SF Coach meeting at Handlery in SF

There were lots of excellent questions. People seemed to “get” the idea that structure must precede content, and that content is actually the easy part of writing a book. I spoke about “the diamond is your friend,” mangling a baseball metaphor, but to good effect.

Several people said they’d like to talk about their book with me, so I sent them–and I send you–to http://joelorr.setster.com to make an appointment with me for a free strategy call. (By the way, if you’re tired of having to exchange 4 emails in order to set a phone appointment, I recommend checking Setster.com out. It publishes your calendar, sync’d from Outlook, Gmail, or whatever, showing just blocked periods for your appointments. People can choose from your available slots; you get an email and a text message, and can approve or deny the appointment.)

If you’d like to hear what I said, just click here, fill in the form, and I’ll give you immediate access to the recording. (Click on “continue shopping” after the cart thanks you, and you’ll go directly to the page with the recording.)

Would you like me to speak to your group? Click here to make an appointment to discuss it with me.

I’ve been amazed how many of the people I’ve spoken with have a well-established platform for marketing their book and other products. What’s a platform? It is a collection of ways in which you already have contact with a significant audience–frequent presentations; a newsletter; on-line or newspaper or magazine columns; and so on. If you contact a literary agent or a publisher, they are sure to ask about your platform. Do you have one? What is it?

A solid and broad platform is the key to immediate volume sales of your book. One person I spoke with has a continuous stream of corporate presentations on the very topic about which he is writing. I pointed out to him that most of his corporate clients are likely to want a copy of his book for each member of the audience; this could double his revenue from a single engagement! He agreed.

If you already have an established platform, think how you might take advantage of it to promote your book. If you don’t yet have one, consider investing time and energy into the creation of an appropriate one; it will both greatly increase the volume of your book sales, and enhance your market presence for your professional services.

Arielle Ford says in the Huffington Post:

“I don’t buy authors, I don’t buy books, I buy platforms.” – #1 Self-Help Publisher in the world

One of the biggest mistakes authors make is thinking that they have to first write a book or the book proposal and then go out and look for a publisher. In reality, the biggest thing you need to do before you approach a publisher is to build your platform.

You want to be able to say to any publisher, “I have 3,000 names in my e-mail database. I’ve have been a guest speaker on 10 radio shows. I have done 20 paid speeches, and I am scheduled for four weekend workshops. Here is my list of upcoming speeches, the interviews I have done and my press kit.”

The reason you want to be able to tell a publisher all of this is because the only question they really have for you is, “Who is going to buy your book?” If you have something important to say and you are on to something that’s really great, you still aren’t ready to be an author until you have a platform.

Pay attention.

Most major publishers put promotion dollars behind winners, not newbies. So if promotion was a reason for you to seek a publisher rather than publishing yourself, strike it off the list.

For most non-fiction authors, the very best way to sell your books is through speaking engagements. For corporate gigs, you can often offer your book at a discounted price to the client, so that they can buy a copy for each attendee. I’ve sold thousands of books this way, and so have many other speakers.

In other speaking environments, you can sell them in the back of the room after your talk, if the venue allows it. (Although I would suggest having a higher-priced product at the back of the room, such as a CD series, a DVD series, or a course, and throw in the book as a free bonus. But if you do this, do not offer the book for sale as well; most people will just buy the book.)

One of the best investments an author can make is to buy “1001 Ways to Market Your Books,” by John Kremer. Then read it, and start implementing just a few of the hundreds of excellent ideas in its 700+ pages.

Definitions:

Self-publishing: The publishing of a book or books where the author is also the publisher.

Publish-on-demand: The use of print-on-demand equipment to produce books in as small a quantity as one.

Thanks to the Internet and modern printing and binding technologies, it is possible for an author to publish his or her own book without having to invest heavily in large quantities of printed copies and the attendant logistics.

A self-publisher can use a publish-on-demand company for producing the book, or simply have it printed by a traditional book printer.

POD companies often offer additional services to the author, such as ISBN codes; cover design; connection to distributors, like Ingram (who supply bookstores, like Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc.); editing; and more.

The initial POD vendors were not always transparent about the specifics of their service offerings, and sometimes left customers unsatisfied with the value of the “packages” they had bought. Today, competition has forced these firms to be more open about precisely what they do and do not provide. It’s easier for an author to make comparisons than ever before.

I recommend self-publishing to all my authors. If you publish your book yourself, and sell a few thousand copies–and then pitch a major publisher–you will be in a FAR better position to bargain for royalty rates, promotional budgets, intellectual property rights, and more. But frankly, at that point you may ask yourself whether the imprimatur of the major publisher is worth what you may have to give up.

As an author, you will make out better financially if you get a cover designed; get your book printed; and control your own promotion. Now, you may not have the time or the inclination to do those things, and there are plenty of people who will gladly undertake to do them for you; but whichever way you go, you should study the process so that you will understand what you are buying.

Different people have different ways of working with authors. And of course, it very much depends on the type of book you want written.

I’m writing a book for an inventor/engineer right now. He does not intend to use it to market his services; he wants to simply put forth some of his ideas, many of which are quite provocative, into the world.

I’m speaking with another person who also has provocative ideas, but wants to use the book to build a speaking platform and additional products.

Different purposes, different processes. With the first book, we worked to come up with a detailed table of contents. Then I interviewed the man accordingly. Now I am turning those results into a manuscript.

And he wants me to be the author.

With the second, the client will be the author. I will structure, interview, and write. I don’t plan for my name to appear on the book.

In both cases, I will take care of the publishing, and consult on the promotion and sales.

