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(The third in a series of 3 articles about Author’s Blocks)

Author’s Block #1: The Author Centric Mindset.
Author’s Block #2: The Magnum Opus’ Syndrome


This post is about book marketing… but first a story… Jody invested the last 26 painstaking months writing her ‘magnum opus’. She regularly stayed up into the wee hours and arose early doing endless rounds of rewriting and editing. Her friends and family began to wonder where she had gone. But they understood — she was writing her ‘magnum opus’. Then, after laboring over the precise wording for the title that would speak to her target readers (she had a reader-centric mindset); agonizing over every detail in the cover design; and proofreading the interior layout for what seemed like the hundredth time, she was finally ready to publish!

She had carefully chosen her publisher and had plunked down over three thousand hard-earned dollars for publishing her printed book. Then the day she had been anticipating for so long finally arrived. She was so excited!

Her book went ‘LIVE’.

She watched and waited… and waited.

Then she heard something.

Crickets.

No one was there to buy her book.

It briefly went to #57 in an obscure Amazon sub-category thanks to her family and friends. Jody’s book, as good as it was and as well intentioned as it was, hardly registered a blimp in the sales rankings.

It was a sad time for Jody. And what made it even sadder is that it could have been avoided. You see, Jody suffered from the third of the 3 Author’s Blocks — the ‘If You Write it, They Will Come’ Approach.

You’ve probably seen the 1980’s movie, Field of Dreams where Kevin Costner plays an Iowa farmer who hears a mysterious voice one night in his cornfield saying “If you build it, he will come,” and feels the need to act. Despite taunts of lunacy, Ray builds a baseball diamond on his land. Afterward, the ghosts of great players start emerging from the crops to play ball, led by “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.

If You Write it, They Will Come

Maybe at one time you heard a voice inside saying you should write a book about that. Like Ray, you may have felt the need to act despite your inner taunts of lunacy and varying degrees of support from those around you. Did you stop to think who will buy my book and how will they ever hear about it? You probably did but decided to press on.

Write it and they will come, repeated the voice.

Surely if the Universe or your inner guidance told you to write this book then people would find it and read it. And if the Universe also provided the link to ‘download’ the manuscript from the ethers, wouldn’t it also orchestrate a rush of sales by sending eager readers to your Amazon page?

No such luck.

As publishing coach, Nick Stephenson says, you only need to work on two things to be successful as an author:

  1. Your books
  2. Your audience

Over 90% of books published sell less than 100 copies. Why? Two simple reasons:

  1. It’s a lousy book (not usually the main reason)
  2. No audience (more often the culprit)

Achieving success as an author means (a) writing, and (b) building an audience to sell to. That’s it.

Writing and Marketing are Parallel Processes

Jody’s book launch would have had a much greater chance of success had she built and audience before she published her book. Guy Kawasaski, the author of APE (Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur) makes this point clear when he says that writing and marketing are parallel processes. Kawasaki advocates spending an equal amount of time building your audience as you do on writing your book. I agree.

“Wait a minute!” I hear you say. “I can barely carve out enough time to write my book, let alone find an equal amount of time to build my audience. Besides, won’t my publisher handle the promotion for me? Furthermore, marketing is my least favorite thing to do. I suck at it and it it feels icky.”

There are three objections here. Let’s look at them one a time.

1. How do I find the time to build my audience?

It’s tough to find time. We’re all busy. I get it. But the question is, “How will you reach the people who need your help and wisdom unless you have an audience first?” The answer may be that you have to take time away from writing your book and dedicate that time to audience-building activities. This might mean that your book takes longer to write but that’s okay — at least when it comes out there’ll be people wanting to buy it.

We can all find a few more hours in a week. Maybe it means getting up earlier or staying up later. Cut back on TV time or social media. Stop looking at your phone!

