Honoree Corder's Blog, page 12

Every Business Professional Needs to Write a Book

This post was originally published on Forbes by Kevin Kruse, here.

 

  “Have a book to hand out, and you will stand out.” ~@Honoree http://amzn.to/2bKoKq6 #youmustwriteabook

Are you exceptional in your field? On the cusp of taking the next step but don’t know how to make it happen?
Would you like to be the one that gets called for TED or TEDx Talks?

 

In her new release, You Must Write a Book: Boost Your Brand, Get More Business, and Become the Go-To Expert , author, speaker, and business manager to the best-selling The Miracle Morning book series, Honorée Corder demystifies what it takes to go from “I don’t know where to begin” to climbing up the Amazon rankings.
Honorée Corder is an expert in the field of publishing and knows what few will tell you. Books are the new business card. She has written almost two dozen books, leveraged those books to build a successful speaking career (TEDx Talk: Authenticity is the New Black) and coaching career, and currently has dozens of streams of income. When she wrote and self-published her first book Tall Order! twelve years ago it, she didn’t know one was supposed to buy 1,000 copies and let 900 of them rot away in her garage. She ordered 5,000 copies. A week later she ordered 5,000 more because the first run sold out. The second run didn’t last much longer.
In You Must Write a Book, she begins by laying out the case for what your book will do for your business.
Saying you’re the best at what you do falls on deaf ears.
A slick business card, shiny website, and advanced degrees are the norm. If you want to stand out, to rise above the rest, you need the cachet that comes with being an author.
The world of publishing has been turned upside down and the new rulers of the jungle are indie authors. Honorée Corder explains who must write a book, the why, and the strategic thinking one needs to finish with a polished product that is indistinguishable from the tomes that come out of New York.
Who Must Write a Book?
The most common excuse that stops people in their tracks is I’m not a writer, and this simply isn’t true. You write notes, emails, briefs, reports, and clever Facebook posts about your cat, every single day. You ARE a writer.
The question most asked is, What would I possibly have to say? The answer is so, so, much. You have a unique combination of life experience, education, and knowledge that give you a voice unlike anyone else. You know more than you think. Honorée shares her own experience with overcoming doubt that her message would resonate with readers. You’ll go from wondering, Who am I to write a book? to knowing without a doubt the “who” is you.
Why Write a Book?
A book helps you dominate your market, differentiates you from “that guy who says he does what you do” (but really doesn’t), and it makes you more cool at cocktail parties. Have a book to hand out, and you will stand out.
A book establishes authority. Sure, degrees, certifications, or licenses may have taken years to obtain and are supposed to establish authority, but you can’t run a Facebook ad about your Ph.D. Having a book with your name on it rises above anything else you have done or can do.
More than all of that, a book lives forever. It can generate royalties for you for your entire life, and then for seventy years after you’re gone. Indeed, it can be your legacy.
How do I Write, Publish, and Market My Book?
This is the meat of You Must Write a Book. Honorée begins with pre-book strategic thinking, which covers the goals of the book and how to achieve them. Are you writing a book to get your message out? Do you want the book to land you speaking gigs at $10,000 an hour? Are you building your brand? Is this book’s mission to make you a highly sought after consultant?
It is the understanding of the mission that will lead to a successful 100-day plan. She discusses the need to consider whether the book will be an ebook, audio book, paperback, hard cover, secure foreign translations, or all of the above, and how one makes that happen.
After building a plan, one must consider the editing, cover art, and whether to self-publish or seek a traditional deal. She covers the pros and cons of either route.
By the time you finish with the chapters on marketing strategy, you’ll be ready to get to writing. The process of going from fear to final draft and then to finished product is an amazing journey. It will change your life. Writing a book has been your dream. Get started now by picking up your copy of You Must Write a Book .

