Above all, trust your voice. I don’t really write. I take dictation from something or someone in the universe, and that thing puts words in my head, and I just write down what I hear. That may sound very left Coast or woo-woo. I’ve just been doing this long enough so that I trust my writing process. Most writers bog down because they’re scared that what they’re doing isn’t good enough. You would not have been called to become a writer if you didn’t have the skills! So trust your process, listen to the voice within, and type what it says! Never argue with your muse!
Writing a book can be a rewarding creative endeavor, and it can also be a profitable one if approached correctly. What are the strategies and steps needed to turn a book into a significant source of income? How do authors effectively market and sell their books, and what should they consider when navigating publishing options? As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Levin.
Michael Levin has been called the “Michael Jordan of ghostwriting.” Over a 30-year career, Michael has written, co-written, edited, ghosted, or published more than a thousand books. Two are New York Times bestsellers, more than two dozen are legitimate national bestsellers, and three are Amazon number-one bestselling business books. Michael’s books have touched the lives of millions and have been published by Simon & Schuster, Random House, Penguin, and many other top publishers. His ghostwritten books include nonfiction books, business fables, and memoirs covering financial services, insurance, entrepreneurship, consulting, medicine and dentistry, law, technology, fintech, sports, body/mind/spirit, memoirs, business fables, fiction, real estate, art, and music.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share a story about what motivated you to become an expert in the particular area that you are writing about?
A dozen years ago, I was interviewing the executive producer of Shark Tank for a client’s book. I’m a New York Times best-selling author and ghostwriter, and I’ve been called “The Michael Jordan of Ghostwriting.” About 45 minutes into the interview, he said, “Let me turn this around. Have you ever thought about applying for our show?”
I thought I hadn’t heard him correctly.
“But there’s nothing sexy about my business,” I protested. “It’s just me in a room typing.”
“I disagree,” he said. “I think your business is very sexy, and I want you to apply.”
If the executive producer of Shark Tank wants you to apply for the show, guess what? You’re getting on. And I did. Season 3, episode 1. Although I did not get a deal, because my business is not scalable like a cat litter box or a garden hose nozzle, the show had a tremendous effect on me. The Sharks were extremely respectful of the fact that, as Robert Herjavec put it, I was one of the “.0001% of writers” who had found a way to turn writing into a business.
Until that point, I was somewhat embarrassed about the fact that I was a professional ghostwriter. That’s because I had sold three novels to Simon & Schuster and assumed that I would just be a successful novelist in life. We could not come to terms on the fourth novel, I literally became a starving writer, and ghostwriting paid the bills. The respect I received on Shark Tank showed me that I was a pretty good entrepreneur and that the business I had built was something to be proud of.
Here we are, more than a thousand books later…and I’m very proud to be a ghostwriter.
Can you share a pivotal story that shaped the course of your career?
When I was in college, my aunt was dating Brendan Gill, A famous best-selling author and the drama and architecture critic of the New Yorker magazine. There was a lot of wine at dinner, and then more alcohol at a bar afterwards. I confessed to Brendan that I wanted to make it as a writer. I would never have that if I hadn’t had so much to drink. He was extremely encouraging, and in effect, gave me permission to follow my dreams.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Are you working on any new writing projects?
Recently, I published a book called Lift Your Voice: How My Nephew George Floyd’s Murder Changed The World, with Angela Harrelson. That was an incredibly powerful project, coming as it did just a few months after his murder did in fact change everything. I also ghosted a book by a woman who had been sex trafficked and somehow managed to break free. Now, she uses that book to speak in front of audiences of 25,000 at conferences dedicated to eradicating sex trafficking. I’m proud of that.
I also recently finished a memoir for an owner of an American professional sports team. Not at liberty to provide the name.
Thank you for that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. In your opinion, what are the key strategies that authors should focus on if they want to generate significant income from their books?
Don’t even think about book sales. It’s incredibly hard to sell books to strangers. Instead, ask how your book can monetize your business, get you new clients, get you lucrative speaking or media engagements, or create thought leadership for you. That’s where the real money is.
Whenever somebody comes to me with stars in their eyes about wanting to be a New York Times bestselling author, I’m like, we need to talk! If people have unrealistic goals, I won’t work with them. I would just be buying trouble.
Instead, follow the directive, “Your niche makes you rich.” Write a book that solves a major problem for the people you like to serve, and then market the heck out of the book to that particular niche audience. That’s really where the money is.
