a (Wildly) Successful Book

Transcription

1 How To Write and Publish a (Wildly) Successful Book 5 Critical Steps

2 A NOTE FROM ELIZABETH 21 Welcome! I don't know exactly what compelled you to request this toolkit, but perhaps... You've wanted to write a book for as long as you can remember. You have a message to share in a way that's currently missing from the marketplace. You want to boost your credibility and authority in your field. You are an expert in a particular subject matter, and you'd like your message to benefit customers you wouldn't ordinarily be able to reach due to geography 48 W W W. P U B L I S H A P R O F I T A B L E B O O K. C O M

3 OR MAYBE... You have a message you know will benefit others, but have no idea where to start (and the thought of writing it yourself makes you cringe because you believe you are a "bad" writer and/or cannot stand writing). You've written NONE of the book, but publishing a book is something you've vowed to do. 48 I completely get it. In 2003, I decided to write a book with a tone and message that was missing from the marketplace. After hearing "No" one too many times from agents, I became determined to make it happen myself---at a time when social media was not yet around and self-publishing was not as common as it is today. I still managed to sell 50,000+ books (as a part-time gig while parenting three toddlers). The book publishing process is not as complicated as it appears, I promise. And with a stepby-step system in place as well as access to my and other self-published authors' mis-steps, you can go from here to (wildly) successful author in no time! Let's get going! 21 You've already written the majority of the book. You have the majority of your book outlined or written but are so overwhelmed by whether or not to contact an agent or publisher or publish it yourself that you simply procrastinate and do nothing Elizabeth Lyons Best-selling author W W W. P U B L I S H A P R O F I T A B L E B O O K. C O M

4 GET THE BOOK WRITTEN! S T E P 1 GET THE BOOK WRITTEN I often speak with entrepreneurs, subject matter experts, or people who simply have a story to tell, and when I ask them how far along in the writing of the book they are, they reply, "Oh, I haven't even started that part yet. I don't know where to begin!" Or, they've started, but got sidetracked by, you know, life. Or, they got so overwhelmed by thinking about what they were supposed to do once they finished writing that they set the entire project aside---out of sight, out of mind (out of the market). If this sounds all too familiar, fear not. We will get your book written! I've done it 4 times myself and am in the process of writing my 5th book, and I'm no less overwhelmed each time. I know without doubt what it takes to go from having a book concept to having a completed manuscript. BUT I NEED YOU TO LET ME KNOW that you need a system (and a push in the right direction) to get that book written! So, if you are stuck in the "How and when will I ever get this book written?" phase, drop a really quick to elizabeth@publishaprofitablebook.com and simply put HELP ME GET MY BOOK WRITTEN" in the subject line. More information will be coming your way, and once you have your book written we'll get you all set for Part 2 of this adventure: actually publishing your soonto-be (wildly) successful book! W W W. P U B L I S H A P R O F I T A B L E B O O K. C O M

5 S T E P 2 PICK A PUBLISHING MODEL Option 1: Traditional Publishing I won't go into tremendous detail on the process, pros and cons of traditional publishing because, in all likelihood, if you're here you're already relatively certain that traditional publishing isn't the best approach for your project. In short, time-to-market is long, control over assets such as edits and cover design is minimal, you'll be responsible for the majority (if not all) of the marketing and you'll spend time you don't have convincing agents and editors that your product is viable. You already believe that that it is, so let's focus on getting it out there and proving it! W W W. P U B L I S H A P R O F I T A B L E B O O K. C O M

6 Option 2: Hybrid Publishing In short, hybrid publishing is a bit of a...wait for it...hybrid between traditional and selfpublishing. It's become an increasingly popular approach, and certainly has benefits (as well as oftenoverlooked disadvantages). Popular "hybrid" services include print on demand (POD) services such as Blurb and DigiPod as well as "vanity" publishers such as Harbor House and Sterling House, which I also consider part of the hybrid approach. As I mentioned, hybrid publishing has some drawbacks, and if you know about them in advance and are comfortable with them, great. Most of the authors I've spoken with who utilized a hybrid publisher, however, didn't know about those drawbacks until they were 3/4 of the way through the process. By that point, they decided to simply work with what they had in order to get their book to market without having to completely start over and spend a good bit of additional money.

7 Hybrid Publishing One of the perceived benefits of hybrid publishing services is that they provide many publishing components such as cover design and distribution while allowing you to maintain all rights to your work. Often, however, their editors/cover designers aren't the most cost competitive and/or aren't the right fit for your project. The cost of book printing and shipping leaves little (if any) margin for profit, and makes direct-to-customer distribution extremely challenging. In the end, while basic packages seem reasonably priced, you are likely to spend FAR more money in total to use their services and encounter less assistance than you expect to receive for your investment. Combine that reality with the marginal profit margin, and this model quickly becomes less appealing. When working with hybrid publishers, the author generally must have nerves of steel.

