Last week I had an inquiry from a new client who currently has a self-published book and small product line. She feels like it’s time to re-publish her book and wanted to talk about whether she should continue with self-publishing or move to a bigger publisher.
Since it seems like more and more of my subscribers are either authors, in the process of writing a book or thinking about writing one, I thought this would be a good place to talk about this for everyone’s benefit.
Many of my clients fit in one of the categories above and they come to me to help them create a blueprint for their life (first of all so they know what they want their life to look like) and then design how they will incorporate some type of
information products into the mix to at least partially put their business on autopilot so they can enjoy their life and have the money to do so.
When we look at the role being an author plays in this mix it has many different possibilities.
- First it could be that you are using your book as a lead generator for your current or future business activities.
- It could be the launching platform for a new direction in your business.
- Or you want to increase your visibility in your industry and achieve celebrity status.
- Or you just want to get on Oprah!
Whatever it is there are times when self-publishing is perfectly fine. there are other situations where it makes sense to get a big publisher to take your book.
There is another option, entrepreneurial publishing, which combines the best of both worlds in the way that only entrepreneurs could structure a win/win publishing deal. This is not an article to promote you working with me as your publisher, so if you want more details on how this works, contact me.
There are several useful questions for you to consider when making this decision that I had never put in this form before until the subject came up with my client.
So here’s what I gave her to decide:
- What did the self-publishing do for your business?
- What was the purpose of writing the book?
- Did your book deliver on that for you?
- How did it grow you list, get you new clients?
- Why are you deciding to re-publish now?
- What do you want to do differently?
- Why were you thinking that a big publisher might be a good thing to do now?
- What are you looking to have happen that you think a big publisher could accomplish for you?
Whether you are a first time author or an author who has published many books both ways, I think these questions should be answered before you decide which way to go with an future books.
Once you know what your intended outcome is, it’s much easier for us to have a discussion on the benefits of one type of publishing or another in your particular situation.
If you read the Blueprints for Manifesting Your Life article series in September, you’ll remember that one recurring theme that showed up in every article was that there are no hard rules in your life or your business. Everything should always be looked at on a case by case basis and also in terms of you as an individual.
In other words, don’t just do what you see someone else doing and assume if it’s good enough for them it will work out well for you. Let’s figure out what works best for you together.
I’d be happy to answer any question you have on this topic on my blog rather than emailing me individually–and yes you can use a fake name on the blog and nobody sees your email address if you want to protect your privacy.
Until next week, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Just comment on this post on my blog. http://www.YourBreakthroughToSuccess.com/blog
If you would like personal coaching or mentoring, send me an email detailing what you would like help with. As your mentor I hold a bigger vision for you than you hold for yourself. When you have faith and a team that believes in you, it gives you courage. When you don’t have to do it all yourself, all things are possible for you. Commit today to go for your dream 100%.
Lynn Pierce, the Success Architect, is the author of “Breakthrough to Success; 19 Keys to Mastering Every Area of Your Life“. For over 25 years she has taught people how to combine business and personal development to reach the pinnacle of success and live the life of their dreams. In addition, she is also the founder of one of the most exciting annual events for women entrepreneurs, “Women’s Business Empowerment Summit“. Now she shares her keys to success and life mastery with you. You can get the first five lessons of “Change One Thing, Change Your Life: A Personal Transformation System” at http://www.yourbreakthroughtosuccess.com