Principle of the Most Successful Authors

According to the Association of American Publishers, 83 per cent of Americans want to write a book, but for those who follow through, the publishing industry has grim news. Publisher’s Weekly reported that in 2004 Nielsen Bookscan tracked sales of 1.2 million books. Unfortunately, the vast majority did not even sell a hundred copies.

The number of books that sell over one hundred copies is minimal, with 950 thousand selling fewer than 99 books. What this indicates is that just over two per cent of the total number of books published break into triple digit sales.

Taking a look at the cream of the crop, 200 thousand titles sold fewer than a thousand copies. Only 25 thousand books sold more than 5 thousand copies. Fewer than 500 sold more than 100 thousand copies. Only ten books sold more than a million copies each, demonstrating that one thousandth of one per cent of books printed make it to seven-digit sales.

Robert Kiyosaki, creator of the Cashflow Game and the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series, said that his book is his best business card. Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of the popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series, stated that the best lead generator is a book. These two examples demonstrate a profound principle.

The most successful authors do much more than sell books. The money earned in royalties is incidental income as compared with what they generate from income streams such as speaker fees, workshops, home study programs, coaching programs, consulting fees, and other high end products and services.

Drew Miles, The Wealth Building Attorney, is an example of this principle in action. He had his book manuscript sitting in a drawer for a couple of years. He had the idea and the basic structure, but did not have the time or the know-how to complete and market his book, so he came to me. His book, Zero to Success: 10 Keys to Creating a Very Profitable Business by Legally Keeping More of What You Make launched in fall of 2006. Being a published author has boosted his credibility. He launched a coaching program and his speaking business around this book.

Our Entrepreneurial Authoring Program and individual business mentoring teach clients how to create a book that is an entrepreneurially sound lead generator for a well-structured business. The authoring program exemplifies two little known laws. The first is called Zipf’s Law,which states that people will follow an industry leader. The second is Milgram’s Law, which states that people will follow an expert almost blindly.