Secrets Of Successful Authors

When the writing bug hits you, get out your pencil, typewriter, word processor or tape recorder and go to work.

Personal wants and desires, such as "How to Make Money" can put you on the road to success in the writing field. there are five main emotional appeals for selling this kind of publication: Money, Self Preservation, Family, Romance, Recognition. These appeals can all be built into your writings.

It pays to make up a good advertising schedule several months in advance and when you do hit the pages with your ads, be sure they "Drip" with enthusiasm!

The title is of the greatest importance. It alone can determine the sales volume to a large degree. Price your report so that you can come out with a good profit. You will want to make tests to see if your publication will bring in the required price before going into full scale advertising.

Most people are dreamers not "do'ers". It is only a short step to be a do'er. Just do it!

Sometimes it is better to write a strong ad before you write the report, then make the report live up to your ad. Make your ads friendly.

Write about a special subject in a unique way: Strive to write in such a way that you will get repeat orders or will receive orders from the same customers for your other books and products. Have a follow-up program ready to go.

Ship your orders without delay. Don't hold them up for checks to clear. It will do you much more damage than getting a few bad checks. Offer a free bonus for "buying today".

Get quality printing for use with all your paper needs (letterheads, envelopes, circulars, sales letters, return envelopes, order forms, etc.)

You can set up a distributor program, sell your publications direct to the consumer, or use both methods.

It's a good idea to give your other publications a boost within the pages of your other reports and books, but don't brag about your accomplishments or try to sell all your own products in the body of your publication.

HOW TO PRICE YOUR BOOK!

Whatever amount you come up with for the price of your book, remember that advertising expense will usually take 50% to 60% of your selling price if you are to promote your book properly and get into the mass market. This only leaves 40% to 50% of the sales proceeds for all your other expenses and a reasonable profit for your efforts. And don't forget "all other expenses" include not only the cost of typesetting, printing, mailing and other direct expenses, but also includes numerous variable and indirect expenses; such as auto, depreciation, insurance, and all the other "general overhead", even if you only work part-time from your home. Then you must have enough left over to "pay yourself" a reasonable draw for your time, effort and risk!

Failure to understand the "Mathematics of Mail Order" is the basic reason most people do not succeed when trying to sell books by mail.

One of the most important points to learn about mail-order mathematics is just exactly where your break-even point is. This varies drastically depending on the total units produced and sold. The more units sold the less the cost per unit. In other words, the more you sell the more flexible you can be in pricing your product.

Never price a publication at less than total cost, just to increase sales, unless you have computed correctly that the increased sales will reduce you unit cost sufficiently to overcome any potential loss.

On the other side of the "coin", if the price of your publications is too high, you could be in a worse position than if selling for only half the price. Maybe a price reduction of 50% will get you 500% more sales thus lowering your variable costs per unit sufficiently. The loser is immediately turned into a blockbuster! Only tests will tell!

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