Should You Write a Book? (1)

By Steven Van Yoder

[Editor’s Note: Steven provides an excellent list of possible
benefits–but he needs a reality check. Is it possible to
achieve these results? Absolutely; I’ve personally experienced most
of them. Is it likely? Not for 95% of book authors. About
150,000 books are published each year in the United States alone.
There are probably only a few thousand who are experiencing the kind
of success Steven describes.

How can you be one of the few?

• Identify a strong need to solve a problem or better a common condition
• Write the best possible book on the subject: clear, useful, and error-free
• Either find a traditional publisher (which gives you
  significantly more credibility, but is extremely difficult to
  achieve)or learn how to be a fabulous self-publisher (time-consuming,
  but achievable and profitable)
• Create (or hire out) eye-catching cover and interior designs, a
  well-engineered, easy-to-find website, and superb marketing materials
• Promote, promote, promote, and promote some moreSteven has done all this. He and his staff work very hard at
  promoting Get Slightly Famous. His success is not accidental.

  As a book publishing and marketing consultant, I walk clients through
  every step of the process, from deciding whether to approach
  publishers or do it yourself to making the contacts for marketing,
  distribution, and so forth. I see, over and over again, that the
  people who take the time and trouble to follow the five points above
  are the ones who succeed.

  End of my rant; now on to Steven’s wisdom.

  –Shel Horowitz, editor, Down to Business magazine, shel@principledprofits.com]

  ---

  One morning, you open your inbox and find several e-mails that will
  boost your business. There is an invitation to speak at a local group
  comprised of your best prospects. Several emails have arrived from
  people who’ve “heard of you” and inquire about your services.

  There is a message from a potential joint venture partner who has
  invited you to be a guest on a teleconference that will reach 500
  people, all of them prospects. Later that day, a journalist calls.
  She wants to write a story about your business, which she heard about
  on a radio interview you gave weeks earlier.

  Is this a fantasy? No. This could be a typical day in your life as a
  published author.

  More and more business people are realizing the power of writing a
  book to catapult their businesses to a higher level. Speakers,
  consultants, coaches, therapists and other small business owners are
  learning that publishing a book is one of the most powerful marketing
  strategies available.

  Published authors report that their lives change, often dramatically,
  when their books reach the marketplace. When you become an author,
  you become known as the expert. When you are known as an expert in
  your field, whatever your field, you will find that the world will
  beat a path to your door.

  A Book Generates Visibility and Attracts Clients

  Of all the information products you can create, a book has the
  greatest potential to open doors. A book can give you more
  recognition and professional credibility than audiotapes, CDs,
  videos, seminars, workshops and public speaking.

  Since my book Get Slightly Famous was published last year, I have
  been amazed at how it has transformed my business.

  Publishing my book was a newsworthy event that resulted in tens of
  thousands of dollars in new business, high-profile media coverage,
  speaking engagements, radio interviews, partnership opportunities,
  and too many other benefits to mention.

  Prospective clients now hear about me from all over the world. The
  media regularly call me, and I appear in newspaper articles and radio
  interviews.

  Get Slightly Famous is not just my most effective marketing tool. It
  has become the core of my brand identity. My book provides a
  marketing platform for my business that gives all my marketing
  efforts a natural, sharp focus.

  Best of all, marketing is not such a struggle anymore.

  As a successful author you will find the stress of constantly seeking
  new clients can largely become a thing of the past. Clients will seek
  you out, ready to pay good money for your services, because you are
  seen as a leader in your field. You become their first choice.

  It’s Not Just a Book — It’s a Business!

  Your book is the seed from which you can grow a multi-faceted
  “empire” of related products and services, including seminars,
  teleclasses, reports, consulting packages, audiotapes, and other
  profitable information products.

  Imagine selling thousands of books to trade associations as premiums
  for their members. Or how about creating a $49-a-month newsletter, a
  $995 home-study course, a $499 a year membership web site? Could you
  use your book as the basis for a year-long mentorship program for
  which individuals or groups that pay thousands of dollars a piece to
  participate?

  The idea is to see your book as a launching pad for new business opportunities.

  Barbara Hemphill used her book Taming The Paper Tiger to develop a
  multi-pronged branding strategy. Hemphill offers organizing skills
  services designed to reduce stress and increase productivity. Her
  business is based almost entirely on her book.

  Barbara has used her book to develop Taming the Paper Tiger software,
  gain an endorsement by Pendaflex, and found the Hemphill Productivity
  Institute. Her company now employs more than 70 Paper Tiger
  authorized consultants across the U.S. and Canada.

  You can write a book!

  Me, publish a book, you ask? Yes, you. It is easier than you might
  think, and you don’t need to be a seasoned writer to become a
  published author.

  Writing a successful book is not the easiest thing in the world, but
  it is entirely possible. The talents and expertise you bring to your
  clients can form the basis of a successful book. If you know your
  subject area, and can communicate your ideas in a clear, compelling,
  organized manner, becoming a published author is within your reach.

  A strategy that works for many is to break the process into smaller
  steps by writing a series of articles. They then become the basis for
  a book. Or, you can work with a talented freelance writer to help you
  express your ideas clearly and with conviction.

  The most traditional route is to find a publisher who will handle the
  production, marketing, promotion and distribution. This involves up
  front work (you write a detailed proposal, a table of contents,
  sample chapters and a market overview). Then you shop the proposal
  around to potential publishers, either on your own or with the help
  of a commissioned agent.

  Self-publishing has many advantages over traditional publishing, the
  most compelling being greater financial returns for the author. “When
  you self-publish, you keep all the profits,” says Dan Poynter, author
  of The Self-Publishing Manual. “Additionally, you get into print
  quickly, own the copyright, and take all applicable tax breaks.”

  On the downside, self-publishing can be expensive. You pay up front
  for all the production and distribution costs, and if your book does
  not sell, you will be stuck with the leftover inventory. However, if
  your book is successful, you will not only have the satisfaction and
  advantages of being a published author, you will make more money.

  Whatever publishing route you choose, the Internet provides a global
  marketplace for your book. Never before has it been so easy to market
  a book if you are willing to invest the time and energy to write one.

  Steven Van Yoder is the author of Get Slightly Famous. He teaches
  small business owners how to duplicate his success and become a
  “slightly” famous author in your field. Visit http://www.getslightlyfamous.com to claim your FREE Slightly Famous Marketing Plan Workbook and learn how
  to attract more business with less effort by creating your own information empire.