Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash
Have you ever thought of turning your blog into a book?
Maybe you’ve written a series that did well with your readers. You’re probably thinking, if it did well here, will it do well in the bookstores?
There’s only one way to find out. Put on your entrepreneurial hat and give it a go.
But I can already read it for free on your blog.
True. You can.
That’s why you need to go deeper. If you’re asking people to pay for the privilege of reading your series again, you’ve got to give them more value for their dollar.
One way to do that is to use the blog posts as a starting point. A first draft, if you will. Going deeper means you add more insights. If you had a year to think about this same topic, what would you learn? What would be the biggest wins after you’ve mulled and mused for 12 months?
Here’s what you’re really selling.
Convenience.
You can buy a gallon of milk at the gas station around the corner or you can get one at the grocery store 5 miles away. You’ll pay more at the gas station because you don’t have to wade through 10 aisles to get one. It’s the same gallon of milk, though. If you want to pay less, you’ll have to do more (drive a little further, walk to the back of a bigger store).
When you offer a blog series in book form, your reader can find it all in one place.
If you add some extras, she’ll feel it’s worth it to pay for the extra value. After all, she already loved the series, so it’s a win for her.
And for you.
Get organic attention for your book.
Amazon has some excellent tools to get you noticed in their store.
Keywords.
Covers.
Titles and subtitles.
Ads.
The better all these work, the more chances you have at making sales.
Make your book look as professional as you can.
An eye popping cover will stand out on a results list of 50,000 other titles.
A catchy title will move people to see what’s inside.
A book description that sells the value within will move people to click the buy button.
The invisible movers are keywords. What words are phrases do people use to search for a book like yours? Discover the top 7 and your book will show up again and again.
Use your book to build your audience.
You make money when you invite people to engage with you outside your book.
Offer another book (or excerpt) in exchange for a reader’s email address.
Put ads in the back (or front) of your book to let readers know what else you’re doing that might interest them. (Just don’t overdo it, or they’ll tune out.)
Invite readers to join a group based on the topic.
If you’re a coach or a consultant, offer them a free 15 minute analysis.
The key is to not make the book a single touch if you can. Experts say there is money in the back end. If you’re a coach, one consultation can earn you as much as 50 copies of your book. A course might earn you as much as 100 books.
You may as well ask. Nobody can say yes if you don’t.
It’s your turn.
What have you written that you can turn into a book?
If you haven’t written a series yet, there’s no better time to get started. Think of it as taking your book for a test drive.
What you learn from the process will not only make a better book, it can help you grow your audience as you practice in public.