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey teaches that focusing on the things that are important and not urgent (like building your audience and writing your book) will pay off in the long run because they won’t turn into things that are important and urgent (like trying to drum up readers after you launch your book). As Covey says, “Make the main thing the main thing.”

2. Won’t my publisher handle the book promotion for me?

Keep dreaming. Publishers (I’m talking about both New York publishers and hybrid publishers) are not generally very effective at promoting your book. Their expertise is in book production and distribution. Publishers love to work with authors who already have an audience (also referred to as a platform) because they know that 90% of the marketing effort falls on the author’s shoulders. That’s why publishers pay large advances to established authors and famous people for the rights to their books — because odds are they will get a return on their investment fairly quickly.

But for new or relatively unknown authors, most publishers don’t do much more than list your book on their website, send out a press release and give the author a marketing to-do list. The ball’s back in your court.

3. What if I suck at marketing?

It’s quite common for creative, spiritual and empathic people to be reluctant to promote themselves. It can feel icky (and therefore should be avoided or left to professionals).

But what if instead of promoting yourself you shared your advice and wisdom with others? Sharing is easy and comfortable. Doesn’t that feel better?

5 Practical Ways to Build Your Audience While You’re Writing Your Book

There are so many ways you can share your insights and experiences with others — ways that feel good to you and feel good to your audience. Below are some concrete examples. My advice is to pick ONE of them and start doing it. You may need to ask someone to help you get set up but once the initial set-up is done it’s easy to maintain on your own even if you’re not tech-savvy. Once you have one of these in place then you can commit to another one — but only start one at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed.

1. Write a Blog

If writing comes easily to you and you have lots of content and new ideas then writing a regular (weekly or bi-weekly) blog post is an enjoyable way to build your audience. Your readers will enjoy and even look forward to your entertaining, inspiring and/or practical posts and share them with others. It’s easy to set up an opt-in box on your blog to turn your readers into subscribers so that you can send them an email each time you put up a new post (and when you release your book). Guest blogging on other people’s popular blog sites is another way to reach new readers.

Tools needed:

  • Domain name for your blog ($12/year). Or set it up on your existing website (free)
  • Website hosting plan (about $5/month)
  • Email marketing system such as Mailchimp (free for up to 500 subscribers)

2. YouTube Videos

If you’re comfortable on camera and love to express yourself verbally and visually then this is your medium. Start by creating short videos on specific topics that solve problems for your audience. Name each video something like this: “How to overcome….” or “3 Ways to Stop…” or “3 Keys to More…” Then post them on YouTube. You can also post your videos as blog posts on your website and Facebook. You can go one step further and transcribe your videos into written blog posts and convert the videos into audio files too.

Advanced tip: YouTube allows you to insert links into your video description and into the video itself that you use to direct people to your opt-in page (see next tip below).

Tools needed:

  • YouTube account (free)
  • Smartphone
  • Tripod (be sure to have the phone sideways, not vertically for your videos)
  • Website for your blog (optional)
  • Outsource transcribing and audio conversion offshore through Fiverr or other online ‘gig’ site

3. Opt-in Page

This is something you can set up once and only update occasionally. We’ve all had the experience of entering our email address to receive a free resource. Now it’s your turn to collect some email addresses! Click here for an example.

Tools needed:

  • A free gift to give away in exchange for the email address such as an eGuide (PDF), audio, video, eBook, recorded webinar, etc. Make it a digital gift rather that does not require your time to deliver (i.e don’t give away a free coaching session).
  • Domain name for your website or landing page (or set it up on your existing website) or use a template-based system such as LeadPages
  • Website hosting plan (about $5/month)
  • Email marketing system such as Mailchimp (free for up to 500 subscribers)

4. Webinars

If you have specific knowledge about something, you could create a webinar to share your insights and advice with others. Here is an example of a live webinar that I recorded and have now turned into a free resource for aspiring self-help authors. Offering a live or recorded webinar is a specific example of the Opt-in Page strategy above.

