WildFire Marketing Newsletter: The Self-Confidence to Sell More Books

In This Issue:

January Rankings for ECPA Publishers

Free Smartphone Apps for Authors

Sell Your Books Like Wildfire

Quick Links:

Rob Eagar is the founder of WildFire Marketing who helps authors and publishers spread their message through innovative marketing strategies. He has trained over 200 authors, from beginners to bestsellers. The results his clients enjoy include:

● Higher book sales.

● Increased media exposure.

● More speaking events at higher fees.

● Enhanced website activity and online influence.

Rob has started a new service taking your book marketing questions for free. Visit his blog to send him a question and see answers already posted.

Client Success:

"Rob Eagar helped me turn a corner with my author platform. He gave me the tools to grow and provided important strategic thinking for the future.

Rob delivered on every promise that he made. And, he was a strong advocate for me with my publisher. Having WildFire on my side made huge difference for me and my team."

Gary Thomas

Author of 11 books, including the bestseller, "Sacred Marriage"

www.GaryThomas.com

January Amazon
Comparison of ECPA Publishers

Click here for a spreadsheet of the January rankings.

WildFire Marketing tracks the top 15 ECPA publishers according to the average ranking of their 20 best-selling books on Amazon.

Comparing this monthly data over time helps authors and publishers identify who is best utilizing this important online sales channel.

Note: Amazon rankings do not reflect accurate sales figures. However, they can help determine how specific publishers or titles perform over time versue their peers.

Do you need an effective email newsletter service to help market your books?

I've relied on Constant Contact for the past four years. Click here for a free 60-day trial, and find out how they can help grow your author platform.

WildFire Marketing E-Newsletter

January, 2010

The Self-Confidence to Sell More Books

What if a book's success depends more on the author's self-confidence, rather than what's written on the page? After training over 200 authors, from beginners to bestsellers, an interesting pattern has caught my attention.

For example, I've noticed that my author clients with a high self-esteem tended to be more creative with their marketing plans and actually sold more books. In contrast, those with low self-esteems struggled to implement new marketing activities. Predictably, their book sales languished. I'm not saying there is a direct correlation, but there is definitely a pattern that bears attention.

The problem is that there are real consequences when an author allows low self-confidence to affect their book marketing efforts. For instance, he or she will tend to:

Avoid building an online or offline community of readers.
Balk at developing peer-to-peer relationships with influential leaders.
Avoid finding and contacting large reader groups who could buy books in quantity.
Ignore spur of the moment media opportunities, such as tying into national headlines.
Shun speaking events or promoting books to the audience.
Lack consistency with key marketing tactics, such as blogging or sending out newsletters.

Global management consultant, Alan Weiss, says, "There is no music if you don't blow your own horn." This statement is profoundly true for book marketing, at both the author and publisher levels. Writers, editors, and marketing staff must believe strongly enough in a message to promote that book above the noise of all the competition. Yet, this can only happen when there's an ardent belief in a manuscript accompanied by the enthusiasm to tell people about it.

Oddly, self-confidence issues seem to especially plague the fiction and religious publishing communities. For example, I know novelists who are scared to appear in public. Likewise, I've met Christian authors who avoid marketing their books, because of the misguided notion to appear humble. They make pious statements, such as "It's not godly to draw attention to myself." But, these attitudes are usually a disguise for a low self-esteem. The reality is that they don't want to draw attention to themselves, because they're struggling to feel worthy - ironically before a God who loves them and fans who like their books.

Please don't think that I'm advocating for writers to shamelessly plug their books. Some people go overboard and develop a negative reputation for being pushy. You probably know some of these individuals, and they're a turn-off. On the contrary, my point is that readers appreciate authors who believe in their ability to provide answers, inspiration, or entertainment.

So, how can an author improve their confidence along with their book sales? Some self-esteem situations may truly require counseling. However, in most cases, one can be enlightened by dealing with the following questions:

Do you really believe in your book's value? Has your message actually worked in your own life? If so, recite clear examples of results.
What makes you comfortable recommending a favorite restaurant or product to a friend? Can you mimic that same feeling to mention your book to someone else?
What's the worst that could happen if you tell more people about your book?

If you're a good writer, don't let self-confidence issues prevent your message from helping the people who need it. Just because someone might say "no" doesn't mean you're worthless or a bad person. Be proud of the way you're trying to help society. Toot your horn a little. What's the worst that could happen? You just might sell a lot more books.

WARNING:

Do NOT forward this email newsletter to other authors that you know. The publishing industry is very competitive, and I don't want another writer to sell more books than you. Please keep this exclusive newsletter and all of my helpful advice our little secret.

Free Smartphone Apps for
Author and Publishers

I must confess that I love my new iPhone. The device and the plethora of software applications (apps) has literally transformed the way that I conduct business, travel, purchase products, and enjoy downtime (er, play games). I'm sure you're familiar with Apple's catchy marketing slogan, "There's an app for that." But, did you know that there are cool apps for authors and publishers? Even better, they're free! Here's some of the most recent ones that I've discovered: