Ernie Zelinski shared his success story on the Book Marketing Success Stories group on Facebook. Here’s his story:
Just to show that an innovative author can still get results during the pandemic, check out the front cover of the Vietnamese edition of The Joy of Not Working that was just published in Vietnam and is being released this week along with two of my other titles.
It will be a few weeks before I get my complimentary copies of the three titles but I know that Ken, the Vietnamese gentleman who works at my favorite coffee bar in Vancouver, will be pleased to get copies of the three new translations.
He was super excited when I gave him the Vietnamese edition of 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting, and he keeps treating me to free coffee.
Again, a bit of history about The Joy of Not Working. Over 30 years ago I told anyone who would listen to me (including an order taker at McDonald’s, two derelicts on a Vancouver park bench, and a Nigerian scam artist) about my idea for a book on how to escape from the regular work-until-you-drop mentality.
The book's title eventually became The Joy of Not Working. I figured that this book would launch a career for me as a successful author. Many people laughed at the idea; others seriously thought that I was crazy. By the way, many people still think that I am crazy—but I have the results and they don't!
Incidentally, I self-published The Joy of Not Working in 1991 because no mainstream publisher was willing to take it on. The Joy of Not Working became my signature book. Today it still sells in print and ebook form.
Not many books have this sort of staying power 30 years after publication. It has been published in 17 foreign languages and has sold over 315,000 copies worldwide.
Now, I have a question for you:
Do you have as much faith in your book? Here’s how you can tell if you have faith in your book: Tell everyone you meet in the next three days that you are writing and publishing a book. Tell them what your book is about. Get excited. Tell them you will be famous soon. Tell them you are a real book author.
Start talking today. Don’t wait. I expect to hear from you on Monday that 20 people are ready and willing to buy your new book BECAUSE you told them about your book!
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