 

 

 

Powered by Indie

The month of October is #PoweredByIndie. Throughout October, Amazon is celebrating great writing published via Kindle Direct Publishing, CreateSpace and Audiobook Creation Exchange. The celebration includes a vast spectrum of books presented to entertain, excite, and inform. Amazon’s top authors share their paths as independent writers and showcase their favorite books to take readers on a journey of fact and fiction. You can check out #PoweredbyIndie on Amazon here.
Here are just three quick reasons I love being an indie author:
First: Complete creative control. As an indie, you get to decide your cover, interior design, sales copy, and content.
Second: Speed to market. It was just 122 days from idea to publication for  You Must Write a Book . Some of my indie colleagues write and launch their books within 2-3 weeks! Traditional publishing can take up to two years… Also, updates and corrections can be made with ease (and quickly), which can really come in handy!
Third: Timing is everything. I can publish on my own terms, in my own timing. You Must Write a Book was released in conjunction with a very cool event I’m attending October 21st in New York City (stay tuned for details).
I truly love being an indie author. There are other reasons, too, and I’ll share some of them soon. In the meantime, tell me what you love about being an indie in the comments below (or what you know you’ll love about it).
Happy Writing!

 

  More Good Stuff…
~ BONUSES! Get access to my podcast pitch emails (and so much more) when you read You Must Write a Book.
~  You need reviews for your books! This tool will get you lots and lots! 
~ Every Business Professional Needs to Write a Book (FORBES)
~ Authority Self-Publishing Episode 59: Why You Must Write a Book
~ 3 Things I Wish I Knew by Mark Dawson

 

 

Not receiving these posts in your inbox yet? If you’d like to receive more articles about writing and making money as a writer – and how to become a prosperous, full-time writer go here .
Website: HonoreeCorder.com
Facebook: facebook.com/Honoree
Twitter: twitter.com/Honoree

 

Getting Love from Amazon

No sense launching a book on Amazon, only to have it fall off of the “Amazon Cliff” within a few weeks … you don’t want to go to all of the trouble of writing and launching a book, only to have it die in obscurity. So, you’ve got to be smart about your launch and use every angle to your book’s advantage.
Before Kindle, Facebook, twitter, and Instagram, I had the task of getting the word out about my book. Now, with the Internet at our fingertips, it’s easier than ever. But I believe book sales are, in a lot of ways, a mindset followed by lots of action. You’ll find out how I sold 11,000 copies of my first book here.
You need to know how to launch your book on Amazon so Amazon takes notes and shows you some Amazon Love. If you don’t know what to do, your book can fall off of the “Amazon Cliff” which means by the time it’s no longer a ‘hot new release’ (after 30 days), it doesn’t have enough juice to maintain momentum and get consistent sales over the long term.
I define Amazon Love as:
Amazon realizes your book is profitable and worthy of their marketing efforts. They use the power of their data to market to people you would otherwise never know how to find.
Let’s break that down, shall we?
It’s profitable: You’ve sold at least 100 copies within a few days of your launch and so is Amazon.
It’s worthy of their marketing efforts: Your buyers, for the most part, fit the avatar (a.k.a. your ideal client/reader profile) for your book. Amazon looks for common qualities amongst your purchasers and uses that data to market to other ideal readers you would otherwise never be able to identify.
Now, let’s discuss the benchmarks you’ll want to strive to hit to get you some Amazon Love:


Launch with 100 verified reviews. Verified reviews are reviews from people who have read and purchased your book. I’ve heard from multiple sources verified reviews are up to 500% more important than unverified reviews. So when you have people read and review your book, ask them to also purchase it. You might do them a solid and price the book at 99 cents for a day or two so it’s an easy decision to lend their support.


Have consistent sales over the course of the first 30 days. Instead of selling all of your books on one day (this actually works against you from a data standpoint), stagger your promotional efforts as well as when your friends, family, advanced readers, and “others” buy your book.


Speaking of promotions, I highly suggest a healthy combination of podcast guesting, book promotion sites (like FreeBooksy and BuckBooks), as well as consistently sharing on social media.


While this idea is a bit controversial in the indie book publishing world, enrolling your book (at least for the first 90 days) in KDP Select will encourage Amazon to promote your book even more. You’ll also be eligible for placing ads through Amazon Marketing Services.



