Show Me The Money!

Practically every author wants to know how to make money from his or her book — particularly self-published authors. There are a number of ways you can make money from your book. The best place to start is with:

1. A Platform

2. A Plan

In this video blogpost, the Author's Midwife shares how you can make money from your book.

If you don't have either of these elements, it's going to be difficult to make money from your book, whether you are self-published or whether you publish with a traditional publishing house.

Having a platform means that you base your book on your brand, which is what you want to be known for or know as. Without a platform, you'll find it difficult to take your book to the next level.

The next must-have element is a plan. What are your goals for your book? What does success look like and how will you measure that over time? There are a number of things to include in your book plan and you have to consider all of those things including who your target audience or primary identified reading audience is. Hopefully, that audience also melds well with who your target audience is for your business or for your platform.

Then, of course, you have to consider what your budget is for your book project; not just the production aspect, but also the marketing and promotional aspects.

Once you've developed and determined each of these aspects, you should look at your investment in this project. Oftentimes, from a business perspective -- and even from an individual one -- we look at expenses. I challenge you to view your expenses for your book as an investment because there is a result we expect from our investments and that is a return. So rather than look at your expenses as simply money out of your pocket, think of them as an investment in the long-term benefit of your book project and of your business.

Consider various ways you can make money from your book, not just from book sales. Once you define your platform, you will discover some creative ways to make money from your book. These include speaking engagements, teaching, webinars, teleseminars, and information products among others. I challenge you to be creative. This is the information age, but it's also the engagement age. People are willing to pay to be engaged with you and with the content of your book, specifically if you've positioned yourself as an expert.

So build on your platform and discover new ways to show me the money (and show yourself the money) as a result of your phenomenal book.    

What creative ways have you used to make money from your book?

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Anita Paul, known as The Author's Midwife, coaches aspiring authors to write a phenomenal book and helps current authors use their existing books to leverage their business. She is the author of the-book Write Your Life: Create Your Ideal Life and The Book You've Been Wanting to Write, and is the creator of the Write Your Life program, through which she has created a dynamic system to Write Your Book in 90 Days or Less. She has owned The Write Image for 15 years, and has had her freelance articles featured in over 25 publications in the U.S. and Canada. Anita is also the host of "Book Your Success."

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