DID YOU KNOW? *Seventy percent of US adults haven't been in a bookstore for last 5 years *Bookstores sell only 45% of all books sold *Bookstores return non-sold books to author-think of Starbucks people dripping their coffee and scone on your book. The author will get those returns. *Bookstores will take 90 days, even a year to pay you for your total book sales *Bookstores only order two or three copies at a time because of limited shelf space *Bookstores buy only from a distributor or wholesaler.

Why big push to get a wholesale or distributor and get into bookstore? These people represent so many other authors; don't you wonder how much attention your book will receive? They exact healthy fees, around 55%. That leaves a small profit for author, and remember, bookstores, distributors and wholesalers don't promote your book!

After her distributor went belly up and she lost $160,000, one author said she would rather have more control over her priceless products. She distributes them all herself now through various venues that suit her personality.

Authors spend a lot of time and money chasing improbable, when "golden egg" of self-publishing and self-promotion is right in front of them. In my opinion, I'd sell my books everywhere except bookstore!

============= Judy Cullins: author, publisher, book coach _Ten Non-techie Ways to Market Your Book Online_ http://www.bookcoaching.com/products.shtml Subscribe to FREE ezine "The Book Coach Says..." mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com

*So, Citizen John has been looking for an architectural firm to contract with, and that just happens to be exactly what you do. John runs across an article published in a local paper that was based entirely on your press release. What would article have to do to inspire John to actually hire you instead of someone else? Call to action. If there are no motivational reasons for John to get in gear on calling you, you've just lost a sale.

*Finally, don't write your release from your own point of view. After all, you are already sold on yourself, right? If you want to grab attention of reader, try stepping into their shoes. Write what would interest them, what they want to hear. It's not designed to stroke their ego, but rather, focus on what public pays most attention to.

Is writing a press release that follows all these guidelines guaranteed to bring in more business than you can handle? Not necessarily, but it might. Alvin Apple, one of our inhouse editors here at DrNunley.com, wrote a release for customer Gary Blair last week. A few days later Gary got back to us saying that Barbara Walter's "The View", a day time talk show, had contacted him for a guest appearance on account of information contained in his press release. Not bad, eh?

That just goes to show that with a little bit of practice and a lot of determination, press releases really can work, despite what anybody says.