Tools needed:

  • Webinar content (could be a presentation by you or an interview with an expert guest)
  • Zoom account ($15 – $40/mo) to record the webinar
  • Domain name for your website or landing page (or set it up on your existing website) or use a template-based system such as LeadPages
  • Website hosting plan (about $5/month)
  • Email marketing system such as Mailchimp (free for up to 500 subscribers)

5. eBook

An eBook is an excellent way to share your content and build your email list at the same time. How? By including clickable links to your opt-in page, blog or YouTube page in your eBook, you can easily convert eBook readers into email subscribers. These links can be included in the first few pages of your eBook so that people can click on them from Amazon’s ‘Look Inside’ feature even if they don’t buy your eBook!

You can also give away your eBook with Amazon’s 5-day free campaign. On the eBook Bestseller Bootcamp I’ll be sharing a stealthy technique I used to add over 3,000 email subscribers in one week just by giving away my eBook.

An eBook also makes a great free gift for your opt-in page and can be used as a bonus gift when you are supporting other people’s marketing campaigns. For example, my colleagues, John Tighe and Christine Kloser have donated their eBooks as bonuses for the participants in my Bestseller Bootcamp.

  • eBook
  • Domain name for landing page (or set it up on your existing website) or use a template-based system such as LeadPages
  • Website hosting plan (about $5/month)
  • Email marketing system such as Mailchimp (free for up to 500 subscribers)

There are many other creative and fun ways to grow your audience including hosting your own Podcast or Tele-summit, being a guest on someone else’s Podcast or Tele-summit, creating and launching an online course, collecting emails when you speak at live events and workshops, and of course building your following on social media.

You’ll notice that I haven’t mentioned social media so far and there’s a good reason. It’s been shown time and time again that the key to a successful book launch campaign is the ability to reach people via email. Social media is a useful supplemental medium (and so are paid ads on Facebook and Amazon) but email is still the most powerful marketing tool there is. That’s why my five platform-building methods above all emphasize collecting email addresses rather than ‘Likes”.

“Go The Distance”

In the movie, Kevin Costner’s character hears another voice whispering, “Go the distance.” And that’s my closing advice for you when it comes to writing your book and building your audience before, during and after it’s released.

Go the distance.


Write it and they will come

Geoff Affleck is a 5-time #1 bestselling author and creator and facilitator for the eBook Bestseller Bootcamp for aspiring self-help authors.

Author’s Block #1: The Author Centric Mindset.
Author’s Block #2: The Magnum Opus’ Syndrome

Read more posts

Post a comment below. I’d love to hear our thoughts on this.

(The second in a series of 3 articles about Author’s Blocks)

Author’s Block #1: The Author Centric Mindset
Author’s Block #3: If You Write it, They will Come


Last Wednesday I was reading the classic children’s book, Charlotte’s Web to my 7-year old daughter, Skyla (for about the fourth time this year) when we came to one of her favorite parts of the story…

“Are you awake, Charlotte?” he said softly.
“Yes,” came the answer.
“What is that nifty little thing? Did you make it?”
“I did indeed,” replied Charlotte in a weak voice.
“Is it a plaything?”
“Plaything? I should say not. It is my egg sac, my magnum opus.”
“I don’t know what a magnum opus is,” said Wilbur.
“That’s Latin,” explained Charlotte. “It means ‘great work.’ This egg sac is my great work — the finest thing I have ever made.”
“What’s inside it?” asked Wilbur. “Eggs?”
“Five hundred and fourteen of them,” she replied.
from Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.

As I finished the chapter — reading aloud in my best spider and pig voices — the words magnum opus kept rolling around in my mind as if looking for a place to land. After I tucked Skyla into bed I reflected some more and the connection began to form. Like Charlotte, so many of my self-help author clients are creating their ‘great work’. Their book is their magnum opus.

