Here’s an unusual – but effective way of writing a best-selling book:
Ever wonder what happens to a book when it dies?
One quick admin things, and then a cool story:
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Now, remember the other day we talked about Back-end Sales and How to Profit From Them?
Well, let me tell you an interesting story about those Amazon back-end pitches.
Back in 1988, Joe Simpson wrote a book called “Touching The Void”.
Joe was a British mountain climber and “Touching The Void” was his story of the near-death experience he had, while climbing up the Peruvian Andes mountains.
Now even though Joe’s book got pretty good reviews, it didn’t really sell very many copies, and in fact, 10 years later it was nearly out-of-print.
O.K., now roll the clock forward 11 years later to 1999. Jon Krakauer writes “Into Thin Air”, another book about a mountain-climbing tragedy — this time about a climb that took place in 1996 along Mount Everest.
(And by-the-way… did you know Mount Everest is located in Nepal, which is a small country about half the size of New Mexico, just in between India and China? I didn’t know that. I recently saw a documentary about Nepal, and it’s a fascinating place.)
Anyhow, for whatever reason, Krakauer’s book becomes a hit.
All of a sudden, from out of nowhere… Joe Simpson’s 11 year-old, and for all intents and purposes, “dead” book “Touching The Void”… starts selling again.
But this time it’s selling…
Like Crazy!
How well did “Touching The Void” start selling?
iTunes
It sold so well, Random House (the publisher) had to crank out a whole new edition, just to keep up with the demand for the book.
Then because of all the new online activity, offline booksellers began a flurry of new in-store campaigns… and before you know it, it’s on the New York Times Bestseller List…
Not bad for a book that was all but written off 6-months earlier, is it?
And how did this happen?
The answer is simple: Amazon’s recommendation to buy “Touching The Void” as a back-end sale to people who bought “Into Thin Air”.
Incredible, huh?
The moral of the story is… back-end sales and upsells may be the easiest money you’re NOT getting, if you’re not using them.
If you’ve got a Valentine, enjoy you day with her or him… and have a great weekend, either way.
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Now go sell something, Craig Garber
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listening to:
A Million Miles From Yesterday (Live) – Gov’t Mule (2007)