Want to increase your chances of writing a bestselling book right from the get-go? Here are some tips used by the top 5% of authors.

Many successful writers do considerable research before they even get started writing their books. Much of this relies on having a basic understanding of marketing.

What Sells Books?

So Let’s go back to the fundamentals of what sells. Why do people buy books? Usually, it’s the ‘what’s in it for me’ factor. They buy because:

• they can learn something;
• it helps improve their life in some way;
• it saves them money;
• it solves a problem in their life.

To put it another way, people buy for ‘pain or gain’. In other words, there is a pain in their life that needs solving. Or they think they will gain in some way – either emotionally or financially.

It is worth noting that one of the most powerful motivations in marketing is financial gain. In other words, a reader can justify ‘investing’ in a book if they think it will either save them time or money. The trick is to think how you can apply these principles to your own book. This is particularly helpful for non-fiction, though perhaps less so for novels or poetry.

Your Book Title

A book title is one of the most powerful tools for selling a book. It gives the reader a succinct and clear reason for buying your book. Your title can make all the difference between a bestselling book and a book that ends up on the slush pile. The important thing to remember is to put the benefit for the reader in the title.

Examples might be:

• A book targeted at would-be lawyers – ‘Top Tips For Wannabe Lawyers’ or ‘Want To Be Lawyer? – How To Get There Faster’ (WIFM: training)
• A book targeted at the general public – ‘Top Tips To Cut Your Lawyer’s Fees in Half’ or ‘How To Choose The Best Lawyer’ (WIFM: saving money, problem solving).
• A book targeted at a specific niche – ‘How To Sue The Person Who Injured You’, “The Idiot’s Guide to Getting Divorced’, ‘How To Write Your Own Will’.
• A book targeted at other lawyers – ‘What You Don”t Know About Rival Law Firms’ or ‘How To Become A Partner In Your Law Firm In Less Than A Year’ (WIFM: entertainment/competitive edge.)

These titles are off the cuff and imperfect. But hopefully you can see the ‘what’s in it for me’ principle at work and see why a target audience would want to buy them.

This doesn’t mean that a book has to be solely about the subject matter in the title. This just provides a convenient marketing ‘angle’ for a book so that readers (and publishers, in the first instance) can see the benefits and understand why people would buy them.

Looking at the aforementioned titles, I hope that you can see that some books provide a more powerful motivation for buying than others. Saving money, making money, and problem solving are stronger emotional motivations than entertainment or curiosity, for example.

Market Research

Thanks to the Internet, you can now do comprehensive research into what your readers are likely to be looking for. You can check amazon.com to see if there are any comparative books on the subject. This will help you to identify your unique selling points. Why, for example, would a reader choose to buy your book over theirs? What do you offer that other authors don’t?

Don’t be put off if there are similar books to yours. This shows that there is a market for your subject matter. However, you do need to identify what is special and different about your book to make it stand out.

Danie expatriated from Canada fifteen years ago, ‘trailing’ her husband through twelve moves for his job with a multinational manufacturing company. She has enjoyed traveling, taking photographs and geocaching in the 20 countries she has visited. Having lived in four nations, they recently returned from India and call Texas “home” with their third-culture son and their third-culture golden retriever.

JP

Tell me about your own story, the one that is the basis for your book. Can you describe it in just a few sentences? To show that a book has focus it is vital that it can be described briefly and succinctly.

DB

The Expat Arc: an expat’s journey over culture shock is my personal journey through our first year of living in India. Written in an as-it-happens blog format, readers follow me through a whole range of first-time experiences and a roller coaster of emotions. Without the benefit of retrospect, I wrote an honest portrayal of culture shock from within it.

JP

Why did you write it?

DB

The blog started as a place where I could share India as I was experiencing it, with my family. My audience grew to include expats from around the world. And although they weren’t in all in India, they seemed to relate to my stories.

