I’m listening to Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. His book is generating some ideas I plan to blog about for authors in the next week or so. The first idea is the idea that authors need to become best sellers in addition to being best writers.

Many authors will think to themselves and say to those around them they want to become a New York Times best selling author or they have written a “best seller.” The twist Mr. Kiyosaki puts on this concept is that the author him/herself needs to develop strong marketing and selling skills to make his/her book sell well - become a best seller.

In his book, Mr. Kiyosaki tells of a young journalist who asked him how her novels could become best sellers. He suggested she take a course on selling. Apparantly, the young lady did not like this advice and said that she had a masters degree in English and was a professional writer.

This story by Mr. Kiyosaki made me think of the many authors who come to me and say they have a very good book. I always believe they have written a very good book as I have usually not read them. I take the author’s word for it. The point is, I can’t read every book that is presented to me and even if I did, I might not share the author’s same enthusiasm.

You see, I do not see my role as being a gatekeeper like traditional publishers, trying to pick the next great book. My role at Authors On The Net is to help authors build their online platform so a larger audience, an audience that is interested in the author’s book, can tell the author his or her book is good. I am interested in helping authors learn how to market and sell to their target audience.

Yes, having a good book is important, but it is not as important as having a strong audience. Just look at what happened to the book The Secret. Most people I know who have read the book, even those who really liked the book, said to me that it was a pretty simple idea; an idea that has actually been around for a long time. But look at the sales job the authors did. That is an amazing story!

To have a best-selling book, the author needs to become a best seller. Many articles and tools on this site will help authors learn how to promote and sell more books. In addition, you might want to take classes on how to sell and market.