TeachMarket.com

By Christopher Kokoski

Want a few creative, unusual ways to get attention for your book? Need something different to make your book stand out? Here is an assortment of ideas, questions and thoughts to get your book marketing juices flowing. My hope is that they not only inspire you, but also move you to action. Action that creates unbelievable results for your writing career. If nothing else, I hope they entertain you and that you don’t print out this article and feed it to your pet Boa.

Vault of Marketing Ideas for Your Book:

• Is the title of your book creative, different, unusual, interesting? Or is it boring, unoriginal, something people will forget two seconds after they read it? An easy strategy is copying the words from other popular books (which are already outrageously successful) and adapting it to your book. My book was adapted from titles such as, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” “21 Ways to Be a Sales Superstar,” among others.
   
• Is your book more simple, more reader-friendly, bigger, more colorful, thinner, smaller, cheaper, more expensive, more accessible, rarer, or more something than the other books on the same topic or in the same genre? How can you change it so it is?
   
• Who writes the types of book you are selling? Why not write to them and tell them how much their books have helped you. Don’t ask for anything, just develop a relationship. What could that do for you?
   
• What organizations, charities, or groups of people might benefit from your book? Why not contact them to see if you can form an alliance.
   
• Written a pet book? Why not hold a “Bring Your Pet to the Library Day.” Or, if you’re really crazy, a “Bring Your Pet to Church Day.” The local media won’t pass up on a story like that.
   
• If you could afford it, why not send FREE copies of your book to influential people in the media, politicians, movie stars, or presidents of organizations that have something to do with the topic of your book. (Example: Prayer book to heads of prayer organizations; Health book to health experts).
   
• Create controversy around your book. Worked for Da Vinci Code, Harry Potter and the Bible. How about your book?
   
• Print the name of your book on the side of your car, in big, colorful letters. (Check with a tax expert, but you might even get to take part of your car’s expenses off on your taxes.)
   
• Give a portion of your book proceeds to charity. This helps people and helps your book sales.
   
• Change your title to something in the news. Right now, with Hurricane Katrina, natural disasters are big news. So is the Red Cross, survivor stories, etc. Be careful, however; this could backfire.
   
• Use your book to get speaking engagements at local groups and organizations. Get feedback and testimonials, then branch out to other states and bigger venues.
   
• Write a bunch of FREE books and give them away with your book, so that the cost of the book seems puny against all the great gifts.
   
• Add a “How You Can Help” section to the back of your book. List ways the readers can help others enjoy the benefits of your book, namely, by telling others to go out and get a copy of their own.
   
• Create a workbook, or study guide to go along with your book. Build discussions about your book right into the content! Then, people will naturally talk about your book. If the information is good, then the news will spread!
   
• Carry your book everywhere you go.
   
• Raffle off your book or give a copy to the local Salvation Army store. Exposure is good.
   
• Try to get in Guinness World Records for something related to your book. Exposure is good.
   
• Give 10 people you know the book and ask them how they would sell more copies. Gather the feedback, ignore more of it and put the good information to good use.
   
• Hold a writing/reading class at the local library or at local schools. Yes, this does involve actually speaking in front of people who might make fun of you afterward. But exposure is good.
   
• Did I mention exposure is good?
   
• Create a benefit statement for your book. (Example: Shows you 50 Easy Ways to Create Cheap Meals in Under 10 Minutes)
   
• Repeat the benefit statement, slogan, phrase as often as possible. (Think of the “Can you hear me now? Good” commercials.)
   
• Create business card-size promotional pieces that provide good information (Top 10 Ways to Get Promoted) and slip it into books on bookstore or library shelves. Make sure your website is on the card.
   
• Live what your book promotes. If it is about weight loss, lose weight, or get 10 friends to lose weight using the strategies in your book. In my case, have people try the prayer tips and journal their experiences.
   
• Get people involved. Communicate with your readers as often as possible. Set up an email account just for this purpose. Respond in a timely fashion to questions, and create a FAQ file for common questions.
   
• Create a Press Kit. You can find out how for free at any number of websites by simply searching for the subject using your favorite search engine. Why wait until you are famous to get one? Do it now.
   
• Did I mention exposure is good?
   
• Create a series of books on the same topic. Worked for lots of authors, and it can work for you, too.
   
• Get a copy of the book, Purple Cow, by Seth Godin and use it to come up with even more creative, remarkable ideas to promote your book.
   
• Target a niche. Is your book for ALL pet owners, or just for pet owners of pit bulls? Go small and specific. That’s where the big money is these days.
   
• Tell great stories. Even informative books should include a story or two, even if it’s only in your BIO section. Great stories involve interesting people doing interesting things in interesting places. Conflict is often involved and there is a beginning, middle and a satisfying end.
   
• Join clubs, especially book clubs and organizations.
   
• Give a bunch of your books away at a charity event, or give them away to a nursing home, homeless shelter, or children’s hospital. You’ll be doing people a great favor while helping yourself, too.
   
• Create a holiday around your book. If it’s on “33 Ways to Get Fired On Your First Day,” then create a “Get Fired” Day, or “Fired Day,” a day to celebrate all the people who have been fired.
   
• Get an AD in a newspaper or magazine where the people most likely to buy your books will see it. If your book is on how to break into government buildings, then get an ad in Break In magazine (hopefully, this magazine doesn’t actually exist!).
   
• Give away something worth talking about at your talks, on your website, or anywhere you sell your books. (Example: If your book is on cars, give away an old car, even toy cars.)
   
• Provide free samples or previews of your book(s). Be generous with where you offer them.
   
• Offer a 100%, lifetime, feed your book to sharks unconditional guarantee.
   
• Take money, checks, credit cards, and any other forms of payment in existence. Make it easy to buy.
   
• Did I mention exposure is good?

Good luck and I hope this gave you some new ideas!

Christopher Kokoski is the author of 101 Ways to Pray Better and Get Faster Results.

SOURCE: Wordpreneur.com – How to Make Money Writing!