For someone who had always hated writing in school, writing a book was not on my life’s to-do list. The more I did it, though, the more I enjoyed it, and the more I needed to do it. I began receiving feedback and comments, urging me to publish my stories into a book. Initially, I put the blog posts into a book so I would have a bound copy as a souvenir to share with family. When I found a print-on-demand self-publishing option that didn’t cost me anything upfront but my time, I figured I had nothing to lose, so I published it.

JP

Who do you think will read your book? What made you think that there was a market for it? Now that it’s been out for a while, what proof do you have that you were right?

DB

Truthfully, I didn’t think anyone would read my book except for my family, friends and maybe a few expats. I didn’t know if there was a market for it or not, but I was going to publish it anyhow. Stubborn, aren’t I?

The book is by no means a best seller but more copies have been sold than I originally expected. I had pretty low expectations from the onset, though.

JP

It does not matter how good a book is, or how good your writing is if no one knows about it. What steps have you taken or do you plan to take to promote your book? Are you a speaker or trainer? Do you have a blog? A website? A newsletter? Do you use Facebook, Twitter or other social media tools? What about press releases and sending out review copies and free articles? Have you had any other ideas? Which methods do you think work best and can you give me any examples?

DB

As with publishing, marketing was learn-as-I-go and I’m still learning. Because my book is about me, promoting it makes me feel like I’m promoting myself instead of my book. For that reason, it has not been promoted as much as it should. I’ve used social media as a passive way of marketing, allowing people to stumble upon the information or receive it from a friend. I should have done pre-launch marketing but I didn’t know enough to know that I should.

I created a book trailer video and posted it in as many places as I could—YouTube, blogs, Facebook Fan Page, Twitter. I did a mini virtual book tour of expat blogs. I freely shared digital and print copies with other self-published writers who were willing to write reviews.

I made a huge mistake in the marketing of my book. After I published the book, I did not delete the posts from my blog. I thought those posts would bring in more readers from search engines because of the wide range of topics (correct), then my site could point them in the direction to buying my book (wrong). I eventually deleted the posts from my blog because who will buy the book if they can read it for free?  By then, the number of hits from search engines had decreased significantly. I received some advice that I should lock down the blog and only allow people who buy the book the ability to read it. That may have worked, but the last thing I wanted to do was to lock my blog. I’m not sure how I would do it differently if I had another chance but I’m certainly open to suggestions.

There are some finer points of social media that I think make it all more effective. Carrying the brand of your book or website through all social media outlets is important. People should load a twitter page or Facebook fan page and be able to quickly connect that they’ve been to your blog, or have seen your book in another place. Instant and repetitive brand recognition can be effective when there is so much other social media information whizzing back and forth. Automation is also important. The more automated your social media outlets are, the more likely people will see it through the other social media noise. And the most important is to add the ability for the social media reader to SHARE and pass it on.

JP

How did you publish your book? What was your route to publication?

DB

I’ve had a few people ask me this question. Usually, I tell them how I published my first book, and then I tell them how I would do it differently the next time.

For my first book, I made the decision to self-publish. I researched how I could do that from my computer in India. I knew I would self-publish because I felt the book had a niche topic. Lightning Source (which I would use the next time) was not a viable option for me from India. In order to use their service, I would have to register the business name of my publishing company in the US. That can’t be done unless you have a physical US address. Then I discovered plan B: CreateSpace. It seemed to be a good fit for my circumstances.

I formatted the book using Adobe InDesign software. I edited, re-edited and edited some more. I uploaded the file to Create Space and ordered a draft copy of the book. I had to wait while it was mailed to our international banker in the US and then forwarded on to me in India. Then I edited and edited again. In retrospect, I should have sent it on to someone else for editing. Now I know better.

To address two points of feedback that I’ve received about the format of my book—the reason the dates were dropped from the blog posts was because not every blog post was included in the book. Nor did every included post remain in strict chronological order. The size of the posts dictated the format for each page. With Create Space, I was limited to 100 pages so I needed to fit as much as I could into each page. Some blog posts were moved a day or two into the future or past for the sake of formatting, but it did not change the overall storyline.

