The Death of the “Best Seller” Status and Why Best Seller Matters
If you would like some information about myself or the following article, you can visit my website https://www.bestsellersecretsbook.com/ or find me on social media @MikeAlden2012. Feel free to drop me a DM as well!
The elation I felt after receiving an offer to publish my first book was probably one of the top highs I felt in my professional career. I immediately began to see myself and my book as a New York Times best selling author. I was going to leverage my marketing company and show the world how great the book was. That was in 2014 and my first book Ask More Get More. The book went on to sell thousands of copies worldwide and became a Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best seller. However, I was crushed. Imagine that? Crushed by hitting two of the three most coveted lists in the literary world.
After reflecting what this really meant I would say that I was pleased with what we accomplished. In addition to hitting WSJ and USA Today lists, we were #1 in dozens of categories on Amazon and even broke the top ten against ALL books in the world. Not just the sub categories. All books both fiction and nonfiction.
A couple years later my second book was ready to be introduced into the world. This time my book was now being published by one of the top 5 publishers in the world and has a lot more clout than my first. Let me also be clear. I love my first publisher Greenleaf and also my current Wiley & Sons. They are just different in their business models and size. If it wasn’t for Greenleaf saying yes to me I may not be where I am today as an author.
When the time came to launch my book 5% More I was much more prepared. I understood that marketing books and selling wasn’t the same as marketing and selling dietary supplements and gadgets. There was a method and a system to market and sell that only apply to books. But I was prepared!
When it was time I did more than what I did with Ask More Get More. I spent over 300k total, we planned for over 6 months, we had national advertising running, we had thousands of books pre-sold and many other things firing on all cylinders. We were #1 in every category on Amazon (weeks before my publication date) we were the #1 Business Book on Barnes & Noble and we were set up to in fact hit the coveted NYT list.
Before I explain what happened, I want to explain why we chased the NYT. Hitting the NYT list is the pinnacle of success in the literary world other than maybe winning a Pulitzer Prize, which I was not going to do. NYT was a goal of mine and doors open for business people when you hit the NYT. This book was just as worthy as any other book and quite frankly it deserved the recognition. Well, you can probably guess it, we didn’t hit NYT. We hit practically everything else but our main goal.
By this time I have now spent close to a million, maybe more marketing my first two books and I was devastated. I remember having @GrantCardone on my Podcast The Alden Report and I told him that I had done everything to hit the NYT. He responded by asking this question “Did you make it”? I said “No” and he then said something that stung. He said “then you didn’t do enough”. Now, that may be the case. But, I was also trying to work within a budget and didn’t want to try to buy my way to the list. Buying your way in the list is still possible but you better have a seven figure budget and be prepared not to make it. Many of the authors you know and follow all bought their way onto the NYT list. This is not a knock against them or their books, it's just the reality.
With my publisher Wiley & Sons I had a two book deal. So, I knew there was a 3rd book that I was going to put out. I also was still feeling the disappointment of not hitting my goal. All of this list talk aside I felt and still feel that I have a lot to offer the world and really enjoy sharing my thoughts and ideas with people. Hitting lists is NOT why I write books. When I get a note from a person who tells me my books helped them, that's why I write books.
Hitting lists and sales and marketing are the second half of the book writing process. Let me expand a bit more on this. There are two halves to the book writing process. There is writing and publishing the book(1st half), then there is sales and marketing(2nd half). If you don’t have a budget or a plan for the second half, I would suggest to hold off until you do. No one is going to find or read your book without the second half. Just like the 1st half YOU need to be a part of the 2nd half. YOU are more important in the 2nd half than the 1st. You cannot rely on PR and the publisher to market the book. It’s just a fact. It’s not a knock at publishers. They are great at what they do. But they are not marketers.
My third book Blueprint to Business was put out a year later also through Wiley & Sons. With a track record of selling lots of books and a fairly decent social media and public profile, I felt like we had a great shot at my goal. We prepared for six months and did ten times more than what we did on my first two books combined. We leveraged my company to the max, we used every tool we had and despite our efforts we did not hit the NYT bestseller list. We did, like my others do some amazing things like being the #1 book in the World on Barnes & Noble, we hit top ten against all books on Amazon and did hit both the Wall Street Journal and the USA Today Lists. This book has been sold all over the world and like 5% More is also translated in a few different languages.
Why is the title of this “The Death of the Best Seller”? Number one, pretty much every author calls themselves a “Best Seller” now. No one really pays attention to it and or verifies it. It is a watered down term that quite frankly doesn't mean much unless it is verifiable. Over the years and through all of the heartache, what I found was my company became very good at selling lots of books, and helping others at becoming bonafide best selling authors. We have now done it several times for both published and self published authors. We have taken authors to #1 in dozens of categories in Amazon in as little as 12 hours. We have taken unknown authors to the #1 book in the world on Barnes & Noble, and we have also helped authors hit the coveted lists several times. Being a real best seller is special and it has real value. If you are a success coach, a speaker, a business person, a social media influencer, being an actual legitimate best selling author opens doors. If you are a businessperson and become a Wall Street Journal best selling author then you are now in an elite class of authors and other business people. It doesn't just happen because you wrote a groundbreaking book that took you years to write. It only happens with a well thought out marketing and sales plan. The latter is the key. Without sales you don’t become a best selling. Your marketing must turn into sales. I’ve done crazy and stupid things with my books that seemed cool at the time as a marketer but did not generate sales. I have now spent millions marketing all of my books(I’ve actually written six) and I have found that it doesn’t take millions to do it. But it takes time, a decent budget and a well executed plan. It is interesting where life takes you. I never thought I would be helping authors achieve their goals. I don’t even advertise for this service, but I do love helping others become legitimate best selling authors. As an author, I know the process and have gone through it many times and I enjoy helping others. If you would like some information about me, you can visit my website https://www.bestsellersecretsbook.com/ or find me on social media @MikeAlden2012. Feel free to drop me a DM as well!