03 Jun How Writers Make Money

Every writer dreams of making a living with their words.  But how exactly do writers make money? Unfortunately, the data and statistics say that less than 5% actually make a full-time living writing books.  Not very good odds.

This begs the question, “Should I try to make money writing books or just write books because I love writing?”

Years ago I was at a Home and Garden Show and met an amazing and talented artist.  I loved all of her paintings and invested hundreds of dollars on that day.  She was an older woman who could have been my grandmother.  I said to her “Mariam, your paintings are spectacular, you are so talented, do you have a website?  You could be selling these all over the world and making money.”

She replied, “I never get on the computer.  I don’t have a website.  I don’t want to ruin my art with technology and business stuff; that would definitely ruin it.”

Wow!  I couldn’t believe what she was saying.  However, part of me understood that “marketing, sales and tech stuff” wasn’t her thing and she didn’t want to spend her time on that because then she wasn’t spending her time on creating her art.

Here’s the thing though…

The world needs our work and our art.  We all have a creative gift to share and we are all artists.  Not sharing your work with the world is a guarantee to be a starving artist.

Wouldn’t you want to be a thriving artist?  A writer who makes money?

As Jeff Goins says in his book Real Artists Don’t Starve:

“The goal here is to build a life that makes creating your best work not only possible but inevitable.  And so, we must exchange this idea of a Starving Artist with a new term:  THRIVING ARTIST.  If you don’t want your best work to die with you, you must train yourself to think and live differently than the ways we’ve been told artists behave.  Don’t starve for your art.  Help it thrive.”

So how can writers make money with their art; with their writing?

That’s the million dollar question.  No pun intended.

Here’s my answer after having written 22 books and helped over 400 authors write, publish and launch books to the bestsellers lists including Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Amazon:

THE ONE BOOK TO $100K METHOD

Remember when I said the odds were low that you could write books and make a full-time living with your books.  I know first-hand about this.  In 2020, I wrote a book a month for an entire year (I documented how I did this in my book, 28 Books to $100K and Digital Retirement) and at the end of the year I had $3,300 a month in passive income.

Writing a book a month was inspired by this blog post on Written Word Media that said the average author who makes six figures has 28 books in their catalog.  So when you see full time writers, they usually are writing a lot of books and constantly churning them out.  

When you look at famous authors like John Grisham who are making millions of dollars, they are writing machines.  John Grisham started out like all writers do, with a dream. And he never gave up.  His writing got better, he kept publishing more books and now he’s written well over 100 books and is world famous.

What if you could write one book and create $100K or even $1 million dollars?

I’m here to tell you that it is possible.

Here are a few case studies of people who write books to build their brand, exponentially increase their status and notoriety, and sell products and programs on the back end that generate $100K to $100 million!

This is excerpted from my book, The Backwards Book Launch:

“First up is…

Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

Mike Michalowicz is a genius. Seriously, I love this guy!
 

I picked up his book Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine at Barnes and Noble one day. Then, about a week later, I picked up another one of his books, The Pumpkin Plan: Simple Strategies to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field.

I read Profit First in about a week and was very impressed.

In Profit First, Mike teaches readers (business owners) why the traditional accounting method of Sales – Expenses = Profit is not just contrary to human behavior but is a myth that locks people into a never-ending cycle of selling more yet profiting less.

Profit First actually flips the formula (very similar to what I’m doing here with the Backwards Book Launch – flipping the traditional formula) and shows business owners the new way to have a profitable business: Sales – Profit = Expenses.

Of course, Mike provides multiple case studies throughout his book detailing readers who have applied the Profit First Formula, transforming, and in some cases saving their failing businesses.

I love that he didn’t STOP at just writing a great book. He knew that business owners would need help implementing his teachings.

Instead of being the only one who could teach his methods to others through coaching, consulting, or even an online course, Mike created a High-Ticket Certification Program on the backend of his book. He certifies accountants, financial planners, business coaches, and other professionals who meet his criteria to teach his Profit First Formula. 

