How to Make Money With Your Book: For 7-Figure CEOs, Coaches, Consultants, and Executives- P 1 of 3

Call after call, inquiry after inquiry; this is the first question nearly all aspiring authors ask.

"How can I make money off my book."

Is it possible? Meh. Slim to none, but not impossible if the right things are already in place.

Is it likely? Nope. It's not, and that's the hard truth.

But lemme tell ya, and I speak from experience, that if you're an author or soon-to-be author, then you're asking the wrong question.

If your first question is, "How do I sell a lot of books and make lotsa dough?" you're already doing it wrong.

The more correct question, or better one, is, "How do I use my book as leverage to make money?"

To be clear, while these may feel like the same question, they couldn't be further from the truth. If you focus on writing your signature book and then selling tons to make some dough, good luck with that. This is the worst way to think about how to make money from your book. Trust me, I've been there and done that…and it's a painful blow to any author's ego.

What I wish I knew then was that I shouldn't have focused on selling books but rather using my book as marketing leverage to open new doors and create new opportunities for me.

But look, if you don't care about wasting your time and money, then, by all means, make book sales the be-all-end-all.

However, this piece is for you if you care about leveraging your time, sweat, and your book.

So why is it so hard to make money selling copies of your book?

It's hard to sell book copies

According to Publishers Weekly, the average book in the United States has sold less than 200 copies per year and fewer than 1,000 copies in its lifetime. And the best-sellers are almost always novels.

Oi vey, that's a tough nut to swallow.

And another fact is that in 2021, there were approximately 1.5 million books (this includes e-books) published. That's a lot of books, to say the least.

All this to say is that it's nearly impossible to sell a lot of copies of your book.

Not only that, but you can't really scale up what you charge for a book.

For example, you can charge more if you're a ghostwriter (like me, heh-heh) and have a line of folks waiting to hire you. You can scale up your fees. See how that works?

With a book, that's a no-go.

I've seen some hyper-niche writers charge upwards of $100 for a book, but those kinds of writers are an anomaly.

There's really only one type of writer who has the privilege of only focusing on book sales, and those are professional writers like the ones you see all over Barnes & Noble. The main reason is that they are super popular. And the other reason is that they have no other products to sell except the book.

If your name isn't Rowling, King, or Patterson, putting all your eggs in the book sales basket is a recipe for heartache.

If your book is a marketing tool for something else, it's easy to make money

I wasn't trying to scare you away by sharing those dismal book sales stats.

On the contrary, I want you to think about your signature book in ways you never thought of before this article. The game changes once you stop thinking about book sales and start thinking about your book as leverage to sell other things.

Whenever I do a discovery call with a potential client, I'll steer them away from solely focusing on book sales.

Whether your book is a how-to, a memoir with a profound message, or perhaps showcases your expertise in your field, we dive into how to not only write your book but also create leverage and use it to drive attention and, of course, dollars to your offers.

And if you don't have an offer?

Well, we chat a lot about that as well.

It's those more considerable opportunities like speaking engagements, coaching programs, consulting, or even online courses where the real back-end money can be made. When you think of your book as a lever, you realize that you can sell products, services, speaking, consulting, or any number of things besides the book alone.

So the burning question you might have now is HOW?

The big answer is to start thinking of your book not in terms of how many I will sell but rather how I can create leverage with it.

Let's say you market and sell sales software to forklift companies.

At first glance, a person's thought is, "seriously?" Who would ever read a book on that subject, let alone purchase it? While sales software to forklift companies truly exists, that vertical is super niche. Few folks care about sales software, and even fewer give a hoot about how to sell more forklifts with it. There just isn't a large audience for that topic, and focusing on book sales is silly.

Instead, focus on reaching the decision-makers in the forklift space–the types of people who would hire you as a consultant.

This can be done by focusing that forklift book on how the new high-tech software shortens the sales cycle and can put a jet-pack on slow or stagnating forklift ops and businesses. In the book, you'd share your knowledge and expertise. There's likely a chapter of an actual case study and how that software was applied. Because that book was the first to explore this topic deeply, you became THE recognized expert in this niche field.

This leads to all the decision-makers in the forklift industry–the exact people you wanted as clients in the first place.

That nutty little niche book can triple your inbound leads, which helps build a consulting business. You might be asked to speak at the regional forklift conventions. And beyond that, well, your mind is the limit.

All because of that book.

It was a marketing tool intended to get attention from a specific set of people, and it can work like a charm.

The final word

So, don't be discouraged if your book sales aren't as high as you'd like them to be.

There are many ways to make money from writing that have nothing to do with selling books. By thinking outside the box and leveraging your book differently, you can create a successful career that brings in revenue from various sources.

So get creative, and start leveraging your book today! Who knows where it will take you.

Wanna start a book, or are you stuck with your current one?

Maybe you have a lot of ideas for your book but can't find the time to write them out, or perhaps you're frustrated with how slowly the writing process is going. Or better, when you look for advice, people tell you, "It's all about discipline," and you should just set aside time to write every day.

Easier said than done, right?

What happens next is you get old, never finish your book, and the folks you wanted to impact never hear your message. And worse, you hear how it sucks to die with that book still in you.

It doesn't need to be this way. Here's a wicked simple solution for you right here.