Predict future book sales?
That’s impossible, Liz.
You’re right. It’s next to impossible.
However, some of the tools I’ve been using lately have given me loads of insight into how many books I might sell and to whom.
Crunching the Numbers
I read a lot about marketing; lately, that has included book marketing.
One of the most informative book marketing sources I’ve found is Kindlepreneur. A couple of years back, I interviewed the site’s owner, Dave Chesson, for a site I was running called Eat Like a Writer. At the time, and to this day, I admire the work he puts into his site and the insights he shares with writers.
I recently signed up for one of the site’s tools called Publisher Rocket, which lets me test out all kinds of keywords related to restaurant marketing to see what is selling (or not selling) on Amazon. I’m able to see estimated book searches and sales per month of niche books in my category.
In addition to finding that there weren’t as many restaurant-specific marketing books as I thought there might be, the ones that were there didn’t seem to be too popular.
{Side Note: I also looked up words and competitive insights relating to children’s books and quickly realized why it’s so hard to sell a children’s book!}
I started to wonder how many restaurant operators actually care to read marketing books as opposed to online articles and magazines.
So, I posted a poll on LinkedIn to see how many business books restaurant operators read. The response was less than enthusiastic.
Was it time to toss this restaurant marketing book idea in the trash?
Maybe.
Or maybe there was another way.
Proof of Concept
A friend called recently about a project he was working on, and when I told him about my book dilemma, he suggested that I try conducting a proof of concept before spending a lot of time putting a book together.
In other words, start creating content, but offer it to my target audience during the creation phase instead of after eight months to a year of toiling over a book.
I felt a renewed spark at the thought.
Next Steps
At this point, I’ve taken steps to get the book project rolling in a new direction:
I have a new book title and subtitle that I spent weeks finessing
The outline is 90% complete
I hired a web designer to help me with a new website
I’ll start creating content in the next few weeks
I’ve also been reintroduced to a YouTube channel that is awesome at touting, “No Boring Books.” If you need help with nonfiction book inspiration or topics, check out Book Launchers.
“Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion.” —Simon Sinek