Combining the above four tactics will hopefully make Amazon magic for your book. Cheers to magic!

ICYMI: October is Indie Author Month! You can check out #PoweredbyIndie on Amazon here.

MORE GOOD STUFF…
~ BONUSES! Get access to my fully-comprehensive Book Publishing Checklist (and so much more) when you read  You Must Write a Book.
~  Top 7 Mistakes that Make Your Book Repulsive (Book Marketing Tools & The Author Hangout Podcast)
~ Every Professional Must Write a Book (HuffPo)

 

Not receiving these posts in your inbox yet? If you’d like to receive more articles about writing and making money as a writer – and how to become a prosperous, full-time writer go here .
Website: HonoreeCorder.com
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Twitter: twitter.com/Honoree

 

How I Sold 11,000 Copies of My First Book in 3 Weeks

It’s a pretty exciting day today: my newest book,  You Must Write a Book  is quietly available in paperback and eBook on Amazon. These next few days constitute the “soft launch” portion of the book launch program, prior to the “Launch!” on Monday, October 3rd. I hope if you’ve ever considered writing a book, you’ll pick up a copy and feel inspired to work on your book right away.
One of the questions I get most often is, “Can I make money from my book?” The answer is a resounding yes! I make money both directly (I earn money from the sales of my books) and indirectly (new clients and opportunities due to brand awareness and expert credibility) from my books.
Let’s start with making money directly from a book. Before spending time on the Internet and social media were as commonplace as having our morning coffee, I had to use some good old-fashioned sales tactics to sell books. Yup, I’m basically saying I walked both ways, uphill, in 3 feet of snow, to get to school. Exact same thing, except this was 2004-2005, and I lived in Las Vegas (so no snow).
Once my book was finished and “in the publishing process” (read: edited, proofed, formatted, and at the printers), I had several weeks to wait for delivery. Optimistic little bugger that I was, I had ordered 5,000 copies. As soon as it dawned on me I HAD 5,000 COPIES (!!!) on their way, I figured I should probably get busy selling them.
Thankfully, Mark Victor Hansen had given me this sentence to use to sell my books:
“Would you like to buy between 10 and 100 copies of my book for your friends, clients, co-workers and/or employees?” 
And that, my friends, is the sentence I used to help me sell 11,000 books … in just three weeks. At the time, I had about 50 coaching clients, who ranged from solo business owners to Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 CEOs.
I created master list starting with my clients, then added all of my friends, strategic partners, and other business connections. While I was waiting for the books to arrive, I called every last one of them, told them about my upcoming book, and asked, Would you like to buy between 10 and 100 copies of my book for your friends, clients, co-workers and/or employees? (I also created an order form I could email or fax to them.)
Note: I also offered to send them a free copy. I mean, I had 5,000 COPIES (!!!) on their way, so I figured I’d have plenty to share… While some people said they weren’t interested or didn’t read (wait, what?), some people bought a few copies (that’s what friends are for, right?). I had many connections who bought 100 copies, a few bought a cool thousand, and one of my CEO clients even bought 3,000 for all of his middle-management employees and their teams.
You might say I was shameless, and to a point, I was. I had received good feedback from advanced readers. I was excited about my book and proud of myself for following through and writing it. I wanted everyone to read it, and knew the only way for that to happen was to spread the word. I think because of my previous success in sales, I wasn’t afraid to make the ask and didn’t take no personally (believe me, I got plenty of no’s!). I just knew if someone took the time to read the book, it would inspire and entertain them … it could help them reach their goals while getting more out of lives and businesses.
I embraced my fearless side and sold my books. I was a single mom at the time, and my daughter (and specifically her private school tuition) was my driving force for getting over my hesitations and getting on with book selling.
Here’s what I didn’t realize until much later: the average book sells (according to Quora.com) 250 books per year and less than 3,000 over its lifetime. Well, friends, I didn’t know that! And, I’m so glad I didn’t. Sometimes, lack of knowledge can be a good thing, and in my case, it was a great thing. I did not have a single limiting belief about how many books I was “supposed” to sell, or “allowed” to sell, or “expected” to sell. I used the question Mark gave me and I asked it. Over and over and over.
I didn’t even know about the “250” and “3000” numbers until I was telling someone my story and they told me, “That’s incredible! You know most books only ever sell a few hundred copies.” I had no idea, and what I didn’t know wasn’t able to stop me. I don’t want it to stop you, either. I’m convinced my first book would have died a quick, fiery death if I hadn’t gotten scrappy and started asking people to buy it. I know for sure I wouldn’t have ever written another book, and I wouldn’t have now 21 books under my belt (and the maximum awesomeness I have in my life and businesses today).
Perhaps you’ve already read  You Must Write a Book  as a member of my advanced reader team (or you’re considering it). As a result, you might have a goal to turn your book into a stream of income all its own, in addition to using it to get more business. But even if a book is the furthest thing from your mind, I encourage you to take those and all “average” stats and throw them out the window. Use the 11,000 books I sold as your guiding star goal and do your level best to crush your goals, no matter what they are! With the power of a solid plan, massive action, and thinking outside the box, I believe you absolutely can.
Happy Writing!

