BRAND MANAGEMENT
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO
From Book to
Bestseller
Every week Sarah Scott
gets a call from someone
who wants to write the next
great Canadian business
book. Find out if you have
what it takes
M
any prospective business authors dream of
being the next David Chilton of Wealthy
Barber and Dragon’s Den fame. Could this
be you? Perhaps. Getting a book published
is a great way to distinguish yourself from
other advisors. You can use it to find better
prospects and clients, attract people to seminars or webinars,
or nurture the loyalty of the clients you have now. But while
hundreds of thousands of self-published books hit the market
every year, fewer than five per cent of these books sell more than
100 copies.
So how does one get from manuscript concept to bestseller?
First, recognize that writing and launching a book is not easy. It’s
OCTOBER 2014 FORUM 21
BRAND MANAGEMENT
like launching a new business. To be successful you need to have a clear idea of what
you’re writing about and understand your
core offering. You need to know your target
market and how you will fill an unmet need
for that market.
One of the key problems is that few
authors ask these four essential questions:
1. What is your book going to be about?
2. Who is your target audience?
3. Why would your target audience want
to read your book?
4. How is your book going to be different
from — or even better than — similar
books that are already out there? (While
you don’t have to be the next David
Chilton, you should at least comb through
Amazon.ca for books similar to the one
you want to publish. What would make
your approach special?)
Idea Factory
All great books start with a big, simple idea. Bill Bishop is a bestselling author who teaches entrepreneurs how to create big ideas
that bring in business. He recommends something uniquely packaged that explains “why you work with me.” Consider something
called The Latte Factor. Save the money from your latte every day
and over time you’ll be a lot richer. This was David Bach’s big,
simple idea, and the concept made him very rich.
Use Bach’s technique to create your own big idea. According
to Bishop and publishing veteran Joan Homewood, you need to
identify the key thing that your customers/clients must change in
their life to achieve your model. For example: Do they need to
start jogging every morning? Do they need to floss after every
meal? Do they need to hug their kids before bed every night? This
daily tip could turn into your title, your cover, and the key to the
model you are selling in your book.
In The Book Breakthrough, advisor coach Dan Sullivan says just
thinking out the plan for a short book can give you the clarity to
22 FORUM OCTOBER 2014
I’ve seen situations where
the book title doesn’t match
what’s inside. It’s written in
the obscure language of
financial advisors when it’s
supposed to be written for
60-year-olds who spend more
time thinking about the cost
of a fridge than the performance of their investments.
sell your idea in a more effective and more profitable way. He
thinks you can do it fast. He believes you can structure a book
start to finish in just 60 minutes.
He starts with what he calls “the dream solution” — your great
business idea. You have to ask some probing but helpful questions
about your dream solution. First, what do you want your readers
to learn or achieve from reading your book? Second, why is it
important? What makes your dream solution special? Third,
what’s the ideal outcome? What’s the best thing that can happen
to readers from using your idea? And finally, what’s the worst thing
that can happen if they don’t follow the plan?
Answer all of these questions and you have created the intro
to your book. But that’s just the outline. Writing is of course a lot
more difficult, as Sullivan notes, but you can hire a writer and editor to help articulate and develop your ideas, and to help you turn
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO
I can tell when an author hasn’t answered these questions. It
starts with the book’s cover. Often the title doesn’t reveal what’s
in the book or why people should read it. Sometimes the title is
too generic — it screams, “I’m just another book about retirement
planning with nothing new to say.”
Sometimes a book title doesn’t match what’s inside; it’s
written in the obscure language of financial advisors when it’s
supposed to be written for 60-year-olds who spend more time
thinking about the cost of a fridge than the performance of their
investments.
Other times the cover is aimed at the wrong audience. For
example, let’s say a book is supposed to be a manual for success
for twentysomethings, yet the cover shows a Bay Street-type standing by a conference table in front of a Group of Seven painting.
Not exactly inspiring for young adults.
BRAND MANAGEMENT
your ideas into a persuasive book for your target audience.
How do you find the right writer? You can go to an agency
such as Westwood in Toronto, check the online listings, or turn
to a publisher. If you are looking online, be careful. Ask whether
the writer has written a book before. Check it out. Ask the
author/client how the writing process went.