And much like Charlotte, they have profound wisdom to share with the ‘Wilburs’ of the world who need help to solve a problem (in Wilbur’s case, how to avoid becoming Christmas dinner) so they can live a happier life.

Perhaps you can see a little of yourself in Charlotte. Do you have knowledge and expertise to share; great skill in your craft; practical advice to offer; or a maybe, just maybe, a hint of perfectionism? For many aspiring self-help authors and teachers, these traits (especially perfectionism) can both serve us and constrain us.

Symptoms

One of the symptoms of the magnum opus syndrome is perfectionism. It often shows up in the writing and editing process. Do any of these apply to you?

– Have you been thinking about writing a transformational book for a long time?
– Have you been working on your manuscript for months? How about years?
– Do you have so much content that organizing it into a book is overwhelming?
– Ever have writer’s block?
– Are you constantly rewriting each chapter, section and paragraph?
– Are you racking up a large bill with your editor with all the revisions?
– Does it sometimes feel like your ‘great work’ will never be complete?
– Are you frustrated that your message is stuck inside your word processor (or your head) instead of being read by those who really need to hear it?

If so, you may be blocked by what I call, the Magnum Opus Syndrome.

Don’t misunderstand me — I think writing your magnum opus is very important, and that it should be written and published. There are no mistakes in the Universe and the fact that you have had the experiences you’ve had in your life and feel called to write your great work are sure signs that you’re meant to be doing it. But are you doing yourself and your future readers a disservice by taking so long to write and publish it?

“Ready. Fire. Aim!”

My early mentor, T. Harv Eker, taught me a concept that I’ve applied often. He explained that you don’t have to perfect your craft or message (or to have published a 250-page book) before you can start sharing your message with others.

Harv has a great expression that sums it up: “Ready. Fire. Aim!”

The first step, ‘Ready’, is to prepare as best you can but it doesn’t have to be perfect before you launch. Step two is ‘Fire’ — pull the trigger and take some action. The third step is ‘Aim’. This is where you evaluate your results and then correct your course and move forward. As you correct and continue your confidence builds and you zero in on your target in much the same way as a jet pilot does. Apparently planes are off course 99% of the time but the pilot’s action to correct and continue ensures that the destination is reached with pinpoint accuracy.

This is the approach I used when the opportunity came up to work alongside New York Times bestselling authors Janet, Bray Attwood, Chris Attwood and Marci Shimoff. On a scale of 1 to 10, I may have been at a “level four” when I co-facilitated our first “Enlightened Bestseller” workshop for aspiring self-help authors. I knew I wasn’t an expert, but I knew I knew enough to be of service to our participants.

Over the next year I learned from my three mentors and studied the work of book-marketing experts. I developed my expertise and began to share that knowledge with our students with more confidence. Then I suggested that the four of us put out an eBook on the subject and I took the lead role in writing and publishing Enlightened Bestseller: 7 Keys to Creating a Successful Self-Help Book. The eBook became a #1 bestseller and has been read by thousands of aspiring self-help authors.

As a direct result of publishing Enlightened Bestseller, I’ve been interviewed many times, have presented at live and online events on the topic, and have generated thousands of dollars in my business. And because of that eBook, I’m able to help heart-centered entrepreneurs like you to shine your light more brightly.

How to Overcome the Magnum Opus Syndrome

Here are four tips to overcome or avoid the Magnum Opus Syndrome. Remember, I’m not suggesting that you give up on writing your ‘great work’. You should absolutely follow your passion and inner guidance on that. Sometimes the act of writing your book is so cathartic that it simply must be done.

Based on the my own experience and that of many of my clients there are some things you can do to ensure that your ‘great work’ sees the light of day sooner rather than later

1. Set a Writing Schedule

Create a writing schedule for yourself. Set aside a block of time each day (at least 2 hours per day, 5 days a week) for writing. Put it on your calendar with an alert and make it non-negotiable. Go to the same place each day and write. Turn off all distractions such as TV, music, email alerts, Facebook and Skype. Switch your cell phone to Airplane mode and tell your family not to disturb you unless the house is on fire. Then start writing. And if nothing comes just sit there and wait! Write for 25 minutes then take a five minute break. Repeat until your time is up.

