You already know you need a great front and back cover to sell your book. It’s obvious that your book needs a fantastic title. And, of course, you’ve written a compelling book people want to read right now. But, there are three other things that will help make your nonfiction book more marketable.
Number one, when you’re writing your book, create four to eight pieces of content that stand alone.
This is content that is inside your book, but could be pulled out of your book and people would still get value from it. Think sidebars or boxed content.
Check out this great example from thebookdesigner.com:
The content in these items could be used as blog posts, news articles or other stand alone content that promotes your book. So start thinking about the eight ways to make your biceps bulge, the five things you need to know about sex after 60, or how to sell your business for seven figures checklist. Those kind of lists make fantastic standalone content that media will eat up.
When you’re deciding what content you should put in a box or a sidebar of your book, just think about what will create intrigue and interest the most. Remember, the goal of this material is to be excellent stand alone content that will make people want to check out what else is in your book. Put some of your best tips in these boxes!
Plus, when people skim your book, they will often glance at this material to decide whether to buy your book so it can also sell your book to potential readers that way.
Number two, prepare a really compelling answer to these questions:
- What made you write your book?
- And, Who is this book for?
You will be asked these questions all the time. If you can get a really succinct answer that makes people wonder what’s inside that book then you’re going to have a fantastic promotional piece for your book.
Now, a little tip from my writing coach (who is the chief writing coach at Book Launchers). He says, if you can help people become more beautiful, lose weight, get rich or become famous then that’s going to sell. So if your book does one or all of those things, make sure you include it in your answer.
Number three, design your Table of Contents to sell your book.
Of course a great book title is important but each of your chapter titles acts as a salesman for your book.
Keep this in mind when you’re naming your chapters. Every single chapter title needs to sell your book and create curiosity. Spend a lot of time on these little salesmen. During 95%+ of the media interviews you’ll do to promote your book you’ll discover that the interviewer didn’t read your book. At most, they’ve opened your book to the table of contents and skimmed your chapters and subtitles. Expect questions about those if they are interesting enough!
My first book, More Than Cashflow, had one chapter called Where Are the Ladies? Who knew but a lot of media loved that chapter title. My second book had a chapter called You Are Who Google Says You Are. That created so much interest I was asked to speak on the subject. I ended up creating a talk that I gave in multiple locations across Canada. That was great promotion for my book and my business!
So make sure those chapter titles sell your book for you.