How to Get Your Books To Sell

So, I've been lurking on the public newsgroups and noticed several authors and author wnanabes asking questions about what makes technical books sell. Some report sales in the 500-1000 range while others sell in the tens of thousands. I began musing on how to get one's book to sell more copies--enough to make it worthwhile. Perhaps these tips might help:

• Write your book so it's not dependant on a specific product version. This makes your book more useful over the years as specific products come and go. Consider that the Knuth’s books are still selling after over 40 years.
• Title the book so it's not version-specific. When bookstore folks see 2007 on a book in 2009 they'll want to pull it--regardless of how current the technology.
• Write your book so it's unique. Perhaps this means making it product-specific but unless your book is the only source of information on the subject and the product is successful, you're going to have a short shelf-life. If you write on a time-sensitive topic (especially a beta version) make sure the book is done early. Every day you wait decreases sales by several percent. Once the beta product goes to RTM the bookstores and readers lose interest so have a follow-on book ready to go. This is more than twice the work of a single book that ships at RTM. Of course, shipping at RTM is virtually impossible as the products MS builds change so much from Alpha to Beta to CTP to RC to RTM.
• Consider formatting the book as a textbook. If you get picked up by a junior college, technical college or university you can count on a lot more sales. This is really a lot of extra work and has a degree of risk involved as the retail (non-college) bookstores might not be interested in carrying a textbook not part of a local curriculum. This is one reason why these books sell for far more than standard titles.
• Write your book so it contributes new material to the body of knowledge developers can find on Google. This means you can't simply restate the examples and topics in the doc unless you re-write them to make them functional (very tempting). Developers often need to get a second/third opinion about how to solve a problem.
• Market and support the book yourself or at least work with the publisher to get seed copies in the hands of appropriate MVPs and User Group leaders.
• When you're on a forum or newsgroup answer questions in your area and tell them that there is more information in your book. When you give a conference session, add a brief plug for the book. There is a delicate balance between self-promotion and providing pro-bono help—but I am no expert there—I often go over the line.
• Get readers that like the book to post a review on Amazon. This might push the hesitant buyer into getting your book over another.
• Make sure readers that complain are made happy. This might mean getting them a refund or helping answer their questions.
• Go to the bookstore in your town and every town you visit and ask to see your book. Make sure it's shelved correctly. I went to the Notre Dame bookstore to discover my book was shelved with the graphical arts titles. Apparently the term "Visual Studio" threw the staff. If you find it, sign it (with their permission) and get them to sticker the book.
• Work with your publisher to make sure the cover content is compelling. Don't assume the publisher knows what to put on the cover to get the developer to pick your book.
• When you speak at a conference, work with the onsite-bookstore to setup a book signing. Help them sell the book by answering questions while in the bookstore.