I am sure you have heard the saying, “Perception is everything!” How you perceive something to be is your reality, which creates your belief system, which in turn determines your actions. It does not matter if your perception is reality or not — what you perceive is true to you. This can be detrimental, especially when there are costs involved. That is why it is important to have a proper understanding of “What your book can do for you.”
There are many who enter the world of authorship believing things that are just not true. They believe that if they write an awesome book (awesome according to their perspective of course) that once they publish it, people will be standing in line to purchase it.
But, that’s just not true!
Keep reading and I’ll prove my point …
In my experience there are about four main reasons why people publish books:
- Fulfill a life-long goal
- Leave a living legacy
- Career Advancement/more opportunities/influence
- Create another stream of income
I believe if the reason for publishing a book does not fall within the scope of the last two categories, then it is best to just stick to writing, journaling and publicizing your material in ways and on platforms where a significant financial investment is not involved. The information included here is being presented to those who are coming from the perspective that they want their books to do something for them in the areas of career advancement, increased opportunities, influence, and finances.
Let’s begin …
Book writing and publishing is a process — it’s a journey. The journey can be as fun and enjoyable as you would like for it to be. The key to success, however, is strategy. Everything revolves around strategy. The Bible says, “What man sets out to build a house and does not count the cost?” (paraphrased)
Counting the cost equates to creating a strategy. You must have a strategy for your book publishing project. Notice I said “project” because this is more than just writing a book. It involves everything that has to do with the book from concept to customer. It’s just like having a baby.
If you are expecting, there are strategic things that you should be doing before the baby is birthed, as well as after its entrance into the world. The same is true for your book. You must properly incubate it, nourish it and give it the necessary things to keep it healthy so that it can grow. Proper “book nutrition” will require you to have a team of people who specialize in helping your “baby” develop properly. This includes your editors, designers, and publishing mentors. It will be their responsibility to aid you in providing the proper food (resources) and guidance (information) that you would need to make your publishing goals a success.
After your baby is born, it will need to understand its place in the world, the people that will be blessed by it and how to reach those people. This is where strategic marketing comes into play.
Now when it comes to your book (baby) reaching its fullest potential and creating a viable income for you, this is only possible with a proper understanding of the publishing world and marketing, both of which require strategy. In the book publishing world, making money from your book is about the opportunities that are created. The opportunities are what help to make the money.
These opportunities include such things as speaking engagements, book deals, paid writing opportunities, and media appearances (television, radio, podcasts). And while this is happening, your influence is swelling. You are becoming the “go-to” person in your industry on that subject matter. But the question is, “How do you get there?” It all starts with strategy. Again, another famous Bible Scripture reminds us to “Write the vision and make it plain so that those who read it will get excited and run with it.” (paraphrased)
If you want to be a successful author and have others running to tell your story then there are some key things you need to know and implement.
-
- [box type=”shadow”]
START HERE if you are accessing via EMAIL or FACEBOOK
-
- >>>[/box]
- Becoming a successful author is a marathon and not a sprint. You should brace yourself, and get ready for all that the journey has to offer as far as growth and development. I always say that when you write a book it’s about the person you become, not just about what you have penned. It is a process — a process that involves writing and rewriting, tweaking and editing, thinking and strategizing. You must be open, honest and transparent. You must be teachable, coachable and willing to take the advice of successful others who can help bring out the best in your writing.
- Content is still king! Creating quality content on a consistent basis is still the most valuable thing you can do as a writer. After all, if you are not providing good, valuable content for your readers to consume on a consistent basis then why would they take you seriously? It goes back to that other well-known saying of mine, “Author means authority.” You should be perceived as the expert regarding the subject matter you have written about. Now, before you get your feathers all ruffled and anxiety sets in, let me ease the pressure by explaining that statement.
An expert is simply “someone who has more knowledge and/or experience than the average person as it relates to a particular subject matter.” Therefore, you can conclude, based on your research, experience, level of understanding, etc., that you have acquired more knowledge and/or experience about your subject matter than the average Joe. Voila! You are the expert and I’ve proved my point. Thus, you should be showing up with your writing as the authority in your niche on a consistent basis.
