Episode 11: Books and Money

Today on the show Jodi talks about money. Author-entrepreneurs earn money from their books indirectly. In other words, not from book royalties but from readers who become clients. Luckily, money isn’t a primary direct goal for most author-entrepreneurs. Rather, their goals are intangibles like credibility, authority, and visibility.

According to UNESCO, as of January 2019, 2.2 million books are published per year worldwide, 304,000 of which are published in the US. The book market is saturated, and it’s not Amazon’s job to help author-entrepreneurs become visible. Amazon is trending toward pay-to-play, and Amazon ads do matter if you’re looking for a cold audience. That’s typically not author-entrepreneurs, though. Any cold leads are great, of course, but do the math: Would you rather earn a $7 royalty from a book sale (and receive no information from Amazon about that buyer) or $5,000 from a new one-on-one client who was gifted your book at a conference?

In Episode 10 Dannie Fountain talked about using her books in alignment with the speaking arm of her business. Books sold at events and conferences are typically provided by the author, so author-entrepreneurs keep the full proceeds rather than a portion (like royalty payouts from a traditional book publisher or from Amazon), and speakers are often given an opportunity to book mentoring sessions, consultations, and the like. The money is in the upsell!

Align your book marketing strategy with your book goals, and you can’t go wrong.

Listen here or on your favorite podcast player, and let me know what you think!