OK, you caught me. I like alliteration and rhymes, so I had to use the word ‘fix’ to go with ‘six.’

But I’m not being genuine in the title because I. Can’t. Fix. Your. Marketing and Sales. That’s your task. I’ve been sharing, twice weekly in the merry month of May, my marketing experience, not my expertise. Remember that I am the poster child for doing things incorrectly for a half-dozen years.

None of my experience has been from the ‘school of hard knocks’ – more like the school of empty knocks. Like cold call sales, without effective relationships I often ventured forth. What an author friend said about writing applies: one has to know the rules before one can break them.

It was my time and effort I wasted…yet I had fun. I created and kept myself energized. No easy task in this unfortunately busy and stressful world, even for one retired.

DO an attractive book cover because people judge. Just as much as you do. Your book cover has to flirt like a hooker at a sales convention.

Yes, I said that. The book cover is your first hook. Consider your genre, movement, your story, your taste. The title should be simple to read at 10-12 feet and on the thumbnail size of online environments. Internet searches – or among your fellow authors – will yield dozens of illustrator names. Joel Friedlander is the guru and judges a slew of book covers monthly so he’s a good source. Troll the your favorite book store or library for covers you admire.

DON’T put your name above the title on your book cover unless you are a best-selling author – gasp!

DO write clever-and-clear story description in 200-300 words on the back cover. Make a promise your story will deliver on – engage! Readers may buy on impulse by judging the front cover or by analysis by the back cover words that tantalize.

Words that sing and sizzle so your book sticks in their hands and they buy 🙂