A few years ago, I received a call from the publishing company McGraw-Hill out of the blue. Did I want to write a book, the voice on the line wondered.
Huh? Me?
I was shocked. I was also flattered. But what did I know about writing a book? Absolutely nothing. I knew I would have to invest a lot of my time, and I wasn’t sure how my business would benefit. So I asked a few friends who had written books for their advice. The best advice I received was from Tim Ferriss, the best-selling author of the 4-Hour Work Week. He told me not to hold anything back — to write my first book as if it were my last. I took his insight to heart and poured everything I knew about licensing into One Simple Idea: Turn Your Dreams Into a Licensing Goldmine.
Fast-forward a few years, and I’m about to publish my fourth book. Little did I know!
But here’s the reality: Your timing is everything. It doesn’t really matter that you think you have something to say. If no one reads your book, what’s the point? The timing is right when you have all of the following.
1. A platform. How large is your audience? Who is going to buy your book — and how are you going to reach them? Publishers care about numbers. They want to know how many books you are capable of selling. Do you have a popular blog? What about a podcast? Are you active on Twitter? How many people subscribe to your email list? If you aren’t actively marketing your content already, you should start doing so now. It takes years to build a following.
2. An incentive. What are you going to get out of writing a book? This is the question I kept returning to. Business books don’t make a lot of money. (Books don’t make money, period.) I knew loving what I do wasn’t a good enough reason. Writing a book gives you credibility. It will help you book speaking engagements and other forms of PR. Those are good reasons, but I think there are stronger incentives. A better question to answer is how writing a book will complement your other revenue streams. If you are selling products via another platform, writing a business book makes sense, because it will generate new leads.
3. Means of promoting the book. Don’t expect that your publisher will promote your book for you. How are you going to get the word out? Who can you rely on to help you? Wait to write a business book until you have established a network of bloggers, podcast hosts, and other content producers. Other strategies require having an audience, like I mentioned earlier. For example, I relied on my sizable mailing list to generate pre-orders, which encouraged bookstores to prominently feature One Simple Idea.
4. A great writer. You don’t need to be a great writer to write a best-selling book. It’s your insights that matter. Colleen Sell, the ghostwriter I hired to help me write One Simple Idea did a fantastic job. Her experience was invaluable. In fact, I highly recommend hiring a professional to help you.
Think long and hard about your timing. How is publishing a book going to further your business? Put your ego aside and be critical.
Originally published on Entrepreneur.com February 6th 2015.
