RichWriter Book Promotion Article: Hand-Selling Books

One of the best ways of getting people to buy books is to sell them one on one, face to face.  It's an incredible way, but the problem is that a lot of authors are sort of shy like I was and can be sometimes, but it really is the best way to sell books.  You can see the results immediately.  People will buy a book even if they never read it because they want to meet the author, and they want your autograph.   So being author really still has a lot of cache.  It's not every day somebody meets an author.  In fact, a lot of people you'll talk to have always thought about being an author.  So, you're really giving an inspiration to them.  You may feel every day every work.  You can have them speaking about your book to everyone you meet, I mean, even from the irritated lady at the grocery store, to your boss, to your friends and family.  Tell everyone you're an author.  It's a numbers game.  The more people you to, the more books you're going to sell.  You really want to make them feel good.  Not like they're just another person you're trying to sell books to.  People can sense when you want something from them, so be interested of them, take an interest in them, be sincere, care about them, and inspire the people.  They're buying the book because of you not just because of what the book is about.   One on one selling is one of the top ways to receive immediate trackable result and build your fan base.  Not every person you talk to and not every single person you talk to and make a good impression on is part of your sales force.  They're going to help spread the word about your book automatically.  Do not tell everybody how awesome it was to meet an author.  If you're shy like I can be at times and you find a little bit difficult to start, believe me after you get rolling, it will be easy.  Think about it as a numbers game.  You have to get over the fear of rejection.  The more people you talk to, the more you're going to sell.  Walk up to them, force yourself to smile, relax, and tell them, "Hi!  My name is Jeff.  How are you?  I'm the author of a new book called Forever My Lady."  Now, first of all, they're going to be shocked that an author is actually walking up to them and talking to them, and they're going to be impressed by that.  Now, I have the ones who I went across, some kind of a snob but most of the time, people are going to be very impressed.  And then what you want to do is ask them what their name is.  Tell them it's your newest book or it's the first book you've written and you really wanted to let them know about it.  Have them read a page or two or something that's very exciting.  What they usually do is flip through it to look on the back of the book.  They'll read a little bit of it.  And if they're still [Inaudible 02:09] for a while, just stand there in silence and don't say a word until they say yes.   Now, if takes a little bit too long, just with the biggest smile on your face, just tell them that it'll make a great gift for someone and you'll be happy to autograph it.  Now, a lot of times that seals a deal because if they don't want to buy it for themselves, they'll think they can always think of somebody who would like to buy a book for.  Now, they're going to ask you questions like what's the book about, you know.  Is this your first book that sort of thing.  So, you really want to have a description of the book down to about 15 seconds or less, so keep on practicing based on what it is, what you want to do is really tell the essence of the story and not the whole story.  Tell them what the book goes for.  For example, $15 retail but you'll give it to them for let say $10 or whatever it is or some of the significant discount.  Most people are just going to be excited just to meet an author and they'll buy it at any price.  But if God forbid, they say, "Well, maybe next time."  Or "I'll think about it?"  In other words no, just thank them and tell them Bob, Jane or whatever it was, you know.  "It's great meeting you.  I really appreciate you gave me a chance to spend my greatest dream to write this book, and give them a free bookmark."  Don't burn bridges because you'll never know later on they could buy the book.  If they buy a book from you, ask them their e-mail address.  Tell them you'd love to keep in touch with them.  Don't just give them your card because most of the time, they won't contact you.  You have to be in control of that.   Now, your image is so important, so it's really important that you dress successfully.  Look like a successful author.  It doesn't mean you need to wear Rolex's and diamonds and pearls and stuff like that, but look successful, look clean, smell good, look personable.  If you see them with their wife or their husband or their child, introduce yourself to them too.  Really include them in the conversation.  By following these tips of one-on-one selling, you will sell more books.