Writing In The Crosshairs: WHAT MAKES A BOOK SKYROCKET?

Friday, September 21, 2018

WHAT MAKES A BOOK SKYROCKET?

{Midnight Reading My Latest}

What makes a particular book seize the imagination of the general public

and propel its author from comfortable relative obscurity to superstardom?

You must touch on something core and essential in our psyches:

the combined ache of life, love and our own mortality.

And you must do it with realism rather than over-sentimentality.

But no one controls that all important WORD OF MOUTH ...

and that is what will propel our work up the sales rankings.

Make this your Mantra:

NO ONE KNOWS ANYTHING.

How do I know that?

Because if the Big 5 Publishers or John Green or Stephen King knew it,

every book would skyrocket like THE FAULT IN OUR STARS or THE STAND.

DR. NO, FORREST GUMP, E.T., RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK,

were all rejected by the majors studios at least twice before being accepted.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

1.) Write Something NEW

Do yourself a favor and choose to write a book with a totally new and unexpected hook.

This bakes marketing and word of mouth into the content and sets you up for a perennial seller.

Make your core story simple, spreadable, articulable idea to generate word of mouth.

If your core story is confusing or unclear, it makes it very difficult to market.

2.) Write Something Well

Professional editing is essential for self-published authors because it's the easiest way to separate the professionals from the amateurs.

3.) Package Your Book To Sell

You can't skimp on design!

Why would you spend all this time writing a book, and then get a shitty cover design?

Think: Will this cover catch the eye in an Amazon thumbnail?

4.) Title Your Book To Win

DON'T STOP NOW, YOU'RE KILLING ME!

was a great psychology text on the sado-masochistic tangoes human dance in their dealings with one another.

Come up with a title that will bring the roving eye of a browser to a stop.

5.) Launch Your Book Like A Three Stage Missile

Thinking short term and rushing your book to market prevents you from coordinating a good launch.

Velocity is crucial when your book hits the market,

so you have to concentrate your sales push to the first week because this helps you get hit bestsellers lists

(not just the New York Times but on Amazon and Goodreads), which drives even more attention.

Just hitting #1 even for a moment on Amazon or Goodread allows you to put a banner on your cover

with the #1 marketing bestseller designation, giving your book even more social momentum.

6.) Create a Mythos For Yourself

Learn from the Texas Rangers.

They encouraged tales to be told of them.

The outlaws' perception of them was often the edge that kept them alive.

Build your brand.

Your bio and your Amazon page are like business cards.

Brand yourself, reinvent yourself, whatever. Just don't waste the opportunity.

You will be shocked at how often these self-descriptions

are borrowed and repeated in the media until they become true.

7.) Price Yourself IN Their Reach

Remember as a struggling author discovery is your big hurdle.

An eternity in obscurity is the fate for most authors.

Why should people give you their cash?

Why should they give you their time?

It's crucial that your pricing makes your book accessible, especially early on.

Do not discourage people from taking a chance on you.

I HOPE THIS HELPS YOUR NEXT BOOK SOAR LIKE AN EAGLE

LIKE THE XANADU!