Three Things You Must Do to Get Rich as a Writer

 

You want to get rich as a writer? Of course you do! All aspiring authors love to hear rags-to-riches stories about others who became rich and famous through their writing.

If you examine these stories, you’ll see a certain pattern. How can you adopt that pattern?

There are three major things you can do to, so let’s look at those factors.

Factor 1: Write What People Want to Read

Now, I don’t want to be Captain Obvious here, but if you want to make the big bucks as a writer, you need to write a book that people want to read.

Sound too simple?

Well, I’ve been working with aspiring writers for over 30 years and about 99% of them have thought that EVERYONE would be interested in their book.

That’s not true. The reason there are so many books, many on the same topic, is because readers are very particular about what they want to read.

You need to know what’s already selling… and why. The best way to do that is to go over to Amazon and look at their bestsellers list. See what’s there. Analyze WHY particular books are on that list.

That’s Marketing 101.

I have a complete course about selecting profitable book topics at VelocityWriting.com.

Did you hear the old joke about the man who begged God to let him win the Lottery?

“Please God, I never win. Let me win just once.”

And God says, “Give me a break… at least buy a ticket.”

Doing basic market research is essential to your success. That’s your lottery ticket. After you buy-in, anything can happen.

But you won’t sell a book that nobody wants– if you’re guessing–that they DO want it.

My long experience with aspiring writers is that they guess wrong.

Factor 2: Know You Are Required to Wear Two Hats

Next, to make serious money, you need a mental mindset about what it is you do.

We writers see ourselves as creative people. We tend to think of our work like a magnet that will draw in hordes of appreciative readers.

That sounds right to me!

But it’s not true. If you ever hear such stories, it’s because they make the news because they are as rare as hen’s teeth.

Or because someone is trying to sell you an iron-clad get-right-quick course for $500 or $1000.

So, how do you break this pattern?

You switch hats.

You start with your business hat when you pick something to write about. As I said, a smart writer writes on a topic that people want to read about.

Then… you switch hats… this is crucial… and wear your creative genius hat when you write.

But here’s the key… you switch back to your businessperson hat when you publish your book. Publishing is the marketing phase.

If you want to get rich as a writer, you need to think like a business person. There’s an ocean of creativity out there… but just a trickle of business smarts when it comes to book marketing.

So, want to get rich as a writer? Take off your creative hat at the right time and become persistent and pragmatic like a business person to sell your book.

Factor 3: Trigger Others to Network for You

Here’s the final big idea you need to do to become a rich writer: Know that you can’t promote your book by yourself.

You’ve heard that it takes a village to raise a child? Same goes for selling a book. Get those villagers to buy your book, and then get them to recommend it to others.

Do that and, like Scrooge McDuck, you’ll soon be bathing in cash.

So, you can’t just sell your book by yourself. You need to trigger action by others who will sell for you.

Let me give you two examples of how you can trigger action by others.

Engage Readers Through a Blog Mailing List

First, lots of writers understand the importance of having what’s called a platform. That’s your home base for bookselling. It’s usually a blog.

But a blog is static in a way. It’s there and you try to drive traffic to it.

But you want to use it as a tool to engage your readers, your fans. How do you do that? You create an email list with an autoresponder tool like MailChimp or AWeber. You engage reader interest when they subscribe.

You maintain engagement by sending them emails with helpful information or insights.

You want to use your platform to build an email list of fans who like you and all the books you write. You’re able to keep in touch with them, develop a relationship with them and sell them your new books or other products and services you may offer.

So, the point is, you won’t become a rich author if you simply get fans on your emailing list. You must have engaged, mobilized fans.

You want your fans to tell others about you and your book or books. That’s the whole point. You need your village to spread the word about you if you’re going to sell books.

Use Facebook Strategies that Work

Let me give you two Facebook strategies as an example of what I mean.

Lots of authors say, “I’m so great, I have 1,000 “Likes” on my Facebook page.”

Well, that doesn’t mean much. Likes are usually a dead-end street. Facebook doesn’t even let the people like you know you have posted something on your page anymore.

If you are going to get your village to spread the word about you, you want them to “Share” your posts, reviews, and comments.

Sure, that’s social proof that you exist, but otherwise, it’s a dead-end street.

Real engagement–and books sales–comes when your fans click “Share.”

One person shares your book or post or comment their 500 Facebook friends, Maybe 10 of them Share with their 500 Friends, and so it goes.

Multiply that by thousands of friends sharing with thousands of THEIR Facebook friends, and suddenly favorable news about your book has gone viral.

So it’s all about this kind of Sharing, this engagement, that makes all the difference. This is true about your Blog, Share on Facebook, getting Retweeted on Twitter and everywhere else.

Trigger Activity Everywhere

If you want to make big money as a writer, know that you can’t sell your book by yourself. There isn’t enough of you to go around.

Your job is to trigger others to spread the good word about your book.

You don’t need to be a salesperson, but you do need to trigger sales. That’s the purpose of authors doing radio and TV interviews, for example. They are triggering word of mouth promotion. This is something you can do inexpensively on the Internet.

You Have a Chance at Getting Rich as a Writer

Here’s the formula:

1. Write a book that people want to read.
2. Know when to wear your creative hat and your business hat
3. Trigger others to promote your book for you