Extend Your Books Life With a Sales Letter

Authors, publishers and business owners are great at getting their books written and launched. But after the initial one-year honeymoon, sales slow down. To counter this, make sure to let your audience know about your book's benefits and how it can help them in their lives. Keep your book alive and selling well for years when you write a sales letter.

You can write your first sales letter in less than two hours. As you practice, you will be able to write a short one in only one hour.

What Every Sales Letter Needs to Pull Orders and Profits

1. Start the letter with a benefit-driven headline and include headlines throughout.

Example: "Want a Quick and Easy way to Quadruple your Online Income in Four Months?

If you answered, "Yes" to yourself, the headline succeeds, because you will keep reading. If you said, "No, I don't believe this, but I'm curious about where this is going," the headline still succeeds. You win when your headline seduces your potential customer to read on in your sales letter and finally to decide to buy.

2. List the top five benefits of your book with bullets.

To define your top benefits start with a list of challenges your client or customer wants solutions for. If you are not rock sure of who your audience is and what they need, your sales copy won't work.

Essentially, you need to say how your book will make someone's life easier or richer in time or money; how it will entertain or inspire; how it will make readers be more successful, more attractive, healthier; how it will help them feel better and avoid catastrophe, sickness, or surgery.

Remember to highlight your book's ultimate benefit above the others. This could be the opening headline. If you list more than five benefits use the strongest three to five as your bullet points. Sprinkle the rest throughout your copy.

3. Address your potential buyer's resistance.

Tell a background story about where your audience is NOW so they will connect emotionally with your solutions. If your book is designed for people who want to write, the sales letter should focus on the fact that many people don't write books because they doubt that their books will sell well enough to justify all the effort; they worry that a book may not be significant enough, that writing it will take too long and publishing it will cost too much; and besides, they really aren't writers." One, by one, a good sales letter will address a potential buyer's major concerns.

4. Provide a quick overview of the book's features.

One client wrote a book on ways to live a successful life. Her top features included *a do-it-yourself" approach, *real-life coaching examples *mastering the art of 'moseying' and *practical tips and strategies that can immediately be implemented into your everyday life.

Example: In this treasure chest you will....

Impact your letter more when you combine your best benefit with a feature such as "Balance work and home by mastering the joy of moseying." While benefits sell and features explain, your web or shorter email sales letter needs to mention features so your potential buyer will know what's inside your book.

5. Sprinkle testimonials throughout your sales letter.

Since people who learn about your book are more likely to buy it when they think other people already have, it's important to offer testimonials from experts in your field, relevant celebrities, and satisfied users who have profited from your advice. Don't send the whole book to people when you ask for testimonials. Just send them a list of the benefits and phrases to make it easy to respond as well as the title and introduction.

6. Offer your potential buyers three or four chances to buy.

They may have already decided to buy before encountering your sales letter, so put "Buy Now" information near the top and present more buying opportunities along the way after your list of benefits, your summary of the book's features, and your testimonials.

7. End your sales letter with a 100% money-back guarantee.

When you offer an ironclad guarantee--"This product comes with a 100% Money Back Guarantee. Read the book cover to cover, and if the strategies don't work for you within 60 days, we'll cheerfully refund your money, and you can keep the product too!-- people see your book as valuable enough for you to put yourself on the line for it. They will be more likely to buy and be satisfied with their purchase.

8. Share the downside of your book.

Being up front about your book's limitations can increase your credibility and create empathy.

Example: "This e-book won't write the book for you, or even get it published, but it will show you the steps and resources you need to write compelling copy, finish fully and sell well."

9. Include your credentials.

Obviously, expertise is important. One author wrote a book on stress and how it affects relationships. Her sales letter included "I interviewed 30 couples and included their answers to my "what do you do daily to keep your relationship alive and joyful? My 20 years background as a marriage and family therapist includes 10 years coaching, consulting and presenting 25 seminars a year.

Keep your book alive and selling well for years with a sales letter emailed out and on your Web site.