 

 

More Good Stuff…
~ The Secret to Getting “Amazon Love” for Your Book
~ The Fortune is in the Follow-Up
~ Who Deserves Your Follow-Up?

 

 

Not receiving these posts in your inbox yet? If you’d like to receive more articles about writing and making money as a writer – and how to become a prosperous, full-time writer go here .
Website: HonoreeCorder.com
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Paperback, eBook, Audiobook – One or All?

I got the nicest email from a gentleman, Scott, who is reading  Prosperity for Writers  today, and his note included this sentence:
My thoughts were to publish through Kindle, then later the Amazon physical publishing, and then Audible.
Because I know you want to make (the most) money (possible) from your writing, if you’re specifically working on a book it’s a good idea to publish in multiple formats. I wanted to share why I believe it’s important to publish at least the ebook and paperback versions together (as well as the audiobook version and hardcover, if possible). From experience, I’ve learned it’s important to give your customer (in our case, the reader) what they want, the way they want it.
These days, we have the option to consume content in a way that works best for us. For example, I like to read the book I use for my spiritual studies in physical form so I can highlight passages, make notes, and use sticky notes (I’m such a sucker for a sticky note). For most other books, especially fiction, I like reading on my iPad. And, because I spend a fair amount of time walking to keep up with my 10,000 steps a day goal, I also consume lots of audiobooks (and podcasts). From conversations I’ve had with my fellow bookworms, everyone has their preference. In order for you to make the most from your book, it’s best to provide your book in as many formats as you possibly can.
What you might not know is that it isn’t significantly more time consuming, nor does it cost a lot more, to produce a paperback. CreateSpace, the print division of Amazon, allows you to upload your book “innards” (in the form of a PDF), along with your full cover (also a PDF), and they will send you a print version of your book for a minimal charge (you are charged based upon the size of your book and number of pages). The print cost of  You Must Write a Book is about $3.25 plus shipping (that’s pretty amazing, right?). While you’re having your book cover designed, your designer can provide a full cover for a bit more than it costs for the front cover (for the ebook), and they’ll probably throw in a square cover for the audiobook version for a tiny bit more. And, your book’s interior designer can provide the layout for both versions simultaneously (and at a reasonable cost). Since you have to have the editing and copywriting done, even if just for an ebook, the only two additional costs will be for the full cover and layout of the print version.
It’s tempting to just put out eBooks, I know! In fact, I initially put out a few of the books in The Successful Single Mom series as ebooks. But eventually, I realized the read-through rate was low for those that purchased the paperback, and even fielded my share of requests for paper versions before I had the produced. Wouldn’t you know they immediately started selling, and I was cash-flow positive on each of the paperback versions within a month for each version.
Part of the reason I’m sharing this is because if there’s a mistake, I’ve made it–and I’m hopeful I can help you avoid making it! So, if you’re working on a book, do yourself a favor and publish it in at least two formats.
One of the coolest things you can do is hand someone a copy of your book, and offer to sign it.
Now, what’s your question about making money as a writer? You can ask me anything: about mindset, where to find freelance work, or how to get started. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

