database is by doing it online. Have a sign-up box |
| on cat lovers. Can't find the cat lovers? See | | | | right on your website for new potential |
| below...2. You Must Create a CommunityIf you are | | | | customers. Doesn't matter how you do it, just do |
| having a hard time finding your market, find them | | | | it!4. You Must Have a Call to ActionBusy people |
| by creating a community for them. The Internet | | | | need a reason to act now. Whatever your form |
| allows you to create a place where all cat lovers | | | | of communication is with your customer, it must |
| can talk to each other, have live chats with you | | | | have a call to action somewhere in it if you want |
| (the author) and ask their questions, get mailings | | | | them to stop what they are doing and make |
| about your events, find other resources for cat | | | | your book a priority. Include wording that says |
| lovers, post their cat's picture in your forum... you | | | | 'act now' because if you don't you will miss this |
| can see that there is no end to what you can do | | | | opportunity. The best calls to action include date |
| with the Internet. You can use click-and-point | | | | expirations, liquidation sales, early-bird sales, etc. |
| services to create your own website like I did for | | | | Simple technique, very powerful!5. You Must Have |
| the NAWW (National Association of Women | | | | FunYou must have fun creating your community, |
| Writers) or you can hire someone to do this for | | | | networking with future customers, and thinking of |
| you. We feature writers every week in our | | | | creative/seasonal calls to action. When you have |
| newsletter who have built wonderfully large | | | | fun doing what you love, people want to do |
| communities from scratch in a very short time | | | | business with you. Hopefully the book that you |
| (less than a year) using the Internet. Check out | | | | wrote came from your passion about the subject. |
| NAWW Member, Dotsie Bregel's site at You Must | | | | Now that you are selling your book, you get to |
| Create a DatabaseTo sell books, you must have | | | | live the "sharing of your passion" on a daily, |
| a mechanism in place to store all your potential | | | | weekly, and/or monthly basis. It is up to you--the |
| customers' contact information. Intimidated by the | | | | more you live it, the more books you will sell!Sheri |
| thought of creating a database? Please don't be, | | | | McConnell is the President of the National |
| just go to your nearest office store and you can | | | | Association of Women Writers ( She helps |
| purchase a database program for less than $50. | | | | women writers and entrepreneurs discover, |
| Some website providers even have this function | | | | create, and profit from their intellectual knowledge! |
| built straight into their website. Keeping track of | | | | Free reports for writers available with subscription |
| your customers' basic information is crucial to the | | | | to NAWW Weekly. Sheri lives in San Antonio, |
| success of your long and short-term sales. At the | | | | Texas with her husband Seth and their four |
| very least, you must capture (enter) their name, | | | | children. Contact her at or her toll free number at |
| address, and e-mail. You will use this database to | | | | 866-821-5829. |