I don't know what my goal is

[DJ Samson]

In the effort to save time, I'll put a long story in a few words:

- I'm 16
- I've wrote a book about auto racing
- I'm almost done editing and I'm going to get 50-150 copies printed
- Each book will be sold via internet and will be packaged/shipped from my home

Everyone is telling me in order to succeed you need a goal, preferrably a set number. I'm extremely confused because I want to sell as many books as I possibly can. I plan on marketing through the internet, PR and fliers. I'd like to make thousands from the book. Do I have to find an amount thats practical yet large enough for me to work towards? I'm extremely confused.

[The Stealthy One]

Yes, definitely set a goal. Without a goal, you can have no plan.

Goals have two traits:

1. They are time-constrained (by when?)
2. They are quantified (how much?)

Therefore, "I want to sell as many books as I possibly can," is not, in actuality, a goal.

[ltressel]

Start with this. Who would want to read your book? If it is of substance, you will have readers who would want to read it and purchase them. What's is the purpose of writing it? Who is it for? If you wrote only to think you want money from it, then your a little off path.

The amount is insignificant because if it's really good, you'll have an outrageous demand for it and you will make a lot of money.

LT

[olani]

DJ Samson, I will try to help you in the simplest way I can, to avoid getting you more confused. In maths we study something that is called "the optimization of functions" in which we learn that even growing functions can get a limit of value in perimeters and surfaces. So with that I want to tell you that if you want to "optimize" your book sales you have to reach a concret number of books, according not only to your ink and paper ressource but also to your electricity cost and the novelty of your book.

So what I advice you is to find an editor, as he/she will promote your book if its good. Im sure you know that editors are like investors: if the books doesn't worth, they won't take it, and it's a way of being sure if you will make money from it. Consider that option.

[Finandom]

Wow, I hope I had written a book at the age of 16.
Well, I think the main reason you are confuse is you are trying to set a goal that cover everything. I have this problem before that I want to set a goal or set lot of goals but I will stuck and move no way. Then I read some books about goal setting and found that we must set a vision, a long-term big goal. Then split the vision in several small goals and just focus 1 goal at a time. After that, I really can take action easily.

So why don't you make some small goal. Maybe do some market research or start a small site to test the market. Just take a small step at a time

[cyberturbine]

DJ,
You might want to rethink exactly how your are going to bring your book to market. I really think you have a good idea but you might want to consider another way of selling it.
I've had some experience with producing a few relatively small print productions. I spent a lot of money producing and printing what ended up being thousands of catalogues. It all cost a lot of precious time and money.

I think you could do very well by making your book an "E book" and selling via digital download on the internet. In fact you can find lots of different programs out there that can assist you in developing the book. Next you can market it at a place like clickbank.com. The advantage there is everything is digital and if the book becomes popular many affiliates will be attempting to sell it for you. You just share part of the selling price as a commission. Maybe you can look at clickbank.com and see if you have any competition right now for the same type of book. If you do have competition don't be afraid, just make your book better by improving it and or offering the buyer something special.

DJ you have the biggest part of the puzzle solved because you have a real product that you created. That's what most people lack - most people have a lot of ideas but they don't do anything concrete. You have and frankly I'm excited for you and I bet you'll have great success. Good luck.

[jlgntn]

WOW! I wish I was there at 16! A dream and a goal are very different but you cannot have one without the other. A goal is a dream with a deadline.
Where would you be if you knew you would not fail? Visualize that..I cant stress this enough. Think about it first thing in the morning and last thing at night before bed! I personally do better setting my sights on BIG goals goals that scare me to death..it gets my heart racing and my blood pumping! Then I work backward from that goal... maybe find some local car racing guys to get on your team and work something out with them etc. I personally know someone who was turned down many times for a book they wrote and it was a best-seller..but I like your approach on marketing your book. Back to the car racing guys idea... what does your book cover what type of info if i was into racing why would i want to read your book? sell me.

[kazisdaman]

I have sold x amount of books on.

You can also break down your goals.

I need to sell 10 books a week to sell 150 books in 15 weeks.

I need to sell 1 book a day to reach my goal.

I need to make 10 people visit my e-book a day, and convert one of those to leads.

in order to get 10 people to visit my e-book a day, I need to talk to twenty people.

In order to talk to twenty people I need to be online for 1 hour, and go on two forums, and chat rooms.

... u ge the point, break it down, if the goals seems to far away.

[DJ Samson]

In terms of financial success, I'd like to be financially free by the time I graduate from college and have the amount of money in my bank account to purchase a Porsche 996 Turbo senior year. My plan is to reinvest the book profits into real estate, stocks or into a different start-up.

In terms of just this book alone, my goals are to eventually get TV press on the book on a channel like SPEED Channel. I'm really having a difficult time choosing how many books I'd like to sell per day because I can't find the area between how much I want to sell and the practicality of selling that amount.

And I will be selling the book in ebook form for a discounted price. I think offering both print and ebook formats will offer me more potential customers.

[silenthcourtney]

I have sold x amount of books on.

You can also break down your goals.

I need to sell 10 books a week to sell 150 books in 15 weeks.

I need to sell 1 book a day to reach my goal.

I need to make 10 people visit my e-book a day, and convert one of those to leads.

in order to get 10 people to visit my e-book a day, I need to talk to twenty people.

In order to talk to twenty people I need to be online for 1 hour, and go on two forums, and chat rooms.

... u ge the point, break it down, if the goals seems to far away.

I agree. I would also suggest finding your break even number. How many books MUST you sell to cover the cost of printing 150 copies, shipping 150 copies, etc?

Congratulations, by the way. I hope it is a hit!