There is no pricing on his website for the cost of the certification program, but my estimate is it’s about $10K. At the time of this writing, Mike has certified 128 people. Estimating $10K per person for certification would be an additional profit of over $1 million!

In addition, he offers an affiliate program so that others can sell his services for a portion of the sales, allowing him to make money from other people’s efforts.

I don’t know the details of his certification program as there are many ways to structure these types of offerings, but he may also be taking a revenue share and/or a yearly renewal fee for his program.

It’s a brilliant strategy to add six or seven figures to your book’s profit.

Certifications Are a Huge Income Generator for Profit First

Here’s what Mike says about his certification program in his book:

“As of this very second, there are 128 accountants, bookkeepers, and coaches working hand in hand with me to guide entrepreneurs on an implementation of Profit First. (No worries. You can absolutely do this on your own, but for some people, having an accountability partner who knows the ins and outs of their industry who can guide them step-by-step is a better approach.) Of these 128 Profit First Professionals (PFPs), on average we have directed the Profit First implementation of ten companies per PFP. That means we have guided 1,280 businesses to success using Profit First.”

I’m sure you’re starting to see the BIG picture here.

By certifying others in his teachings, Mike is able to reach and impact the masses.

Brilliant, right?

I’m considering hiring a PFP (Profit First Professional) for my business because I really believe in Mike’s teachings and philosophy (and I hate all things related to accounting.)

Throughout Mike’s book, he is constantly adding value and building his email list by offering resources by visiting his website.

Mike’s other BIG profit path with his book is speaking engagements. Here is what Mike says:

“Helping you and all of our fellow entrepreneurs become more profitable is my life’s purpose. I am flying all over America and beyond to speak about Profit First. Tomorrow I will speak to more than 1,100 pharmacy owners at an event in Houston, then to 25 people (if I am lucky) in Casper, Wyoming, then over to New Orleans to talk with 200 folks in the morning and then a panic dash (via plane, train and Uber) to Washington, D.C, for an evening keynote. Then I’ll travel abroad for a few more events. In between, I will do interviews for about four podcasts a day, recording my own podcast (ahem—The Profit First Podcast, of course) and updating this book at night. I do all of these with joy. I will teach this to anyone and everyone.”

Mike has not only built a 7-figure empire around his book, Profit First, and his teachings. He has truly created a movement.

Think about what MOVEMENT you
can create with your book.

Mike Michaelowicz is transforming lives, and I’m proud of him for that.

The truth of the matter is…

The book is not the end;
the book is just the beginning.

From what I see, Mike has at least four streams of income (in addition to royalties) from Profit First:

• Certification Program

• Speaking Engagements

• Possible Revenue share with his Certification program and/or licensing or annual fees

• Affiliate Program

He has created similar profit paths with his book The Pumpkin Plan. 

Those interested can become a Certified Pumpkin Plan Strategist by application and invitation only.

Mike markets his certification program to coaches, entrepreneurs, teachers, trainers, speakers, and anyone who wants to start, build, or grow their business with a methodology to teach (his).

It’s a brilliant approach to building a 7-figure business with a book!

I’m sure ideas of how you can add huge streams of income to your book(s) are spinning in your mind right now.

Our next case study involves a Peak Performance Coach you may have heard of…

Brendon Burchard has the ultimate rags-to-riches story.

Brendon Burchard, Peak Performance Coach

Brief introduction to Brendon:

“After suffering depression and surviving a car accident at the age of 19, Brendon faced what he felt were life’s last questions: ‘Did I live fully? Did I love openly? Did I make a difference?’ His intention to be happy with the answers led to his personal breakthroughs, and ultimately to his life’s purpose of helping others live, love and matter. He spent his 20s researching psychology and leadership, and consulting at Accenture. By age 32, he had struck out on his own and become a #1 best-selling author, an in-demand high performance coach, a sought-after speaker, and an early pioneer in the online education space.

