Why Aren’t Things Happening to Me? I’m a Published Author, Dammit!

What if I’ve already published my book?  

I have a confession.  A few years back I worked with a vanity publishing company and published my first book.  It was a very interesting process and I certainly learned a ton about what it takes to go from idea in my head to physical book in my hands.  I learned about ghostwriters, pre-writing strategy, editing, etc.  

The book was done and about 100 or 200 copies were sent to my office.  I was ecstatic.  I felt like a new person.  My name followed directly behind ‘By’ on the front cover of an actual book.  I was a lot like Steve Martin did in the movie “The Jerk” when he saw his name listed in a phone book.

“Things are going to start happening to me now.”

Did things change for me?  If I’m honest, not really.  I certainly held my head up higher and felt I was in a class all by own.  After all I was the only person in my office who was a published author.  But things didn’t start happening to me.  At least not externally.  I realized I had a problem.

Having a published book is absolutely one of the coolest things ever.  It’s also a lot easier than I thought.  Not easy in a sense that it didn’t take any work.  It was easy in a sense that if you want to write a book bad enough you can find a company that will help make that a reality.  It doesn’t have to be particularly interesting or relevant.  It doesn’t have to have any kind of pent up demand from an audience or demographic.  You really don’t need any of that.  All you need is a some funds and a few hours to discuss each chapter and viola - you’re a published author. But…now what?

Why aren’t things happening to me?  I’m a published author, dammit!

I’ll be honest.  I, along with my co-author, wrote my book in an effort to get more business and clients.  Our mindset was that a book can help boost our credibility and position our firm as the go-to expert in our market.  A book can certainly help do these things but it isn’t a cure-all.  

Why weren’t more people recognizing me as the expert that I clearly was with my new, fancy, value-packed and expert-status book?  Probably for the same reason that unless a stranger sees me with my son Jackson or wearing a wedding ring won’t know that I’m a dad and a husband.  I spent a lot of time planning out the book, going over concepts, fleshing out ideas and working hand-in-hand with a ghost-writer to get it just right.  

The reality is that my wife and I did a better job marketing the fact that we were going to become parents than we did my book.  “Baby Announcements” were a no-brainer.  We have to share the good news with friends and family!  But for some reason I didn’t take that same approach with my book.  I guess I figured it would happen by osmosis.  

People who don’t know I have a kid can’t congratulate me on being a father and ask how Jackson’s doing.  In the same way, if the public at large and more specifically our target audience don’t know I wrote a book and haven’t read it - why would I expect them to just magically paying me attention?  

A book is many things but it does not have superpowers on it’s own.  It doesn’t just magically wind up in the hands of my perfect readers and hopefully future perfect clients.  It doesn’t become a best-seller without people knowing it’s even for sale.

Just like Steve Martin’s name making it in the phonebook doesn’t mean his phone is going to start ringing.  He’s just one name floating in the sea of all the others.  And for most people (me included) who publish a book the same phenomenon happens.  

Their book becomes one of well over a million new books that are published each and every year.  That’s a big enough number to get lost in until you factor in all the books that have already been written.  Then throw in all the books that will be written in the future and you can see pretty quickly why there are many authors whose only book sales come from their mom and themselves.  

Can your published book that hasn’t delivered what you expected be resuscitated? Possibly. Will it be easy for you to find someone who wants to assist in that CPR? Maybe. Will it end up costing you time, money and delay in meeting your initial expectations? Yes.

Learn from your first publishing venture and correct the approach in the second. If you want to get some additional life out of your first published book, reach out STAT. If you’ve not yet written your first book but are thinking about it, take it from me get trusted information and guidance first.