What Do You Get For Your Money?

03/14/2007

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When it comes to buying "How To" books, all of us at times get wrapped up in marketing hype and lose track of identifying what we really want in the way of information.  So, while not wanting to put down any other book or author, and because I am not one to hype things,  I will show you what you can expect from my book versus the other most popular books about selling books online, and I will let the numbers tell the story.

I also want to apologize for not being as effective at marketing as some other authors because I know that if you bought one of the more popular books on this subject, you still have questions that my book may have answered for you, if you knew about it and bought it in the first place.

The text statistics come from Amazon.com or are noted below.  You can be the judge of which book provides more for your money and which is more popular because it is marketed better.

  Online
Bookselling
Best
Seller
#1
Best
Seller
#2**
Compared
To
Best Seller #1
Compared
To
Best Seller #1
         
Published 2006 2005 2002    
Cost  $         26.95  $         19.95  $         19.95 35% 35%
Pages 228 168 174 36% 31%
           
Total Characters 283,933 149,982 167,051 89% 70%
Total Words 49,618 24,615 26,063 102% 90%
Sentences 2,873 1,697 1,988 69% 45%
           
Words Per Dollar 1,841 1,234 1,306 49% 41%
Words Per Ounce 3,788 3,039 3,258 25% 16%
           
Photographs 36 0 0 Infinite Infinite
Charts, Graphs, Illustrations,
& Tables
37 1 7 3600% 429%
Wholesale/Remainder
Dealers Listed
36 32 1 13% 3500%
           
CD/Spreadsheets 1/4 0/0 0/0 Infinite Infinite

You might wonder how my book could be only 60 pages longer than the most popular book and have 89% more characters, over 100% more words, 69% more sentences, 36 photos, 37 graphs, charts, illustrations, and diagrams.  You can also see similar differences between my book and the second most popular book on the subject with my book having only 54 more pages.  Well, the answer is simple, my book is printed in a normal Times New Roman 9 point font instead of a large font that fills pages more quickly and makes a book seem like it has more than it does.

The plain and simple truth is that I am not as good at marketing my book as some other authors, they are masters of marketing. On the other hand, I am very much interested in my reputation and providing all of my customers with the best value for their money.  That is why I opted to pack my book with more information, pictures to make what I write about clear, graphs, diagrams, illustrations, and charts to show comparisons, a CD with spreadsheets covering break even analysis, business growth planning, inventory forecasting, and bookkeeping to make taxes easier and the performance tracking of your business clear.  I even host a free "customer only" forum where all of my customers can learn from each other and get follow-on questions answered by me and other experienced online booksellers.

If you had difficulty before in deciding which book gives you the most information for your money, it should be clear now that with my book, you get: 

1)   Over twice as many words as the best selling book on this topic, and 90% more than the second best selling book. 

2)   Many more pictures, graphs, and diagrams than either of the best selling books 

3)   Free access to a "customer only" forum where you can interact and discuss the business with hundreds of other booksellers that is not offered by either of the best sellers. 

4)   A free CD included (a $29.99 value alone) that will help you keep your records, prepare your taxes easier, plan your business growth, determine your break-even point, provide you with monthly, quarterly, and annual summary reports, and show you exactly how your business is performing with 55 graphs and charts.  Neither of the other books offers anything of the sort. 

If all you are looking for is a pamphlet with an outline of the online bookselling business, one of the other books will suffice, but if you are serious about learning the business, the best alternative is Online Bookselling: A Practical Guide with Detailed Explanations and Insightful Tips (ISBN 1427600708).

** There are no available numerical statistics for this book available online.  I took my copy, counted words on several pages, and determined the numbers myself.  There is a potential margin of error on the order of 5%.


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