More Good Stuff…
~ You Must Write a Book: Boost Your Brand, Get More Business, and Become the Go-To Expert is now available for pre-order. I know I gave it to you for free, and it would be super cool if you’d order a copy, too. I’ll buy your books, too, just let me know when they come out.

Using Laser Focus in Your Writing

Happy Thursday!
I’ve got a number of big projects in the works right now, and with so many moving pieces and parts, there’s one strategy I rely on to get it all done: laser focus. I don’t have any super powers or more than 24 hours in a day. My productivity comes down to the fact I do what needs doing, sometimes to the detriment of other things I’d prefer to be doing (at least in the moment).
Laser focus is a mindset (dare I say an abundance mindset?) you can adopt and put into practice … but there’s a trick to it. It’s not enough to say or believe you need to laser focus, you actually have to build your laser focus muscles.
Just like lifting weights, you start with the light weights first so you don’t hurt yourself.
Here’s the light weight for laser focus: You have to say yes to your writing, and no to … well, I don’t know exactly. What do you need to say no to, in order to say yes to your writing?
Is it Facebook? Going to bed early so you can write before work or other important tasks? Playing PokemonGo? Identify something you can control and say no to it. Post is in the comments below and let me know what you’re giving up so you can become an even more prosperous writer.
Happy Writing!


~ Did you know: Your fans can follow you on BookBub? Wait, what’s BookBub? Only the coolest book promotion tool on the planet. I run a BookBub ad every chance I get, and if you want to know when I run my next 99 cent or $1.99 promo, follow me at the link below.

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Do You Talk To Yourself?

Happy Thursday Prosperous Writer!
You Must Write a Book  is 99.9999% done and I’m getting ready to launch it in conjunction with a trip I’m taking to New York in October (more details to come!).
When I’m asked,  “How do you write so many books?” one of my first thoughts is: I tell myself it’s possible to write more books.
Which brings me to a question I have for you:  What do you say when you talk to yourself? Are you saying positive, encouraging things, or are you beating yourself up, or even insulting yourself?
As it turns out, talking to yourself is a sign of genius. See, you knew you were smart and you were right!
I believe you should talk to yourself, on purpose, every single day. The self-talk in the context I’m referring to is called affirmations. Whatever you say when you talk to yourself can technically be called an affirmation, even if what you’re affirming is something you definitely don’t want…
So, if you want to write more words, write better words, write and publish more blog posts, articles, or books, it is in your best interest to decide what you should say when you talk to yourself … and then spend some time every day doing just that.
Here’s my foolproof 3-step process for designing and using affirmations that work:


Decide what you want, and what you must do to achieve your outcome. For example: I want to write 3 books a year, and each day I must write 500 words.


Write an affirmation that encourages your desired behavior and outcome:I write three books this year by easily and effortlessly writing 500 words every day. I love writing every day!


Create a document in Evernote with your affirmations. Use the option to schedule a reminder each day to review and speak your affirmations.


You don’t need to become the 2016 version of Stuart Smalley. (Smile.) But if, as I write you’re struggling with getting the results you want, designing, reading and speaking affirmations can be just the propellant you need to get exactly what you want.
I hope you have an awesome couple of weeks! Stay cool, writer friend!

One More Thing…
~ To Listen: ICYMI {In Case You Missed It} Tom Corson-Knowles and I talked more about the benefits of Evernote and my marketing strategies in The Publishing Profits Podcast Show .
~To Learn: In case you haven’t heard, Scrivener for iOS is here! Mat Morris created a free tutorial   and plans to add it to his Scrivener for Authors course available on the Author Strong website.

