Written by: Dawn Bates, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
“I want to become a bestseller”
Words which, as an author coach, make me roll my eyes louder than the eyes of my sons when I ask them for help with technology and they look at me with “Really Mother?” written all over their faces.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love to help authors reach their goals of becoming a bestseller, but there is so much more available to us as authors than the title of a bestseller. There are awards, fundraising and philanthropic activities, global change and legacy to think about, which get overlooked by those who are advised to write a book by their PR company or business coach.
Many bestsellers we see were only best sellers in one of the most obscure categories, priced at 99c for twenty-four hours and were little more than 20,000 words of basic knowledge at best. Not that there is anything wrong with this strategy, but really?
Have we got to the point in the world of literature and business where being a bestseller is all we hope for?
How limiting is this?
The same goes for people who say, “Think outside the box”. First of all, if you are thinking outside of a box, who put you in the box in the first place? Your parents? Your teachers? Society?
And secondly, why would you want to think outside of a box instead of using them to start a fire? The metaphorical fire within you or the one on the beach under a full moon.
Then we have the saying “The sky is the limit” — the sky is NOT the limit! There are galaxies, wormholes and black holes out there for us to explore, and all we can think of is the sky being the limit.
We are programmed in so many different ways to limit our thinking, our success and the impact we have in the world.
If we say we love ourselves, are proud of ourselves and say we want to be millionaires we are told we are arrogant, full of ourselves and “need to check ourselves” … mainly by those who are too afraid to dream, or at least go after them.
Which, in all honesty is understandable as we are conditioned from a very young age to think we need to fit in because standing out from the crowd will get you bullied, ridiculed and disliked for being better than others.
To be a success in any line of work, we need to stand out. We need to aim higher than anyone else, and we need to play full out, having what is known as audacious goals.
When we look at the word ‘audacious’ we see it has the Ying and Yang of meanings: bold, courageous, intrepid, fearless are some of the positive meanings with insolent, insubordinate, discourteous and ill-mannered being the negative flipside.
Is there any wonder so many ‘play it safe’ in business, preferring to have a 6 figure business instead of an 8 figure business, or only going for a bestseller when they can go for a million copies sold, or one of the most prestigious awards available?
To be a self-published author, or one who is published under a boutique publisher’s name such as mine, is to be an entrepreneur, one who is going to play full out, invest, dream big, create the plans and then work the plan.
It takes time, and it takes money, along with a large investment of energy combined with a relentless pursuit of the dream we have to achieve all we say we want to achieve.
To talk about the title of bestseller alone is not enough, just like it is not enough to simply wish for clients or one of the top four turning up on your doorstep and giving you millions of dollars as part of that coveted publishing deal.
The reality of being an author is very different to what most people imagine it to be. Many people think we sit around in a rose garden, on the beach or on a boat in the middle of the ocean in my case, whilst the millions come rolling in.
The truth is the top four publishers own 75 per cent of the book market, and only pay out an average of $10-$20,000 in advances to 1000’s of authors, whilst the rest of us invest this same amount – plus much more – into building our business, the business of being an author.
To get the coveted title of New York Times Bestseller requires an investment of around $150,000USD, with a New York PR Agency pimping you out relentlessly to TV, Radio, magazines in the mainstream media in the hope that the investment pays off in the book sales they will gain from all the PR.
The tables overflowing with books at the entrance to bookstores such as Waterstone’s in the UK, or Borders in the US are normally booked out a year to eighteen months ahead of publication, and normally by the Big Four. Getting onto that table as an indie author or as someone who is published by a boutique publisher who focuses on one genre of book is near to impossible.
One of the reasons author coaches like me make sure our clients understand the business side of things is because you have to be in the business of being an author. We are creating a product which needs to sell, and it needs additional products sold alongside it.
Years ago I used to have software development and media marketing company. We developed software for some of the largest companies and government agencies in the world.
To supplement the long turnaround of the software being designed, written, tested and published, we started publishing content such as marketing brochures, highly encrypted data and music onto CDs and DVDs.
