While some consider book sell sheets to be unnecessary these days to promote a book and is an old fashioned method of promotion, I couldn’t disagree more. I can bear this direction of thinking if the slumping sales of paperbacks are the reason (as the publishing houses no longer in business used them), but most of the time the former ways of doing something are those that are proven with experience and the newer ways are yet to be determined. Grounded on this alone, I believe book sell sheets are an industry standard we should not forget about.
In my 3 years of experience working with authors, developing cost-effective book marketing plans, and writing my new eBook Book Marketing & Publicity: A Strategic and Effective Marketing Campaign Any Author Can Implement – I have come to determine there are limited opportunities where an author can promote their book for free or talk around it. At some stage, you will have to ask yourself how many spare copies of your book are you willing to pay out before the costs of promoting your book supersedes the benefits of writing it? Along with all the other promotional tools (press releases, media kit, etc.) a simple, but a good sell sheet will provide the author the chance to promote their book to the public in the very same direction you would announce a product launch. And the cost to print them is minimal.
Before explaining how to create a sell sheet for your book, I will first explain the need and importance of this one-page document. A book sell sheet (or book one-sheet) is more of a flyer and is contrived to give all the details of your book in a readable and concise format and specifically hones in on your sales and selling scheme for selling your book. Sell sheets are generally employed for promoting your book to retailers, libraries, and independent bookstores, however, stores can also use your sell sheet to promote your book in-store to consumers. I have considered very creative and effective one-sheets and then I have encountered poorly designed sales sheets. I will use this blog post to focus the important ingredients for developing your sales content, as this will be one of the first things a bookseller sees. Piling up the information on your own will save you money, but it is always recommended you engage a graphic designer with experience in this field to build up the last product.
How To Create A Book Sell Sheet In 8 Easy Sections:
- The Book Cover (Image)
- Title, Author, Publication Date,
- ISBN #, Trim, # of Pages, Format
- Book Category
- Book Price
- Book Summary & Author Bio
- Marketing Program: What steps are taking to market your book? (In this section briefly explain if you are incorporating Book Bloggers, Reviews, Social Media Campaign, Guest Signings, or Advertising).
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Once your sell sheet is created, it’s time to distribute! You will also want to include a copy in the sleeve of your book introduction kit.
Are you an author and need help with marketing your book? CT Virtual Assistance is happy to help. We work with Authors, Speakers, and Trainers nationally. Our goal is to provide our customers with cost-effective marketing and creative services that clearly communicate your brand.