Likewise, you may have planned to buy books in case lot quantities for resale and/or distribution to your prospects and clients. Understanding this before you sign contract, you can include right to purchase books for resale at trade discounts in your contract, ensuring your ‘book pipeline’ won’t get turned off.

If you know you want to offer telephone coaching at $75.00 a call, for example, you can negotiate written permission to promote this service within body of your book.

Remember: promises are written on air. Only written agreements count!

Other back-end profit opportunities based on your book’s title include:

•Articles, columns, newsletters •Yearly updates •Special Reports •Teleclasses and seminars •Speaking and training •Audio/video recordings •Choosing a web site address based on your book’s title •Free downloads of sample chapters from your web site •Fee-based web site services

The possibilities are endless, but nothing can happen if, after signing contract, publisher limits your ability to promote your business and your website in your book.

Thus, it’s imperative that you start by preparing a marketing plan that analyzes post-publication profit opportunities and describes steps needed to make them happen. Only then are you in a position to decide if publisher’s ‘boilerplate’ contract meets your needs.

The stronger your book proposal and more experienced your agent, more likely you’ll get what you want (need) in your contract.

Jay Conrad Levinson says first volume of his Guerrilla Marketing series earned him thirty million dollars. But only about $35,000 came from book itself. All rest came from back-end profits.

That’s how important this issue is!

2. Who’s going to buy your book?

Next, show that there is a reachable market for your book.

Strive for urgency. Describe market intrigued by, or frustrated by, your book’s topic. What symptoms does your book help solve? How many people share problem? What are consequences of problem your book addresses?

Quantify your book’s market in terms of buying power, willingness to buy books and ability to be reached through associations or publications.

3. How will your book be different?

Next, position your book relative to existing books on topic. Existing books on same topic are a plus, not a minus. They prove there is a market for books on subject.

-What are strengths and weaknesses of existing books? -Why will readers choose your book over existing books?

This section offers you an opportunity to describe your background and how it contributes to your book.

4. How will you promote your book?

Promotion is your responsibility, not publisher’s. Your ability to promote your book is as important as your ability to write your book.

Start by identifying book reviewers and editorial contacts who can help promote your book. List publications that might run an extract from your book. Research producers who book guests for radio and TV interviews.

Discuss your speaking experience and willingness to travel to support your book. Describe how you will promote your book on your web site.

List authorities in your field who have offered to write a foreword or provide you with cover testimonials.

Agents are busy. To extent you can sell your book idea as a realistic possibility in thirty seconds and can support your answers with research and strong sample chapters, you are well on your way to success.

After you’ve been successfully published, you may be able to sell a book on just basis of an email. But for now, you must be fully prepared.