Many professionals realize that a
published book is a great business card – but is anyone
actually reading it?
Does your book have an impact?
Today, we discuss the journey of publishing, marketing, and
building a full business model from a book. To share their insights
on that topic, we've invited two great guests that have the
publishing process down pat.
Rita Gunther McGrath is a highly regarded speaker,
professor at Columbia Business School, and the author of multiple
best-selling books such as
Seeing Around Corners: How to
Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen.
A.J.
Jacobs is a journalist, TED Speaker, and seven-time author
including the best-selling book
Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude
Journey.
Our conversation starts by discussing the business side of
publishing. Our best-selling authors clarify the focus of their
recent work, and discuss the various purposes that a published book
can serve. While creating a "book-sized" calling card will put
you ahead of some, your content still needs to be more than a
glorified article if you want people to read it and take action
based on your insights.
Many first-time authors believe that once the book is written, the
job of marketing will fall to the publisher. That's no longer the
truth! Nowadays, publishers have stepped back from marketing -
leaving the author to get the word out themselves. Rita shares how
she plans the marketing of a book before any real writing even
begins, while A.J. seeks innovative and creative ways to slice the
topics of his books into as many sectors as possible, in order
to earn a larger audience.
The final leg of our conversation involves taking the information
from the page and turning it into teachable content. Our guests
share their strategies for turning thought leadership insights into
lessons, creating systems and capabilities for instruction that can
be brought into an organization in order to create measurable
impact.
Three Key Takeaways:
* When writing a book, ensure your content is bigger than a simple
article could contain.
* Consider the method of publishing and marketing for your book
before you start writing.
* Publishers no longer promote books. As the author, you’ll
need to build a platform to reach the audience by yourself.