by Casey Demchak
Congratulations! You’ve written a nonfiction book and now you’re ready to get it into the hands of a lot of people and make a big impact in the world.
You may even have plans to repurpose content from your book to create an online course. Sell a lot of books, develop an engaging online course, and paid speaking engagements may also flow your way.
This trifecta can elevate your stature as an authority in your field and lead to a monthly revenue stream, all stemming from your book.
To achieve this goal you need a solid promotional campaign that is backed by dynamic book marketing copy.
Why Strong Book Marketing Copy Is a Must
Developing strong book marketing copy is essential for two critical reasons.
First, compelling marketing copy gives your book, and you, a much more polished and professional image. If you’ve written a first-rate book, it absolutely must be supported by first-rate marketing copy.
Second, press releases and social media posts are a great way to warm up your audience and create a buzz for your book.
However, at some point you need to write persuasive book marketing copy that motivates readers to pull out their credit card and buy your book NOW …instead of later, or never.
There are numerous copywriting secrets I can share with you that will help you write engaging book marketing copy. The four that follow will definitely get you off to a strong start.
1. Use Simple Headlines
The most valuable real estate in the world of book marketing copy is your headlines. So, you want to put a lot of focus on writing good ones.
However, don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to dream up Madison-Avenue-style headlines that are zippy, catchy, and sexy. This can be a big waste of your time and energy.
Here’s why.
The goal of every headline you write is really simple:
- Grab the attention of your audience, and …
- Motivate them to read your body copy to learn more about your book.
To motivate your audience, you don’t have to be crafty, clever, or cute with your headlines. In fact, a clear crisp headline that states or implies a benefit often works the best.
Here are several simple but effective headline types I’ve drawn from over the years when writing bestselling marketing copy for nonfiction books. As you’ll see, none of them are zippy, sexy, or catchy.
Problem-solution
Reverse Your Chronic Pain Without Drugs
How to …
How to Build BIG Wealth After Age 50
Great Escape
Travel to the Most Dangerous Places on Earth!
Intrigue
After 4 Pages You’ll Have a BIG New Idea for Your Business
Reasons why
7 Reasons Why Day Trading Can Set You Free
Numbered list
9 Things Every High School Kid Should Know About Money
Success story
How I Went from Broke to Bragging in 18 Months
Provocative question
Are You Ready to Hire Yourself?
Startling fact or news
The REAL Causes of Heart Disease Will Scare You
Be afraid
Do You Know What to Do If You Get Arrested?
There are many more headline types. But this brief list shows you clearly that attention-getting headlines can be very simple and straightforward.
And again, the goal behind every headline you create is to grab your audience and motivate them to want to learn more about your book. It’s that simple.
2. Grab and Engage the Skimmers
It’s a myth to say that nobody reads marketing copy anymore. It just isn’t true. However, it’s definitely true that potential book buyers are likely to skim your copy before they decide to read it.
Here is a great headline and subhead writing tip that will snag “the skimmers” and drive them into your body copy.
This is a great technique to use when writing website sales pages and promotional e-blasts for your book.
It works like this:
Use headlines and subheads to divide the body copy of your sales page into brief sections.
Write your headlines and subheads so that if all readers do is skim through them quickly, they’ll receive a benefit-driven message and a call to action that summarizes your book’s primary takeaways.
Here is an example of how this technique can be used on a website sales page for a fictitious book titled, The Soul of Your Business. I’ve only included a series of headlines and subheads, while leaving out any body copy.
Discover the Book that Blends Business with Soul
The Soul of Your Business
Arthur Author
Integrate Mindfulness with Entrepreneurial Success
<Body copy goes here…>
Create Financial Abundance through Appreciation and Focus
<Body copy goes here…>
Turn Your Profession into a Purpose-Driven Journey
<Body copy goes here…>
View Your Company as a Living Being and Not a Machine
<Body copy goes here…>
Purchase this Book TODAY and Receive 3 Special Bonus Gifts!
<Offer copy goes here…>
See how this technique works?
If all potential readers do is skim the headline and subheads on this sale page, they’ll receive a quick, cohesive message that conveys the primary takeaways they’ll gain from reading, The Soul of Your Business.
This is how you engage the copy skimmers and motivate them to dive into your body copy to learn even more about your book.
3. Focus on Reader Benefits
All too often authors make the mistake of building their marketing copy around a summary of what their book is about. This is a mistake because what readers really want to know is the benefits they’ll derive from reading your book.