Judy Cullins 2004 All Rights Reserved.

Judy Cullins, 20-year Book and Internet Marketing Coach works with small business people who want to make a difference in people's lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a consistent life-long income. Author of 10 eBooks including "Write your eBook Fast," "How to Market your Business on the Internet," and "Create your Web Site With Marketing Pizzazz," she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, "The Book Coach Says..." and "Business Tip of the Month" at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 155 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com.

---

Book Signing for Experts

Think of your book on the bookstore shelf trying to... Read More

Increase Book Sales: When a Book is No Longer Just a Book for Sale

Do you have books sitting in your garage that you... Read More

Why Would I Buy Your Book? Six Steps to Your Tell and Sell - Part 1

How would you like to have countless people clamoring for... Read More

10 Reasons Why People Attend Book Signings

This is the survey result of 325 people conducted by... Read More

Super Profitable Techniques for Selling Books By Mail

The total number of books sold by small, part-time mail... Read More

Make Big Profits from Small Booklets

What is your excuse for not being published? "I don't... Read More

Book Marketing 101- Book Publicity for Authors -- Creating a Book Publicity Campaign

Publicity is that elusive thing that can make or break... Read More

Why Should I Buy your Book?

How would you like to have countless people clamoring for... Read More

How to Get Your Book Reviewed

Imagine your book at the top of the Best Sellers... Read More

Online Book Promotion Beats Traditional Seven to One - Part 1

While traditional marketing can work for the book author or... Read More

Media Events for Book Promotion

"How do I set up a media event?" -- As... Read More

Three Powerful Tips on Selecting a Book Topic that Sells

The topic of your book or eBook counts-big time. Which... Read More

How to Market Your Unsold Books on the Internet: Its Easy

Your book expresses your wondrous information, your creativity, and your... Read More

Writers: The Truth About Advertising, Publicity, and PR

Many of us are trying to do business and don't... Read More

Promotion - Credibility Extras

For many of us, marketing our titles is one of... Read More

How to Self Publish and Promote Your Own Book

If you are reading this article then you have already... Read More

Top 5 Book Selling Tips

TIP # 1Online reviews are paramount in importance when it... Read More

Book Titles that Make Big Bucks

Do you know how readers decide to buy a book?... Read More

Increase Book Sales: At Book Fairs, Festivals and Trade Shows

Play a bigger game with your book sales by expanding... Read More

Colour and Book Covers - What You Should Know if Youre Self-Publishing

Color is tricky at the best of times. If you... Read More

Marketing Virus ? Every Writer Needs to Catch It

For you writers aspiring to greatness, you might need a... Read More

19 Ways to Secure Non-Returnable Book Sales and Sell More Books

Surprisingly, book stores are not always your greatest source of... Read More

Sell More Books on Amazon.com

Why Should Your Book Be on Amazon.com? Credibility. If your... Read More

Attract More Buyers to Your Book: Use Metaphors

Surprise your potential buyers. Give them chocolate frosting!After we entered... Read More

Promote Your Books on Talk Shows and Make More Money

Successful authors are convinced that radio interviews are the very... Read More

Book Marketing 101 for the Self-Published Author -- Getting Started

No matter what any publisher or marketing company tells you... Read More

Authors Should Be Optimistic

A client wrote me recently and asked what I thought... Read More

Whats Killing Your Publishing Career?

With the large increase of books being published by self-publishers,... Read More

Make your Book Stand Out From the Crowd: Know your Audience

Most authors say, "Everyone will want my book, and when... Read More

Raise Your Hand If Youd Consider Giving Up The Rights To Your Book Forever

If Random House pulls up to your house with a... Read More

8 Ways to Find Good Reviewers for Your New Book

Review Your Reviewer: You will be sorry if you do... Read More

Spend a Little Time, Get Free Books Online

There's just something so gratifying about owning your own books... Read More

Plain Speaking ? 4 Secrets For Getting Your Book Purchased

What can be more infuriating to a potential purchaser of... Read More