Have you ever moved? It can be a massive amount of
work—packing, moving, and getting settled after the fact. You can do it on your
own (mostly), but the process is faster and easier when you share the necessary
tasks with family and friends.
Publishing a book can be even more daunting—especially if
you’re researching, writing, publishing, and marketing it primarily by
yourself.
A collaborative book may be the perfect introduction to
becoming a published author or as an avenue to rapidly add another title to
your publishing credentials.
Consider
these 6 reasons for creating a collaborative book:
- Get Published Faster. Each of my collaborative books has taken three to six months to complete—from concept to published book. In contrast, I have clients who have been working on their manuscripts five to seven YEARS before they contract with me for their book cover design and interior formatting. It’s simple math that thirty authors writing 1,000 words each will create a 30,000 word manuscript faster than one author can alone.
- Provide a Broader Viewpoint. We each have a unique combination of experience, knowledge and expertise. The written perspective of six to thirty authors provides a wider view on a topic than a single person can contribute alone.
- Share Ideas. A quote often credited to George Bernard Shaw says, “If you have an apple and I have an apple, and we swap apples—we each end up with only one apple. But if you and I have an idea and we swap ideas—we each end up with two ideas.” Writing books in collaboration with others is an excellent way to share ideas.
- Reduce Upfront Expenses. To self-publish, an author pays upfront for editing, cover design, interior formatting, proofreading, and publishing expenses like an ISBN number and a printed proof. Your ideal book cover design may require a stock photo (with an extended license), an original illustration, or a custom photo shoot. After you’ve completed your manuscript, expenses can easily run $5,000 - $10,000 before you’re ready to print. Self-publishing in collaboration, the expenses are divided among the co-authors.
- Expand Your Marketing Reach. Before social media made it so easy to connect, it was said that most people had about 250 in their network of contacts. Now it’s common for someone to have 500 – 1,000 contacts. The reach of one person with a 1,000-person list of contacts is a drop in the bucket compared to the reach of ten co-authors with 1,000 contacts each. Each co-author benefits from the exposure of all their co-authors’ contacts. This is especially effective for publishing a book as a strategy for marketing your business.
- Build Stronger Relationships. People like to do business with people they know and trust. One key to building stronger relationships is to do what you say you’ll do. A collaborative book is a short-term project that highlights your knowledge and creativity while demonstrating your ability to follow-through on a commitment—with the added benefit of a book to sell at completion.
In addition to strengthening
relationships with your co-authors, publishing frequently is a powerful way to
build relationships with potential and existing customers. Becoming a published
author elevates you to the status of an expert and can be the starting point
for a foundation of trust.
Publishing a book is a lot of work, but sharing the load of
writing, publishing, and marketing is like having a group of friends help you
move. You’re tired at the finish line, but you’ve laughed and created memories
along the way.
Listen to these Write Here, Write Now radio archives for more on collaboratively publishing:
Contact Vanessa to discuss the possibility of being a
co-author in one of her upcoming collaborative projects.
__________________
Vanessa
Lowry is a marketing consultant, graphic designer, author, radio host and
speaker. She leverages nearly 30 years of design and marketing expertise to
support book authors who are self publishing. Her books, including The 28-Day Thought Diet, are available on Amazon. www.connect4leverage.com
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete