“We GUARANTEE your book will hit the Best Sellers list!” There it is again… You’re happily browsing away, scouring Google for more ideas to market your book, and you come across a snazzy-looking website with this pitch. It sounds good, right? A “guarantee-or-your-money-back” notice means this is a good one, right? It means that company must be reputable… RIGHT?!
A few days ago, I was approached yet again by another author who found a service that tried to sell her this publishing industry age-old “guarantee.” Smart lady, she asked me, the book ninja what I thought and whether it was a company worth using. Me? I instantly smelled a rat. A stinky, living-in-the-sewers-below-the-oldest-library-in-the-world type of rat. This is a rat of the worst kind. It’s been around practically forever. It refuses to die, and just goes on stealing cheese from the cute little mice who live aboveground in the library… the mice who want to make the world a better place… who would rather write those books than just chew the pages. Mice like you. Oh yeah, and me, too!
OK, so maybe I just called you a mouse. But think about it, you’re a cute mouse. A smart mouse. You’re the one who takes time picking out the right cheese, not just grabbing whatever you can to get by. And what does it feel like to have that hard-earned cheese stripped away from you by a rat who promises you all the cheese you can eat? Because that, my friend, is what you’re in for if you succumb to marketing tactics such as these.
Sure, these rats’ promises sound so good on the surface, you almost can’t even see that they’re rats! But then you get to that blessed room full of cheese and suddenly realize it’s all moldy—useless.
Why Do I Have Such a Strong Opinion about this Type of Marketing and Service? Here’s Why…
Can YOU guarantee that people will hand over their wallets—their hard-earned cheese dollars—to buy your book? Can YOU guarantee that without picking their pocket, tens of thousands of people will pull out their sacred plastic and exchange their signature for your well-written tome? Can YOU guarantee that without manipulating your customer, they’ll willingly hand you cash to purchase something they’ve never seen?
NO. YOU can’t guarantee that. So why do you think some fancy-pants marketing firm can? What makes you think THEY are better than you? Have they learned the secret to manipulating people to spend money? Maybe… after all that’s what they’re trying to do to get you to pay for their services. Are they psychic and can predict that hundreds of potential customers will buy your book—without having even seen or read it themselves? Can they predict the future? I doubt it.
See… I have a big issue with manipulation sales tactics. So here’s the hardcore truth… Every “Easy Button” has a price.
- In some cases, that price is you purchasing tens of thousands of your own books, then sending coupons to people to go into their local stores and “buy” your book for free.
- Sometimes that price is you putting your faith and trust into a company that can “guarantee” best-seller status on Amazon… in your category (easy to do, by the way, with just a couple dozen sales in one hour).
- And sometimes, usually in fact, that price is you putting your own hands into the curds and whey and mixing up your own batch of cheese.
So I Now Pose this Question to You… Can Anyone Really GUARANTEE that Your Book Will Become a Best Seller?
Take a deep breath because I’m quite sure you’ll be shocked by my answer. Ready?
My answer is… Yes… YOU.
- YOU can make your book a best seller.
- YOU can mix up your own batch of endless yummy cheese.
- And YOU can feed your customers with YOUR inspiring message.
- It will take work, it will take focus, and it will take staying motivated and pressing on through tough patches. But I have faith in you. I KNOW you can do it.
Click here to get my FREE Best-Seller Checklist and start your book’s path toward the best-seller lists today!
And I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you are doing it right now in the comments below!
I am writing my very first e-book and I am absorbing as much information as I can through tutorials and webinars. It is difficult to tell the difference between a rat and someone who is credible. I am looking for someone to edit, copy-rite and publish my very short book. It is daunting. It finished and just sitting here on the table! I do not have a website. ( I do but it’s my online pet shop. lol) Should I have a website? I plan to write several more books. Thanks!