Getting People to Buy Your Book

Not too long ago I was researching ways to promote Knight of Runes. Many of my author friends have been helpful in giving me ideas (thanks to all of you) and pointed me to wonderful sources. I don’t want to leave any stone unturned in this quest, a personality trait that makes my kid’s eyes roll, but that’s a story for another time. My search led me to the March 2010 post by author Derek Haines.

I knew my search was a success when I read the blog title, Ten Golden Rules For Successful Writing And Getting People To Buy Your Books. Now I either had the answer to my search or a clever hook to entice me to buy someone else’s book. I knew a little bit about Mr. Haines but not much. I read on and wasn’t disappointed. I’ve included his post below. If you’d like to read his other words of wisdom for authors, here is Derek’s original post.

For those of you who are either contemplating becoming an author, or those writers who want to get to the bestseller status fast, I thought I would share what I believe to be the ten prime factors for success. Some are highly technical while others require hours and hours of practice and perfection, but I am sure you will see the benefits very quickly from following my Ten Golden Rules For Successful Writing And Getting People To Buy Your Books.

1. Always include blank pages at the back of the book. This makes the book thicker, so looks like better value.

2. Be consistent with spelling mistakes. The reader’s brain will adjust.

3. Always dedicate your book to your mother. This increases the ‘Awwww’ factor, and also gives you an opportunity to include another blank pager after it.

4. If you have a long name, change it. Bestselling authors must restrict both their names to five letters or less.

5. If you are under fifty, do not put a photo of yourself on the back cover. Writers must look mature.

6. Use a lot of dialogue. It takes up more page space. (Helps point one) Narrative tends to be in good solid paragraphs, so stay clear on neat economical space saving paragraphs as much as possible.

7. Get your very best friend, wife or sibling to write the blurb for the back of your book.

8. Use short and simple words. Long words reduce your market potential to only those readers with high IQs.

9. Always start a sentence with a Capital Letter, and try to remember the full stop at the end. It helps readers navigate better.

10. Make sure you have some sort of story to tell. Three hundred pages of:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, sapien platea morbi dolor lacus nunc, nunc ullamcorper. Felis aliquet egestas vitae, nibh ante quis quis dolor sed mauris. Erat lectus sem ut lobortis, adipiscing ligula eleifend, sodales fringilla mattis dui nullam. Ac massa aliquet Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, sapien platea morbi dolor lacus nunc, nunc ullamcorper. Felis aliquet egestas vitae, nibh ante quis quis dolor sed mauris. Erat lectus sem ut lobortis, adipiscing ligula eleifend, sodales fringilla mattis dui nullam. Ac massa aliquet

has proven not to sell very well, even though it does speed up writing a lot.

Bonus Rule: Always include a 404 page not found link to help readers get back to where they were.

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Speaking of buying your books, Knight of Runes is now available for Pre-Order at Barnes & Noble.

What are some of your golden rules for writing and getting people to buy your book? I would really love to know.