8 Option 3: Self Publishing The self publishing approach is the one whereby the author forms the publishing house (just like any other business), and is fully responsible for every aspect of the project- -from writing the book (or having it ghostwritten) to hiring an editor and cover designer to sourcing a printer to marketing and distribution. It allows for, by far, the greatest profit margin and control over the end product, and with the right blueprint is far less overwhelming than authors are initially led to believe. The number of self-published titles in 2013 was up 437% from *According to a ProQuest analysis of ISBN data

9 Self publishing Summary When your goal is to have control over the deliverables and the timeline, while making as much profit as you can under the least amount of "time pressure," self publishing is truly the best option. Pros Control over timeline Control over assets (cover, edits, marketing plan) Control over distribution Higher profit margin No sales timeline pressure Cons Overwhelm & responsibility for the entire process (but there are lots of ways to make this easier than it seems, and I'll provide you with the tools to do so) Potentially higher up-front investment (though the overall investment tends to be lower from start to finish)

10 S T EP 3 CHANGE YOUR MINDSET I NEED YOU TO DO SOMETHING RIGHT NOW that will completely change the course and outcome of your book launch, regardless of which publishing model you choose.

11 M I N S E T S H I F T STOP thinking of your book as a book and start thinking of it as a PROJECT

12 What's Really Involved? Many authors are surprised to discover that their BOOK isn't in the center of the above diagram. Truthfully, unless you are publishing simply to say "I published a book" and/or to give your book to family and friends, your book is merely a COMPONENT of your overall project; not your project itself. Your book is going to be the one TANGIBLE end product (for now), but in order for it to be successful, it's CRITICAL to view it as part of a PROJECT, not simply a as product that will, on its own, form a wellrounded business venture.

13 S T E P 4 BUILD AN ENGAGED PLATFORM Do you have a huge list? WHO WILL YOU SELL TO? Do you have at least 10,000 Instagram fans and 13,000 Facebook followers? No? Hm. Should you panic? NOT AT ALL! Guess what?! Even if you do have these kinds of numbers built up, if they are not engaged fans who are ready to buy, it doesn't matter. I would prefer to have 200 loyal, consistent customers over 20,000 assumed but flaky customers any day of the week. MANY BELIEVE THAT, BY PUBLISHING WITH A TRADITIONAL OR HYBRID PUBLISHER, YOU GET TO AVOID THE NOT-SO-FUN WORK OF PLATFORM BUILDING, MARKETING AND PR. NOT THE CASE. NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT.

14 Regardless of which publishing model you choose, the quality of your platform will be critical, so it's important to start building it as soon as possible. you are doing and why. Once that understanding is in place, the platform building isn't as perilous as it sounds. Regardless of where you are in your book publishing journey, you can start building your platform right away. Stay tuned to your s because we'll be exploring Insider Strategies to build an engaged platform QUICKLY and EFFICIENTLY! I'll walk you through how to authentically build this critical component. And even if you didn't start yesterday it will be perfectly fine. The key is understand what W W W. P U B L I S H A P R O F I T A B L E B O O K. C O M

15 S T E P 5 DEPLOY A LAUNCH SYSTEM I have sold 50,000+ books (and thousands of ebooks) to date-- and selling books represents only a portion of my business. It's passive income, and it's opened doors I never imagined it could. I've spent years honing my approach, and I'm excited to share with you the critical lessons I've learned, including: - How to find the best editor, cover designer and printer - How NOT to setup and name your company if you want maximum credibility - The characteristic you likely BELIEVE successful authors must have that, in fact, couldn't be further from the truth - The strategy that MUST form the foundation of your project (and how I REALLY screwed this one up --- and not with Book 1 or Book 2 but Book 3, if you can believe it). W W W. P U B L I S H A P R O F I T A B L E B O O K. C O M

16 The Truth... This knowledge would HAVE have A PLAN shaved AND months A SYSTEM (if not years) off of my own publishing timeline and ultimate success had someone clued me in up-front. And, while financial gain is not always an individual's chosen barometer of success, the truth is that these lessons also would have added tens of thousands of dollars to my bank account far sooner. Additionally, my overall financial investment would have been significantly less had I known then what I know now. The learning cost me not only time but quite a bit of money. So keep your eye on your Inbox. The live webinar during which I'll expand upon all of these steps (and then some) as well as answer your burning questions is just around the corner, and I want to be sure you don't miss it. W W W. P U B L I S H A P R O F I T A B L E B O O K. C O M

17 Until Then... Be sure you are getting HAVE in A on PLAN the AND conversation A SYSTEM in the Facebook group ( Let me know what questions you have! Where are you stuck? Where are you confused? I'm so excited to help your publishing dream become a reality. Onward! *This entire document is Copyright 2015 Finn-Phyllis Press, Inc. No part of it may be reproduced or redistributed in any way without the express written permission of Finn-Phyllis Press, Inc. W W W. P U B L I S H A P R O F I T A B L E B O O K. C O M