If you’re publishing a nonfiction book, selling the most copies is not the way to make the most money. The money is on the back end. Focus on making the material so helpful and “sticky” that readers naturally follow up with you for more content after reading.
Then, have a back end with high-value products and services.
For instance, one of our newest authors at New Wave Press is my friend James Swanwick.
James has built his brand Alcohol Free Lifestyle around professionals and top performers who want to stop drinking. To be clear, we’re not talking about “down and out” alcoholics with no prospects. We’re talking about ambitious, successful people who want more.
He would probably sell more copies if the book was positioned to a wider, more general audience. But the goal here isn’t just selling books — because the real money is on the back end.
James and his team offer a members-only, scientifically-proven program that helps top performers quit drinking with an astonishing 98% success rate according to a recent study conducted at The University of Washington. This program is comprehensive and intensive. It blows traditional programs like AA out of the water. As of right now, it costs over $10,000 to join.
Instead of focusing on book sales, he’s focusing on identifying the exact type of person he wants to work with and making it easy for that type of client to connect with him directly as a result of reading the book. He doesn’t need many leads, just a small percentage of a highly-motivated audience over time.
If he sells just 100 copies per month of the book via print, digital or audiobook (not that hard to do) and just 1 of those readers converts to a full price sale at $10,000 (a 1% conversion rate), he’ll make $1.2MM over the course of a decade with zero additional marketing effort outside of the book itself.
When you add in the actual profit from book sales (estimating $15/book), you’ll add another $180,000 over the course of the decade, bringing your total to about $1.4MM revenue.
Now, that’s what I call ROI!
Happy writing!
D
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If you’re a professional, entrepreneur or expert who is ready to become a bestselling author, I’m happy to answer any questions about writing, publishing and promoting your book. Reach out by completing the application on this page and we can discuss how New Wave Press may be able to support you.
