This book is firmly aimed at authors who want to write a self-help book. In fact the author calls out Malcolm Gladwell as the type of author you don’t want to emulate if you want to be a successful author, which they define as an author that lives off their writing. Though they also say that an author should have other businesses that go with the writing if they really want to live off their writing. Those other businesses could be consulting, courses, or I guess even a newsletter.
Given that bent, this book treats writing as one would a business. Get your beta out fast, get user feedback, and then improve on it with your feedback. Once you’ve gone through a few rounds of beta readers, get your book out there and focus on the marketing of it. Your goal is to build a flywheel that will turn your book into real money.
The purist in me wants to deviate from this focus on a book as a portion of your overall business, but I must also admit it’s hard to make a good living as a writer. There are going to be very few writers around who live solely off their book sales, and no even if you think it’s going to be you it won’t be you.
The pragmatist in me looks at the book I’ve got in the hopper and wonders how I can turn that into part of an overall business given that I’m not travelling to speak and I dislike coaching/consulting because people are rarely invested as much as I end up being.
Should you read it? If you’re looking to write a book as part of your business, then yes it’s a good short book with lots of practical advice on how to turn a book into something that helps you earn money.
- Purchase on Bookshop.org – support local bookstores
- Purchase on Amazon