“Widely considered one of the most successful early pioneers in online education, Brendon runs an 8-figure multi-media training company. He launched million-dollar online courses in 2009, and he has now passed 17 consecutive online promotions that generated more than 7 figures of revenue in less than seven days each. He shares his knowledge publicly and also privately advises many of the best online marketers in the world via Experts Academy.”

Highlights about Brendon:

• Brendon Burchard is one of the top motivation and marketing trainers in the world. –Larry King
• Top 25 Most Influential Leaders in Personal Growth and Achievement. –Success Magazine
• Top 100 Most Followed Public Figure in the World.
  –Facebook Insights
• One of the most influential leaders in the field of personal growth. –O, The Oprah Magazine
• The world’s leading high-performance coach.
  –Oprah.com

Brendon has a very powerful story.

What has brought Brendon to that high-level expert status are his bestselling books and how brilliantly he leverages them by attracting raving fans and generating a massive email list by giving away his books for FREE!

He ultimately gives away almost every book he writes for FREE to build up his massive email list and sell products on the backend of those books.

When Brendon’s book was rejected by a major Publisher…

“Brendon famously fought for his art when a major publisher turned down his last book, The Motivation Manifesto. This book has since spent over 30 weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List after debuting #1 on BN.com. It’s now the bestselling motivation title of this century.”

Brendon’s other New York Times bestselling books include:

• The Charge: Activating the 10 Human Drives that Make You Feel Alive

• The Millionaire Messenger

• Life’s Golden Ticket 

His books have been #1 on every major bestseller list, including Amazon.com, BN.com, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. 

Over 1,500,000 people have downloaded his books, white papers, and eBooks, and his work has been translated into 25+ languages. His latest book is High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way.”

And guess what? He’s giving it away for FREE!

Brendon’s 7-Figure Sales Funnel

A few years ago, I decided to reverse engineer Brendon’s sales funnel to determine exactly how he was making seven figures from his book, The Charge: Activating the 10 Human Drives that Make You Feel Alive.

Here’s what I discovered:

• Brendon did massive free and paid promotions to drive people to a landing page for the FREE copy
  of his physical book, The Charge.
• After signing up and providing all your information (name, email, address, phone number, etc.), he would ship the book to you for the cost of shipping and handling only.
• In addition to the book, buyers would receive the following FREE Bonuses:
  • Three videos on how Millionaires succeed
  • The 1-Page Productivity guide (the secret weapon used by CEOs worldwide to regain control of their days and reach their goals faster).
  • A “One Time” offer page with a 90% discount on his High-Performance Training Course that he normally sells for $997. You can get it for $99. If you don’t get it right then, you will never see this offer again.
• Following that offer, buyers are put into his autoresponder series, consisting of the following:

#1 – Training Video #1 Delivered with a Thank You message

#2 – Training Video #2 Delivered

#3 – Training Video #3 Delivered

#4 – Invite to Sign Up for Brendon’s Master’s Course that requires you to watch a long video before being directed to the sales page; the cost of that course is $997.

#5 – Another video explaining why you should sign up for his $997 Master’s Course 

#6 – Final Video about the Master’s Course

The above outlines the 7-Figure Sales Funnel Brendon uses to make money on the backend of his book.

He launches the book to #1 by pre-selling the book and having a landing page with extra bonuses for pre-orders. Once he has achieved bestselling author status, he gives the book away for FREE to build a massive email list.

Also, when I received Brendon’s book, the package included some additional sales materials to promote his programs.

Two million students have completed Brendon’s online courses and video series. He is impacting the masses.

I love the strategy of a one-time low offer because, for many, anything under $100 is a no-brainer. He likely makes six figures on that offer alone.

Those in his high-ticket $997 Master’s program probably have access to join higher level and higher-cost programs.

Many entrepreneurs at this level can command fees for their private coaching and/or mastermind groups in excess of six figures!

What can you create as a one-time offer to sell on the backend of your book?

