At PageMaster Publishing Services we want to see your book sales goals achieved. One step in the process is defining the competition for your book.
If there is no book that is like your book, give up trying to market it. If no one is buying it now, it won’t be bought when you come on the scene. That’s a negative but realistic way to say, “People are reading books in your market.” You need to find out out about those books and how they’re being marketed. Examine their marketing strengths and weaknesses as compared to your book. It helps you show others how your book is unique. Take a trip to the bookstore or Amazon.com and fill in a form with the following headings:
Competing Titles
Author
ISBN
# Pages
Retail Price
Marketing Strengths
Marketing Weaknesses
Other factors you might want to consider are:
- Does the title compete with yours across the board, or just for certain readers, or in certain outlets?
- Must this title compete with your book, or could it be seen as a complementary title that buyers might want in addition to your book?
Now take a look at your book. What are its marketing strengths and weaknesses? If you need help evaluating these, consider asking someone who can be more objective to give you their feedback.
Now, finish the following sentences:
My book is unique because…
Readers should read my book because…
There are forms available for this in the Book Marketing Workbook we provide you at PageMaster Publishing Services. Contact us if we can be of help.
Do you have any questions about researching competition for your book? You likely did this to become the expert you are to write the book you did. If not, and you have the book in your hands, you need to do it now. It helps greatly in knowing how to effectively market your book.