It’s a known fact: Authors—at least nonfiction authors—don’t make a ton of money from book sales. They make their money from producing a variety of products and services that support their books. That said, with the advent of digital publishing, authors are starting to make more money from book sales—or from ebook sales. And if you become a savvy writer, or rather a writer entrepreneur, you can start making more money with your writing and books, too.
How will you do this? First, put on your business hat. That’s right. Take off your writer’s hat and don a business hat. Start thinking like an entrepreneur. Consider yourself to be like Nike, Levi Strauss or Victoria’s Secret. These are brands that began with one product or line of products, such as running shoes, jeans or intimate apparel, and then expanded into other types of products. When we hear the company name, we think of one particular product, but the brand has a stronger message—and much more to offer its customers.
Think about it…
- You may only write about one subject now, but how can you expand into other “products” by producing additional related books?
- How can you create ebooks, for instance, that will create new lines of business for you—and additional streams of income?
- How can you take what you do and know and brand yourself by creating additional products, such as ebooks?
Publish More Books to Sell More Books
The more books you write, the more books you sell. This is called the “long-tail effect.” Consider how you can write short books—ebooks—that will support the sales of your longer books. Write ebooks that will drive readers to your other books.
Everyone knows something about something…and even more about other things. You might know a lot about training dogs, and your book might focus on this topic. But maybe you also know about feeding dogs or breeding dogs. Maybe you know about dog toys or treats. Maybe you also know something about cats. Or maybe you know something about running a kennel or finding a veterinarian or locating a pet-friendly hotel. These are all great ideas for short ebook.
Go From Digital Publisher to Entrepreneur
Now, however, you need to learn to market like the best of the well-known brands. You really need to become an entrepreneur. You need to learn how to utilize:
- Social media
- Traditional media
- Videos
- Audio
- Amazon Author Central
- Meta data
- Webinars and teleseminars
- Sales pages
And you want to know how to expand into new areas, like coaching, consulting, teaching, and online products and services. These actually can become huge sources of income for writers.
How do you learn to do this—and with the budge of a writer? Learn from pros. If you are going to sell digital books (and products), you want to find out how this is done by others who sell digital books and products. There is no lack of information out there, and you can spend a bundle of your time and money trying to learn how to get your ebooks to sell and to drive traffic to your website so your related products and services, such as coaching, consulting, home-study courses, membership sites, webinars, etc., will also begin earning you an income. It’s important to know where to turn.
Learn From Experts
I say this, because I’ve spent my share of time and money trying to learn new technology, like digital publishing, and how to monetize what I do. I rarely promote events in blog posts, but I’m going to make an exception. I’ve been writing for The Future of Ink since its inception, and I’ve never been more impressed with the quality of content offered by the experts who write for the site. Now, the founders, Denise Wakeman and Ellen Britt have brought those experts together (plus a few more)—such a bestselling author Guy Kawasaki—to offer what I think is going to be the best opportunity you have to learn how to create, market and monetize digital books. The Digital Publishing Online Intensive, which begins March 6th, offers 12 in-depth webinars (including one from me) that will provide concise, powerful, effective digital publishing strategies and powerful, practical information you can implement right away to help you write ebooks, get them up on Kindle and Smashwords, and start making money. Plus, you’ll get access to a private Facebook Group just for attendees, so you can ask questions, share resources, network with your colleagues, and you’ll receive a free copy of Guy Kawasaki’s new book APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur when you register. (Of course, sessions are recorded so you can listen to them later.)
There’s no reason to wait 6-12 months to write a book and get it published. Not any more. You can write a short book fast that will boost your business, start a business, increase sales of your existing book(s), create author platform, or give you expert status. You can write ebooks and make money with them. And these experts can show you how. I know because I read their posts every week looking for tips and tools I can use. These are my teachers and mentors as well as my colleagues. If I have a question, I ask them.
If you don’t want to attend the event, check out these experts. Follow their blogs. But consider attending the Digital Publishing Online Intensive. (And do so before Feb. 2 to save $250 on price of your ticket.)
- Kathleen Gage – Internet Marketing Mentor
- Lynne Klippel – Expert Book Coach & Publisher
- Laura West – The Creative Thought Leader
- Daniel Hall – Serial Entrepreneur and Webinar Master
- D’vorah Landsky – Book Marketing Expert
- Lou Bortone – The Video Master
- Marnie Pehrson – Founder of Ignite Point
- Sue Painter, The Confident Marketer
- Jim Kukral – Best-Selling Marketing Author & Professional Speaker
- Bob Jenkins – Internet Marketing Business Teacher
- Kristen Eckstein – Expert Publishing Consultant
What are you waiting for? Start writing that digital book, branding your self and monetizing your knowledge now. Whether you attend this event or learn how to do it some other way, as Nike would say, “Just do it!” But make money, too.
Join me at the first LIVE
Digital Publishing Online Intensive
March 6-26, 2013
Register now to take advantage of the early bird special!
bit.ly/DPOI-NA
Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles | freedigitalphotos.net
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