A Proven Strategy to Sell Books for First Time Authors

One of the most rewarding experiences for an author is writing your first book.?You’ve put time, effort and energy into getting your book written and published.

The next step is to make sure the book is listed on the most popular online bookstores.

And now it’s time to watch sales come in, but rather than a boatload of sales, all you hear are crickets.

Contrary to what many authors believe, their greatest challenge is NOT writing a book.?It’s marketing and selling the book.

That’s the bad news. The good, actually great, news is that authors have more opportunity today than ever before to reach readers from around the globe with proven marketing strategies. Best part of all, you can market your book while in your pajamas, from the comfort of your home.

With all that’s available with blogs, social media, podcast shows and YouTube, it’s now easier than ever to market and promote books. Yet, it takes more than the availability. It takes strategy.

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ENTER VIRTUAL BOOK TOURS

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In the past, authors had to physically visit bookstores, set up a book display table, and network, in person, with fans.

Today, it’s a completely different story. With so many online options available, virtually any author can successfully plan and execute a highly?successful book tour.

Unlike in the past, with a virtual tour you can experience far greater results, with less financial investment, than authors experienced with traditional book tours.

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LINES AROUND THE BLOCK

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We’ve heard of famous authors who made appearances and had people lined up around the block when they did book signings, but “famous” is the optimal word. Most of us are not a Stephen King, J.K. Rowling or other such celebrity writers.

Ironically, the authors who are world renowned started out as complete unknowns. Ask most if they were driven by fame and they will say no. They were driven by writing. Yet, they are now a household name. What happened? In a word, “Visibility.”

It’s the same with you. When you become visible, you create fans. And fans buy books.

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REACH A GLOBAL MARKET COST EFFECTIVELY

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A?Virtual Book Tour?allows you to have greater reach to a global market than virtually any other way of marketing a book. Combine a tour with other strategies and you become unstoppable.

When potential readers and fans see and hear you on multiple platforms, they tend to want more of you. A lot more.

Think about those authors you’re a huge fan of. It’s likely when you first come upon their information and you like what they have to say, you want more. So, you do a Google and YouTube search in hopes of consuming more of their information.

Why would your fans be any different? Once they discover you, they want as much of you as they can get. Often, they need to hear you on a number of interviews, read several blog posts of your writings, and see you more than once on social media before they decide to buy your book.

Recently, I bought Jay Shetty’s book, Think Like a Monk. Before buying his book, I watched several YouTube videos, listened to podcast shows he was a featured guest on, and read quite a bit of information about him online.

But I digress. Back to your own tour.

Another benefit of a tour is that fans tell their friends about you. This increases your market reach and potential for book sales.

Another added benefit is that conference meeting planners listen to podcast shows and read blogs. If they see you a lot, they may be interested in having you?speak at their events.

Without a doubt, when done right, an online tour can vastly expand your online presence and visibility as an author, speaker, coach, consultant and virtually any type of expert.

A hidden benefit, that many people don’t consider, is that the more visibility you receive from your appearances through your posts, interviews and social media mentions, the more blog owners and show hosts will reach out to you rather than the other way around.

Additionally, for authors, the more frequently you and your book are mentioned online, the more visits to your Amazon page, website, blog and social media channels you’ll receive.

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MAKE YOUR TOUR SUCCESSFUL

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If you’re an author, or soon to be author, adding a virtual book tour to your overall marketing plan is a great idea. The key to success with a tour is to plan it out with proper lead time.

If you plan to get booked on podcast shows, avoid contacting show hosts too late in the game. Many hosts record interviews weeks, even months, ahead of when the episode goes live.

To assure you get the greatest result, give yourself at least three months lead time. Contact at least five hosts per day about your tour. Let them know you are planning a tour. Not only does the lead time give you a better chance of having your episode go live during your tour.

However, make sure their show is a great fit for your message.

Getting booked as an expert on podcast shows is one of the most powerful ways to showcase your expertise, promote your latest book, fill seats for an event, raise awareness around a movement you’re passionate about and gain massive visibility.

Yet, to gain the greatest results, you absolutely must follow this proven formula for success.

This is the very formula outlined, step-by-step, in the?Boost Your Authority & Influence Through the Power of Podcast Appearances?resource.?Access your copy absolutely FREE.