For this challenge I’ve turned to my favourite Canadian, Sam Pearce. I’ve known Sam for a number of years and have found that she is an inspiration regarding book publishing.

Before talking to Sam I’d had ideas about publishing – especially as when we first met I’d no idea what I could write about, let alone publish the results.

I’m going to let Sam have her say:

Why to publish your book as an Entrepreneur: How a book can help your business & how to write one without losing your mind

I have worked with many different authors over the years, and each of them has varying reasons for wanting to publish their books.  Unfortunately, many authors only see a book as a finite object; a goal they want to tick off their bucket list. By doing this, they miss the fact that publishing a book can be a very powerful business tool.

“How,” you ask? Well, beyond getting to add “published author” to your LinkedIn profile, there are 5 key areas where publishing your book can help take your business to the next level.

1. Passive Income
2. Raise Your Profile
3. Lead Generation
4. Expand Your Market
5. Marketing Tool

1. Passive Income

This is the obvious one and the next most common reason why authors publish.  If you are clever about how you publish your book, the price that you sell it for, and back all of that up with great marketing, you can turn a self-published book into an additional revenue stream.

Once the initial publishing expenses are out of the way, a book can quietly sit in the background of your business, evening out the inevitable peaks and troughs in your bank account that go hand in hand with starting a small business.

2. Raising Your Profile

This is one of the most powerful advantages of publishing a book to support your business.  Subconsciously from a very young age, we are taught to revere books and those who write them. All through our school years, we are instructed to look to books for knowledge and understanding. So it is no surprise that if you publish your book which is about your area of expertise, people begin to perceive you as an expert and start to set you apart from others in your field – even those who may have more experience then you.

3. Lead Generation

This is an under-utilised advantage of publishing a book on the same subject that your business is built on. It’s the concept of using your book as a sales tool to land bigger clients or contracts. I know of several authors who have made an art of this tactic; giving away copies of their book for free to VIP prospects knowing the advantage it gives them.

Using a book as a sales tool does three things: it gives prospects a low-risk opportunity to try before they buy to see if your concepts/solutions/ideas work for them. It allows the reader to build trust in you, even if they have never met you. Lastly, it provides tangible proof of your knowledge and your ability to deliver it.

4. Expand Your Market

Publishing a book gives you the opportunity to reach a much wider audience than you ever could on your own. No matter how good the systems and processes that you put in place in your business, there are only so many clients that you can service at any one time.

A book allows you to reach a wider range of people and is not restricted by geography or economics. A book also gives you the ability to help people who may not be able to afford your premium products/services, therefore expanding your customer base without the need for additional infrastructure.

5. Marketing Tool

Finally, publishing a book can have knock-on effects on your marketing.  It can open the door to getting asked to speak at conferences and events both about your book and your wider business.  It also presents the opportunity to set up your own mini events in the guise of a book launch or a book signing tour around bookstores or events in your field.

I see a lot of people getting scared off of writing a book because of the huge commitment not only of finances but of time and energy. However, when you look beyond a published book as a goal in itself and consider the potential return on investment that a book can have on your wider business, it makes for a very sound business strategy… as long as you do it properly!

Which brings me onto the next nugget of information that I want to share with you.

Writing a book can be a very long process, and I see a great many authors (myself included) who got stuck at some point along the journey. There are a countless number of reasons why this happens, but generally, they fall into one of two categories: The author didn’t know what to do next, or they got easily distracted and knocked off course by other ‘things’.

I’m going to share my biggest tip for making the process of writing and publishing a book so much… and that is to treat your book like a business!

If you are reading this blog, you are most likely already an entrepreneur, and as a business owner, you know that the key to starting and growing a successful business is to plan. Writing and publishing a book is no different.  By planning out your author journey, you make the process much easier and far less stressful.

Don’t worry, a book plan doesn’t need to be anything like the big scary financial plans you need in order to get investors or to keep shareholders happy.  It just needs to be a simple one-page business plan that answers 6 fundamental questions:

Who, What, Where, Why, How, and When.

1. Who

Simply put, who is your book for? Who is your ideal reader?

