By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio
www.yourbookisyourhook.com
As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences. Today let’s talk about the five reasons why sharing your story through your book could make it a whole business.
Our lives change because of the stories we are willing to share with others and those we learn about when others share their stories with us.
Throughout the ages and beginning really from birth, we hear stories told by others and develop our own as we make choices, take action and live our lives. Some are happier than others. Some are scarier than others. Some are just good, honest human stories. Others are unimaginable for many of us.
When you have the courage to tell your story to someone else, you share a part of your humanity with others. It is a glimpse into the Human Spirit – yours – which can inspire, educate and enlighten others. It can also reveal cold hard truths that others need to know as well as making people laugh at perhaps some outlandish things you’ve seen, done and experienced.
We like to read about others. Not just biographies of people who lived a long time ago. We like real life stories. Stories of joy. Stories of pain. Stories of politics and businesses gone bad. Stories of others that have overcome great obstacles and challenges to succeed.
We just love stories!
When you put your story in a book, your story can grow into a whole business – all by itself!
Here are 5 reasons why your book is your hook to a whole business:
1) The Book. If you have a feature article in a magazine, a speaking platform, have a proprietary system you use with clients or vendors, or other opportunities where you present your passion, product, service and message, your book becomes a product that people want to buy to “take a piece of you home with them.” They want to be able to read more about your story, your approach to living and other thoughts and ideas you may have to share. They want to connect with you and the book gives them a chance to really get to know you. After all, they are going to invest their most valuable asset – their time – in learning more about you through your book.
2) The Hook. The book may become a point of entry to you and the business you create because of it. For example, if you have a speaking platform, your book may become a calling card for you to get a gig booked, so to speak. Many speakers send a kit that includes their book as an introduction to a speaking opportunity. Many have said that the book made the difference in why they were chosen over other speakers. For others, their true stories in their books enhance their existing businesses by engaging and enrolling new customers, clients, vendors and strategic partners. Being transparent about your business could reveal to others why they would want to work with you. Several business owners I’ve talked with say their book is their best business card.
3) Brand and Business Extension. Whatever brand you have or want to create is only enhanced by a book. Whether you share your personal story, like Aurea McGarry did in her book I Won’t Thrive…I’ll Survive, or if you have a business like CEO Jay Myers does with Interactive Solutions Inc. and a book like his entitled, Keep Swinging: An Entrepreneur’s Story of Overcoming Adversity and Achieving Small Business Success, inevitably whatever you write extends your brand as it extends more information about you to your audience, business clients and associates. It becomes another point of contact. It also becomes a means of referrals for happy clients who are able to point to your business and point out thatyou are also an author who has a book. Sometimes, that’s enough to set you apart from your competitors offering the same type of product or service.
There are a variety of ways that you are able to use your book as a brand or extend your existing brand using your book. Either way, you’ll find that your book will be your hook and lead to greater brand recognition and revenues.
4) Becoming the Media. If your objective is to become a media personality, a book could be your ticket to the big time. A compelling story can be a launch pad to the media world including the big and small screens. As an author, you are a respected expert who can be interviewed on local and national radio and television programs to weigh in on a variety of topics and current events. You may also be asked for a quote for newspaper and magazine articles too. Another opportunity arises when you decide to become more of a journalist or personality on the media side where your book can help establish your credentials as part of your platform. Nicholas Sparks has had films made about his books going all the way back to Message In A Bottle. Like Aurea McGarry who has gone on to become a television host and producer who just won her first Emmy Award this year, you too can use your book as your hook to follow your dreams, engage the media and get noticed.
5) Going Digital. This is, after all, the digital age. Whatever viewers imagined years ago as they watched Dick Tracy dial up the police chief on his famous 2-way wrist radio or saw George Jetson talk to Judy through a video phone, that time is now. When you take your book and extend it into the world of iApps, mobile applications, Facebook, Twitter, and electronic everything, you inevitably reach a whole new market that may not have known about your book. Cyberspace is a whole different dimension where you can use your book as your hook.
As a business, a book holds every facet required. From product development to production, marketing and promotion, legal, accounting and other aspects, a book is a whole business unto itself.
When you see it that way, you’ll realize that your book is your hook to so much more and that it really is not just a book.
© 2010 Jennifer S. Wilkov. All Rights Reserved.
Jennifer S. Wilkov: Media personality, host and producer of the #1 radio talk show “Your Book Is Your Hook!” on WomensRadio. Jennifer is a best-selling award-winning author who has been published five times, an award-winning freelance writer and a respected book business consultant in her business by the same name, “Your Book Is Your Hook!” She has both self-published and been published by a traditional publisher. Jennifer has been called the quintessential writer and teacher for the 21st century. She supports first-time and seasoned authors in their book writing, publishing and marketing endeavors through coaching and training in her “Your Book Is Your Hook!” consulting practice. www.YourBookIsYourHook.com www.JenniferSWilkov.com