The Sell Sheet: What's Included in a Good One - article

In order to sell your book and to participate in book signing events, a sell sheet needs to be part of your writer’s arsenal. A good sell sheet should contain the following elements:

• Your book’s title in bold letters, preferably right out front. You want to get the reader’s attention immediately.
• A small photo of your book cover, small enough to fit the compact style of the sell sheet but large enough and of high enough quality to be clearly readable.
• Include all the information necessary for the reader to find your book. Include the ISBN, your website and other sites where your book is available for purchase, price, page count, publication date and genre.
• Write a short but catchy synopsis. This is very important! Think of the synopsis as a department store window display. It’s meant to draw you in.
• Add any and all awards and positive reviews.
• Your email address. We recommend creating a new account for your book sales. Other contact information is not necessary. The bulk of prospective buyers will be perfectly content to contact you by email. After some communication, you can then decide whether to share your phone number.
• You may want to add a photo of yourself. If you want to do this, it should be professionally shot so that you look your best.

Remember, it’s a sell sheet. It’s designed to make it easier for you to sell your book. So, remember to keep it clean and easy to read. Since your book is unique, there might be some excellent promotional ideas you’ve thought of that aren’t included in this post. That’s great! Consider adding them. Push yourself to think of things that will add value to the particular book you’ve written. Remember: Once the sell sheet is completed, its ultimate value will be determined not only by how well it’s done, by how many you copies get out there.