I remember the first time I became a published author in Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned From the Dog. My story was called “Volunteering from the Heart”, a short story about my dog Toby and the profound impact that his therapy dog volunteer work had on my life.
When the box of books arrived and my enthusiasm and excitement toned down a bit, I recall myself staring at the box of books asking myself these questions…
What do I do now?
How do I sell all these books?
What do I say to the library or bookstore to get them carrying my books?
How should I weave these into my speaking fee?
I wonder if I could find sponsors to purchase books in bulk so I can just donate books to charities and schools?
What should I charge for book presentation events?
Are book clubs a wise move for this book? If yes, how do I find them and how do I structure this?
As you can imagine, the questions kept coming.
I found that the questions (and often the lack of actions and strategy) kept me unfocused and always in “planning mode”, so the books sat there waiting to be shared with the world.
Now, I teach authors how to solve the issues that are embedded in the questions above.
Turning Questions Into Actions
When I soon realized that my books were not going to sell without effort on my part, I decided to contact my local bookstore. We collaborated on a book signing event, and they pre-ordered about 40 books. We had 65 people show up to the signing, and my husband had to get our box of books out of the trunk for the bookstore to buy from us and sell at the signing. The owners were so impressed with the event, they carried the books at the cash register for about a week. When I would be in the media and gave the bookstore advance notice, they would order more to have on hand.
This began my education about making my books a business. Now, five traditionally published books later (with 3 different publishers), and being featured in 11 other collaborative books, I have sold thousands and thousands of books, had sponsors fund my book tours, been on media and podcasts, secured speaking engagements, and the list goes on.
I put all my learnings and strategies into a program called Your Book as a Business. We have helped many authors sell more books, successfully launch and achieve best-seller status, sell books in bulk, secure cash and in-kind sponsorship and turn their book into a business!
Join us for Your Book as a Business where you receive powerful learning, strategies, scripts, templates and checklists to help you with book marketing and sales.
What authors say about Your Book as a Business:
Here’s what a few of our past participants had to say:
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