The Magic Book book cover artist Duncan Long creates covers that help sell your books.

For many self-publishing authors, sales have tanked due to the huge number of authors, and the fact that many are giving away their products to get a higher “sales” position (arguably 50 percent of zero is zero).

One way many authors have employed to get their books above the maddening crowd of mediocre, self published titles is by making their books look professional. People do buy books by their covers — a quality cover can sell books. Likewise, good editing, proper typography, and so form present a professional appearance that sells more books.

But there’s another important trick that I’ve discovered over the last few months.
I have one client (I do artwork for his books) who outsells my other clients by about 300 to one. That’s a big difference, especially since he has a number of books in print.

So what’s his secret?

It’s simple, but takes some time to pull off. Basically instead of promoting only each title he sells, he instead promotes himself. He has become an expert on the topics his books cover, and he regularly does guest interviews as well as having his own satellite radio program.

It’s an old trick that big publishers know and exploit. Big names sell. Hence the steady flow of ghost-written books with celebrities’ names pinned on the cover.
But my client has proven you don’t have to be a big movie star or have a”household name” to sell books. You only have to be a “celebrity” to a small but loyal fan base. Become that, and (like him) you can sell a whole lot more of your books.

So here’s my thought: If you’re an author, possibly it’s time to stop peddling books, and instead concentrate on becoming a “mini-celebrity.” An author with a loyal and growing fan base, can elevate himself above the screaming crowd of authors — and sell a whole lot more books in the process.

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Duncan Long has been in the publishing business for several decades. He currently is creating book cover and inner artwork to help his clients sell books. You can see his artwork at Duncan Long’s Book Cover Gallery.