Book Sales Letter to Market Your Fiction!

There are several ways to jump start sales for a new work of fiction, but one of the most effective selling points is your sales letter. With the proper format and layout, your marketing letter can do a majority of the selling for you, just leaving you with the task of getting eyes on your letter. Most traditional publishers rely on submitting your book title and description to all the major bookstores, but if you self-publish your fiction, this will give you a leading edge to start racking in some great sales right away.

Writing a book sales letter is a simple eight-step process that involves a little bit of marketing and writing skills. With the proper format, this can not only attract your readers, but can also interest them so much that they simply "have" to buy whatever it is you are ultimately selling.

In order to market your fiction in the best possible fashion, you must first determine the angle of your marketing piece. By angle, I mean the unique approach you will use to gather your reader's undivided attention the instant they read the first few words.

An angle is a component that captures your reader's attention with an astonishing twist that keeps them reading your book sales letter once they start. It can be a true story related to your book such as how you came up with the story idea, or something else to that nature. It can most certainly be an actual exciting excerpt from your book that makes readers beg for more by the time they finish reading the first paragraph.

The next crucial component, and probably the most important, is your headline! You've been to the store and seen those outlandish tabloids lining the book racks, haven't you? Each of them contains fantastic headlines so outrageous that you just feel complelled to pick them up and read the far fetched stories they are trying to sell. Amazingly, they work and tabloids rake in millions of dollars each month selling those fictional drama stories.

It's amazing how a single headline can be so intriguing that you have to open up the paper just to see what it's all about. The same goes with your book sales letter headline. Your headline needs to reach out and grab your reader's attention. The angle captured their curiosity, your headline catches their interest. This will usually be the first thing your reader sees that starts them reading your marketing letter to begin with.

Your intriguing headline can be a short excerpt from your story such as: "John felt a soft scrape across the top of his left shoulder. The air in the room escaped as he slowly turned to see..." This particular headline makes the reader curious as to what John saw once he turned around. Make your headline so strong that your reader wants to continue reading to find out more!

The next component of your book sales letter is an opening that adds drama and completes your angle all in two to three paragraphs following your headline. Your opening is important because it makes your reader feel as though you are talking directly to them. Use the word "you" a lot throughout your opening. Also, start your opening with a salutation such as "Dear fiction reader" or "Dear mystery enthusiast" to call attention to your target audience. If you know their name or can easily insert their name in the sales letter, do it! This makes it even more personal!

Remember, you are talking to the person reading your letter. Don't think of it as a bunch of people reading it; think of it as one person reading it. Your sales letter opening should introduce your story and give a brief description of what your story is about; however, don't give away too much information. Keep your readers in suspense and wanting more.

Your next step is to explain to your readers how they will benefit from reading your story. You should tell the reader the entertainment value of your book. Think about how you would benefit by reading your book, then think about how they can benefit. Everyone wants something of value if they are expected to pay money for it. Add entertainment value to your book during this stage of your book sales letter.

Since you are the author of the fiction work, you are consequentially assumed "partial" of your own work. A simple solution to set your readers at ease is to add a few testimonials or book reviews that rave about your book.

A simple way to get testimonials and reviews for your book sales letter is to give a copy of your published book to a few people for free on the condition that they let you know what they thought about it. Quote them word for word about how they felt about your masterpiece and add this to your book sales letter as your next step in the process.

If you notice, most best selling fiction novels have a page or two dedicated to brief testimonials and reviews from various media sources saying how good their book is. Prospective buyers want to hear from others about what they thought. Don't use negative remarks, as this will kill any attempt you may have at selling your book. Use these negative remarks as constructive feedback to potentially make your work better in the future.

With all letters, you must lead in to a conclusion. The next step, therefore, is to conclude your marketing letter with a closing statement. This is also known as the action step you want your sales letter readers to take. You should try to tie the closing statement in with your opening to make your letter flow. The action you add into your marketing piece can be to subscribe to your newsletter or mailing list, visit your book's website, or download a free sample of your book; the list of potential actions is limitless.

Remember, the key focus of your entire sales letter is to make your readers want to read your book, so send them where they can view a sample of your book, or ultimately buy your book.

You want to pre-sell your book. Put your customers at ease from the start and they are more likely to buy later on in the process. Try to make your book irresistable enough for your reader to want more.

You can send them to a mailing list signup where they will consequently receive a link to your book's purchase page or website. Complete your closing statement with your name and book title directly underneath it as your signature.

You're not done yet. Next you should re-establish your sales pitch before completely ending your book sales letter. Add a Post Script or P.S. to the bottom of your marketing letter to capture your reader's attention one last time. Touch back upon your angle and benefits your readers will get from your story.

The way people naturally read your letter is starting with your headline, reading your opening, skipping to the bottom to see who wrote the letter, and curiously the P.S. at the bottom. This is an expected tendency of most people who read your advertisement, so ensure you emphasize what actions you want them to take somewhere within these areas.

Finally, put your book sales letter to work by placing it on your home page of your web site word for word where your work is ultimately sold. This is what is going to captivate your potential buyers when they visit your web site and make them want to purchase your book. In addition, you can use this letter as an email advertisement, newsletter broadcast, or even a direct mail piece.

Don't mention "buy my book" or "you must purchase your copy of my book today" anywhere in this marketing letter. This is selling and may turn people off. It is already implied that you want to sell your book, so don't insult their intelligence. Just tell people why they should buy it, not that they should buy it, and they will buy it.

Think of your book sales letter as walking onto a car lot to buy a new car: A good salesman won't tell you that you have to buy the car you are looking at. They romance you into wanting to buy the car by telling you all the great benefits of the particular car you are interested in. Romance your potential readers the same way and you will sell more books than if you simply tell them to buy your book.

Jason W. Moser is a self-published fiction author and niche business developer. He has published several self-help articles for fiction writers including Book Sales Letter to Market Your Fiction. He retired from the Navy and now lives in Chesapeake, Virginia with his wife.

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