An Author Must Make Contact

The Rule of 5x5

Part 6 of An Author’s Guide to Hand Selling Books
by David A. Rozansky, Publisher, Flying Pen Press
Readers, Writers & Royalties columnist
October 12, 2007

 
[This is the sixth article in a nine-part series.]

 
In the first article in this series, I gave a general overview of why authors should sell their own books. In that article, I gave a list of the seven rules we teach authors about how they can hand-sell their own books.

To quickly review, these seven rules are:

1. The Rule of Use. Authors must use books to sell books. (Discussed in a previous installment).

2. The Rule of Sales. Authors must be mentally and logistically prepared to sell their books. (Discussed in a previous installment).

3. The Rule of 3 Feet. Authors must tell everyone that comes within 3 feet about their books. (Discussed in a previous installment).

4. The Rule of 200. Authors must prepare a list of 200 contacts and work those contacts as their core fan base. (Discussed in a previous installment).

5. The Rule of 5x5. Authors must make five separate contacts each day, five days a week, and try to sell their books.

6. The Rule of Writing. Authors must keep writing new books.

7. The Rule of Crowds. Authors must sell their books before large crowds, preferably on the Internet.

This article will discuss the fifth rule, the Rule of 5x5, in detail.

 
The Rule of 5x5 is a flexible rule that can be applied in many different ways. It is originally a rule I found from multi-level marketing programs. Now, I am not one to condone multi-level marketing, but it is a form of network marketing, and this rule has applications in hand selling books.

The original Rule of 5x5 states that a multi-level marketing representative needs to recruit 5 other reps and then help them each recruit 5 reps of their own. This builds a network of sales people, theoretically.

I have adapted this rule and changed it to be more about time management. My Rule of 5x5 states “To sell a product, the seller must make at least five sales contacts a day, five days a week.”

I also have versions of this rule for use in other aspects of my day. As it applies to marketing, I try to make five marketing contacts a day, five days a week. With regard to management, I try to get five major to-do items done a day, five days a week.

However, this article focuses on hand sales for authors, so let me use a modified sales version: The author must make five contacts a day, five days a week. A contact can be an attempt to sell a book, or an attempt to market the book, or an attempt to earn publicity.

It is a simple process, once put in motion. It creates a quota of activity, and this creates a routine that works to push book sales.

A “contact” can be made in any of several ways, and to a variety of audiences.

The author can shake a hand and give a face-to-face sales pitch (see the previous article on the Rule of 3 Feet). The contact can be by phone, or by email. It can be a blog article, or a television commercial. It can be lunch with a reviewer, or a sales call on a bookstore. It can be a book signing, or a release of a book on Bookcrossing.

The size of the audience is irrelevant. A speech before a thousand people counts only as a single contact. Creating a radio commercial or posting an article, even though these run for a long time, counts as a single contact. The nature of the Rule of 5x5 is to create the habit of constantly contacting people and telling them about the book. It causes the author to seek out readers, instead of passively waiting for readers to show up at a convenient time.

The reason for the number 5 is that it tends to be a manageable number of contacts to approach in one day without disrupting one’s normal routine (writing, day job, parenting, etc.).

Some authors will be able to make more than five contacts a day, and the more contacts made daily, the better. However, any contacts made over the quota should not be used to fulfill the next day’s quota of five contacts. If the author realizes that his schedule will not allow him to make five contacts, he should plan on extra contacts the day before, but the idea of the Rule of 5x5 is to create a work habit, so an author should start each day with a fresh tally sheet.

Some contacts will be better than others. A call to the Barnes & Noble buyer is going to have a greater value to the author than a call to cousin Marvin. But from the author’s point of view, they both involve the same effort, and have different values in different areas of selling the book. Remember, a book sold in volume to a bookstore creates a nice royalty, but there is the risk of returns, and this cuts into royalties. Sales to cousin Marvin are usually not returned, ad the author makes a tidy profit by selling the book at the full cover price. An author is at the far end of the cash-flow chain, so anything that puts profits directly into the author’s hands is always preferable.

Each evening, I like to write down the five contacts I intend to make on the next day. I also keep lists of prospective contacts handy, which includes a list of bookstore buyers, reviewers, and the like.

I also try to take the time to find new contacts every day — five new contacts a day, five days a week. For instance, I like to look at competing books on Amazon, see which reviewers have been reading the genre with positive reviews, and send them an email asking if they would like to review the Flying Pen Press title I have in mind for them.

The multi-level marketing aspect can still come into play. Each contact has their own List of 200 (see Part 4 in this series about the Rule of 200). An author should try to get five referrals from each of at least five contacts from the week, and try to persuade at least five contacts to each make five contacts that week in an attempt to sell or publicize the book.

The Rule of 5x5 is a great help in all matters of developing good work habits. A writer can easily write five pages a day, five days a week, which makes it possible to write five books a year for five years. If each manuscript is submitted to five publishers a day, five days a week, a successful career in writing is nearly guaranteed, provided that the author is a good writer to begin with.

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In the next installment, I will discuss The Rule of 5x5. To subscribe to the entire series of articles on the topic of An Author’s Guide to Hand Selling Books, please click on the “Subscribe to this Group” button at www.ReadWriteRoyalty.Gather.com. To receive all of Mr. Rozansky’s articles, subscribe at www.FlyingPenPress.Gather.com.

David A. Rozansky is the publisher of Flying Pen Press. He has been in publishing since 1987, and has more than one million published words under his byline. Flying Pen Press is at http://www.FlyingPenPress.com.

Flying Pen Press is the publisher of David Rozansky’s highly anticipated guide to writing, Blitzquery: The Prolific Approach to Writing and Selling Magazine Articles, to be released January 2008 (ISBN 978-0-9795889-3-8).