After writing and selling over 125,000 copies of Creating Your Own Destiny, spending ten years in the publishing industry, and coaching author-clients to get their books published, I have seen all kinds of errors made by new authors. Unfortunately, many errors are severe and completely eliminate the chance of the book having any possibility of success. Because of publishing mistakes many new authors never see a return on their investment and their book dies prematurely.

According to the Publishing Marketing Association (PMA), 98% of authors will never sell more than 2,000 copies of their book. What are the biggest mistakes holding back this 98% from experiencing any real success with their books? How can you avoid these mistakes, end up in the 2% success category and achieve great sales with your book?

1. Writing Your Book For Small Market Niche: Don't bother writing the book if there are not 50-100 million people interested worldwide in that book's focus Your book must have mass appeal if you are going to successfully sell it.

2. Not Securing URL's for Your Name and Book Title: No matter what, you must own the domain name for your book title, and your first and last name dot com. If you cannot get your book title as your domain, you must change the title to make that title a dot com.

3. Having Your Name Somewhere Listed in Your Publishing Company: Choose a unique name for your self-publishing company to avoid the dead giveaway that your book is self-published. You want to make a publishing imprint with no relationship to you.

4. Selecting a Publisher With High Printing Costs: Some publishers do not allow you to retain ownership of your completed book. They will force you to pay outrageous print costs. Your print costs should be $2-3 per book, instead of the $8-12 many print-on-demand publishers will charge you.

5. Selecting Your Own Book Title: Unless you are an expert at book titles, always pay a professional to help you come up with your book title. A good title makes all the difference in the world and a professional will help you make your title appealing.

6. Putting Your Own Photo On The Front Cover: Unless you are famous, under no circumstance should you place your image on the front cover of your book. This is a dead giveaway that your book is self-published. Your book is not about you, it is about your reader. Place a small photo of yourself on the lower corner of back cover.

7. Doing Your Own Cover Design: As a kid we are taught not to judge a person by the way they look. In publishing this is primarily how books are judged. Creating your own cover design is possibly the single greatest error an author can make. Hire experienced graphic designers for your cover to make that stunning first impression.

8. Forgetting to Include URL on Back of Book: Other than the book title, the most important information on your book cover is your domain name. Your domain attracts buyers to your site where you offer "Free Stuff" to capture email, and then you can sell your products to them for life.

9. Allowing Someone to Do Foreword in Your Book: Only allow people to do the foreword if they are going to purchase a high volume of your books. Write one book, co-branding it with different companies with their individual forewords. Next, sell a large volume of these co-branded books to the company whose CEO foreword is in your book.

10. Skipping The Proofreading Step: After you book has been edited, type-set, and is ready to go to press you need a professional proofreader. Hire a proofreader to read the book through cover-to-cover. Studies suggest that today's books average at least 20 errors.

11. Selling The Rights to Major Publisher: Unless you get a six-figure advance from the publisher, you give away all your profits when you sell the book rights. Big publishers used to spend money on marketing their books, now they are nothing more than a company that pays for printing.

12. Relying on Someone Else for Publicity: Few people can do a better job publicizing your book than you can. The industry is full of authors who have spent big money on publicists and got little back in return. If you don't toot your own horn, no one else will.

13. Failing to Work with Major Distributors: It is important to land a book deal with a major distributor so that you can get your books in bookstores worldwide. Distributors can get your self-published book in stores worldwide giving you even more credibility.

14. Focusing On Bookstore Sales: Bookstores are a lousy place to sell a book because there are simply too many other books competing. Find multiple point-of-purchase locations outside bookstores to sell your books where there are no other competing titles.

15. Selling Books One at a Time: It takes the same amount of time to create an invoice for one book, as it does for 10,000 books. Focus on selling books in volumes of 10,000 at a time. There are many high volume opportunities just waiting to be created.

16. Not Following Up on Sales Opportunities: The "Rule of Seven" states that it can take up to seven bits of communication between seller and buyer before a sale transpires. When you send out a review copy, follow up with the prospects frequently to sell books, land speaking engagements, and secure new coaching clients.

17. Not Selling From Your Own Web Site: This is extremely important. You always want your customers to buy directly from your web site. You lose 40-60% of the profits through commissions with each outside outlet sale. Sign and ship your own books and keep all of the profits.

18. Hoarding All of Your Books: Too many authors never give out review copies, and as a result their sales suffer. You should send out 5-10 review copies per day to book buyers worldwide that have the ability to buy in volume. This is the best way to sell hundreds of thousands of copies of your book.

19. Leveraging Your Credibility As an Author: Once published you must also diversify into speaking, coaching, and consulting. Use your book as the "hook" to attract more clients. Your book is really nothing more than a lead-generation tool for speaking, coaching, and consulting which may become your primary sources of income.

20. Giving Up and Writing Your Next Book: A successful book is five percent writing and 95% promotion. It is better to author one book that sells 250,000 copies, than have 12 books that each only sell 250 copies. When you sell large quantities of your book you will attract the attention of major publishers. If you decide to "sell out" to a publisher, you are now in the drivers seat and can negotiate a much higher advance.

21. Trying to Go Solo: Study people who are successful and learn from their successes as well as their failures. Hire a publishing coach and you will save time and money. Be willing to learn from others who have already been successful selling large volumes of books, picking up coaching clients, and doing lots of keynote speaking engagements.

If you can avoid these mistakes, I have no doubt you will successfully sell thousands and thousands of books. Everyone you come in contact with should know about your book. Your book cover should appear on the back of your business cards as well as on the auto-signature of your email. My best advice to you for publishing a successful book is to market it every single day and spend years and years of your time promoting it.

To learn how I have sold over 125,000 copies of Creating Your Own Destiny, and to benefit from my Book Publishing, Book Promotion, and Speaker Coaching Road Map call or email me directly to schedule a FREE 30-minute, no obligation publishing consultation. Dream, Plan, Execute, and Soar!

Patrick Snow is the best-selling author of Creating Your Own Destiny. Patrick is also an international professional speaker and a much sought after publishing coach. He can be reached directly at (800) 951-7721

Patrick@CreateYourOwnDestiny.com

http://www.BestSellerPublishingCoaching.com
    
http://www.BestSellerPublishingUniversity.com

PATRICK SNOW is the best selling author of Creating Your Own Destiny, a professional speaker, publishing coach, and entrepreneur. He has been called "The Dean of Destiny" by high achievers worldwide. His book and destiny message has been featured in the The New York Times and also as cover story in USA Today. His book has sold over 125,000 copies worldwide.

Patrick is also the founder of Creating Your Own Destiny University - An adult education program designed to "Help You Achieve Your Destiny Through Business Ownership!"

As a business ownership advocate, Patrick's mission is to help others overcome their fears by turning their career distress into personal success, through business ownership. He also shares several insights on how small business owners can grow their businesses on a limit budget. Patrick resides on Bainbridge Island, Washington, along with his wife and their two boys.

He can be reached at (206) 780-1787 or
 http://www.BestSellerPublishingUniversity.com

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