Episode 39: Book Launching with Julie Broad
Unlocking the Power of Self-Publishing: Insights and Strategies
Julie Broad of Book Launchers shares her insights into writing and marketing a self-published book. Julie's favorite hashtag - #noboringbooks.
Whether you are in the process of writing a book or have been thinking of one for years, listen in as Julie shares how you can self-publish and succeed.
More about Julie:
Julie Broad, founder of self-publishing services firm Book Launchers and Amazon Overall #1 Best Selling Author, knows what it takes to successfully self-publish a book. Julie’s titles include More than Cashflow, which topped Amazon, The New Brand You, and her latest book, Self-Publish & Succeed (a 9 time award winner). An expert on writing a book with marketing in mind, Julie has been featured in 100’s of media, including Forbes, Entrepreneur.com, Yahoo! Business, CTV, the Vancouver Sun, and Medium.com.
Connect with Julie:
Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Collab with Kiva.
See you next time!
Podcast transcript:
Kiva Slade: [00:00:01]
Hello, and welcome to Collab With Kiva. I'm your host, Kiva Slade. From the marbled halls of the US Congress to my racing-themed office chair, I've learned that there is no perfect path to the life of your dreams. My journey over the past 20 years has included being a legislative director for a member of Congress, policy director for a nonprofit, stay at home mom, homeschooling mom, jewelry business owner, and now the owner of a service-based business. Whether your journey has been a straight line or full of zigs and zags, join me and my guest as we share insights, hope, and lessons learned from our female entrepreneurship journeys. May the collaborative sharing of our stories be the tide that lifts your boat? Let's dive in.
[00:00:55]
Hello and welcome to Collab With Kiva. I am excited for our guests today. Our guest is Julie Broad, founder of self-publishing services firm Book Launchers, and Amazon overall number one bestselling author. She knows what it takes to successfully self-publish a book. Julie's titles include More Than Cash Flow, which topped Amazon, the New Brand You, and her latest book, Self-Publish and Succeed, a nine-time award winner. An expert on writing a book with marketing in mind, Julie has been featured in hundreds of media, including Forbes, entrepreneur.com, Yahoo Business, CTV, the Vancouver Sun, and Medium.com. So, I know that you guys have some books in your mind and we're going to talk about today how to get that out of your mind and actually into a book that can go out into the wild and be in the hands of real people. So, I'm excited to dive in today with Julie. So, welcome to the show, Julie.
Julie Broad: [00:01:56]
Thanks so much for having me, Kiva.
Kiva Slade: [00:01:57]
Awesome. So, let's get started. Because I feel like lots of people have books now and I think they're sometimes like, "I want to be an Amazon bestseller" and it sounds really great. But then again, you don't necessarily have to be an Amazon bestseller in order to still have a very successful book launch, from what I understand. So, you can obviously correct us if we're wrong. So, is that one of the mistakes that you see, though, is people are shooting for that I want to be at the top of the charts? Or what are some of the things that you see come up when people say, Hey, Julie, I want to self-publish a book?
Julie Broad: [00:02:32]
Oh, my goodness. So, there's so much to unpack with all of what you just said. So, the Amazon piece and the best seller piece, I'm definitely going to come back to you. But the first thing I want to touch on is you saying it seems like everybody has a book. Less than 1% of the population has written a book. And so, what it feels like for some people, so especially podcasters and speakers, it feels like everybody has a book. But that is just your little circle. If you pop your head up in a random circle of people and say, Hey, I'm thinking of writing a book, have any of you written a book? You're not going to see very many hands go up. So, that is the thing to keep in mind. Because I meet a lot of people who say everybody has a book, and I'm like, are you sure? It may just be the circle you're in.
Kiva Slade: [00:03:18]
Love that, So, less than 1%. Wow! That's a really tiny number. Okay, keep going.
Julie Broad: [00:03:27]
Exactly. So, it is a differentiator. And then the other point to that too is if everybody you know, has a book, how come you don't have one?
Kiva Slade: [00:03:35]
True that. Like, what's wrong with you?
Julie Broad: [00:03:37]
Yeah. We'll leave that for another day. But the whole bestseller thing, I'm so glad that this is where we're starting because this is one of the biggest challenges I think mentally for people is a lot of people get really hung up on the outcome of being a best seller. And so, the thing is, it's like I've been equating it these days to having a child. And so, a lot of people, you're pregnant and you have your child and you're really looking forward to the birth. Well, what would happen to that baby if you birthed it and then stop taking care of it? And that is what most authors do when they focus on becoming a best seller. They birth that book and then they let it die. And so, I'm really trying to encourage authors to think about what's the overall goal for this book and what does success look like? What is the one thing? If I'm never a best seller but X happens, what is X? How do you define success? For a lot of people, it's like, okay, now I have a new network or now I'm speaking on stages or I'm on media, I'm seen as an expert. And so, you want to define that X and then use the book to get to X. And then you can play the games of being a bestseller if you want to it. It really is a game. It doesn't mean it's not fun. I've been at the top of Amazon. That was fun. I'm glad I did it, but it was a lot of work. It didn't change what happened with my book as a result of writing the book. I always joke that I didn't get to dance with Ellen and Oprah never call. As much as I was at the top of Amazon, I made some money, but life didn't change. So yeah. So, hopefully, that gives you somewhere to go with this.
Kiva Slade: [00:05:19]
Yeah. I really appreciate that. Because I feel like that even with podcasting, it's like, oh, you want to be at the top of the charts. Your podcast can have an impact and you not necessarily be at the top of whatever list or chart that you were thinking about. And I feel the same about books because if we're honest, we still go read books that were written in the 1500s. It's like, okay, did you read Homer? So, it's like we have these things in their longevity because of the thoughts that were included in the information that's shared in it. It has just the power to still be relevant five years from now and ten years from now, or something of that sort. So, it feels like more, I don't want to say short-term thinking, but thinking about it, like you said, as to what else would be our definition for success if we didn't make that. Because the reality is the longer term or the long-term thinking as it relates to this is really what's going to define that I feel is more successful than being at the top of a chart, so to speak.
Julie Broad: [00:06:23]
And that's the authors that we see having some really cool things happen for them. Like one of our authors, Robert Bell, he wrote a book called Blow The Lid Off, which is about creativity. And he was just one of those people who just kept doing things. He just kept going. He did every podcast interview that came his way. He held little talks, big talks, whatever opportunity, he did it. And about a year after his book came out, a little bit over a year, he got the opportunity to submit a proposal for a TED Global Ideas Talk, and he did and he got accepted. And now his talk has been viewed more than 2 million times. But it's just such a great example of he never was a best seller. His book did okay, but it was never top in the charts anywhere. But he kept using it and he kept talking to people and sharing the message. And then this phenomenal thing happened and now he's all over the place. He's in Africa, and he was like, I want to be known outside of Africa. And so, now he's known outside of Africa.
Kiva Slade: [00:07:19]
Most definitely. But I think that's just a really big part of just how to use this book. And like you said, you focus with marketing in mind. It's about building brand awareness and increasing that visibility. I always liken it to about two weeks ago I was on the road and this huge yellow Frito-Lay truck goes by me. I kid you not, I had no taste for potato chips prior to this truck going by. However, when it did, I really did all of a sudden want some Lay's potato chips. And I think sometimes with us as small business owners or people who aren't feeling like we have that same platform, if Frito-Lay can paint a truck yellow and have it going by as brand awareness and visibility, we have to also get in front of new eyeballs and new audiences and new people, and that ties into that marketing part. So, what do you do or what do we need to do to set our book up for marketing success, so when our book goes by, people want our book like they want those chips?
Julie Broad: [00:08:25]
Yeah, It's one of those things where I find especially self-published authors are missing this piece. Because they get inspired, write the book and then they go, "Oh my goodness, I have to market it." And now they try to figure out how to market it. One of the reasons I even started Book Launchers was we needed to bring marketing into the beginning. And so, our clients have a meeting with our book marketing manager at the start and it's like, okay, who is your reader? And we don't want to know whether they're male, or female, we want to know what their problem is and how you're going to solve it. And so, you want to dig a little bit deeper. And then we want to figure out what's your personal flavor for your solution that you're offering or the story that you're telling. And we dig into it and call it the outcome of the outcome. And I'll give an example. An outcome might be, okay, now you know how to be a leader. Well, that's the first outcome, and that's not going to sell. That's boring. There are famous people that talk about that, that are going to outsell you all day long.
