Oct 9, 2019
Are you wondering if you can write a book, how to get it
published, or whether to sell it as an ebook? Well, you're in luck
because this post and podcast episode is all about everything you
need to know to write a book.
Today I am interviewing Maggy Woodley, the brains behind
Red Ted Art. I interviewed
Maggy previously in
episode 18. Maggy just released her second book on paper
crafting.
We are talking about what it’s like to write a book as a
blogger. If you are thinking about writing a book, or you want to
learn more about the topic, this is the episode for you!
The Process of Book Publishing
If you want to get your feet wet in writing a book, you can
always start with Ebooks. You definitely don’t have to start with a
traditional print book.
E-books are good for beginners because the process is
simpler.
Maggy started her career by writing individual Ebooks, as well
as collaborative Ebooks.
You can create your Ebook on many different platforms, convert
it to a pdf file, and then sell it on Etsy, Amazon, your blog, and
Pinterest.
The most common way to publish a book is to find an agent. Maggy
found her agents by talking to blogger friends who recommended
agents to contact.
Maggy recommends Page Street Publishing
because they specialize in publishing bloggers.
Is Writing a Book a Good Way to Make an
Income?
The income you earn from books will be partly determined by the
size of your blog and if you are already earning money from your
blog.
Maggy has a large audience on her blog, so her income from her
book is small comparatively, but it is a passive source of
income.
For most people, writing books isn’t done for the
money. If you make money on it, that’s a good thing, but
it’s not the main goal. The goal is building your credibility with
your audience.
You have to be passionate about what you’re writing about if you
want to finish your book. If you don’t love it, you’re going to
start hating it.
Repurposing Old Content for Your Book
Maggy’s books contain approximately 25% recycled content. That
is fairly unusual for writers.
It depends on your publisher and what they will allow. Normally
they will only allow about 5% pre-published content.
Some bloggers actually quit blogging while they are writing
their books.
If you’re going to take three months to write a book, you need
to consider whether you can fit it into your regular work schedule,
or whether you can afford to take that time off to focus on
writing.
Factor in the lead time of a year at the least. You will write
your book, but then months will go by before it is
published.
How to Use Your Built-In Audience to Sell Your
Book
Maggy has a large presence through her blog, YouTube channel,
and social media.
Her publisher will only have to do minimal work advertising her
book because she already has such a large reach.
You don’t have to have a big audience in order to get published,
however.
And even if a publisher does want you to sell to your audience,
they will have a distribution system of their own.
What they are actually looking for is unique content and what
makes you stand out. They want to see that you are passionate about
helping your reader in a niche topic.
You’re not just writing a book for the sake of writing a book.
You’re writing a book because you really believe it will help
someone.
Do You Have Autonomy in Publishing
You have more freedom when you are publishing your own Ebook.
You get to decide what goes into your book, your title,
etc.
Publishers are usually quite happy for you to choose your
content. Maggy’s publisher came up with her title and cover, but
she liked both of those.
If you aren’t happy with something, you can always talk it out
and try to agree on something that you like better. Most publishers
will be happy with your respectful and helpful feedback about your
work.
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TIMESTAMP
- Intro
- 2:50 Tips To Grow An Email List
- 7:45 A Simple Start
- 10:57 Building a Journey for Your Subscriber
- 14:47 Segmenting Your List
- 23:35 Broadcast Content
- 26:57 Connecting Email to RSS Feed
- 29:48 Formatting For Email
- 33:16 Subject Lines
- 39:16 Pruning Your List
- 43:21 Parting Tips
TOP 4
TAKEAWAYS
- To be successful at email marketing, you must become an
aggressive email acquirer.
- Set up a “forever series”; a 10-post email series around one
evergreen topic.
- Segment your list to build a loyal audience.
- Spend time writing attention-grabbing subject lines and editing
your emails to be as short as possible.
- Prune your list every 3-4 months.
