Would you pick The Perfect Market or Incredible Writing Talent?

A Genie appears and tells you that you can choose one of the two The Perfect Market. No one else has written a book for it. Readers in that market are dying for someone to write a book. Market Success is guaranteed. The first person to write a book will be incredibly successful. You will be the first and only person (at least for the first 5 years) writing for that market Incredible Writing...

To Be An Author you must move away from The Consumer Mindset and Embrace The Creator Mindset

Focus on Giving Value, instead of Getting Value A Creator GIVES VALUE, finds internal validation, finds internal drive and motivation. You create something and ADD VALUE to the world A Consumer seeks value, seeks external validation, seeks external meaning. A consumer looks to just take and consume, without giving anything back in return Focus on CREATION and not Consumption A Creator focuses on...

How to Make Time for your Author Responsibilities while still having a Day Job

You have to Make the Most Out of Your Time The best way to look at this, is to consider all the time and effort and energy people devote to things other than their day job Television and Movies - if you are serious about being an author then you have to say goodbye to weekends spent bingeing on Netflix. 1 or 2 TV Shows a week are OK. 1 or 2 Movies a month is all you can afford. You are now making...

Should an Author start a Company and become an Entrepreneur/a Business?

Our views on this are very, very, very clear - There is absolutely no good reason to not incorporate as a LLC or Corporation In fact, you absolutely MUST incorporate as an LLC or a Corporation if you are serious about building a career as an author Very Important: This is not Legal or Tax Advice. Please consult a lawyer for legal advice. Please consult a CPA for tax advice Very Important: Your...

What would Authors do differently if they could Start Over from Scratch?

Here are some answers for What Authors would do differently if they could Start Over from Scratch Pay yourself a Salary Note: This necessitates a lot of good things such as being profitable, managing your finances, looking out for #1, etc Even if your day job can subsidize your future career as an author - make sure you keep this new business (writing) profitable and pay yourself a salary Capture...

Why do Authors massively underestimate the importance of their Book Cover?

It's quite interesting that most authors will spend hours and hours writing out a perfect Book Description, which no one reads (yes, Seth Godin is right - Book Blurbs don't matter at all) And At The Same Time Those same authors will pick out a cover at random, or take 10 minutes on Photoshop to make their cover Your Book Cover is the Single Most Important determinant of Book Sales - It is...

3 Top Things Every New Author Should Do

Here are the 3 Top Things every author who is new to publishing books should do Put away your wallet until you understand the market well Don't look for Shortcuts and Easy buttons and Fast Solutions Don't give money to anyone until and unless they have a stake in your success Let's elaborate Put Away Your Wallet until You Understand the Market Well At the beginning, most authors are clueless and...

Levels of Mastery (3 Core Skills for Authors)

In the 3 Core Skills post we talk about the 3 Skills that make Authors Successful Knowing What to Write Writing Very Well Marketing Very Well There are different levels of mastery for these skills. If you want to succeed, you have to keep increasing your levels of mastery in each of these 3 Core Skills Ignorance Absolutely Rubbish Decently Good Very Good Mastery (Great) Supreme Mastery Absolute...

Why Underestimating How Good You Are as a Writer is Usually Much Better than Overestimating How Good You Are as a Writer

The biggest roadblock to Success for most authors is not that they are missing some 'secret' or some 'strategy'. It is that they think they are way better at the core 3 skills than they actually are The 3 Core Skills are Knowing What to Write Being Able to Write Very Well Being Able to Market Very Well Let's look at what happens if an author does not accurately assess their skill level, starting...

The 3 Core Skills – The 3 Skills that Make Authors Successful

There are 3 Core Skills which determine the Level of Success an Author will reach Knowing What to Write - Can the author figure out the Right Market where there is Product Market Fit (the readers want to read what the author has written) Being Able to Write Very Well - can the author write very well Being Able to Market Very Well - can the author market very well That's it. If you can do these...