Thursday’s profit tip for authors

Authors must view each book as a business proposition; you must identify how you’re going to profit your book beyond income from direct or indirect sales of your book. Since very few nonfiction books generate significant advances and royalties–6-figure “celebrity” authors notwithstanding–it’s important to identify how you’re going to profit from your book as early as possible.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when exploring how you are going to profit from your book.

1. What back-end profit opportunities are possible? There are numerous options, including audios, certification programs, individual and group coaching, speaking and training, subscription-based newsletters and websites, videos, workshops, and yearly updates.
2. Which alternatives make the most sense for you? This involves analyzing how you want to spend your time. Although any of the options listed in the first question are possible, chances are, only a few will probably make sense for you. It’s up to you to analyze the duties and responsibilities ssociated with each option, so you can make plans based on your interests, skills, and lifestyle.
3. What resources are available for you to create a marketing funnel? Do you have the resources–such as time and technical knowledge–to create ongoing relationships with readers and others interested in your book? How much of the work can you do yourself, and how much can you afford to delegate? How much time during the coming years are you willing to devote to an on-going reader development program?
4. How can you “slice and dice” your book into other products? Does your book lend itself to future information products, such as specialized e-books, reports, and tutorials  based on topics lightly covered in your book? How fast are changes taking place in your field? Does your book lend itself to yearly, or quarterly updates? Are there topics associated with your book that readers would willingly pay for you to research and report on?
5. Can you expand your book into a series? Does your title create the basis of follow-up books addressing narrower topics? The test of a good title is its ability to not only sell a book, but sell a series of books. Each additional title offers new opportunities to expand your circle of influence. In most cases, each new title rejuvenates sales of the original title. When should you begin exploring opportunities for  a follow-up book?

Authors should learn from publishers
Publishers view books as a business; so should authors! Few publishers are likely to invest in a book unless they are convinced they are going to make money on it. No matter how interesting a topic or well-written a book proposal, the numbers have to work in terms of earning a profit.

As an author, it’s never too early to begin exploring how you are going to prfit from your book beyond profits from book sales.