We would publish video recordings of surgeries and road traffic accidents for legal teams around the UK for lawyers to prove or disprove negligence. It was a profitable business… and then after twelve years, I closed the business because the explosion of the internet and encrypted websites was fast becoming the norm.
As an entrepreneur who has been in business for almost twenty-five years, one of the key things I make sure my clients understand is the long game of writing and publishing books.
On average books and their income will bring you at best a minimum wage, so it is essential to diversify. It is essential to have merchandise, understand your market, and understand where and how you are going to make money.
Without this diversification of products and services, understanding sales funnels and the marketing of yourself and your books, the ROI for writing and publishing your books will take years to accomplish.
Recently I was told about a few opportunities on Upwork, and I thought to myself “Why not? Let’s see how I can help others on that platform”. What I saw was shocking, to say the least. People were wanting to have their book written for a couple of hundred dollars and wanting to pay no more than $35 to edit a book of more than 180,000 words.
Other than surprise at the value others place on the value of writers and editors, I felt disappointed – and to be honest, I felt offended. I felt offended that they would have so little respect for the work we do. And then I realised they don't understand the process of writing great content, deciphering and developing ideas, and they probably don't value themselves and their work enough.
As a publisher, I have had people want to only pay me $100 to write and publish their book, whilst they are making $1000 an hour for appearing on stage to promote the content someone else has written for them – whilst they pass it off as something they themselves wrote.
Many of the books in the business market and the autobiographies you will read are written by someone other than the name on the front of the book, and many of the award-winning books are pitched by the dedicated award bid-writing teams within the Top Four.
Does this all mean it is impossible to make a lucrative career as a self-published or boutique published author? Not at all.
Russell Brunson of ClickFunnels fame had his book written by a friend of mine who published his book under her boutique publishing house. The difference between Russell and many other authors out there was he had the products and the business acumen to back up the content in his book.
Russell had the relentless energy and drive to build his business and set up sales funnels at every turn. He also invested heavily in his book being written and published, knowing he would make it all back and much more besides.
Most people who are in business, especially women, make less than 6 figures a year, and when you consider it takes an average investment of $30,000 plus to hire a good business coach, we can clearly see why some people are adverse to spending the investment needed to get published, choosing to wait for the handouts from the big publishers.
It takes someone very dedicated to succeed in business, even more so to sit and write a book, before going on to publish said book. It takes even more dedication and grit to go on to make sure our books and businesses are huge successes.
So the question we need to ask ourselves is do we have what it takes to make a healthy return on our investments, for ourselves and our businesses or are we just another dreamer collecting the title of ‘author’ for prestige purposes?
Let me know what you think by sending me a message via https://dawnbates.com/contact
For those of you serious about building your author business and getting your book published, make sure you purchase my 7 Week Author Course packed full of insights, ideas, strategies and action plans designed especially with authors and success in mind.
Dawn Bates, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
"Dawn Bates is a true international bestselling author multiple times over on five continents. She specialises in developing global leaders into real authorities who wish to give a voice to the voiceless whilst working with them to create brand expansion strategies through activism and authorship.
Profound truths, social justice and human rights underpin everything she does, and at the core of her soul is a passion for being of service to humanity, giving hope, courage and confidence for others to stand in their truth and live a life of conviction.
She writes for various magazines, sails around the world on yachts as a digital nomad and is currently working towards her PhD in Human Rights and Social Justice with the University of Oxford, whilst also hosting her own podcasts The Sacral Series and The Truth Serum.
Her books are powerful and comprise of solo compilations and multiple collaborations of the highest caliber. Dawn brings together the multi-faceted aspects of the world we live in and takes you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, whilst delivering mic dropping inspiration, motivation and awakening. Her work captures life around the world in all its rawness.
Dawn’s expertise and insights will make you rethink your life, whilst harnessing the deepest freedom of all: your own truth. She’s an authority on leading others to create exceptional results by igniting the passions and fires deep within to speak and live powerfully. "
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