Don’t be afraid to really laser focus this. By narrowing down your ideal reader to a very specific demographic, you’re not preventing anyone outside of that demographic from buying your book, reading it, or even enjoying it. You’re making sure that the people who you really want to read it, and who will benefit the most from it, are not disappointed. Really knowing who these VIP readers are allows you to tailor your language, message, and marketing, specifically at them.

2. What

Another easy one – what do you want to share with them?

Think about what problem or pain point your reader has and then map out how your knowledge and expertise can help them. The more in-depth you get with answering this question the more useful it becomes as you can use it to start mapping out the structure of your book and plan what your chapters and main headings are going to be. That way, when it comes time to sit down and write, you’re simply filling in the blanks.

3. Where

This question starts to touch on the subject of logistics – where do you want your book to be available from, and where will you market it.

Using the information you gathered in question 1, you can start to paint a picture of where your ideal reader hangs out, where they shop, and where they get their information. You can then use that to figure out the best publishing route that gets your book into the stores your VIP readers shop in and helps you to formulate a targeted marketing strategy to promote it.

4. Why

This question has two components to it. The first is why will your readers want to read YOUR book? What sets it apart from other books that have been written on the same or similar subject? This is basically your USP. The second component is why do YOU want to write this book? It is vitally important to have an answer to this question, and preferably one that has a strong personal connection to you.

I’m not going to lie, writing a book is hard work. You need a strong personal reason to motivate you when the going gets tough and you find yourself wondering why you are putting yourself through this.

5. How

Again this is a logistics question, and it covers off things like how will you publish? Will you self-publish, or will you try and get a traditional publishing deal? How will you afford it?

If you opt to self-publish, there are a number of fairly expensive services that you will need to outsource and pay for before your book gets to market, and you’ll need to know how much those services cost and how you plan on paying for them. This also includes how you will market your book. Will you put some money behind paid advertising, or will you rely on social media and guerrilla marketing tactics?

6. When

This is a very key question that most people completely overlook.  If you’re like me, you need deadlines in order to motivate you to get things done. Setting yourself a schedule will help keep you on track and keep the project moving. It is important to tailor the answer to this question around how YOU personally like to work – especially if writing does not come naturally to you.

You may find that setting aside small segments of time each and every day works best for you. Alternatively, if you find it takes you a while to get the creative juices flowing, then you might benefit from carving out large chunks of time from your diary or possibly even taking a writing retreat and dedicating a weekend or a whole week to nothing but writing without distraction.

Answering this question also helps you maintain momentum in your marketing leading up to launch. There is nothing worse than talking to a potential reader about your book and have them ask when they can buy it only for you to answer with “I don’t know”. At least with a rough schedule, you can give them an idea of how long they will need to wait for your book.  It also introduces the potential of building up a pre-sales campaign, which can be hugely beneficial to launching your book with a bang.

This may seem like a lot of effort to expend before you’ve even written a single word of your manuscript, but trust me, it is time well spent. Having a good book plan provides clarity, it helps you maintain focus, and most importantly it helps you overcome the obstacles that will inevitably crop up along your journey to becoming a published author.

Happy writing!

Thanks Sam, much appreciated.

Samantha Pearce is the owner of SWATT Books, a self-publishing consultancy that helps independent business authors to publish their own books professionally, affordably, and ethically.

If you want to learn more about how self-publishing can benefit your business and how SWATT Books can help make that dream a reality, get in touch with Sam at sam@swatt-books.co.uk or visit the website at www.swatt-books.co.uk.

Sam’s book Stress-Free Self-Publishing is also now available: https://swatt-books.co.uk/sfsp.  If you get the opportunity to hear her speak, please go along. I’ve heard her a number of times now and I’ve learned a lot. I hope to use her services soon myself when I publish the first book of the Top Ten Challenges.

Sam eloquently outlines why it is of benefit to self publish your book as an Entrepreneur and this links with other other posts such as ‘Top 10 Tips to Manage Stress‘ and the Top 10 Challenges for small business entrepreneurs discussed in our blog series. There are lots of other posts on key issues for small business owners and entrepreneurs across this site and to see new articles from the Outsourced Finance Director please subscribe using the box on the right-hand side of this page.

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