Put bluntly, benefits are the “Yeah-so-what’s-in-it-for-me” aspect of your book and this is what readers care about the most.
This is why your copy MUST focus on reader benefits and takeaways.
So, as you write your marketing copy don’t focus on what your book is about. Instead, focus on what readers will get out of your book.
Remember, when you focus your marketing copy on reader benefits and takeaways, a description of what your book is about will flow forth naturally.
Here is an example of this concept taken from book marketing copy I wrote for author Martin Leifeld’s business book, Five Minutes for Fundraising.
EXAMPLE
In Five Minutes for Fundraising, Martin Leifeld reveals insights you can use that have helped him raise nearly $500 million dollars for the non-profit organizations he’s served.
Through his experience and the wisdom shared by 26 of today’s most successful fundraisers, you’ll gain the skills you need to …
- Ask for major gifts with ease and confidence
- Understand how to cultivate key donor relationships
- Assess and optimize your organization’s fundraising abilities
- Establish practices that align with today’s most persuasive fundraisers
Five Minutes for Fundraising removes the intimidation that comes with trying to secure large gifts from influential donors, so you can make an impact and leave a memorable, lasting legacy.
In this example I provide a strong sense of what this book is about by describing in detail it’s primary benefits and takeaways for readers.
In a nutshell, when your marketing copy focuses on reader benefits, your audience will naturally be able to discern what your book is about.
4. Make Your Copy “At-a-Glance” Friendly
This book marketing copy insight is critical – especially when you write your book’s Amazon description.
As I established above in tip #2, before your audience reads your marketing copy, they’re going to glance at it, skim it, and then decide if they want to read it.
All of this is going to happen in less than two or three seconds!
If your marketing copy is written as a series of long block-text paragraphs, it’s going to look dense and difficult to read, especially on mobile devices. This will make potential book buyers less likely to read it.
However, you can make your book marketing copy more “at-a-glance” friendly by …
- Employing a liberal use of headlines and subheads
- Writing brief paragraphs that are only a sentence or two
- Breaking up your copy with short, punchy benefit-driven bullet points
Here are two examples of this tip using marketing copy I wrote for author Carol Talbot’s bestselling book, YOU the Divine Genius.
The first example is copy written in the boring block format you see in so many Amazon descriptions. The second example utilizes my at-a-glance friendly style.
EXAMPLE – NOT at-a-glance friendly copy
Reset Your Personal Hard Drive! Chances are, you developed negative patterns as a child from which you’ve never broken free – because they are ingrained in your personal hard drive. YOU the Divine Genius guides you through an eye-opening process by which you can shift up your energy and establish new, life-affirming practices; open up and start exploring life’s unlimited possibilities; and change your perception of who you really are. Carol Talbot makes it abundantly clear that you have the hidden ability to change the “programs” running at your subconscious level. Discover how to tell yourself a new life story – one in which you tap into your unending power to manifest the greatest living version of YOU.
EXAMPLE – At a-glance-friendly copy
Reset Your Personal Hard Drive
Chances are, you developed negative patterns as a child from which you’ve never broken free – because they are ingrained in your personal hard drive.
YOU the Divine Genius guides you through an eye-opening process by which you can…
- Shift up your energy and establish new, life-affirming practices
- Open up and start exploring life’s unlimited possibilities
- Change your perception of who you really are
Carol Talbot makes it abundantly clear that you have the hidden ability to change the “programs” running at your subconscious level.
Discover how to tell yourself a new life story – one in which you tap into your
unending power to manifest the greatest living version of YOU.
Now, you may have already figured out that the above two examples contain the exact same copy.
But of the two, which are you more likely to read? I’m going to guess it’s the second example because it looks quick and breezy to read.
Copy written in this at-a-glance friendly style is more inviting to the eye and it looks like you can pop through it without much effort.
Bottom line, the more at-a-glance friendly you make your copy, the more likely people are to read it. And, when more people read your marketing copy – you sell more books.
I hope you find these four big book marketing copywriting insights helpful. I have a lot more I can share with you.
However if you utilize these four immediately when developing promotional copy for your book, you’re marketing campaign is going to get off to a strong start!
Author Bio:
Casey Demchak is an award-winning copywriter and a recognized expert at writing persuasive marketing materials for dozens of authors who have achieved Amazon bestseller and international bestseller status. You can download Casey’s e-book, 7 Must-Know Copywriting Secrets that Sell More Books at https://www.caseydemchak.com/secrets/.