 

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You Are One Habit Away From Success

This week and next, I’m putting the finishing touches on my upcoming book (you’re hearing it here first) You Must Write a Book. Specifically written for professionals who want more business, my inspiration to write the book was born from the magical combination of two things:


More people than ever are realizing they must write a book to get a professional edge, but they aren’t clear about how to write, publish, or launch the book effectively and with a side of awesome sauce.


I’m attending an incredible event and I needed a new business book. (Vague, I know … more on this very soon!)


The book won’t be out until around my birthday (two bonus points and a free book if you’re the first to know the date).
You might be a fiction writer (only), and for now, I’m a non-fiction writer (only). But you know the one thing writers of all genres, shapes, sizes, and chocolate affinities have in common?  They have to write.
Yup, we all have busy, busy lives (I have a husband and a daughter and they both want love and food every single day – can you imagine?). We have jobs or work. Friends. Football obsessions. The desire to a daily nap. And we also need to rack up the words in order to have articles or books to sell.
The one question I always get is
How do you have the time to write?  

You know what? I don’t have the time to do anything! I make time for what is important to me by putting it on my calendar. When my alarm goes off or my calendar reminders beep at me, I do what I’ve previously decided is important for me to do.
For example, I write every single morning from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. No one is awake in my house, not even the cats (especially the cats). My phone isn’t ringing (except when fellow author Hal Elrod calls me — he knows I’m up!), and there’s pretty much nothing else going on. My alarm goes off, I brew and mainline some Death Wish Coffee, and sit down to write. Five hundred to six thousand words later (depending upon whether I’m typing or Dragon Dictating), it’s time for a shower and, on most days, I have a calendar full of other non-writing tasks to do. This predictable, boring habit isn’t sexy or exciting. But it allows me to write a minimum of 180,000 words every year, which is at least 3 books, last year it was 6 books, and this year I’ll be publishing a total of 6 “big” books and 6 “little” books.
I know this isn’t mind-blowing or groundbreaking information. I know you’ve heard it all before, probably many times. In fact, you might have opened this post with the expectation I was going to knock your socks off with my musings. I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen (especially if, like me, you’re wearing slippers). My true goal for today’s blog was to remind you to schedule time to write every day (or perhaps 5-6 days a week).
Did it work? Are you inspired? Please comment below and tell me the new writing habit you’ve been inspired to develop, your daily word count goal and anything else that’s on your mind.
One more thing, I’m all full of joy and excitement, because my friend and fellow author Bryan Cohen also has a new book! See To Read, below.
I hope you have an awesome couple of weeks! Stay cool, writer friend!

One More Thing…
~ To Listen: Check out my interview on Can I Pick Your Brain? podcast with Daniel Gefen. We discuss how to publish your way to success, the differences between social and media, and so much more!
~To Read: Bryan Cohen recently released How to Write a Sizzling Synopsis and I was honored to have an advanced copy (which I loved)! You’ll definitely want to check out the book, and you can see my Amazon review below:

Want people to buy YOUR books? Dream of earning more from the books you’ve crafted with care? Don’t leave their purchase to chance by throwing up just any book description and hoping it works. Writing a book and a synopsis are simply not the same thing, and require different skills.
Bryan Cohen has both sets of skills and understands how important a book description is to a prospective buyer. Have a sizzling synopsis, and your prospective reader becomes your reader — just like that! Fortunately, Bryan put his knowledge into HOW TO WRITE A SIZZLING SYNOPSIS, an easy-to-read and digest reference manual. With this book, you can learn the key pieces to writing a synopsis that sells books. Bryan educates and adds his wonderful humor to the process. I highly recommend this book.


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Guest Post by Brian Meeks: Picking Your Niche Can Be Kind of Squirrelly

Today I have a very special treat for you. My dear writer friend, Brian Meeks, a.k.a. The Vagabond Novelist, has written a special guest post about identifying a non-fiction book topic in your area of expertise that will sell. Enjoy!

