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.

---

Poetry Chapbooks: Ten Tips for Promotion

There are several ways of publishing your chapbook. You can... Read More

Comments From A Book Reviewer

For the past several years I have been reviewing books... Read More

Book Titles that Make Big Bucks

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

8 Ways to Find Good Reviewers for Your New Book

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

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

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

How To Market A Suspense Novel In An Online Multimedia Format

If you haven't heard of the author C.F. Jackson or... Read More

Is Traditional Book Marketing Getting you Down?

"Are you disappointed and tired of time and money down... Read More

Promotion - Credibility Extras

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

Make Big Profits from Small Booklets

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

The Perfect Book and Where to Find It!

If I was asked to describe the perfect book, one... Read More

Super Profitable Techniques for Selling Books By Mail

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

Sell More Books on Amazon.com

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

Online Book Promotion Beats Traditional Seven to One - Part 1

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

Do You Long To See Your Books Published And Selling From The Major Chains?

To have your work accepted for hard copy publication is... Read More

Marketing Your Book on Radio

Have you listened to radio lately? If you have, chances... Read More

Your Book Marketing Plan - Winning Strategies and Tips

Many authors hit a roadblock when it comes to putting... Read More

Why Writers Dont Do a Book Signing

Whenever someone suggests you do a book signing and you... Read More

How to Sell Your E-book - (or other information product) - Through Quickie Seminars

I've been selling my own self-published information products (mainly e-books)... Read More

Marketing Virus ? Every Writer Needs to Catch It

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

How to Self Publish and Promote Your Own Book

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

How to Send Press Releases to Newspapers About Your New Book

There are over ten thousand daily, weekly and monthly newspapers... Read More

Best Selling Book Cover Design

To get a book cover design may be expensive and... Read More

Are You Ready For The Publishing Revolution?

Writing has traditionally been considered a solitary craft. You wrote... Read More

Navigating the Amazon Sales Ranking

First, the disclaimers: Since the algorithm Amazon uses to generate... Read More

Publishing Your Book?What Way is Best For You? - Part 2

Your print or ebook is nearly finished. You wonder if... Read More

Writing a Book?s Marketing Plan for Maximum Profit

Much has been written about book proposals. But less has... Read More

How to Create an Amazing Author Website

Without a website, an author is unknown. Without a website,... Read More

Book Publishing Without Pain

When I meet an author with a great book concept,... Read More

Book Signings Are Pure Gold

So you've written a book, had it published by a... Read More

Seven Really Truly Unique Ways to Sell More Books

These marketing tips aren't for the weak at heart. Use... Read More

How To Promote A Book

Nowadays it's no longer a matter of whether or not... Read More

Is There a Book Hiding Inside You?

Have you always wanted to write?Are there ideas churning in... Read More

Looking to Sell Your Book for a Good Price?

Many self-publishing authors plan on eventually selling their book to... Read More