JP

Self-belief can be a big problem for writers. How did you manage to stay confident in your ability and remember that you were good enough to write your book? How did you cope with the days when you thought you could not do it and that it was rubbish?

DB

I’m sitting here laughing over this question. Who has been lying to you and telling you that I’m confident in my ability?

I’ve taken a few smacks from acquaintances and have hit a few marketing roadblocks for self-publishing my book. You know, the slight look of pity you’re given as they say, “It’s really tough to get published. You have to be really good.” Or, “We can’t feature your book as we do with other writers, so we’ll just put it a little graphic way at the back of our website where nobody will see it since it’s not a real book.” Or, “So sorry, we only review traditionally published books.” Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. These are the kinds of things that wear down a person’s self-belief.

In fact, I had so little confidence in myself the first time I was contacted by Jo Parfitt to review my book–I ignored her. Yes. I did. (So sorry, Jo!) I thought she would hate the book, hate my writing, and tell me both were rubbish. So, I did not want her to read it. A mutual friend introduced me to Jo via email and I couldn’t ignore a second offer for a review (and I had hoped she didn’t remember her previous offer via Twitter). I felt completely ill having to send her my book. As I was mailing it, I was hoping she would forget to actually write the review after she’d read it. I can’t tell you how relieved I was when I read the review! I had to read it again and again because I thought I must have missed the word rubbish somewhere! That one review has opened doors to other opportunities (thank you, Jo). Good things happen when I can muster up enough confidence to get out of my own way. And that’s what I think of, on the days when the doubt creeps back in.

JP

It’s easy to procrastinate, to blame writers’ block and to put off finishing your project. How did you keep yourself motivated? And how long did it take you to write it? What was your routine?

DB

To keep motivated, I live life. Life is my topic and writing is my therapy. When I’m excited, I feel the need to write about it. When I’m struggling, I feel the need to write about it. Usually, living life gives me plenty to write about.

My routine is to write first thing in the morning either while my family is still sleeping or when they’re off at work and school. Although, there are times when I’ve crawled into bed and had something stirring in my mind to the point where I can’t sleep. Then I’ll get up and write about it so I don’t keep my husband awake from the tossing, turning and sighing.

I’m more of a procrastinator when it comes to answering interview questions, mailing out books, and making my book into Kindle format. If someone has any advice to keep me motivated and on task there—I’m open to it!

JP

What was your biggest challenge regarding the writing of your book? How have you overcome that?

DB

My biggest challenge was in trying to balance between look how culture-shocked I am with not offending the people of India. I think one of the reasons other expats related so well to my writing was because I often said aloud what they were thinking. There were many times when India frustrated me, and the people I interacted with on a daily basis frustrated me to my wit’s end. There were so many vast cultural differences that I experienced and wanted to share with my friends and family. At the same time, I didn’t want to offend India or its people. I made every effort to portray that it was my adjustment to India, not India’s adjustment to me, that had to take place.

There have been times when I’ve managed to offend people with what I’ve written. Usually, it’s when people read one small blurb and take it out of context without knowing the kind of person who is behind the words. I’m also not as good of a writer as I would like to be so there are many times when I write something, hoping that it’s an accurate depiction of how I feel, and I manage for it to come out all wrong. I hope when people get to know me through my book, they’ll learn that I’m writing from my experience (or lack thereof) as honestly as I can and that any offense I cause stems from my lack of knowledge or not having such a great way with words, and not from intent.

JP

I believe that getting feedback is really important to help you recognise when your writing is really good and to find ways of making it even better. How did you get feedback on your work?

DB

Without a doubt, I should have obtained more professional feedback. Fear is a powerful thing. My blog readers constantly told me that I should write a book. They seemed to like what I was writing—so I did it. I published the best book I could with the resources that were available to me from India. I do feel I could do better a better job with my next book from within the US and with what I know now.

JP

If you were to give advice to someone else who is thinking about writing a book based on their life experience what would be your number one tip?

DB

There are certain aspects of writing or publishing a book that only the writer can do and should do. There are other aspects that the writer can do but a professional should do. Do what you have to do as the writer and let the professionals do what they should do. In the end, you’ll end up with a better product and less self-doubt.