2. Set Deadlines

Give yourself a hard deadline to complete each chapter, the first draft and the final manuscript. If you’re self-publishing, pretend you are working with the deadlines set by a publishing house. These deadlines are generally inflexible so hold yourself to them.

3. Hire an Editor

Writing a book is often a lonely process and because we are so close to our work, we can easily miss key points or gloss over concepts that we may understand intimately but are new territory for readers. That’s where a good editor can save the day. Almost all successful authors collaborate with a substantive editor.

With substantive editing (also known as developmental editing), the editor makes the manuscript functional for its readers as well as correct and consistent. A substantive editor may also do line editing which includes paragraph structure, sentence flow, word choice, and language-related techniques. That also means voice, style, readability, and forward movement.

An editor will also help you with setting and keeping your deadlines to ensure that your magnum opus eventually find its readers.

Writing and publishing a full-length book can be an overwhelming task. But there is another route that more and more authors are discovering. You don’t have to take years to write a 250-page (60,000-word) book. The best way to ‘get in the game’ is to write a “starter” book — a 10,000 to 15,000-word eBook — so you can become a bestselling author within a few months, not years.

When you start by publishing a bite-sized eBook you will establish yourself as an author (and speaker) while you are working on your magnum opus. You also get to cut your teeth on your eBook launch campaign which will prepare you for launching your ‘big’ book. Then you can use your eBook to build your email list, social media following and network of supportive partners (I’ll teach you how to do this in the eBook Bestseller Bootcamp) so that you have a community of fans who are eager to buy and read your magnum opus and support it when it’s released.

Publishing Path

I’m convinced that publishing an ebook is one of the best ways to begin to shine your light and here’s why:

  • Speed: An eBook can be written quickly: 10,000 words or so (40 pages) is easy to write in a few days or weeks. You don’t need to find an agent or a publisher because Amazon will publish your book around the world in just a few hours.
  • Clarity: By writing your book, you’ll gain insights, clarity and a new level of mastery around your subject. The act of writing will raise your level of confidence and authority from a “three” to a “five” or perhaps from a “five” to an “eight” out of 10.
  • Low Cost: You can get a quality cover design for as little as $5 on sites like fiverr.com. Your major expense will be hiring an editor, and this is not the place to scrimp. Your eBook should be of the same editorial quality as a printed book. Budget $500 to $1,000 for this. Otherwise, there are no costs for publishing, printing, distribution and marketing (although you could invest in marketing, if you choose to).
  • Credibility: What would the addition of the words “bestselling author” on your website, bio, business card and email signature do for your career? You’ll be perceived as an expert and, in turn, will attract more speaking opportunities, subscribers, clients and income.
  • List Building: Because you can insert links into your eBook, you can leverage it to build your email list as readers click through to your website to receive additional bonuses, videos and information from you.
  • Royalities: Unlike printed books that pay the author between 7.5 and 50 percent of the wholesale price of the book, eBook royalties are as high as 70 percent. That means you earn around $2 on a $2.99 selling price, and this can add up fast.

Don’t end up like Charlotte!

Sadly, Charlotte died shortly after making her egg sac and never got to see her 514 spiderlings. I’m not suggesting that writing your magnum opus will kill you (although it might feel that way at times). But can you imagine the joy Charlotte would have felt if she’d been able to hatch just one little arachnid before she passed on?

Think of your first eBook as birthing your first baby. Then start raising that baby while you’re incubating your next one!


Geoff Affleck is a 5-time #1 bestselling author and creator and facilitator for the eBook Bestseller Bootcamp for aspiring self-help authors.

