How would YOU like to announce one day that your book made the TOP 10 Bestseller in Amazon's rankings?  

Imagine a headline like this:
 
Niche Publishing & Marketing's featured book, "Zen of Hoarding" by Saira Priest makes #10 on Amazon's Bestseller rankings in "Personal Transformation" ebooks.  

Well, that is not imaginary, it is real.  Niche Publishing did get it there, and the book shares rankings with heavily marketed books listed with bigger budget traditional publishers and top named authors with popular books (see pic left and below) like Deepak Chopra's "Super Brain,"  Marianne Williamson's "The Law of Divine Compensation" and Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture"!!  So how excited would you feel if you ranked with the "big dogs"?  You are probably wondering: How did you do it?  You are about to find out.

There are three factors that played into our success:

1. TIMING THE TOPIC
When it comes to non-fiction books, timeless and classic topics succeed; otherwise, the market must be ripe for the topic to have a chance at success.  Ask, is this a hot topic?  Are people talking about it?  Are there TV shows on it?  Does it show up on the news often?  In our case, the topic is very alive in all these areas.  

In our example, controlling clutter, organizing your home, addressing hoarding, and discovering a minimalist lifestyle are very relevant topics in people's lives today. Taking a Zen approach also touches on another hot topic of mindfulness. Not only that, but managing our things affects everyone in nearly all walks of life, therefore it is also a timeless topic.

2.  BUILDING THE BUZZ
We used multiple online venues to promote the book.  Niche Publishing's website only promotes one book at a time on our "latest book page" to draw all the attention on that book.  Each book, of course, has its own webpage and, where possible, we use its book title as the URL to optimize being found on search engines.  Each book gets its own Facebook page, Google+ page, references on several blog sites like Hubpages, Squidoo, Wordpress and several others, and a full-blown e-mail blitz and social media buzz to get the word out and keep it going in topic relevant email listings and sites.

                             and that brings us to the title of this article . . .

3. PRICING IT RIGHT . . .
There are many great write-ups on various strategies on pricing e-books.  With the primary question being whether or not a FREE book campaign ultimately results in greater overall sales considering how many are given away.  There is of course the known fact that people are willing to pay more for non-fiction than fiction, so in the case of fiction, probably a FREE offer makes more sense.  Whichever way a marketer chooses to drive interest, the idea is to get the word out and then word-of-mouth and referral sales begin to build.  

Here is the three-pronged strategy that Niche Publishing & Marketing took in pricing "Zen of Hoarding:"  

First we set the price at $8.99, factoring in costs that needed to be covered for all the initial investment in bringing the book to market (not counting the author's year of time it took to write it - that would have to come from volume sales further down the road).  We offered pre-orders and did several marketing campaigns driven strictly by interest in the topic and the benefits the book offers.  We achieved a good response by marketing standards.

Next, we priced the book at a $2.00 discount, down to $6.99 for more middle-of-the-road-price customers who want the book but are more price sensitive.  That also fared well.

Thirdly, we priced it at $2.99 (many publishers will tell you customers respond best to ebooks that are under $3.00).  By this time, all the previous campaigns had served to build interest, get the word out, and get a little buzz going.  Many were holding out waiting for the price to drop within their expectations.  So, we offered one-day special (one-time) email campaigns offering this lowered rate.  Those that had wanted to read the book, had no reason to hesitate ordering the book any longer (unless they were waiting for a FREE offer), and the TODAY ONLY offer encouraged them to act on it now before they got busy with something else, given their hectic schedules.  We also used the TODAY ONLY on campaigns where we only had one attempt to reach the customer, i.e., a paid targeted email on a select newsletter (not our own list).  To our list of customers and on the website, we kept the sale going for one week to give people time and in the case the emailed customers missed reading the TODAY ONLY email on the day they would have received it.  Keeping the customer happy is important.  We think our customers will be more upset if they missed the sale than if they arrive a day late and find that they will still get the special deal. Results:  Greatest number of downloads within 48 hours to date and counting.

The rest of our strategy:  After the sale time is up, people are still finding their way to our pages and so rather than bring it up to full price, we keep it at a moderate price, say $4.99-$6.99 (depending on the popularity of the earlier efforts) so the customer does not experience too much loss aversion in case they missed the sale dates. Then after a week or two, we bring it back up to its optimal price for sustainable profits.  Intermittent sales blitzes are done throughout the year based on the topic to recreate interest and the author's efforts keep sales going.  Hopefully, after 6 months or more, the author has produced more works to promote and with that comes a regeneration of interest in past books.  And the cycle repeats itself.

