Psychotherapist Pete Buntman wrote a guidebook for parents titled How to Live with Your Teenager. The book was selling well but he decided to spruce up the packaging with new cover art and new sales copy on the back. Sales shot up over 50 percent.

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Book Publishing Tips of the Day

Daily words of wisdom from Dan Poynter and other publishing industry experts. (Search on "tip" in archives for complete list.) - Today's Tip from Poynter: "Draft Your Cover Sales Copy First."
PUBLISHING TIP OF THE DAY

"Draft your Cover Sales Copy First."

Do not leave this project to someone else.

To focus on who your customers are and what you plan to share with them, draft your book-cover sales copy before you write the book.

Book cover designers will lay out the package and incorporate the illustration, put it all on disk and send it to the printer; but someone must draft the sales copy. Publishers are notorious for writing weak copy. Do it yourself. Be assertive.

Think about your primary audience and list the benefits of your book. Tell the bookstore browser what is inside and how the book will help them. Use the back cover of this book as an outline. Then write your book and deliver on your promises.

Drafting the cover copy will make the book writing easier because you will focus on your readers and have a list of what you plan to tell them.

"You can't tell-but you can sell-a book by its cover." -The Wall Street Journal.

(c) 2000 by Dan Poynter. For more tips and information on book writing, publishing and promoting, see the Para Publishing Web site.

MARKETING TIP OF THE DAY

Don't you think questions often catch attention? Use questions in your writing to effectively pull in interest and generate an automatic response (in the form of an answer) from your reader.

(c) 2000 by Tami DePalma. For more tips and information about "Marketing with a Twist," visit the MarketAbility Web site. Don't your books deserve MAXIMUM EXPOSURE?


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