A few years ago, I asked my writing group what their biggest objection was to self-publishing. They really only had a single objection: selling the book after they printed it is difficult, and the book sales channel is so complex that it’s virtually impossible to navigate for newbies. If you are in the business of writing, it’s very distracting to also try to be in the business of selling.

The book biz is really the last bastion of that complex, high-overhead culture of selling. Let me clear here: I have nothing against salesmen. I’m married to a great one – and I don’t know anyone that would have a job if it were not for a sales person somewhere down the line. But the intricacies of the publishing sales channel remind me of the computer wholesale channel 15 years ago, when we were still having liquid lunches, and spending our nights partying instead of sleeping. The days before the direct selling of computer products on the internet were good, good times.

But, we all grew up when the industry did. The same sort of shift is what we can now observe in the publishing world. As more authors, musicians, and trainers / speakers figure out ways to bypass the confusion of the sales channel, the party is ending. The mysterious catalogues, lists, and closely-guarded phone numbers will no longer be the best way to get your book into the hands of the intelligent reader. (In fact, I would suggest that in a few years, that way will no longer exist, at least not in the way that it currently does.)

However, direct marketing requires a certain savvy about the psychology of sales. I don’t mean at all that you must develop a hard-selling style. But I do mean that you need to have an understanding of what makes people want to buy your product. By using this knowledge, you can find your way into a customer chokehold, and suddenly selling is no longer necessary – helping a client fill their need is the new skillset you must develop.

Right now you’re saying to yourself: “Gee Peg, great idea, but how do I discover those market chokeholds?”

You’re right – it’s not easy. But the research it takes to find this answer is still less work than trying to sell your book to someone who doesn’t want to read it. Finding your reader is part of knowing your whole industry – not just knowing your part in that business.

Knowing the whole industry means that you will easily recognize specialization opportunities. Think about discovering highly-focused vertical markets of readers, who are either jaded by the junk they see out there, or who are an as-yet under-served sub-market. Every industry has them. I loved one great idea that I heard lately: in the flooded exercise and fitness market, one woman is making an excellent name for herself by choosing to spin her experience working with a cardiac doctor for many years, into a successful personal trainer biz that only works with heart-attack patients. By understanding her whole industry, she identified this sector as being under-served, and she already had the special knowledge required to manage.

This month, a wonderful editorial was written by one of my favorite editors around, Chris Tyrell, who is published each month in the Opus Visual Arts Newsletter. (I strongly urge all creative types to subscribe if you haven’t already – writers are often artists who dabble in other media. It’s a little newspaper that fills the creative hole just when I seem to need it.) This time, Chris discusses a dilemma that I frequently debate with clients: artistic integrity vs. making your product marketable. I believe he has hit the point right on the head. Selling your product to the right market is never difficult: it frees us to creatively explore more work.