Author’s Block #1: The Author Centric Mindset.
Author’s Block #3: If You Write it, They will Come
Read more posts

Post a comment below. I’d love to hear our thoughts on this.

(The first in a series of 3 articles about Author’s Blocks)

Author’s Block #2: The Magnum Opus Syndrome
Author’s Block #3: If You Write it, They will Come


Last year an established author asked me to help launch her new metaphysical book. ‘Julie’ had spent the past two years researching and writing the book and was proud of the finished product.

I asked for the title of the book and she replied: “The Surprising Truth About Consciousness.”

“And the subtitle?” I asked?

“Oh, there’s no subtitle.” Julie replied.

“No subtitle?” I mused. “What’s the book about?”

With that, Julie launched into a long explanation about all the research she had done and the experts she had interviewed. With overflowing excitement, she told me how her findings were going to revolutionize commonly held beliefs about the relationship between higher consciousness and everyday life.  Fascinating stuff.

“How come there’s no subtitle?” I asked.

“It doesn’t need one, does it? She answered. “People will want to read it because the title is so intriguing, won’t they?”

“Hopefully. Let’s get back to that in a minute. Now what about the cover? Can you send me the image? I said.

A few seconds later I opened the attachment and looked at the colorful yellow, orange and black mystical looking cover design which included what looked like an abstract angel figure. The all-caps title was mid-sized white font and the author’s name was underneath in a smallish font.

“Who designed the cover?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m also an artist and the cover image is one of my paintings.” Julie answered

“Has the book already been printed?” I asked, hoping for a “no”.

“Yes, 10,000 copies are being printed this week.” She said with excitement.

Oh, crap. I thought. Now it was time to put on my consultant hat – my most tactful and honest consultant hat…

You see, Julie had worked long and hard on her book. Her passion for the topic was evident and this book was her new baby. She had conceived the title in a moment of divine inspiration and took pride in using one of her paintings as the cover image. And while her intentions were pure, she was, without realizing it, setting herself up for a disappointing book launch.

Why? Because Julie was a victim of what I call ‘The Author-Centric Mindset’.

What is ‘The Author-Centric Mindset’?

The author-centric mindset is a frame of reference common among writers who are passionate about their work and have developed a high level of expertise in their subject matter. As a result of their complete immersion in their topic, they have unconsciously developed the perspective that everyone else should be as interested in their topic and just as passionate as they are.

How to tell if you have an author-centric mindset

Do any of the following apply to you?

1. Does your book title make complete sense to you but others look puzzled when you tell them what it is?

2. Did your title come to you in a ‘download’ from the Universe but you’ve never asked for objective feedback from others?

3. Have you decided that a subtitle is unnecessary because your title is so clear?

4. Does your title and/or subtitle fail to explain what the book is about; address any pain-points; or offer any solutions to the reader?

5. Did you design the cover yourself?

6. Are your title and name hard to read when your cover is reduced to the size of an Amazon thumbnail?

7. Does your cover look ‘self-published’ or DIY when compared with other books in your category?

8. Did you neglect to perform a comparative analysis of books in your genre before deciding on your title, subtitle, cover and premise?

9. Did you unconsciously forget to explain technical terms or concepts discussed in your book?

10. Do you use the words, “me” and “I” more than the words, “you” and “we” in your manuscript?

If you answered yes to more than ONE of these questions then you may be suffering from an author-centric mindset.

The Reader-Centric Mindset

Almost without exception, bestselling self-help and how-to books are authored and edited by writers with a reader-centric mindset. What is a reader-centric mindset? It is a mental state that puts the reader’s needs and aspirations ahead of the author’s.

The reader-centric author takes inventory of his or her life experiences, expertise, passions, talents and skills and asks the question: What’s does this mean for the reader?