When choosing to use a subsidy press or vanity publisher, you will likely only go through a couple of steps. These include approving the final copy of your book once you’ve submitted it and promoting and marketing, much of which you’ll still have to do yourself.

On the other hand, when publishing independently there are more steps involved, however you will soon understand why these steps are worth the effort. Publishing independently involves finding a contract editor as well as a contract book designer, going through the process of registering your ISBN number, your LCCN, copyrights and other registrations, contracting with a printer, and finally promoting and marketing.

Though it may seem like more work, and it likely is, the benefits are larger as well. When choosing to use subsidy publishing an author will split the profits with the press, most likely encounter quality issues, and run into distribution blocks when promoting to bookstores. However, when choosing to publish independently, you will keep 100% of the profits, end up with a higher quality book, and avoid those distribution blocks.

Ultimately, it is up to you, the author, to decide what option you will choose for publishing. After all, you are the one who must put in the work and who will benefit from the results. Take your time and choose wisely!

So, why was I successful?

Was it just a fluke?

Well, back then I thought it was, but now, 26 books on, I realise that I got several things right.

So, I go to the flipchart and start to ask the audience what they think the reasons for my success might be. It always follow the same pattern. To kick off, they suggest things like focus, a good title, the right idea at the right time, a market, a wow factor and authenticity, but then the room falls silent. They wrack their brains. Then someone says, it always happens, someone says: “There’s something else though, isn’t there?” and the rest of the audience begin to nod.

You see, the other reason I succeeded was because I believed in myself. I was 23, I was young, naive, filled with hope. I did not consider for a moment that the fact that I was not a cook and had not been published before would stand in my way. I believed I had a good idea. OK, let me get it out of the way right now, before you wonder how I got away with not being a cook – though I had not written the recipes and could not cook, they had been given to me by French families while I had been living in France. The book was called French Tarts and it was a good idea and, in the mid-eighties, it was the perfect time. I truly believed I had a good chance of the book being accepted.

I believe that self-belief is the number one requirement if you want to write a book. It should not be the last thing on the list but the first. So, what follows, are five ways that I suggest you try to develop this elusive item.

1. Ask for feedback and take it, welcome it, know that without it you will never really know how good you are. Improve your chances by suggesting how you want the feedback to be served. Say you want to hear what they liked, what they felt might be missing and how they might improve it. This kind of feedback is much easier to digest and will leave you feeling good about your work.
2. Write every day. OK, almost every day. If you have a journal and are in the practice of doing ten minutes of what Julia Cameron, in The Artist’s Way, calls Morning Pages, then you will begin to feel like a real writer rather than an imposter. You see, real writers do something phony writers don’t – they write.
3. Read other books in your market. Devour them. Make Amazon your best friend and read everything else out there that is like the one you want to write. You’ll soon find things that you consider not to be so great about each book, as well as things you’d like to emulate in yours. This will boost your confidence in your idea.
4. Get published in a small way. Nothing will make you feel more positive about your potential as an author more than already having your name in print. So write articles, start a blog, write book reviews or theatre reviews. Get your name online and in print, build a portfolio. Not only will this increase your profile and Googleability, but will also develop belief in your writing.
5. Join a class or online program, one that makes you commit to writing, forces you to do homework and ensures you turn up at the class and the page regularly. Being in a class means you get feedback from the rest of the group, if you you are lucky, and from a professional,the teacher. Practice makes perfect and is habit-forming. Try it.

Back in 1998 when I left England and started my journey around the world, I promised my 92-year-old grandma I would write letters to her every 2 weeks.  The next time she saw me was in 2001 when I came back for a visit.  She presented me with a suitcase full of my letters and postcards and told me “now write that book”

That planted the seed that maybe I could write a book, even though I had no writing qualifications.  I did not consider myself to be particularly good at grammar or spelling, but everyone kept telling me I had an interesting life and it would make a good book.  Anyway, I had heard how difficult it was to get your book published as a first time author and that seemed like a lot of hard work.

