avatarJyssica Schwartz

Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of leveraging a book as a marketing tool within a broader business strategy to generate income, rather than relying solely on book sales.

Abstract

The article addresses the common frustration among self-published authors who struggle to sell their books despite their efforts. It highlights the competitive nature of the publishing industry, with hundreds of thousands of books published annually and many selling fewer than 250 copies. The piece argues that making a living from book sales alone is rare and suggests that books should be viewed as part of a larger business model. It proposes that nonfiction books, in particular, can serve as effective marketing tools, establishing authors as experts and thought leaders, which can lead to speaking engagements, increased sales of courses, and other business opportunities. The author shares personal experience about how publishing a book improved credibility, attracted clients, and enhanced business prospects.

Opinions

  • The traditional approach of making money from book sales is challenging, especially for self-published authors.
  • Marketing and selling a book is more difficult than the writing and publishing process.
  • A book's success can be hindered by factors such as an ungrabbing cover, poor keyword selection, lack of professional editing, and insufficient marketing.
  • Being a published author can significantly boost one's professional credibility and open doors to new business ventures.
  • A book can be a powerful marketing asset, showcasing an author's expertise and leading to increased business opportunities.
  • Writing a book can serve as a tangible portfolio piece for authors, particularly for those in the freelance writing and ghostwriting industry.
  • Publishing a book can justify higher service rates for writing and editing services, as it validates the author's expertise.

How To Make Money From Your Book

You CAN make money using your book — it’s not what you think.

“Why isn’t my book selling?!”

You cry, after self-publishing your book and seeing it live.

Maybe it’s been out for months and you’re still only seeing maybe one copy a week being sold.

But you put it all over social media! You had people review it! You told everyone to like, share, and comment!

How could it not be selling?

“There are somewhere between 600,000 and 1,000,000 books published every year in the US alone, depending on which stats you believe. Many of those — perhaps as many as half or even more — are self-published. On average, they sell less than 250 copies each.” — Nick Morgan, Contributor to Forbes

As you can see, there is a lot of competition.

But competition aside, there are self-published books which can sell consistently.

In today’s marketplace, there are very few authors who make a living from writing books alone. Unless you’re Nora Roberts or Stephen King, you aren’t likely to get famous and make tons of money from your one or two books. It just is not the norm.

Finishing and publishing your book is the easy part.

Marketing and selling your book over time is what’s tough!

There are many reasons why your book may not do well.

Perhaps your cover is not grabbing eyes, maybe you don’t have the right keywords or categories selected, or you didn’t get it professionally edited (a must!).

Have you done marketing for your book? Are you leveraging your network, getting reviews, and doing ads? Did you put the book in all your bios and your email signature?

You could even pay a person or company to market your book for you. But there’s another way.

How To Make Money From Your Book

So after hearing all of that, you may be asking, “OK…but you said I could make money from a book??”

You can. But it’s not from the book alone.

As you saw above, it is very unlikely that you’ll make an actual living from writing a book, especially if you’ve only written one.

But if you’re using your book as one piece of a larger business, then it will be a potential gold mine for you!

Nonfiction books can be a great marketing tool for your business and show you as an expert and a thought leader.

Being a published author will also be a solid credential if you’re looking to book speaking gigs.

Your book will help position you as a leader in an industry and will help you to sell courses and other educational materials.

There are a ton of articles and posts all over the internet and Medium all about marketing your book and trying to sell it. But what about the other way around?

Books As Marketing

Your book is the perfect marketing tool.

Let me give you a real life personal example.

I published my first book “Write. Get Paid. Repeat.” in August 2017.

I’d been working as a freelance writer for almost a year and had already ghostwritten several books by that point.

When working as a ghostwriter on books, you are almost always required to sign an NDA (nondisclosure agreement) and your name is not on the book and you cannot use the book as a writing sample.

Which is completely fine! I was paid up front and understood the terms.

But when marketing myself and talking to prospective clients, I could only say, “I’ve ghostwritten several books but can’t share them with you.” So, not ideal!

So, I wrote a book. It was the simplest way to prove I could write one.

And it worked!

Not only am I able to use my book as a writing sample and a marketing tool when speaking with potential clients, but I have also gotten new clients and people added to my mailing list who simply found my book and read it.

I was able to charge more for my ghostwriting and book editing services, as being a published author seemed to legitimize me as a writer and editor — and my business.

I later wrote and published a second book which was more of a passion project, because I didn’t have to focus it on my business or for marketing purposes — my first accomplished that already.

So, yes. You CAN make money with a book. It’s by using your book as part of an overall business.

YouTube video that goes along with this article.

Check out my brand new book Concept to Conclusion: How to Write a Book and learn everything you need to know to conceive of, outline, write, publish, and market a book!

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