I have just released my new book, Viewpoints of a Trader (click here for more info).
It won't sell well.
Why?
A couple of reasons.
First, the book contains only a few actual trading techniques mainly on money management not entry and exit techniques.
Instead, it is filled with insights into the true nature of trading and the trading process. Really deep insights.
But the book market doesn't want that. Instead, book buyers are looking for quick instant trading techniques that promise riches by Tuesday afternoon.
But I didn't want to write a book like that. I've already written many of those types of books. The world doesn't need any more.
What the trading world needs is deeper thoughts about trading not another technique. There are very very few books that deeply examine the underlying reality of trading. I wanted to help provide that examination not another entry and exit rule.
The world has enough banality.
So my new book goes against the grain. It is contrary to what the market wants in a book.
This is a major reason why the book won't sell well.
And look at the title of the book. Viewpoints of a Trader. Not good.
Book marketing experts say there should be a promise of a benefit in the title. For example, I think my next book will be How To Profit From The Current Scourge of Stagflation. There is a clear promise of benefit in the title. That book will sell far greater than my new book simply because of the title. It will be the only book on the topic in the world.
But, frankly, I didn't want to promise anything in this book. Odd, I know.
But the reality is that each reader will get what they want from the book. I will give the insights I have gained in 50 years of trading. Some people will think my point is boring or trivial. Other people will have a flash of insight and I will change their trading lives. It is the latter that I wrote the book for. People who are thinking deeply about trading and really able to absorb what I have written.
Finally, I priced the book "too high" and priced all versions at the same price. $39.95 is a standard price to pay for a hardcover book. All my other books, published by John Wiley & Sons, are priced higher. But that price for a paperback or Kindle or (forthcoming) audio book. Nope.
Most trading books sell for less than $10 on Kindle these days and some are free. So the price of trading books is generally much lower than this. And the book is only about 210 pages! (As if books should be priced by the pound!)
So why did I make these three critical "mistakes"?
I wanted to NOT have most traders buy the book. I wanted to drive away most traders from buying the book. I only wanted a small group of people to buy the book.
- Few techniques. As I said above, the world doesn't need another technique book. The reality is that the market needs my type of book even though they don't want it. It's like medicine, I'd rather have a candy bar but will take the nasty medicine because it is good for me.
- The title. I wanted the title to be an homage to a book that changed my life. So I titled the book similar to that book. The title describes the book and I figure that my extensive and unparalleled credentials will stimulate some traders to buy the book. Plus some people will know the Longstreet book and take a chance on my book.
- The price. Really? I want real traders to buy the book. And that means that a $40 price is a nothing burger to them. If they don't buy the book because of the price then they aren't a real trader, they are a wannabee. They are a dreamer not a serious student of markets.
So, there. I really analyzed what I was doing and decided that I would go ahead with my contrarian book anyway.
Roy Longstreet's book made me a far better trader much quickly than I otherwise would have been. I want to do the same for newer generations of traders. Sales be damned.
Good wise trading,
Courtney Smith
P.S. Click here for more info on the book
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