Thursday’s profit tip for authors
No matter how much effort authors put into their books, new ideas are constantly occurring. Often, these ideas are sparked by reader comments or questions during webinars or live training events. Rather than waiting for the next edition of your book, authors can immediately profit from these ideas by offering supplemental, or updated, packages of worksheets from their websites.
As a starting point, print out and review copies of the worksheets that you included in your book. As you review the worksheets, ask yourself:
- Omissions. Are there any additional questions or steps I can add to my worksheets?
- Sequence. Do steps appear in the correct order?
- Instructions. Is it obvious how readers can put my worksheets to work, or should I have provided instructions with each worksheet?
- Edits. Do any of my “first generation” worksheets contain awkward or or confusing phrases? Are there any typographical errors?
- Spacing. Do my worksheets contain enough space to be easily used?
- Flexibility. Are my worksheets just intended to be filled out by hand, or do I also offer them as templates that can be completed using familiar word processing or spreadsheet software?
- New topics. Can I create new worksheets for any of the ideas I discussed in my book or have come up with after I wrote my book?
- Appearance. Do my worksheets visually pre-sell the importance of my ideas and contribute to the brand I am building online and in print?
By improving the quality of your original worksheets, based on the above analysis. you can legitimately charge readers for packages of updated worksheets.
Spending as little as 30-minutes reviewing the worksheets included in your book and, hopefully, offered on your website can often reward you with several revenue-enhancing ideas you can offer online and in your back-of-the-room speaker offerings. With a little effort, you can greatly enhance the revenues from the original sale of your book or it’s per-copy royalties…as well as create qualified prospects for future sales of products and services.
February 28, 2010
Smart, savvy, and personally timely.
Since publishing my last edition of my conversation textbook for English language learners, I’ve developed many new worksheets and updated other lessons.
Rather than just collect more material you have given me an immediate way to add new income and share better worksheets. Thanks!
March 3, 2010
Dear Eric:
Thank you for your kind words and sharing your site. Feedback like yours is always appreciated.
Best wishes on the continued sales of your beautifully-titled and positioned book, Compelling Conversations:
Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics for ESL learners and teachers.
Roger C. Parker