Copyrighted by Denise M. Michaels
I’m always interested in the smart ways my clients use the books I help them with to market themselves using the powerful marketing leverage a book provides. Rarely do they come to me with illusions of getting on the New York Times bestseller list. Their books generally appeal to a niche market and, their objective is to use a book as a way of pumping up their credibility and influence. As a result, they get more of the business they’ve been doing for years.
I must share a story about a client who used his book in an extraordinary way which has resulted in $450,000 in sales since February 2020. Sales that have helped him, his business, and his family sail through this pandemic without any blips to their six-figure income and lifestyle. But I digress.
Honestly, his situation isn’t the norm. Most of my clients use their books to get more speaking engagements, media appearances, and as a result, more clients. Some do special printings of their books to corporations who buy them in large quantities. The books have the company logo on them. While there are still a scant number of live and in-person conferences and seminars happening since we’ve been quarantined, your book can be an entree to speaking at a Zoom conference or event, on podcasts, webinars, and more.
A full-length book (over 175 pages) is the ticket to these benefits. People respect the thought and experience required to write a full-length book. Mini books have become popular in recent years and can generate online leads or help build an email list. However, a mini book won’t garner the respect and gravitas that happens almost automatically with a full-length book. Mini-books are often perceived as trivial fluff – because many are just that. Fluff.
How do I know this? If you’re pitching yourself as a visiting corporate trainer or a guest on a podcast or TV show – often you’ll be asked, “How many pages long is your book?” They probably won’t say your book is too short. But they’ll make excuses about how busy they are and how the time for guest speakers is limited – blah, blah, blah…
Back to my client’s story. His expertise is in the human resources arena. So, with a lot of humor and great content, we crafted a book about bad bosses. He set up a page on his website where visitors can buy a copy of his book anonymously and have it sent to their terrible boss. Well, someone did exactly that and the terrible boss was the CEO of a Fortune 100 company. My client saw the name of the CEO and called him a short time after mailing the book.
The CEO was livid with rage that someone would dare send an anonymous copy of a book because they view him as a bad boss.
At first, he demanded to know who bought the book. But my clever client was too smart for that nonsense.
He started asking the CEO questions about the company and how things work with their people and in less than two weeks he had a $200,000 contract. In 2021 that contract was renewed for $250,000. He continues humming along doing the work he enjoys in relative anonymity. Just the way he likes it.
Do you think he cares even the tiniest bit that his book hasn’t made it on the bestseller list? Nope, not at all.
So, if you’ve considered the idea of writing a book to elevate your stature and expertise, now is an excellent time. Book sales have skyrocketed as much as 30% in some genres during the pandemic as smart people have done their best to make wise use of the extra time they’ve had at home over the last year. They’re also getting back into the smart habit of buying and reading more books. One of them could be yours.
Yes, this isn’t what I normally write on my blog, but I wanted to share a different type of writing, more personal and emotional. Because perhaps that’s exactly what you need for your book. Let me know if I can help you. (By the way, the picture above is a selfie taken August 7, 2017 – on the beach.) ~Denise M. Michaels
· https://internationalbookwritingguild.com/
· DeniseMM
Writing Your Book Yourself?
Don’t Go it Alone.
You’ve got good ideas, actually great ones. You enjoy writing, too.
However, writing a book is an entirely different matter. You’ll want it to be emotionally compelling and connect with readers. You want to be perceived as an expert but without sounding like a bore or a showoff. You’ll also want to build a relationship with readers so they want to find out more about you and what you offer:
When you work personally with an expert who knows the path to writing a successful book the journey is much easier. You have an experienced guide on your side who’ll make suggestions to bring your book to a higher level and make it even better than you imagined. You’ll actually save time doing it right rather than doing it over and over.
Let’s schedule a time to talk about your book vision by going to the Contact Page. Let’s discuss what you’ve done so far and how I can help you best. I’ll answer all your questions and share my fees with you at that time so you can make the best decision for you.
@InternationalBookWritingGuild
Www.internationalbookwritingguild.com/
About The Author