- Platform is queen. What’s the use of great content if no one knows that you or it exists? It’s so very crucial for authors to have an established platform (or at the very least be establishing a platform) from which they can launch their message. Basically, what this means is that you should already be projecting your message into the world: who you are, what you stand for, and what you’ve got to say should all be understood in the world. Your message should be heralded throughout the universe to those who it is for and they should be picking up the signals, grabbing hold of them and moving in your direction. This is how tribes and committed followers are developed. But you must do your part to attract them. Remember what I’ve taught you before, that whole “If you build it they will come,” philosophy just isn’t true!
- Presence is everything. This falls right in line with my previous point. How are you showing up in the world? One of our authors wanted to get her book into a local bookstore in her area and the first thing they asked her was if it was online. You and your book should be showing up on online platforms, both those you control and those you don’t control.
- Online platforms that you control are your websites, blogs, personal apps and email lists. The platforms you don’t control are the ones where the actual owners (like Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg) can shut them down or make changes anytime they want. This includes all social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram as well. You should be showing up on these platforms engaging with like-minded people, interacting and telling your story all while adding value to their lives. You don’t just wait to do this when your book is about to be published or launched.
- Remember, people do business with those they Know, Like, and Trust. Don’t just show up asking them to buy your book. Take the time to get to know them. Let them get to know you and add value to them by communicating the highlights of your core message. You will find that you won’t have to “sell” them your book because they will be coming to you asking you how they can support you. I teach my authors that for every 1 withdrawal you make, you should be making 20 deposits. In essence, this means you should be providing value, value, value on a consistent basis. This requires you showing up and being present and the best way to do that while saving time, energy, and money is online.
- Have a professional book cover created. Keep in mind that when I say book cover, I’m not just talking about the front cover design of your book. The entire cover of your book should have strategy behind it — from the front to the back or “the rooter to the tooter” as my country folks would say — everything about your book cover counts.
- The cover images that you use send a message. According to statistics, posts with photos on Facebook generate 53% more likes than posts that don’t have photos. In our culture, images are everything, and we are inundated with them constantly. The images you use on your book cover can make it or break it.
- Your title is what identifies who your book is for. When a potential book buyer picks up your book, they are subconsciously asking themselves, “What can this book do for me?” If your title doesn’t attract them, they’ll move on to the next title on the shelf.
- The last thing I’ll cover about the book cover design is the copy. After your title, the copy on the back cover of your book can make it or break it. No wonder copywriting is such big business! One of my most recent business adventures involved me inquiring about the services of a copywriter who charged $300 per hour. This price, of course, is on the high end but on average a good copywriter charges between $120 – $200 per hour. Talk about spending money on book publishing. Yes! It’s an investment! But it’s an investment that will follow you throughout your lifetime because your book will be a legacy that can be passed down to generations to come. Moreover, as stated earlier, it can create the opportunities, influence, and finances you desire if you do it right.
- Invest in a professional editor. It has been proven time and time again that having the assistance of a professional editor will greatly decrease typos and unclear writing. I believe that every single person in the world has a story to tell. But about 95% of these people need someone to help them if they want to publish it in a written format and offer it for sale to people as something valuable. Writing is a craft and it takes time, effort, and strategy (there’s that word again!) to create a written piece of material that others will understand and embrace. If you want to get good reviews, have people saying positive things about your book and create a lot of great organic publicity (word of mouth marketing) then don’t cut corners when it comes to having your book professionally edited.
- Hone your craft. Unless you don’t mind being a “one-time wonder,” you should be writing often. Your writing can include journaling, blogs, social media posts, text messages, or simply whenever you are putting pen to paper and using text to communicate. The more you do it, the better you will get at it. Statistics say that authors who make over $100K per year from their books have an average of 30.3 books in their catalog. That’s a lot of writing! But think of it as a lot of practice while providing tremendous value to others.
Remember, these seven points that I have outlined here are done so with the idea in mind that you want to make money from your book. I hope it has added understanding and value for you, as well as provided you with the proper perspective needed when publishing your book. Although writing is a process and becoming a successful author is a journey, it can be a very enjoyable and rewarding one. And just like anything of value and substance, it will take time and patience in order to realize its success.
All the best,
Pastor Kish
Your Book Publishing Coach & Self-publishing Servicer
To check out my How to Write, Finish & Publish Your Book Webinar CLICK HERE
If you are done or almost done writing your book fill out this brief form by CLICKING HERE so we can send you some valuable book publishing information.
