Build Your ABS Muscle

Book selling is about consistency. The average consumer must hear or see a message an average of three times before they act on it. So you must build your ABS: Always Be Selling muscle. Never stop promoting your book and your platform.

Patricia Fry of the Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network (S.P.A.W.N) wrote in an article "25 Ways to Promote Your Work, Whether You're an Artist, Author, or Small Publisher" that writers should adopt the mindset to:

• Talk about your book everywhere you go
• Hand out brochures with excerpts
• Always have copies on hand
• Schedule dedicated time to promoting your book
• Try at least one new promotional activity each month.

If you are in the process of becoming an author, or if you are currently an author, you have become a business, and success requires full-time commitment. If you have a job, that means you now have two full-time jobs.

Michael Hyatt, NYT Bestselling author of Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, and Jack Canfield co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul acknowledge that the time requirements of promoting a best-selling book is hard work. Hyatt conducted over 1,000 radio interviews in 1 year, not to mention talks, television, book signings, blogging, vlogging... the list goes on.

Robert Kiyosaki, Bestselling author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad said it was easier to run his China Gold mine and South American Silver mine than to be successful at selling books.

Is this to discourage you. No! Not at all. The thing all of these people have in common is that they ARE SUCCESSFUL at selling books and you can be too. However, it is to remind you that this is a full-time commitment.

Five ways to always build your ABS muscle:

1. Paraphernalia - Get jackets, shirts, hats, pens, note pads with your book cover and contact information
2. Car Magnets- You never know who's watching you. Every person who crosses your path is a potential book sale. Because of my car magnet, I sold a book to a worker in the Sonic drive thru.
3. Social Media Branding- Is your book cover on your Facebook profile picture or banner? Why not? If not, do you have an author fan page?
4. Website- This should be a no-brainer, but in our global society and the digital highway, your website is a global billboard.
5. Author Business Cards or book stubs- A professional business card is a great way to pass the word about your book. "Book Stubs" are small square cards with basic contact information, cover image and a Qr Barcode to scan with a smartphone that will direct people to your website or bookstore.

Happy selling!
www.TrueVinePublishing.org

Author's Success Manual coming October 2013