What do you think?  What are some successful pricing strategies you have used?  Can you think of other new ideas based on your experiences as a customer, author, marketer, or publisher?

Are you a fantastic cook?  Have you been keeping or sharing your secret recipes for a while?  Maybe the book in you is a cookbook.  I once read somewhere that cookbooks sell like hotcakes!  Don't believe it?  Just count how many you have in your own home!  Well, it is no surprise because it is the one thing that 7 billion people have in common - we all 'gotta eat'!

If the book in you is a cookbook, search around for some good examples for inspiration and ideas for what you would like your cookbook to look like and for ways in which you can create a cookbook with your unique flair.

The folks at Gooseberry Patch represent a great model for cookbook creation.  The company compiles recipes and creates exceptional and delectable works of art.  It also excels in its marketing and promotion area.  If you have not heard of Gooseberry Patch, you are in for a treat (and it may turn out to be literal if you end by cooking and eating something from one of their books.)  

If you have a cookbook in you, check them out for inspiration!  Go ahead and treat yourself to a book or two while you are there!  Just click on the banner below:

Every successfully published author who has ever written about the art of writing will give some variance of the following tips in answering each question presented below:

1.  Where to start?  Make a practice of writing about anything, everyday.  10 minutes, 15, 20, 30 minutes.  100 words, 1,000 words a day. 50,000 in one month.  No matter.  This is the first step in the journey.  Practice writing everyday in whatever form you can.  Type a blog or in any text program.  Write in a diary or journal.  Write on sticky notes, napkins, and with chalk on sidewalk.  Anything that feels fun in your hands - like crayons, fine point pens, or thick markers.  Write teeny tiny or WAY BIG!  Doodle!

2.  Where do we begin to come up with ideas on what to write about?  If you want to start with something really easy, write down your favorite words or quotes.  Write about what is on your mind.  Grocery lists, how you are feeling right then, what happened yesterday, a recent botherance you may have had recently with someone. When all that is emptied out, you will find other subtler things emerging.  Listen to them.  Then write about those things.  Stories from your past will come up.  Then, be sure to dive in a little deeper.  How have you come to know yourself?  Talk about the deep sense of purpose you have always carried with you.  Name and describe in detail the people in your life that have been a strong influence.  Which scents remind you of what events?  Write about your feelings about certain topics and things.  Write about what life lessons you have learned.  Most importantly, write about your passions and your obsessions.

3.  Read a lot.  Shake it up with a variety of topics and subjects which you always or never wanted to know about but would be happy to fill your brain with.  

4.  Go easy on yourself.  Don't worry about spelling and grammar and whether or not you ended a sentence with a preposition (like the one above).  Practice hearing the inner critic and questioning it constantly with a "Is that so?"  Use the objections as a challenge you know you can and will win.  Gently respond, "Okay, let's see."

5.  Keep up with your daily life.  Look for 5 minute breaks to read or write.  Sometimes those five minutes might turn into a blissful 30 minutes or 3 hours.  Roll with it if you can.  If not, just take a deep breath and know you will resume when next you have five minutes.  Make it easy and fun to fit it into your life.

6.  Reach out for resources on writing.  Get a coach or mentor, a friend, or join a writing circle.  Find and give support in the fields you are most interested in.  See what is already out there in the areas you want to write about and find more information.

7.  Write about what you would enjoy reading.  Maybe there is a book you have wanted to read about and have not found it.  Then it is for you to write.  Some of the best books out there have been written by people who may have not known anything about a subject matter, yet did a tremendously thorough and exhaustive research, and became so impassioned in the subject, that they became an expert in it.  Write about something you are already an expert in or become an expert in something you care about deeply.

8.  A writer writes.  Someone famous said that.  Pretty deep, huh?  Write, just write.  Writing is about the writing.  I think, therefore I write.  Write what you think.  Don't think, just write.  Go write, right now.  If you had time to read this, you have time to write.  Write to us in the comments below, if you want.  You got it.  Just write.  You will be so happy that you did.

Coaching is one of our key service offerings, and our coaches work with these topics during their sessions with our writers and authors.  The big difference is that in our coaching sessions, we work with you incorporating simple and fun exercises that release creativity and help writers get into the flow of their work.  Having someone with whom to bounce off your ideas and writings, and areas which need strengthening is one of the greatest gifts in which you can invest.  It shortens learning and working time.  It builds support arms and networks. It helps people link together and share their greatest gifts and strengths.  See your progress take leaps forward with the support from one of our experienced mentors. 

 Remember the words of a great coach: