There is a whole lot of misinformation out there about book publishing, which is why, as an aspiring writer, you should get the facts right about book publishing and how to ensure that your book actually sells.
Here are several factors to keep in mind if you want to write and publish a sellable book.
Nail the Manuscript
If you want to publish a book that will actually sell, you need to get the manuscript right. Your literary agent deals with dozens of query letters in a day, and you must ensure that your manuscript stands out so that your literary agent actually picks you for their next project.
For the most part, your agent or publisher will review a good percentage of your manuscript. And they might start reviewing your manuscript from page one and realize that this is not ready for primetime. Publishing a book is all about bookselling. So, your editor might be fixated on – right from the very beginning – your target audience for your book.
Know Your Audience
If it is an audience of two, then the book is really a waste of time to go forward. Make sure that you have an audience for your manuscript and make sure that you have a way to get out and find the audience so that your publisher can bring your book to the awareness of the public.
Hire A Book Editor
A book editor can bring incredible value to your book project. The thing is that some newbie writers see the editor as someone who will injure their pride and ego by making their draft bleed. However, the actual thing that a book editor is doing is that they are bringing massive value to your book.
Professional writers understand the value that an editor will bring to their projects. Now, usually, what happens is that when you are writing, you are overly focused on the big picture, on the details, and on getting the content onto the page.
During the writing process, there is a lot that is happening, including redundancies, confusing statements, and a thousand other things that a professional editor will be looking for.
Get the Book Cover Right
Always remember that there is nothing more impactful than visuals. Your ideal reader should be able to guess what is inside the book and its genre based on the cover. If someone looks at your book cover, they look at the image and the title and they cannot tell you what the book is about – how will your book get sold in the market?
Here is the thing: like it or not, people will judge your book by its cover, which is why you should always leave the book cover design in the hands of a professional, such as the best freelance book designers who know how to make attractive and appropriate book cover designs that will actually help your book sell in the market.
Ideally, you should have an award-winning book cover – something that can help your book stand out in the book market.
Get Book Reviews
Book reviews can be incredibly valuable in helping an author get attention from the literary world. As a newbie writer, you might think that you can take a book – once it is printed – and once the publication date has been released – then your book gets out for reviews.
But – your biggest and your greatest book reviewers will want to have your book well in advance of the publication date for the book. Nonetheless, if you are lucky enough to get a review, you are hopefully going to get a good review – it will help you get the much-needed attention.
Bad Reviews Will Hurt Your Sales
So, don’t rush the entire book-writing process, as a bad book review can not only hurt your book sales but also hurt the publisher. Your book review is read by the vast majority of people in the publishing industry, including people who are buying the book.
If you get a good review and the reviewer says that this book cannot be missed and that this book is going to be the next thing – who would not want to buy and read that book? So, you get the point – getting good book reviews is crucial if you want to publish a book that people will actually buy.
How to Get Bookstores to Display Your Book?
Now, this might come off as a surprise for you – but – bookstores are not going to carry your book and allow your books to take that valuable shelf space if you have self-published your book. Yes – you read this right.
Suppose you owned a bookstore and you have only got that much space and an author comes in who is looking for exposure. They want to have your book carried in your bookstore – the first question that you will ask yourself is about what the writer will be doing to bring people into your store.
You get the point – if you want bookstores to carry your books, you want to bring people into the bookstore who will actually buy these books. It is a complicated process to get national distribution and to get your book onto the shelves.
It doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen to everyone. The bookstore will want to know what you will be doing to promote your book. What they are really asking is what kind of marketing, PR marketing, and social media marketing you have planned for your book.
Your potential marketing plan will tell the bookstore owner a lot about whether there is going to be a big thrust to get the much-needed attention to sell your book.
The Takeaway
Now you know the behind-the-scenes that is a crucial part of making a book sell in the market. You might have a great book idea – but – who will know about the book idea until they open the book or pick it up from the shelf? You need more than an amazing storyline to publish a marketable and saleable book. So, there is no such thing as overnight success in the world of books.
