Episode 18: Sharing Your Story in a Book with Mallika Malhotra
Today on the show Jodi interviews Mallika Malhotra, author of The Brand Photography Playbook (2017). Here are some highlights from their conversation:
Jodi and Mallika talked about the organic manner in which Mallika came to write a book to serve her business. Mallika was being asked the same questions over and over about brand photography and created a Google Doc from which she could copy and paste answers to the most common questions she received. Before she knew it, the doc was several pages long and she realized she had the seed of a book idea. She decided to explore that intersection of a resource to serve her market at the same time as serving her business.
Mallika shared that her favorite part of the writing/publishing process was receiving a copy of her book in the mail. Especially with a book that’s so visual (with lots of photographs and a beautiful, not-just-text layout), the difference between seeing it on a computer screen and seeing the actual book is huge.
Mallika explained that, whereas she’s an expert in brand and photography, she’s not a writing and publishing expert, so taking care of all of the miscellaneous book-related tasks (such as constructing a table of contents, purchasing an ISBN, crafting back cover copy) that she didn’t know about was her least favorite part of the process.
Mallika shared that the book has opened doors for her from a revenue perspective as well as as a brand photographer. Speaking opportunities have opened up, and because she’s added “author” to her other titles, she’s seen as an expert and has been able to raise her prices. Her book is a tool to reach more people, Mallika noted, and her book has been purchased all over the United States and globally in places including South Africa and Croatia.
Mallika encouraged aspiring author-entrepreneurs to be as specific as possible with book topic to help “cut through the noise” and set yourself apart in an often-saturated market. She used her own book as an example: Rather than writing a book about photography, Mallika chose to instead write a book about brand photography for women.
Mallika shared that she typically reads a fiction book and a business book at the same time. She’s currently rereading Essentialism by Greg McKeown for a local women’s book club she leads.
Listen here or on your favorite podcast player, and let me know what you think!
Find Mallika here: Website | Facebook | Instagram
Brand Photography Playbook