Publisher’s Weekly recently put out some interesting statistics on how much revenue the average author makes in royalties per year.
Would it surprise you to know that best-selling authors like Malcolm Gladwell, Jack Canfield, and EVEN Donald Trump make less than $2 in royalties for each book sold? This is largely due to the amount overhead involved in traditional publishing like paper costs, print production, distribution, marketing, agency fees, commissions and list goes on. The average author actually makes only about $540 per year – and that’s all.
So why would these celebrity authors even bother to spend months and months writing a book?
That’s a great question!
The reality is that there are not millions of dollars to be made in writing a book, not even if your book becomes a best- seller. BUT what the smart people who own businesses have figured out is that a book cannot only position the author as an instant expert, but it can also be the catalyst that launches and grows their business as well.
The point I want to make here is if you’re going to invest a lot of time and effort into writing and publishing your book then why not have your products or programs already established and in place before you publish?
Not having a “next step” for your reader to take or not having an established product or service offering before writing & publishing your book is a total missed opportunity.
Think about Tony Robbins, Mark Victor Hanson, Deepak Chopra – All of these best selling authors have made SOME money with their books – that’s absolutely true.
But where they’ve made their MILLIONS is in their coaching, consulting and training programs. Their books are primarily used as marketing tools to create interest and publicity.
At the end of the day, we all have our reasons for wanting to write a book – but the NUMBER ONE mistake I see most often is that almost everyone begins without a plan and they don’t use proven marketing principles when publishing their book.