Our client Michael Bungay Stanier is one of those savvy authors who knows how to write brilliant books and who also knows how to make the most of the support he enlists to produce them. His bestselling book The Coaching Habit is all about asking the right questions and listening carefully to the answers, which will help you generate positive change and built great relationships. This week on our blog, we thought we’d show you how Michael answers the following question: what is the value of enlisting great self-publishing support?

During a discussion at a dinner celebrating his book launch, Michael turned the conversation around by saying that the really interesting question is: if you self-publish without good support, what kinds of opportunities are you missing? Here’s the insight he shared with us:

Missed opportunity 1: Not hiring a great editor

A great editor can ask the right questions and make suggestions that prompt the author to produce the best possible book. Why launch your book with a less than flawless text? The stronger your book is editorially, the more positive the reviews, the better the buzz, and the greater your sales and marketing opportunities.

Missed opportunity 2: Not getting great design

Great design does two different things simultaneously: it attracts the right kind of attention and supports the content by facilitating the reading process. An experienced book designer will know how to create a cover that stands out in a crowd but will also help a book fit beautifully in its category. The designer can also create an interior design that elegantly supports the structure and layout of the content, helping to guide the reader through the text. And a great ebook designer can do the same, within the constraints of the ebook device universe. You’ve worked hard to produce the best possible book; why not give it the best possible package?

Missed opportunity 3: No strategic marketing plan or knowledge of distribution options

Michael calls this the “build it and they will come” fallacy. Great books don’t find their readers just by getting pushed out onto shelves or loaded onto websites. You need a solid, multifaceted marketing plan to support sales, and a strong sense of your distribution options in order to know how to make your book available to readers in the most efficient and cost-effective way.

Missed opportunity 4: Putting all of your eggs in one basket

Some people look only to Amazon for their self-publishing plan and some explore ebook-only options at the expense of considering the viability of releasing a print book. It’s worth getting the right kind of support to ensure that you explore all possible sales channels and format considerations and leave no stone unturned.

Missed opportunity 5: Getting it DONE

Sometimes engaging strong publishing support is the key to jumpstarting and completing a project. If you have experts who set you up on a schedule and keep the right kind of pressure on to help you execute the project, chances are you’re going to turn your publishing wish into a reality before long.

Incidentally, Michael surprised us this morning with a gift: a video in which he describes the value of working with a company like Page Two. Do you see why we love our authors? People like Michael drive us to work as hard as humanly possible and deliver the best possible value to their publishing experience.

 

Photo credit: AMA Talks