Have you been wanting to write a book for your business, but every time you think about it, all these “ideas” come up for you (you’re not even sure where they came from), about how long and difficult it’s going to be.
Maybe you’ve heard from your friend that they’ve been trying to write their book for 10 years already and it hasn’t materialized and you figure it will be the same for you, so you don’t even bother to start.
Or maybe you’re thinking that even if you got it written, you wouldn’t know the first thing about publishing it.
So here you are. No book.
Well, today I want to share with you 10 LIES you’ve likely been told and I’m hoping once we’re through, you’ll see the real truth …. and maybe you’ll get the spark to go write that book.
1. If I want my book to be very valuable, I have to put EVERYTHING I know into it.
Your book isn’t a dumping ground. Your every thought isn’t supposed to be in it. In fact, writing a book that’s narrowly niched will be much more valuable to your business and your reader. Pick ONE THING that you’re great at, that you want to be known for and that you know is directly tied to your business and write about that.
2. Writing a book takes a loooong time and will be a hard road if I want it to be good.
Just because something takes a long time doesn’t mean it’s going to be good. Writing and re-writing chapter 1 (or the intro) of your book doesn’t mean it’s getting better. I think sometimes we get caught up in thinking it has to be long and hard to prove that we worked hard and deserve the notoriety. You deserve to be recognized for your awesome book contribution even if it takes you only 6 days (the length of time it took me to write my last best seller) to write yours.
3. If I don’t have a big list of followers I can’t get to Best Seller.
Getting to best seller is a strategic marketing plan and can be done a number of ways. A big list and a lot of followers will make it easier, but that doesn’t exclude you from becoming a best seller if you only have a few people on your list.
4. People will only think my book is worth buying if it’s 200 pages or more.
Having a long book doesn’t mean it’s better. Would you rather have a “no fluff” book that gives you exactly what you want or a book that has a bunch of extra nothingness that you have to sort through? I always recommend short read books (65 pages or less) to my clients so they can be very focused on their subject AND it’s plain faster to write.
5. When I put my book out, if I write it well, everyone will like it - I just have to make sure I write it well.
Sadly, there’s no guarantee that everyone will like what you’re sharing. In fact, it’s easier to guarantee that someone out there won’t. Whether it’s because they disagree with you, don’t connect with your story, are jealous of what you know/have achieved, you’ll have times when someone tries to tear you down. This is likely going to happen regardless if you have a book or not. Remember, your book is written for a specific target audience. When someone outside of that audience reads your book, it’s almost like it was a mistake they picked it up. They might not like it and that’s perfectly okay! Move on. Next!
6. The only way to hit best seller is to give my book away for free on Amazon.
Oh boy, the stuff that’s out there. I’m not even sure where this came from. Yes you can hit best seller in the free category on Amazon. I would prefer to get to best seller in a paid category, wouldn’t you? On the other hand, after I’m done with my best seller launch, I’m happy to give away my book to the right person in order to turn that person into a higher paying client later.
7. Having your book on Amazon means sales automatically.
Purely having your book exists won’t create sales. Every product out that that has sales has a marketing plan. Your book needs one too. Just think about it, just because someone has a website or has an online store, doesn’t mean that they have clients continually. If you want your book to sell consistently, you’ve got to market it consistently and help people find out about it.
8. Once I hit Best Seller, the books will just keep selling on their own.
In continuation to lie number seven, it’s pretty much the same thing. Consistent sales means your doing consistent marketing. Just think about the movies. Your book launch day is like the premier showing of a new movie. The theatres are packed and as the novelty wears off and the marketing dwindles, fewer and fewer people are going to see that movie. Same with your book. So keep up the marketing!
9. I can just sell books for my business model….
Sure you can, but using your book as your end product is a hard way to get to a 6 figure business. The statistics for book sales is staggeringly low for authors. We hear so much about the huge hits out there, but the truth is that few books even hit 2,000 sales over their lifetime. It’s best to use your book as a tool for your visibility, credibility and lead generation.
10. Getting a publisher solves all my problems – THEY’LL sell my book for me.
I really really wish this one was true! A publisher actually expect you to sell your books. In fact, they’ll ask you how many followers you have and how many you think you can sell in your first run of printing. They evaluate that to see if they’re going to accept your pitch. You will still need to have your own marketing plan to sell your book consistently.
What does knowing the truth about these lies mean for you?
It means that writing your book doesn’t have to be a long and arduous task, unless you make it that way – if for some reason you want to torture yourself. Keep is short and sweet … and niched down.
It means that you can still hit best seller at whatever level of followers or list you have (you just have to have a strategy like I teach my clients). You don’t need a publisher. You can do it yourself.
It means that consistency breeds consistency – market your book consistently and you’ll have consistent sales.
BUT the best thing you can really do is to create a strategy where you upsell that reader into your other business products or packages.