Selling Books and By-Pass Marketing

Selling books is a must for authors.

But even if you’re a freelance writer or have a home business, you should have at least one book to your credit. Books are one of the most powerful authority-building tools. And they can be created with little or no money, through services like Amazon KDP or IngramSpark.

Okay, I got a little sidetracked there – back to the author.

Brick-and-mortar bookstores had slowed down for a while, but they have since had a boom. People like physical books and are back in bookstores. Straight Arrow News explains that “physical bookstores generate over $8 billion in annual sales. Furthermore, print remains the nation’s most popular reading format, with 64% to 65% of U.S. adults preferring a physical print book over digital formats.” (1)

But even with bookstores seeing a resurgence, not everyone can get into them; in fact, it’s challenging. So, you still need to think about selling your book out of the box. You need to think about bypass marketing.

I first learned of the term, bypass marketing, through a teleseminar presented by Steve Harrison. The featured speaker was Jack Canfield.

But what does Bypass Marketing mean?

Bypass marketing is selling in places you wouldn’t expect to see books for sale. This is a great book-marketing tool for authors, no matter what genre you write in.

Some Bypass Venues for Selling Books:

• Bakeries
• Nail salons
• Gas stations
• Beauty salons
• Barbers
• Fitness centers
• Spas
• Cleaners
• Tailors
• Doctor offices
• Chiropractic and Acupuncture offices
• Radiology offices
• Local restaurants

You get the idea. Sell anywhere you can. Think of establishments in your area where you have to wait for services or that get a lot of traffic. I just went to the dealership to get my car inspection. Imagine if you have a book on traveling or different means of transportation, or even on cars; it’d be a great fit.

Talk to management or the owner of an establishment and offer a percentage of sales or a set amount per book. This is a win-win situation for you and the business owner.

Since they have absolutely no investment of money, time, or effort, there is no risk. Yet, they have the opportunity to make money. This should be a no-brainer for them. All you need to do is ask.

Remember: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Source:

(1) https://san.com/cc/beyond-the-page-behind-the-local-bookstore-boom-across-the-us

I’m a working children’s ghostwriter, book doctor, editor, and self-publisher. I help turn your idea, outline, or manuscript into a book you’ll be proud to call your own—and provide hands-on guidance through every step of the self-publishing process.

You can contact me at kcioffiventrice@gmail.com.