Pre-Selling Pays Your Book Bills

Get a jumpstart on your book sales by pre-selling your book before you have it in hand. Offer a discount that includes shipping. Be a little vague—instead of saying “Available September 15, 2009,” go with “Available Fall 2009)—you now have three months to get it out. Create forms; include the book cover if you have it—otherwise go with the title; use bullets to ID benefits—talk to your potential buyer; and a brief bio on you. I use a discount of 20 to 30%… it’s mostly shipping. If the book will retail for $25, I’ll probably pre-sell it at $25 net—if shipping was added, it would be another $6 or $31—the buyer saves 20%.