What is the VERY first step?
What is the very first step in writing a book?
Believe it or not, it is the cover!
Why?
Because we have to go from a PUSH system to a PULL system.
Quick reminder:
A PUSH system is when we: 1.) lock ourselves in a room and write books that we love like crazy, 2.) then we publish them, 3.) then we try to get people to buy them.
TOTALLY BACKWARDS!
It's called PUSH because we just "push" the product out there and then see who takes it.
An old anecdote says that this was the turning point for McDonalds. Remember when you could go into any McD's and see all the hamburgers waiting there in the tray for the workers to take them as needed?
Well not anymore! They make them on demand now. This has supposedly contributed millions to McD's success.
A PULL system is where we: 1.) do Product(book) Validation first, to see if people are actually in love with the book as much as we are. 2.) If there is indeed some resonance, then we 3.) Make the book and market it.
They "pull" it from you -- on demand.
THIS IS THE RECIPE OF ALL SUCCESSFUL AUTHORS!!!
Without exception!
Even some of the authors who are on a push system are still indirectly validating their books by choosing a hyperlucrative category and only emulating (sometimes downright copying) the other successful books.
So what role does the cover play in switching from a PUSH to a PULL system?
We need to find out (validation) what people actually want, if they really will buy our book.
This is where the cover comes in handy.
1.) We make the cover first...
2.) Then we distribute it to our friends, our facebook groups, our mailing lists and ask them:
Help! Which cover is better? (e.g. you have two versions and send both)
Hey friends, do you want to buy this book? PayPal me 5$ and get it for 50% off the normal price!
This is called the "pre-sales" technique -- you don't make the book until you get enough hard sales.
I want to make a book, TITLE X, can you help me? Looking for contributors!
They get a free copy of the book when you are done and more importantly they WRITE REVIEWS FOR YOU IN AMAZON!
You can also make a group of BETA-READERS for this method.
Do you see now how much more superior this -- the PULL -- method is than the PUSH method?
First, you don't waste any time on books that nobody will buy.
Second, you get people interested before you even write a single word -- you "bake" the marketing into your book.
Third, when you do launch you have a pool of people ready and rearing to go!
TOTALLY SUPERIOR TO ANY PUSH METHOD!
This is exactly the model that E.L. James did with Shades of Grey.
She started the book out by writing fan fiction in a Twilight forum.
This thread of hers became so popular that she had hundreds of fans in the forum already.
She basically finished the book in the forum! -- then when she was done she closed the thread and brought all of those readers over to her Ebook in Amazon!
THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE!
And the rest is history -- You know the rest of her story.
And (I have read 50 shades) if you read the book, you will be constantly asking yourself, "what the hell is all the hype about? It's not that great!"
Well E.L.James showed us how it's done:
First you got to a "PULL" system and see if people are interested.
Notice I didn't say "generate" interest!
Second you give them what they want.
That's it in a nutshell.
But there is another reason why we make the cover first.
PEOPLE BUY THE COVER!
It is the art of packaging, and as sad as it sounds -YES- a book is judged and BOUGHT by the cover.
So you must ACE the cover.
It's the first thing people see in Amazon and it decides to 99% if they will read any blurb or description.
I have not seen a case study about this, some people say it is 75% of the success rate, I say it is 99%!
Another reason to make the cover first, is to see if your cover is any good:
Try different covers with the same title -- see how people react, adjust accordingly!
SUMMARY
1. The cover of your book is the single most important part of the PROCESS.
You gotta ace it before you go on.
2. We MUST move from a PUSH system to PULL system
Validate your book first, in a forum or by sending your cover to everyone.
I hope this article was of value to you and you will try this simple technique to validate your books and save yourself some time in the process.
What do you want me to make next? Let me know?>>>https://zbooksco.typeform.com/to/NALmvc
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