The idea is to be part of
the ongoing conversation
about your topic, so the
people you are connecting
with will buy your book
and purchase your services.
Your Book Publishing Options
To get your book published you can try for a traditional publisher. This can be a long and uncertain process. First you need an
agent. Then you need to write a book proposal, which includes a
sample chapter, a chapter outline and a 10-page pitch that explains
why the publisher should invest in your book. Maybe you’ll be
the one in 100 who gets a publishing deal. That has both advantages and disadvantages. You won’t have to pay upfront for the
edit, design, production, printing and distribution of your book.
You will probably have to pay a ghostwriter to get your book in
shape for the editor. What’s more, the contract you sign will most
likely hand all the control over the project to the publisher — the
timing, cover design, paper quality … the works. You’ll likely get
between 10 and 15 per cent of the profits, and 15 per cent of whatever money you earn will go to your agent.
You could also go to one of the many self-publishing companies out there. If such is the case, you’ll get what you pay for. Selfpublishing (or “vanity”) presses are the Home Depot of publish-
ing; they supply you with some tools and you do most of the
work. That’s why it’s called self-publishing. You will not get the
editing, production and design quality that you would from a
traditional publisher like Harper Collins, and you will never get
your book into on-the-ground bookstores, where most nonfiction books in Canada are still purchased.
What’s more, you’ll probably find that your customers may
have trouble buying your book on Amazon.ca. Your readers will
typically have to wait three to five weeks for delivery, if they
bother buying.
When I was working on a book with an author, I didn’t find
either of these options appealing, so I created a publishing company that allowed people to create high-quality books that could
be sold in bookstores across Canada and in the U.S. I see
authors as entrepreneurs who will pay upfront for top-quality
service in editing, writing, design, production, distribution and
marketing.
•
t:
e:
w:
•
customized one-on-one business coac
coaching
hing for financial ad
advisors
visors
Jordan Rosenberg, B.A.
Coach - Central Canada
Brand Coach
Kelly Maxwell, B.B.A.
Marketing Specialist
For their fee, authors receive 100 per cent of the profits,
plus full control over the project. Since opening our doors in
2012 we’ve published eight books, and all have been sold to
stores such as Indigo across Canada. We’ve also sold books to
the U.S., and even first-time authors have received national
TV exposure from their books.
You have options, and no matter what route you choose,
marketing and advertising are more important than ever.
Social media is playing more of a role these days. The idea is
to be part of the ongoing conversation about your topic, so
the people you are connecting with will buy your book and
purchase your services. That is why you should be writing
nuggets for Twitter, LinkedIn and other venues such as
Google+ and Tumblr.
Internet radio is another way to publicize yourself and your
book. Some online stations may only have 3,000 subscribers,
but if you find the right station of listeners who fit your target market, you get plenty of time to talk to them. To find the
right venue, use Google to find one that targets your market,
and then write a short pitch wherein you describe your expertise and how you will solve a problem for your audience.
Writing a book is a lot of work, and unless your name is
David Chilton you probably won’t earn back the money you
invest in book sales. However, if you do it right, the book could
be a powerful way to brand yourself, separate yourself from
the crowd and sell your services in a profitable way. 
SARAH SCOTT is publisher of Barlow Book Publishing Inc., an
independent publishing firm based in Toronto.
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN
GET PUBLISHED?
Ten questions every prospective author should
ask before starting a book
1. What are our overall business and marketing goals?
2. How would this publishing project help us achieve
those goals?
3. Is the theme of this publishing project aligned with
the packaging of our company?
4. Who is the target audience for our publishing project?
5. How does the target audience align with our business market?
6. How would this publishing project communicate our
key marketing messages?
7. What customer needs would our publishing project address?
8. How would this publishing project fit into our overall
relationship-building process?
9. Why would a prospect call us after reading the content
created for this publishing project? What benefits does
this publishing project provide to our market?
10. How would we leverage the investment made in this
publishing project into other media and marketing
opportunities?
Source: The Publishing Success Model, Bill Bishop and Joan Homewood
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