[00:09:21]
But if you go, okay, the outcome of being a leader for my very particular audience... And we have an author who wrote a book about this. She teaches people how to be millennial managers in a fast-growing startup, primarily in tech. So, now you know exactly when that truck, talking about her book, is going by in Silicon Valley. She's got an audience, right? Because everybody's in this ... not everybody, but a lot of the companies, they go from four employees to 100. And the millennial person who's never managed anybody before suddenly has a team of 30 they're responsible for. So, her book will help them navigate that. So, you want to go from that outcome to that secondary outcome, so you know exactly what it is. So, that's part one and that's how ... And so, you can't be Frito-Lay because you're not going to appeal to everyone. And even Frito-Lay isn't going to appeal to everyone.
Kiva Slade: [00:10:15]
That's right. Some of us like the red truck with the wavy chips.
Julie Broad: [00:10:19]
Right. Or I'm more about the chocolate. So, that chip truck, go ahead, but I'm going for the chocolate truck.
Kiva Slade: [00:10:27]
There you go. I love that, though. And I love the outcome of the outcome. Because that is a big problem in tech startups. It's like, yeah, you went from I got this cool little group of fun people. Like oh my gosh, we have a real flat-out business here with huge staff now and people who might not necessarily be acquainted with having to run a team, and what does that look like to start to step into that leadership role and address the difficult conversations and having things of that take place. So, I love that outcome of the outcome. All right, so let's do some myth-busting because I know there are some myths. I obviously started the podcast with some. So, what are some common myths about becoming an author that just aren't true?
Julie Broad: [00:11:17]
Oh, goodness. There are so many. One of them we talked about, but I want to hit on it again, is that being a best seller is the goal. That is not the goal. And even if you're somebody who's going for New York Times bestseller that will give a little bit more of a boost. Self-published authors, by the way, can't become New York Times bestsellers. Which leads me to one of the other myths, which is if you sell the most books, you will be on a best seller list. That is not true. That is a myth. And it's nuanced by list, but let's start with the big one, New York Times. That is curated. It's an editorial list, so they choose you. It is loosely based on sales, but it's also based on their political leanings, whether you were published with one of the major publishing houses and where the wind is blowing that day. So, you do have to sell a decent amount of books, but it is not based on book sales. Wall Street Journal and USA Today are more accurately sales numbers, but they don't count everything. And so, selling books in bulk, if you sell books through certain channels that they're not counting, it's not counted through NPD book sales. Sorry ... I'm having a little bit of trouble forming words at the moment.
Kiva Slade: [00:12:39]
Oh, good. Keep it going, though. It's fascinating.
Julie Broad: [00:12:44]
And so, about 85% of the market is covered. But if you sell ten copies on Amazon, that's going to count typically as one sale. Sorry ... like if one person buys ten, that's going to count as one sale. So, that's why I say it's not totally accurate. Amazon is a little bit more of an accurate sale. But again, it's an hourly update and so it only counts Amazon sales, so you're excluding the other ones. So, every list has its nuances. And with Amazon being updated hourly, the sales diminish in value over time. So, your sales from seven days ago are way less valuable than your sale from an hour ago as far as their rankings go. So, every list has a game and it is not purely based on sales. We have some authors who sell thousands of books in bulk that will never make a list because it doesn't count on these bestseller lists.
Kiva Slade: [00:13:38]
Wow! And I would think that depending on what the person's book is about, there are people who would sell them in bulk because maybe they go with training that they do with a corporation or something of that sort. It comes part and parcel of something else, and so then those sales wouldn't even be factored in. And I didn't know that self-published authors could not be on the New York Times Bestseller.
Julie Broad: [00:14:06]
I think there's only ever been ... I don't even know. They were fiction even. I think there's only been one or two that have ever been on there. And even small published, like if you go through a smaller publishing house, it is extraordinarily rare that you will ever be on that list.
Kiva Slade: [00:14:20]
Wow! That's fascinating. So, I have a question and I think some of my listeners would have this question. When thinking about writing a book, it probably A, sounds overwhelming, and B, sounds like, oh my gosh, that's a really high hurdle in this. I feel like there's no stupid question, so we're just going to go for it. Is there a sweet spot in terms of pages for a book that someone should aim for let's just say?
