The journey to authorship for Thought Leaders is not as easy as one might think because having the idea(s) for the book is only half the battle. In this podcast episode, Peter Winick, CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage, interviews Steve Anderson, sought-after speaker, influencer, and author of the widely anticipated book, The Bezos Letters.
Steve speaks about why writing the book was instrumental in:
- Growing a wider audience: “My niche has been very good to me, but was very narrow in focus. It was insurance agents and brokers in the United States, primarily, some in Canada and I felt I had reached a plateau in terms of income and speaking fees; as well as impact and breadth. [My book] would provide me more of a platform.”
- Bringing him new opportunities: “[The book was a] Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller and it’s been licensed to translate and publish in 13 countries. So [the book] is opening up both domestic and international opportunities for me to be a keynote speaker. I’ve already been booked for keynotes at a rate more than three times my prior highest rate.”
- Raising his profile and platform enough that he was able to expand what he was offering in his Thought Leadership: “It’s worked in two main ways, one is, as I mentioned the speaking opportunities. The second is built off the structure of the book—the 14 principles and the four cycles. I’ve created a one to two day workshop, where we can dive deeper and actually see how to make these happen in your own organization, then we can do other things to follow up.
- Finally, he speaks about whether it was worth it: “I would say, one: if you’re thinking about writing a book—it’s hard and you absolutely should do it! People ask me, you know, what was it like writing a book? And I said, I’m just thrilled to have written a book! So it’s work. And two: I would say when you’re thinking about the positioning of a book, you as an author, you will make very little, if any, money on the book. But you could you will absolutely make money on what the book makes possible if you strategize well enough with the book.”
Listen to the full episode here:
If you’re looking to take your Thought Leadership to the next level by writing a book, be sure to check out our webinar on Wednesday, April 29th at 1pm featuring Peter Winick and Gotham Ghostwriters President Dan Gerstein offering a primer on the best practices for bringing a value-adding book to life.
Among the key points they will cover:
1) How to get your book written
2) How to get your book published
3) How to get your book noticed
Peter Winick is the founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. For the past two decades he has helped individuals and organizations build and grow revenue streams through designing and growing their thought leadership platforms as well as acting as a guide and advisor for increasing business to business sales of thought leadership products.
Peter uses a combination of art, science, logic, focus, passion, and creativity to transform a thought leader’s great ideas into a platform and practice so they can effectively reach business leaders and executives to serve them the tools they and their organizations need.
If you’re not sure how to take your book from concept to completion, while building your audience and platform, a ghostwriter or developmental editor can help you transform your content into a polished manuscript. Tell us about your idea below, and we’ll match you with a ghostwriter who can bring your vision to live.