Marketing is crucial for book sales. What are the most effective marketing techniques you’ve used or seen others use to successfully promote their books?
I’ve seen authors spend tens of thousands of dollars on elaborate book marketing campaigns that don’t result in a single sale. Instead, following up on my answer to the last question, after you’ve identified the specific audience you want to go after, identify 50 to 100 people you would like to work with. Get their physical addresses. Mail them books. Who gets a book in the mail! Nobody! That’s why this is such a powerful and inexpensive marketing technique. Include a cover letter that explains why you’re sending the book, that you solve problems that the recipient faces, and that you’d love to have a conversation and see if you can be useful. Then follow up two weeks after you’ve sent the book with a phone call and make a connection.
What role does social media play in book marketing, and how can authors leverage these platforms to boost their book sales?
Most of my clients are business people. The most effective social media platform for them is LinkedIn. I advise them to get best-seller status by dropping the price of their book to 99 cents on Amazon for a few days, going to their lists, and getting everyone to buy books to get them bestseller status. Then stress on your LinkedIn profile that you are an Amazon or national best-selling author. Other people read books. Sometimes. But you are an author, and when you’re an author, you’re an authority.
How can you leverage the book to position you as an expert in your field?
I strongly believe that most professionals could swap out their websites for their competitor’s websites and no one would know the difference. Everybody’s marketing is so cookie-cutter these days. That’s why, if you have a book, you should be putting the cover front and center on your website so it’s the first thing people see.
Authors have tremendous credibility in the world, especially at a time when people are reading fewer and fewer books! Provide a link on your website, and also on your email signature, so people can get a free PDF copy of your entire book. Don’t make them pay for it. Don’t even ask for an email address. If they go through the book and they’re interested, they’ll call you.
Again, marketing campaigns are not as effective as one might hope — and they can be very expensive. Instead, identify members of the media whom you’d like to meet, so that they can quote you as a source or, better still, write a profile about you. Just keep getting copies of the book into the hands of as many people as possible who can influence your niche market. This also includes organizations where you might want to be a speaker. Get your book out there working for you. It doesn’t do any good sitting in a box in your garage.
How important is building a personal brand for an author, and what steps can authors take to establish themselves as credible and influential figures in their niche?
Get blurbs from people who will be relevant to your niche market, whether the individuals themselves are famous or if their job titles are impressive. The best way to get blurbs from people, which you can post on your site, is to send them a copy of the book in an email. There are plenty of ways to get people’s email addresses online. Tell them that you admire them and that you would be honored if they would read and blurb your book, and then give them a blurb that you’ve already written and say, “I’m wondering if you might give the book a blurb like this.” That way, they can simply write back, go ahead, or they can do their due diligence, and read the manuscript for themselves. Asking people to read a whole book is a lot. Giving them the manuscript and allowing them to just simply go ahead and say yes to your blurb — you’ll be amazed how many famous and powerful people will say yes. Also, every time you get a media hit with your book, or for any reason, put the logo of that media outlet on your website. The more badges you have from media sites, the more respect you’ll get when people visit your site.
Do you know who your most valuable avatars are?
Yes. There are really three groups. One is business owners and CEOs who want to create a book as a marketing tool or to capture the culture of a growing company. The second is older, successful individuals who want to write a memoir, so that their story is known to their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, other family members, friends, and coworkers. And finally, we’ve done more than 100 books in financial services, so we have a strong focus on investment banks, hedge funds, and venture capital firms.
Beyond just selling books, what other revenue streams can authors explore to maximize their earnings, such as speaking engagements, online courses, or merchandise?
The only way you can really sell a lot of books is back of the room when you speak. If you publish independently, you can print them for $3 or $4 a copy and sell them for $30 a copy. That’s really good money. Otherwise, selling books to strangers is incredibly difficult, time consuming, and expensive. I’ve seen clients get distracted by book sales, forgetting that the reason they did their book was to build their business. Don’t let that happen to you!
Paid speaking is a great way to take advantage of the authority your book creates. I’ve got an online course called the Best Earning Author System, which is about to come online at www. Bestearningauthor.com. I’m doing exactly what you’re asking — using my experience and expertise to teach business people how to write books of their own.
You have to sell a ton of merchandise, if that’s on your mind, to make the process worthwhile. Again, the very best way to monetize a book is to get new clients or customers for your business. That’s where the money is.
Have you created scaleable derivatives of your work? Can you explain?
