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BEST SELLERS  – Now, I’ll be honest with you here – I’m not crazy about coaches and consultants who promise they can make you a best seller in a couple of weeks or even in a weekend.

I don’t believe ANYONE can authentically make that claim because there are a lot of moving parts that go into creating a best seller and truthfully, it’s VERY difficult to manipulate Amazon or any other system to do this. It seems that every time we figure out some kind of process or strategy or system for creating best sellers, Amazon and everyone else go and change their algorithms or the rules for qualifying.  

What I CAN tell you is that, for many of the authors I’ve worked with, I have discovered that there are basically 5 key elements necessary for each best seller I’ve created in my book launches.

The first key is CATEGORY SELECTION. This is really so important to creating a best seller and here’s why – if you select a category where the top 10 books are all written by big name, high profile authors, then you’re really limiting your chances of becoming a best seller because de-throning any of them can be VERY difficult for a little known, first time entrepreneur author. 

So, when you’re making your decision on which category to publish your book in – and with Amazon you get to choose 2 categories –  check out what other books are in the categories you prefer first, then investigate and consider other alternative categories if the competition is too steep in your first choices.

Another critical key is TIMING and this works the same way as categories. You’ll want to see WHO has just published in your market space and if it looks like there’s a lot of action and there are some big-named experts who have just published, then you may want to consider releasing your book a little later or at a time when your desired category space is slower.

The third key is COMMUNITY. Your tribe and the tribes of any other experts you can partner with can create killer momentum for creating a best seller, so leverage your community and if possible the communities of others.

This can mean FaceBook, LinkedIn and other online and offline groups as well,  so think in terms of a wider scale and reach. 

The fourth key for creating a best seller is PUBLICITY. This is where having a solid strategic plan and getting some sort of media training can come in handy. In terms of publicity, I want you to think radio – both local and online mediums such as blog talk radio, as well as TV – and this can even be local TV like morning shows and local news.

These media markets  are always looking for filler pieces. Getting seen and heard on as many media outlets as possible is a great strategy for building your expert platform.  

The final critical key for promoting your way to a best seller is a STEP-BY-STEP MARKETING PLAN. 

I know that sounds kind of broad but you would be really surprised at the number of entrepreneur authors who publish a book, fail to do any sort of marketing around it and yet still expect it to sell like hot cakes!

Again, like PUBLICITY, you absolutely MUST have a solid strategy for marketing your book in order to make it a best seller. There’s just no way around it. And because there are so many moving parts to a creating a best seller marketing campaign, it’s definitely helpful to have a proven step-by-step project plan that lays out every action you need to take and the timing sequence so that you are organized and can relax and truly enjoy the magical feeling of FINALLY becoming the published author you’ve wanted to be for so long –  which is my wish for all of you. 

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December 2014 Issue