Let me give you an example. I own a Toyota Prius and when we were buying that car the salesman told my wife and I all about the amazing features of the car.  It went something like this…

“Did you know that Toyota has refined the 4th Generation Hybrid Synergy Drive to create a lighter, more efficient system? It features a more compact size and has achieved a weight reduction on both the motor and battery pack when compared to previous models. And Prius switches seamlessly between 1.8L gas engine and a highly refined electric motor to deliver a more exhilarating driving performance for any condition.”

“Really??” we said. (In other words, what the heck does that mean?)

Our well-meaning salesman was clearly being car dealer-centric rather than customer-centric. A more customer-centric explanation would have gone something like this:

“Toyota has made the motor and battery smaller which gives you more legroom and luggage space. And you can switch from gasoline engine to the electric motor on the fly to save money on fuel by driving in electric mode.”

This change in his delivery would have turned a technical, feature-oriented pitch into an understandable, (write your book so an eighth grader can understand it) benefit-laden conversation that would have engaged us in the conversation and led us to say “tell me more.”

And that’s the attitude you want to have in every aspect of your book – from the title to the cover; and from the manuscript to the back cover copy. You want to write with the reader’s needs, wants and aspirations in mind so they will want to take it to the checkout, read it cover to cover and recommend it to their friends.

How to Produce a Reader-Centric Book

My good friend Chris Kyle teaches experts like you to turn your teaching content into an online course. And if you take Chris’ Launch Academy training you’ll go through an enlightening exercise called the “Authentic Messaging Blueprint” (AMB). In the AMB process, Chris guides you to define your Avatar – the person you are creating your course for (or in your case, the person you are writing your book for).

Your Avatar is defined by their demographics (age, gender, income, etc.), psychographics (beliefs & attitudes), fears, frustrations, aspirations and wants. You can even give your Avatar a name (my Avatar’s name is Shannon). Then as you write and edit your manuscript, craft your title, design your cover and market your book keep your Avatar in the front of your mind. You could even cut out a picture of your “Shannon” from a magazine and pin it to the wall near your computer to remind you of the person you are writing your book for.

Chris’ AMB then challenges you to identify the transformation that your Avatar can experience by reading your book and applying your recommendations in their life. You write statements describing her transformation. What is she feeling now after applying your advice? How does her life look different (personally, professionally)?

For example, when I prepared my AMB for the eBook Bestseller Bootcamp these were Shannon’s transformation examples:

Transformation Examples:

– She is now a #1 Amazon bestselling author
– She is in demand as a speaker, coach, consultant, practitioner, advisor
– She now charges more for her services
– Her email list has doubled and grows daily
– She feels proud of her accomplishment and others congratulate her
– A foundation has been laid for a professional and effective online presence
– She is now confident and knowledgeable about how to write, publish and launch a book
– She feels that she’s on her way to greater professional success and financial independence
– She is now having a greater impact on people’s lives

As I created the course content I kept these transformations at the top of my mind and developed the training around them. The same principle applies when you’re writing your book.

Back to Julie

So what happened to my client, Julie’s book? Despite my recommendations, the title stayed the same (with no subtitle) and her 10,000 copies came off the press bearing her artwork. Fortunately for her, she was an engaging writer and had a substantial platform including a large email list and was able to reach a lot of people with her book promotion.

The book became a bestseller and generated a significant amount of unexpected income from backend sales generated by the book launch campaign. However, Julie didn’t enjoy the level of sales that she had envisioned and still has a few thousand copies of her book in the warehouse.

Had she adopted a more reader-centric mindset early on in the process, the result may have been different and The Surprising Truth About Consciousness* may have touched and transformed a lot more lives.

* The book title has been changed to protect my client’s privacy.


Geoff Affleck is a 5-time #1 bestselling author and creator and facilitator for the eBook Bestseller Bootcamp for aspiring self-help authors.

Author’s Block #2: The Magnum Opus Syndrome
Author’s Block #3: If You Write it, They will Come

Read more posts

Post a comment below. I’d love to hear our thoughts on this.