It sounds great, but I don’t even know what that is! Maybe I’m not that smart! All I do is ghostwriting!
The world of book publishing is constantly evolving. What trends do you see shaping the future of book marketing and sales, and how can authors stay ahead of the curve?
Bookstores have been disappearing for decades. Barnes & Noble has nearly sold all of its stores to QVC on multiple occasions. So Amazon may soon be pretty much the only place where you can buy a book in all but a handful of American cities. This means that you want to focus on getting Amazon reviews for your book and use your book as a tool for authority. I know I’ve said this over and over, but the real money these days in books is in using the book to build your business.
Here’s a really cool exception. If you put the word “manual” into the title of your book, you can charge 10 or 20 times as much as a regular book costs. Search for the word “manual” on Amazon, and you’ll see that books that are called manuals can sell for $195, $295, or even more. A manual is a book that solves a specific problem, like helping you pass an engineering exam. But you could create a manual for pretty much anything, from creating retirement streams of income to raising children. Position your book as a manual, and people will compare the cost of the manual to other means of solving the problem — hiring an expert, traveling to a multi-day seminar, and so on. Suddenly, your $195 or $295 price tag looks like a real bargain!
Better still, when you do a manual, you can just do it as an e-book. People want information immediately, so they just want to download it and have it instead of waiting for a physical book to arrive. So it’s actually cheaper for you, because you can just format a Word doc as an e-book, call it a manual, put any price tag you want on it, and go to the bank!
Wonderful. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your own experience and success, what are the “Five Things You Need to Know to be a Successful Writer?” If you can, please share a story or example for each.
1. Above all, trust your voice. I don’t really write. I take dictation from something or someone in the universe, and that thing puts words in my head, and I just write down what I hear. That may sound very left Coast or woo-woo. I’ve just been doing this long enough so that I trust my writing process. Most writers bog down because they’re scared that what they’re doing isn’t good enough. You would not have been called to become a writer if you didn’t have the skills! So trust your process, listen to the voice within, and type what it says! Never argue with your muse!
2. Don’t be allergic to business. Most writers are afraid that if they get involved with business, it will affect their creativity. It’s actually the opposite. You cannot do any writing for someone unless you’ve closed a deal. This means that you need to learn marketing, sales, customer service, and putting together agreements. Don’t be one of those writers whose aversion to business keeps you starving. You are not really a writer. Instead, you are an entrepreneur with a specialty in writing. Keep that in mind.
3. Read like crazy. If you aren’t constantly haunting the shelves of your local library or a bookstore, then why on earth are you a writer? The best writers I know read constantly. They read classics, they read new work, and they stay current with news so that they can have intelligent conversations with their clients. The best writers are constant readers.
4. Your niche will make you rich. Instead of trying to be a jack of all trades and an expert in everything, become great in a few areas. As I mentioned above, I have three areas of specialty — business books, memoirs, and high-level financial services. The more books you do in a given field, the more credibility you’ll have. This means that it will be easier to charge more and to close deals faster. Pick a lane!
5. Writing is not a hobby. It’s a job, and ideally, It turns into a business as your ghostwriting practice grows. This means that you need to keep regular hours, as if you were going to the office or a job site because you are working for someone else. If you don’t put in steady hours, how do you expect your business to grow? How do you expect people to trust you if you don’t keep your deadlines? Being referable means that you do what you say you’re going to do, and in the time frame you promise. It’s much easier to do that if you treat your writing career as a career and not just as a hobby or way to make money.
For authors just starting out, what common mistakes should they avoid when trying to turn their books into a significant source of income?
The most common mistake is to assume that just because you write something great, the world will beat a path to your door. Keep in mind that marketing is at least 50% of the job for writers. It’s not enough to get your book up there. You’ve also got to get people to read it. Whether you like it or not, you’ve got to become an expert in book marketing. Otherwise, you’ve got a hobby and not a career.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them 🙂
Rather than naming specific names, I’d say that anyone who is a positive person with a positive message is someone I like to get to know and work with. If you’re a positive person with a positive message, whether it’s business, finance, body, mind, spirit, sports, or what have you, let’s talk! Otherwise, have a nice day!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
They can visit meaningbooks.com and learn more about my approach to ghostwriting.
Thank you for these excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent. We wish you continued success with your book promotion and growing your brand.
Michael Levin of Meaning Books On How to Make Money by Writing a Book was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.