While I procrastinated my Grandma continued to receive my letters and I continued to travel.

In April 2005 I attended a workshop in Singapore on “how to write your book” and that turned out to be the inspiration and motivation I needed to get me started!  By the end of 2005 I was at the final editing stage and by Feb 2006 I self-published my book.I dedicated my book “A seven year journey around the world – discovering my passion and purpose” in memory of Bea, my grandma who inspired me to write my book.  Not only did she pass away before she saw the book in print, she didn’t even get to know I had actually started work on it, thanks to her.

Don’t let this happen to you!  Write your memoirs before its too late, write that fiction book you’ve been dreaming about, write that business book to promote your business and give you credibility, put all those poems and essays into a book, turn your thesis into a book!  Just start.

Remember, you don’t have to be an expert at grammar or spelling or sentence structure, that is what editors are for!  It is just up to you to tell your story from the heart and get started and take the time to educate yourself with the many resources available to make the task  easy and enjoyable!

Madhan Ind{Yeah}: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flickcoolpix/3566848458/

What is stopping you from sharing your knowledge and experience? Don’t let Fear and Ego get in the way of writing and publishing your book.

The biggest obstacle for writing your book always comes down to fear and ego, these are the top 3 objections:

• Is my story interesting enough?
• Will people be interested in reading it?
• Is my writing good enough?

When in reality you should be asking yourself:

• How can I be of service to others with my book?
• How can I help other people with the knowledge and experience I have?
• How can I best get that knowledge across so it is easy for the reader to understand?

Asking these tough questions up front will help you organize your book with the benefits to the reader always at the forefront of your outline.  The most challenging questions I always ask are at the beginning of my InspireABook™ workshops are:

1. Who is your reader? (i.e. age, sex, demographics, customers, friends, family or specific group i.e. cancer patients, entrepreneurs, parents etc,)
2. What will they learn by reading your book? (i.e. educational, inspirational, motivational etc)

Once you can answer these questions we have learnt the focus of your book and from here we organize your content to always reflect the lessons you want your reader to learn in a way it is easy for them to learn.

I’ll give you some specific examples from my clients in the next post – so stay tuned!

Image supplied under creative commons: Madhan Ind{Yeah}  http://www.flickr.com/photos/flickcoolpix/3566848458/

Are you clear about your motivation for writing a book? Money, fame, reputation, legacy, sharing what you know?

• My motivation is:

Do you know who your competition is? Have you read those books, decided what works and what doesn’t and checked out their Amazon rating?

• Competitor A is:
• And I like:
• And I dislike:

• Competitor B is:
• And I like:
• And I dislike:

• Competitor C is:
• And I like:
• And I dislike:

• Competitor D is:
• And I like:
• And I dislike:

Does your book idea have a wow factor, something different, a Unique Selling Proposition?

• My USP is:

Do you already have some fans, a following and a Google-rating? A blog, a website and a direct route to market?

• My fans find me here:
• My route to market is here:

Do you have a support group, mentor, coach, writing buddies and trusted readers who can give you feedback every step of the way?

• My supporters are:

Are you prepared to write in your natural voice, simply, easily, accessibly and aim for a Shitty First Draft?

• Yes
• No
• Yes, but I need to practise and get feedback first

Have you chosen the ingredients for your book and decided on your recipe?

• Personal anecdote
• Case study
• Illustrations
• Tips
• Tasks
• Summaries
• Expert opinions
• Quotations
• Resources
• Bulleted lists, like this one
• Subheads

Have you mind-mapped your book?

See this article for more on how to use Mind Maps

Have you mind-mapped a chapter?

See this article for more on how to use Mind Maps

Have you written a contents list, complete with foreword, acknowledgements, title page, resource section and so on and received feedback on it?

Have you written a sample chapter, using your mind-map, ingredients and recipe and received feedback on it?

Have you explored the options available for publication?

• agent
• publisher
• paid-for-publishing aka vanity presses
• self publishing your own book
• ebook publishing