Julie Broad: [00:14:53]
It's always a fun question because there is no there's no right answer. So, page count, a book should be as long as it needs to be to get to the outcome of the outcome. Now, ideally, you want to have at least 30,000 words because then you have a book that is thick enough to have the title on the spine, and that just looks like a legit book. Anything less than that kind of looks like a brochure. But you can get fancy. We've had one book that had 18,000 words and we got creative with the layout. We made it a short little book and we got the title on the spine. So, there isn't a minimum per se, but I would say shoot for 30,000 words. On the upside, anything over 75,000 words is a beast of a book, and it's going to be intimidating to people to read it. That doesn't mean you don't do it if it's a fit. We had one book and I don't remember how many words it was, but it was big. It was called The Joy of Compounding. The book did really well, and it ended up actually getting picked up by a publisher, and the author was incredibly happy. But it was a big book. So, there's no rule, and that's why I always tell people there's no one way to do this, so take the pressure off and just write what needs to be written to get the reader where you need them to go.
Kiva Slade: [00:16:20]
Awesome. And you just said something I thought was interesting. So, you can self-publish and then be picked up by a publisher.
Julie Broad: [00:16:28]
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Kiva Slade: [00:16:29]
I don't know if I knew that either.
Julie Broad: [00:16:33]
It happens to quite a few people. Some people choose actually not to. If your book does well, a lot of doors will open. The reality is, once you self-publish and you realize how much control you have and how much more money you're going to make per copy, a lot of authors don't want to traditionally publish after. And some do. And some will go that route. We have one author who actually has book deals with Hachette as well as she self-publishes some of them. And some of her agreements actually ... I'm trying to make this so I don't say anything confidential, but essentially she can take an idea from one of her books and make it into a self-published book as long as she's honoring the content that Hachette owns. And so, sometimes that's what she does. And some books she self-published and some books she goes through traditional. But the challenge is if you go traditional, it's much harder to reverse it. You have to buy your rights back or wait until they expire because most contracts have an expiration, and you're very limited as to what you're allowed to do with the content that is in that book. And so, that's why a lot of ... especially nonfiction authors are going to stick with self-publishing more and more.
Kiva Slade: [00:17:45]
Okay. Thank you for that. I know you guys are grateful for all of my questions because I'm asking the things that you probably did not know either. So, that is fascinating. So, obviously, let's tell people, how can they work with you. Because I really do feel that people are sitting on something that needs birthing, but we don't want to just birth it and let it go, everybody. We want to actually keep moving forward with it and taking care of it. So, if they have an idea, how can they work with you?
Julie Broad: [00:18:16]
Yeah. Getting my book Self Published and Succeed is a great step. We also have a download which is that booklauncher.com/7steps, and that's a workbook to walk you through who's your reader, what's the outcome of the outcome for that reader, and what your book needs to have as far as structure to set up for marketing. So, that's a great resource. And then from there you can just email us and ask any questions and we'll let you know where to go and what's a good fit, whether it's us or another resource.
Kiva Slade: [00:18:46]
Awesome. Well, everybody, those links will be in the show notes. And I love it. Julie uses the hashtag no boring books. So, I feel like that is such a great hashtag that we're out here producing things that are actually quite interesting, even if necessarily niche down to certain areas, but it's still something that's needed. So, I thank you so much, Julie, for sharing this today. I'm excited and maybe slightly motivated to take that download and figure out the outcome of the outcome. I feel like that's probably the hardest part for many people is figuring out what to write about because you're probably sitting on a few ideas and seeing which one actually has some legs. So, thank you so much. And I will include all of Julie's details in the show notes and you will be able to contact her there. And I can't wait to see the books that everyone starts self-publishing and getting your ideas out there. So, tune in next week for our next episode. And thanks again, Julie, for being here.
Julie Broad: [00:19:47]
Thanks for having me.
Kiva Slade: [00:19:49]
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Collab With Kiva. Each of us has a different path. And I hope that this episode gave you some takeaway that has left you inspired and motivated to keep pressing forward on your unique path. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss out on any future episodes. And of course, your reviews on Apple are greatly appreciated. If you're a small business owner ready to start making data-driven decisions in your business and you know that without the data, you're really just guessing, make sure to visit my website, the516collaborative.com, and let schedule a time to talk to make sure that you can harness the power of data in your business. I'll see you next time. Bye.
Meet Kiva Slade - the Founder and CEO of The 516 Collaborative. With a unique background in high-power politics on Capitol Hill and sixteen years as a homeschooling mama, Kiva found her calling in the online business world as a trusted guide for entrepreneurs looking to build the business of their dreams.
Kiva's work began behind the scenes, orchestrating the back end of businesses and managing teams. But her inner data diva couldn't help but notice that small businesses needed help harnessing the power of data for growth. So she and her team set out to uncover and tidy up the data required to enable clients to grow their businesses confidently and easily.