Is this a good way to do things? That depends on your goals. My time–and that of anyone who you’d want to have write a book for you–is valuable. The question you have to answer is: How valuable is your time? Would you be better served creating new products for your business, or writing your book yourself? (I can help you do that, too, of course.)

Do you want it done quickly? What’s it costing you not to have a book out yet? When you consider the whole picture, the cost of having someone write a book for you might show up as a good investment.

There are other–less expensive–shortcuts to getting a book out. For example, I have a template-based book kit for coaches, and will soon have them for other professions. For a few hundred dollars, you can create a good book, and have it published inexpensively.

If you’d like to discuss your options and possible strategies, click on the calendar in the right-hand column to pick a time for a no-obligation strategy call with me.

A brochure tells what you do, what benefits the prospect will get, and how to contact you.

A book can do all that–plus you have as many pages as you need to explain the uniqueness of your process and to share case histories of clients you’ve worked with.

A nicely designed and nicely printed brochure establishes your significance.

Your book establishes you as an authority, not just someone who was able to afford a fancy brochure.

Do you keep fancy brochures you get? No? Neither does anyone else. They throw them out as soon as you’re out of the room.

Do you throw away books? Especially books that have been inscribed to you? No, and neither do I. Your book will hang around your prospect’s office or home–probably forever.

What does a brochure say about you? That you have good artistic taste; that you invested in a nice brochure.

What does a book say about you? That you are an author–and therefore, an authority. An expert in your field.

A nice brochure is expensive–$3-$5 each, by the time you’ve paid a designer and printer.

A hundred-page book with a full-color cover is $1.10 in quantity 500–less in larger quantities.

So–what’s a better investment for you? Book or brochure?

Here’s more of the story: When you decide you seriously want to write a book, you may just start writing. Or perhaps you start thinking things through and realizing there are lots of details standing between you and a published book. This may add to your stress, or cause you to put off the whole idea once more.

Or maybe you find out about free publishing sites, like Lulu.com. You go there, find out you have to produce a PDF for the whole thing to work right. You enter into the operational labyrinth–and find out there is no phone support, and email support is leisurely. You make it through the process, somehow; the book looks good on-line, so you order a proof copy, as they recommend. The book arrives a few days later….and it’s full of garbage, because the PDF conversion didn’t work. The on-line version Lulu.com showed you looked fine; it just didn’t come out that way in the book.

Now try to find out what went wrong. And by the way, the book and shipping were at your expense.

I worked with an author who went through 5 cycles like that until getting it right.

FastPencil is different. For one thing, it lets you write on-line; no need to worry about conversion. For another, when you’re ready to convert to different formats, FP worries about that for you.

The FastPencil Marketplace gives you access to cover designers, editors, promoters, and a variety of publishing and distribution options. All inexpensive. (You’ll soon see courses there by me and Dr. Bill Quain that offer you some extra assistance in writing and promoting your book; watch for them.)

Membership in FastPencil is free.

Internal: Do you want to write a book to express yourself? Do you feel you have a story to tell, something to teach, something to record? Those are great reasons for writing a book, and my BookProgram method–described in my free book, which you can get by clicking on the link in the header of the blog–will serve you well. Follow it, and you will get your book written. Well. And quickly.

External: Is your main reason for writing a book to accomplish something beyond getting a book out there? Is it to be a source of income? A door-opener for your speaking, coaching, advisory, therapeutic business? Will it serve as a way to attract customers to your other products, such as ebooks, courses, recordings, membership sites, and more? If this is your motivation, my method will really shine for you.

Whichever point of view you are coming from, you would do well to “consider the end from the beginning,” in the words of Stephen Covey (The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People).  What will you do with the book once it’s finished? If it’s internally motivated, you will want to think about the communities who will be interested in it, and how to reach them.

If it’s to serve an external function in your business, you should plan what products you’ll derive from the book material, how you’ll price them, and how you will promote them.

In either event, your book should have its own website, where people can order it and sign up to remain in touch with you–through your newsletter, your autoresponder sequences, or in other ways.

Being aware of your book-writing motivation will help you take the book to its next step. There’s a lot to think about–and it’s worth thinking about.

You can do it. And you should.

Warmly,

Joel

If you look at the tabs above the header of this site, you’ll see one that says Coach Book Kit! If you click on it, you’ll be taken to a long sales letter that leads up to a free 26-minute video, explaining why every coach should write a book–and how my template-based coach book kit is a powerful shortcut.

My kit works like this: Based on the principles I write about in my book, The Simple Secret To Writing A Non-Fiction Book In 30 Days, At 1 Hour A Day!, I teach coaches how to write a book that will explain their “special sauce.” Then I give them all the words that need to be in every coaching book–sections defining coaching; distinguishing it from therapy and consulting; relating how the coaching relationship works; offering examples; and more.

All of this is delivered in a Microsoft Word document, with blank pages that include my instructions for what THEY need to fill in.

Now, a coach could take my free book, and write a book fairly quickly. But the template-based kit greatly accelerates the process. One coach, Bud Bilanich, used the kit to write a book in 5 hours.

Here’s my question: Do you think a GENERIC book-writing template, with step-by-step instructions, would help you write your book? If using it would give you some assurance of completing your book in less than 30 days, at no more than an hour a day, would you want it?

How much would it be worth to you?

I’ve been brainstorming the content of such a kit, and I’m starting to get excited about it. I think it could be a breakthrough for many would-be authors.

But then, I love writing books.

What are your thoughts? Would you want to hear more about such a product? Please comment below.