 

You’ve been thinking about writing a book. You’ve had a lifetime of experiences, been good at quite a few things, and even learned from the mistakes (we won’t mention his name), and most importantly you enjoy writing.
There are many good reasons to become a self-published author. Having a book lends credibility to speakers, it helps build a brand, and can even impress that annoying aunt who won’t quit asking you when you’re going to get married and start having children.
The first logical step is to see if your idea has been taken by someone else. You get on Amazon and find that the niche is greatly underserved. In fact, you don’t really find anyone who has covered your area of expertise in much detail.
So, it’s time to start writing, right?
Well, maybe. But there are still some questions to ask. The first one is “who is your book for?”
If you answer “Everyone,” then you’re not ready. In the book business, we refer to an avatar when discussing the market. That’s shorthand for the ideal person that would want to read your book and would pay to do so. You might think that hydroponic gardening is the best thing in the world and everybody should do it, but the hardcore video game crowd (as just one example) aren’t going to be interested. Neither are the traveling circus folks with a propensity for knitting. Who has time to garden when there are tents to set up and sweaters to make?
One needs to really consider an audience before spending the time and money to go through the entire book process. It’s a lot of hours to invest only to find out that your book, Squirrel Training for the Professional Glockenspiel Enthusiasts, isn’t the runaway bestseller you imagined.
The first thing to do is to get in the habit of asking questions. The first one might be “How many professional musicians are there in the United States?” (No, you’re not ready to start thinking about foreign rights deals.)
At any given time there are 64,000 musical groups and artists in the U.S. according to one site on the Internet. Another puts the number at 240,000 professional singers. Even if we add those two together, we still get only 304,000 people, give or take, and how many of those play the Glockenspiel?
We don’t need to know exactly how many play the Glockenspiel because we do know that some percentage play the guitar, others play the trombone, while others play the drums. Now, the latter group might also dabble in the glockenspiel, but certainly not all of them.
We might next ask, “How many musicians play percussion instruments?”
Let’s say we make the assumption that 10% of the musicians play a percussion instrument and that 100% of those people are either professional glockenspiel players or secretly want to be; that still leaves only 30,400 potential readers.
Now, 53% of all adults in the U.S. never read a book after they finish school regardless of whether they drop out of high school or get a Ph.D.  That means that our group of potential readers, which we’ve made some widely optimistic assumptions about, has just been narrowed to 14,288.
How many of those people want to learn how to train squirrels?
Again, because I’m feeling generous, let’s assume 97%, because squirrels are freaking adorable. That’s roughly 13,859 people.
If you sold your book to all of them at $4.99, on Amazon, as a Kindle book, you’d make about $3.45 per sale and rake in $47,814 dollars.
That would be great, but here’s the rub. We’ve been generous in our assessment of the audience, and it probably isn’t a fraction of what we’ve come up with. Secondly, even if divine intervention had led to an accurate audience number, how are you going to find them all?
Bottom line, you’re going to sell twelve copies of your squirrel training book to friends and family members, and it’s going to leave a bad taste in your mouth.
This isn’t the end of the road, though, and this is the good news.
Once you’ve realized that the dream book you’d like to write doesn’t make financial sense, you can ask if there are other reasons to write it. Keynote speakers can make $5,000 – $25,000 for a single speech, and maybe you have a sense of humor and can parlay your love of squirrel training via classical glockenspiel music into your own niche that could lead to other streams of income.
Also, maybe you go another route and instead of trying to teach glockenspiel players to trains squirrels, you write a book for women who want to train squirrels. There are lots of women in the United States.
The point is one can quickly determine if a book idea makes sense with a few searches on The Google and the asking of the right questions.
Now, get out there and figure out what sort of rodent-related book you’d like to write. I know you can do it.

 

 

One More Thing…
~To Learn: Jesse Krieger (bestselling author and founder/publisher of Lifestyle Entrepreneurs Press) is offering a FREE Book, Business & Brand Summit . I was thrilled to interview with Jesse last week, and my interview is going live today! You can sign up and check it out here.

 

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