Have you
ever sat at an author event, talked to lots of people, and then have them walk
away without buying? Is there any way to
entice them? With my book, Pairs at Nationals, almost ready to
launch, I’ve been thinking about book signings and how to sell more books. I’d like to share a post from Jamie Engle, an
award-winning author who also speaks and blogs about writing, editing and
marketing. You can find Jaimie and sign up for her newsletter by going to
www.jmebooks.com.
The #1 Secret to Selling More Books
By Jaimie Engle
Last week I was at a Comic Con selling and signing books as a vendor.
There were three other authors alongside me doing the same thing. While our
books shared the common thread of science fiction, fantasy, or supernatural
elements, they were about as different from one another as they could get. I
listened as each author elevator pitched their books to passersby, focusing on
the finer points of their stories and what set them apart. While the pitches
intrigued me in the moment, fifteen minutes later, I couldn’t tell you a single
thing about their books, not to mention the length of their sales saga, which grew
if they carried more than one title or titles in a series. And the worst part
was I couldn’t say anything different about my own pitch and lasting
impression. In fact, that first day, we didn’t make any sales, except to each
other.
What Were We Doing Wrong?
I went home and analyzed my pitch for one of my titles that
night. Here it is:
Clifton Chase and the Arrow of Light is about a boy from Florida
who finds a magic arrow that takes him to 1485 England. At its heart, the story
deals with bullying.
It’s not bad, really, but what did my potential customer retain
from this short pitch? Well, the word “bullying” probably caught their ear as
it’s a trigger word in today’s society. Maybe they caught “magic arrow” but are
those powerful enough for them to lay down twelve bucks? Besides, how will that
pitch let them know if they will even like my book or not? The answer: it
won’t. And herein lies the problem.
How Could We Fix It?
As a writer, I love to problem solve, so I began to think about
other ways to pitch the book that the potential reader could connect with. An
“aha” moment occurred. I thought about Peter Falk in The Princess Bride.
When Falk is describing the book to his sick grandson in the opening scene, he
doesn’t give him a log line, a jacket blurb, or even an elevator pitch. He
simply states that the book has: Fencing,
Revenge, True love, Fighting, Torture, Chases, Escapes, Giants, Monsters
Wow. Who wouldn’t want to read that book? BINGO! Falk doesn’t
share anything substantial about the plot, but instead shares the tropes that
readers who enjoy fantasy will want to read. It’s brilliant in its simplicity
and effective in its execution. I remembered this pitch long before I
remembered the pitches of my fellow authors (my own included).
Why Was That, I Wondered
In the case of my Comic Con experiment, the pitches provided information
about the book itself, the unique plot points and story twists that would sell
the book. In the case of Peter Falk, the information revealed the experience
the reader could expect from reading the book. Information vs. experience. That
was the difference. The shift moved from author to reader; plot to experience.
I realized that if I wanted to sell books, I would need to translate the
experience a potential customer could expect to receive from buying and reading
my book. Not the story line I have set the experience within. And this tactic,
if viable, should translate across my brand of fiction books, making the pitch
much easier, quicker, and precise.
How Does It Work?
I changed my pitch to:
I write books that take you out of this world
with magic, epic battles, true love, and the power of friendship.
Not bad. And this led me to a quick segue for each of the novels
in my brand:
Clifton Chase takes you to Medieval Times with
dragons, The Dredge brings you to a sci-fi future with magic, and Dreadlands
puts you in Viking history with Norse mythology.
Taking it one step further, I threw in the clincher:
Is there someone you can think of who could
use a new book?
And as if anyone would say no to that question, I then ask for
the close:
Great. Which books would you like to take home
today?
It’s really that simple.
And the Results Are In
On day two and three of the Comic Con, after changing my pitch,
I sold twice as many books as the author seated next to me. Seriously. That’s
an incredible increase in sales. Why did it work? Because I promised the
customer they were buying an experience from me that was similar to one they
already knew they enjoyed, rather than telling them about my book and why they
should buy it. And it worked. Why don’t you give it a try and let me know how
changing your pitch changed your sales. And just for fun, check out the video
of Peter Falk from The Princess Bride. . . . .Jaimie Engle www.jmebooks.com
It sounds like a great plan. I’m going to see how I can pitch my books based on my readers’ experiences. Have any of you tried something like this? How do you draw people to your books?
It sounds like a great plan. I’m going to see how I can pitch my books based on my readers’ experiences. Have any of you tried something like this? How do you draw people to your books?
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| Coming soon! |
