Wouldn’t it be lovely to have orders of a thousand un curso de milagros at a time? When you find out how many people have done this, you’ll realize you can easily do the same.
I first heard of this method of book sales when I was listening to Steve Harrison interview Cindy Cashman about her book “Everything Men Know About Women.” Her story is fascinating, being an Olympic diver who had been in a car accident which halted her career; she floundered to find a new direction for her life.
Cindy took a job at a publishing firm in San Francisco and during her first session she was exposed to the book which no one could place in bookstores. Cindy asked to purchase the rights to the books and went on to sell more than a million copies. She is the most successful self/independently published author in the country.
The odd thing is the book is completely blank! That is why the publisher couldn’t place the book in bookstores. Cindy saw the book as a gift item and began to approach large chain gift stores. She made such an impact she was even able to sell 20,000 copies to the U.S. Army!
Brendon Burchard is another successful author who pre-sold nearly a half a million dollars in books for his “Life’s Golden Ticket.” Brendon teaches authors to sell through corporate sponsorships and many types of bulk sales techniques.
Even though you don’t hear of many authors like Cindy and Brendon who have had major successes with their ability to sell books through sponsorships and large volume sales, don’t hesitate to use their concepts as a model for your own books.
Ask yourself, who would benefit from offering your book to their clients? Who could package your book’s message with a product they have and give their product added value? Are their insurance companies, sales companies, stores or training companies who would benefit from working with your book’s message?
You might think this is a difficult process to pursue, but one of my authors wrote “Wet Dog Millionaire.” Sue Kopitz knew she wanted to speak at the national dog shows and having a book was her ticket in gaining that ability. Even though she was speaking there without a fee, she was very enthusiastic about her first event. Little did she realize, selling her first 273 books at her first show was only the beginning.
Any author would love to sell 273 books in one weekend, but while she was there, I directed her to meet and create relationships with each and every sponsor of the event as well as all of the exhibitors.
Sure enough, her success of selling her first 273 books was only the beginning. She now has the ability to custom print her books for those who buy in bulk and even has a book distributor in England who purchases her books in volume. She is able to speak all over the country at major dog show events and now acquires a handsome fee for speaking and is picked up by others for future speaking engagements. Sue sells large volumes of her books at the shows as well as bulk sales to sponsors and has a demand for her knowledge through her training programs.
The possibilities are endless. Our only limitation is our own imagination. The challenge most authors have is not knowing where to begin. The fact is we all have to start at the beginning.
Not everyone will stumble into a meeting such as the meeting Cindy attended and end up selling a million books, but it is more likely all authors can find speaking engagements, trade shows and corporate sponsors. We just have to develop the mindset to look diligently for those opportunities.
If you were to search for trade shows in your industry, topic or even region, you will more than likely find thousands of results. Most event planners schedule their shows a year to two years in advance. The good news is, you can usually get into these shows ahead of time, meet the event planners and suggest they keep you in mind for last minute fill in positions for a breakout session or even as a keynote speaker.
