Does publishing a book make a difference?
A couple of months ago, the people at RainToday asked me to participate in a survey of professional service providers who've published books. Now the fruits of their labor are available for everyone to read (for a price): The Business Impact of Writing a Book: Data, Analysis and Lessons From Professional Service Providers Who Have Done It.
The report reflects the input from 200 surveys and dozens of in-depth interviews with authors who have collectively published 590 books. The results are provocative and well worth reading, especially if book-authorship is something you're seriously considering. Among the findings:
* 49% of the participants said publication had a "positive" effect on their careers and another 47% credited it with an "extremely positive" influence. Almost everyone agreed that it was something they would do again.
* Sales size matters. Sure, there's the credibility of being published at all (especially if it's through a big name publishing house) but the greater the overall sales, the greater the favorable business impact.
* Apparently, there's a distinct statistical correspondence between hiring agents, PR firms and professional marketers to hawk your book, and higher earnings from advances, royalties and business leads. BUT...there's a chicken and egg dilemma (that the report acknowledges on the issue of agents): Did the authors who used these services enjoy the increases as a result of them? Or is it likely that the authors who could attract agents and afford PR/marketing support were already big league players with name recognition and a well-established networking/speaking/PR base? This issue remains a bit foggy.
* There was almost unanimous agreement that publishers will not market for you; you have to commit to doing it yourself. If you're planning to write a book, create a plan for marketing it as well. (See my article on book publishing for more details.)
One of the things the report doesn't address is the relationship between content type and success. Are there differences in business impact (leads generated, new business closed) among those who wrote technical books (WAP 2.0 Development), tactical books (Proposals: On Target, On Time) and "big" visionary books, such as Leadership Presence or Lessons From the Edge? Should they be marketed differently? Should authors expect differences in business results, or in ways they should exploit their books? This could be the subject of an interesting follow-up report...
The report reflects the input from 200 surveys and dozens of in-depth interviews with authors who have collectively published 590 books. The results are provocative and well worth reading, especially if book-authorship is something you're seriously considering. Among the findings:
* 49% of the participants said publication had a "positive" effect on their careers and another 47% credited it with an "extremely positive" influence. Almost everyone agreed that it was something they would do again.
* Sales size matters. Sure, there's the credibility of being published at all (especially if it's through a big name publishing house) but the greater the overall sales, the greater the favorable business impact.
* Apparently, there's a distinct statistical correspondence between hiring agents, PR firms and professional marketers to hawk your book, and higher earnings from advances, royalties and business leads. BUT...there's a chicken and egg dilemma (that the report acknowledges on the issue of agents): Did the authors who used these services enjoy the increases as a result of them? Or is it likely that the authors who could attract agents and afford PR/marketing support were already big league players with name recognition and a well-established networking/speaking/PR base? This issue remains a bit foggy.
* There was almost unanimous agreement that publishers will not market for you; you have to commit to doing it yourself. If you're planning to write a book, create a plan for marketing it as well. (See my article on book publishing for more details.)
One of the things the report doesn't address is the relationship between content type and success. Are there differences in business impact (leads generated, new business closed) among those who wrote technical books (WAP 2.0 Development), tactical books (Proposals: On Target, On Time) and "big" visionary books, such as Leadership Presence or Lessons From the Edge? Should they be marketed differently? Should authors expect differences in business results, or in ways they should exploit their books? This could be the subject of an interesting follow-up report...
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