Publishing a book is a great way to make money. But probably not in the way you have imagined.
You may have this amazing life story or great idea for a book, and would like to sell millions of copies and become the next JK Rowling, but did you know that focusing on actual book sales is not the most effective way for it to make money?
In fact, many well known authors give away their book FREE, as part of a bigger, more effective marketing strategy, and they bring in serious income.
Here’s the truth behind making money from books!
There is not much revenue from each book sale.
Let’s look at some figures. Say you make £4 profit from each book sale (or much less if it’s through a publisher), how many will you need to sell to earn the income you want? Then bear in mind you will need a very strong marketing plan to be able to reach enough people to make those sales, and the budget to put into your marketing in the first place.
It can cost you the same amount (or more) in marketing to sell a book than the profit you would have made. Of course it’s not impossible, but it is difficult to earn a decent income this way.
If, however, you use your book as a marketing tool, that leads into something bigger and more profitable, the possibilities are endless.
Imagine lazing in the sun on a beach somewhere, while around the world multiple people are absorbed into words for 6-9 hours each. Imagine them then talking about it with other people in their network and then they also become hooked on your words for the same amount of time.
Imagine the penny dropping for each of these people as they receive the answers to the very thing they needed help with. Imagine if they got to the end of the book thinking ‘Wow, I would love to take this further’.
Now imagine you giving them that opportunity at the end of your book.
You can use it to sell any product or service as long as you have crafted it in the correct way, and marketed it to the right audience.
Do you think they are likely to go for it? After 6-9 hours of almost being inside your head, you will have developed a connection, built the trust and established yourself as the expert without it taking more of your time and energy. Think of it like a 6-9 hour sales call that you can deliver to an unlimited number of people, anywhere in the world, at the same time without you actually having to do anything once it’s done.
On top of that, you will be able to increase your income by by bringing more visibility to yourself and your business, through the media coverage that will come as a result of your book. How does a book help you to get into the media? Because if anyone wants an expert to interview, they will go to the person who wrote a book on it!
In a similar way, you can use your book to build a career as a professional speaker. It is possible to do this without a book, but having one will greatly improve your chances of booking gigs as it’s evidence that you are an expert on the subject.
Does this mean you won’t sell book copies?
Absolutely not! Of course you can sell book copies, but there are so many more possibilities than relying on book sales alone and after all of those hours spent writing it, don’t you deserve the best financial outcome that you can achieve?