I became a New York Times bestselling author at age 29, have written two traditionally published books and two self-published books, and my first hybrid-published book (co-authored with my wife/business partner AJ) is coming out soon.
Beyond my own books, I’ve worked with 56 authors (and counting) to help them become national bestselling authors, including 10 clients who hit the New York Times bestseller list just last year.
At Brand Builders Group, one of our formal curriculums, Bestseller Launch Plan, is specifically designed to help authors launch and sell their books effectively.
Recently, I interviewed Mike Thomas, author of The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls, who has sold over 650,000 copies of his books and started as a self-published author.
In our conversation, he shared the four steps he followed to sell hundreds of thousands of books and today I want to walk you through each of those four steps.
If you want to sell a lot of books, here’s what to do.
Step 1: Market Test Your Content
Before you even think about launching your book, you need to test your ideas.
Word of mouth is the most powerful long-term marketing strategy, and the only way to ensure your book gets it is to make sure the content is something people want to share and talk about with their peers.
Mike Thomas did this by reading his book to children in classrooms before publishing it.
He got real-time feedback, saw what resonated, and made adjustments before releasing his book to the world.
At Brand Builders Group, we teach a different but related approach:
A book should never be a hypothesis. A book should be a conclusion.
That means you don’t write a book when you have a new idea.
Instead, you:
✔ Test it through speaking engagements, coaching, or online content.
✔ Get feedback, refine it, and improve it over time.
✔ Only then do you write the book, knowing it already resonates with an audience.
This is exactly how I launched my first book, Take the Stairs.
That book became a New York Times bestseller in 2012, but the concepts inside it had already been tested for eight years through speaking engagements, training programs, and coaching sessions.
By the time the book came out, I knew the content worked.
The bottom line: Don’t use your book to test ideas. Use your book to share the ideas you’ve already tested.
Step 2: Have a Single Channel Focus
One of the biggest mistakes authors make is trying to do everything when launching their book.
The reality?
Diluted focus equals diluted results.
The most successful book launches hone in on one primary strategy and go all-in on it.
Mike Thomas did this with influencer marketing—getting his book into the hands of key influencers who could share it with their audiences.
Other strategies we’ve used at Brand Builders Group include:
🔥 Live Events – We helped Ed Mylett sell 35,634 books in a single day through a large-scale live event.
🔥 Bulk Sales – We supported John Maxwell’s team in selling 11,000 books in a single night.
Whatever strategy you choose, commit to one core marketing focus and execute it at the highest level.
Step 3: Give the Book Away
If you want people to buy your book, the best thing you can do is give it away for free.
Yes, you read that right.
The fastest way to drive book sales is to get as many people as possible reading your book, even if that means giving away free copies in the beginning.
Mike Thomas sent free copies to influencers, knowing that once they read and loved it, they’d spread the word.
We’ve used similar strategies by running “Buy One, Give One” promotions, where buyers get an extra copy to share with a friend.
Think about it this way: When you walk through a food court, what’s the best way to get you to try a new restaurant?
A free sample.
The same principle applies to books.
If you want to sell more books, get them into as many hands as possible—even if that means giving them away at first.
Step 4: Give People an Incentive to Share
Once people have your book, make it easy and rewarding for them to share it with others.
Mike Thomas did this brilliantly.
After giving a book to an influencer, he followed up and said, “Would you like me to send you a few more copies to give away to your audience?”
Genius.
By giving influencers free copies to share as giveaways, he turned them into enthusiastic promoters—without asking them to “sell” his book.
You can do the same thing by offering:
✅ Bonus gifts for people who refer your book to others.
✅ Free chapters that readers can send to their friends.
✅ Giveaway copies to customers who buy multiple books.
The key?
Make it easy for people to share your book with others.
The more people talk about your book, the more sales you’ll make.
Want a Proven Bestseller Launch Plan?
These four steps will help you sell books over the long term, but if you want a full-scale launch strategy that gives your book the best possible start, we’ve got you covered.
At Brand Builders Group, we’ve reverse-engineered the strategies behind dozens of bestsellers, and we’ve developed a complete system to help authors hit the bestseller lists.
If you want to learn how to do it, let’s talk.
📞 Book a FREE Brand Call with one of our strategists and let’s create a plan to make your book a success.
Recap: 4 Steps to Selling a Lot of Books
- Market Test – Make sure your content resonates before publishing.
- Single Channel Focus – Pick one marketing strategy and master it.
- Give It Away – Get your book into as many hands as possible.
- Incentivize Sharing – Make it easy for others to spread the word.
Follow these steps, and you’ll set your book up for long-term success.
Now let’s go sell some books.