Many times, you can re-purpose videos, audios, and training materials from other programs you have.

Brendon sold a recording of a presentation that he had previously given to others who paid $997 for it, creating a high perceived value.

This formula of giving away his print book must be a big moneymaker because he does it for just about every book he publishes.

I recently saw Brendon promoting his book on habits and was giving away several bonuses to those who purchased his book during the pre-order period.

Once the book becomes a #1 bestseller, he will most likely start giving away that book.

Giving away a book that is a bestseller is a great way to build your email list fast. Who doesn’t want a FREE book from a bestselling author, right?

You can also use Facebook ads to drive traffic to a landing page where you give away your book.

It’s important to become a #1 bestselling author because once your book hits the Amazon bestsellers list, it’s on Amazon’s radar. Your book goes from being invisible to visible. Amazon’s internal marketing kicks in, and they start promoting your book in a myriad of ways.

Amazon uses an internal algorithm which I believe has to do with reviews, sales, downloads, keywords, and categories. 

It’s a very powerful system that you can’t buy your way into. Amazon rewards bestselling authors by promoting their books to members and customers.

Our next case study is an Internet Marketing Entrepreneur who sells software on the backend of his books. Again, you may have heard of him…

Russell Brunson, The Sales Funnel Guy

Russell Brunson didn’t start by writing and publishing books, but he quickly watched other 7-figure Author-Preneurs profit from giving away FREE books, so he followed in their footsteps.

Multiple books with Multiple Streams of Income

To date, Russell Brunson, creator of ClickFunnels, has written the following books and sold over 1,000,000 copies:

• Expert Secrets

• DotCom Secrets

• 108 Proven Split Test Winners

• Funnel Stacking: The 3 Core Funnels and How They Work Together

I’ve been running an online business since 2005, and I know the biggest concept entrepreneurs struggle to grasp and learn is sales funnels.

Russell Brunson is a master in sales funnels. He makes a fortune teaching everything he knows about sales funnels, such as certifying coaches in sales funnel training, advanced funnel training programs, and more.

His big money maker is his ClickFunnels® software that currently sells for $97 or $297 per month, depending on what features you want.

I love that Russell is writing books to drive sales for his software.

It reminds me of Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, who years ago wanted to sell his board game, The CASHFLOW® Game but was having trouble.

At age nine, his Rich Dad taught him how to be a rich man by playing Monopoly. In 1994, Robert and his wife, Kim, decided to take what they had learned from his dad and create a game board so others could have fun learning.

There are two tracks on his board game, CASHFLOW®:

• The Rat Race

• The Fast Track

The object of the game is to increase your financial IQ to exit the rat race and have more passive income, so you don’t have to work anymore, and your money is working for you.

According to the Self-Publishing Hall of Fame, here’s the story behind what the book’s purpose was:

“Robert Kiyosaki originally self-published Rich Dad, Poor Dad, written with Sharon Lechter, in 1997 as a $15.95 brochure designed to attract customers to his website where he could sell his $195 Cashflow® board game.

After selling rights to Warner Business Books in 2000 and appearing on Oprah, he sold millions of copies, with the book sitting on the New York Times bestseller list for four years. By New Year’s 2005, the book had sold more than 10 million copies and was the #1 business bestseller for 2004 according to USA Today.”

Since Robert could not sell his Cashflow Game, he decided to WRITE A BOOK that would leave a breadcrumb trail to his game, and his plan worked brilliantly.

His book was an unexpected massive hit and sold more than 10 million copies, making him famous!”

End of excerpt.

So you can be a writing machine and invest years of time, money and energy churning out book after book or you can use the “One Book to $100K+ Method” and strategically write a book that builds your business.

There is no right or wrong answer.  I have many students who want to write a book a month and are in my Digital Retirement Academy Group Coaching program.   DRA opens four times per year so you must get on the waiting list . 

I also have hundreds of business clients who want to write one or two books that build their brand and their income.

Which path is right for you? Think about what makes more sense for YOU.