Guest Blog by Peter Winick
www.ThoughtLeadershipLeverage.com
I figured there are plenty of “experts” out there both online and off that will tell you everything you need to do to ensure that your book is a huge success, so I thought I would share with you the 5 things I’ve learned that will make sure your book is a failure.
This might be helpful because with all of the information readily available somehow the average business book still sells less than 2,000 units so something is clearly not working in the current marketplace.
1) Don’t define what success looks like.
Whether it’s hitting the best-seller list, getting exposure for yourself or your brand, engaging people that will follow you in the future, driving sales of a specific offering, don’t think of those things upfront—they are difficult decisions and it will all just “work itself out” once the book is released. You’ll know what success looks like when you get there.
2) Don’t ask for help from anyone.
Let’s face it—your friends and family are busy and your clients have full schedules so it doesn’t make much sense to bother anyone and ask them to help you get the word or message out. After all, most of us are too shy, it’s somewhat awkward, and if we can avoid asking for help we certainly should. Most books become incredibly successful by a combination of luck, fate and serendipity.
3) Spend as much time as possible on the cover.
You can never have too many versions of the cover to pick from. 30? 40? I’d say at least 100. Ask everyone around you for months on end to give you their input (but don’t waste time asking an expert—your friends and colleagues certainly know best). It clearly makes perfect sense given that you’ve spent a year or more of your life writing the book…it’s all about the cover.
4) The publisher knows best.
Never argue with the publisher, after all, they publish hundreds of books a year and your book is obviously the one they care the most about. They know your content better than you and the 23 year old “Assistant to the Assistant of the Junior Director of Marketing” that they will assign to market your book clearly knows what she’s doing. She’s been there for almost three months and can follow their “marketing” template fairly well, plus she read a lot books in college. You’re in good hands.
5) The web and social media are a fad.
As an author you just need to know how to write a good book. The web, LinkedIn and Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are all for kids and they probably won’t be around that much longer. Book buyers obviously go to the book store to buy books, they aren’t wasting their time online so neither should you.
Visit Peter’s website at http://thoughtleadershipleverage.com
