Julie Broad (founder of Book Launchers) argues that bestseller status is an overrated, short-lived goal for self-publishing authors and encourages treating a book as a strategic business tool. She urges authors to define specific goals (business growth, credibility, leads, speaking), choose tactics that support those goals (email campaigns, speaking, reviews), and measure progress with aligned metrics (reviews, email opt-ins, speaking inquiries, media appearances). She supports her advice with her credentials (Book Launchers has worked with ~750 authors; she has written four books) and client examples (a client who gained a paid writing gig and speaking slot; Becca Powers’ trajectory to a publishing deal).
Questions this video answers
750 and counting
Four
1) Define your goal; 2) Choose your tactics; 3) Measure your progress
Chapters
Think being a bestseller is the ultimate goal for a self publishing author? Think again. What if I told you that book marketing isn't about book sales? Yeah, traditional goals might not be what you need as an author. So if you're looking to create real goals that will actually build your brand, grow your business, and leave a lasting impact, this video is for you. Hey there. I'm Julie the Book Broad, founder of Book Launchers, where We've worked with 750 and counting authors on their nonfiction books over the last almost eight years. I've also written four books myself. Two of them are right there and I'm working on a second edition and, well, mentally a fifth book. Are you mentally working on a book too? I haven't put anything serious down on paper, but it's cooking. It's cooking right up here. Anyway, let's talk about why bestseller status may not be worth chasing. I know, I know. You want a bestseller because that's what a business friend told you is important. Or a business friend that you look up to is a bestseller and your mentor told you it will get you more speaking gigs, et cetera, et cetera. Well, let me ask you a serious question. Can you point to any author in 2025 or whatever year you're watching this that doesn't call themselves a best selling author? No. Me either. So don't worry, you'll be a bestseller of some kind. Bestseller lists are like the shiny object of publishing. They grab attention and sell a lot of things that sound good and make the service company money that's selling it. But they rarely translate to long term success for an author. And I have seen authors spend thousands to hit an Amazon bestseller list, only to end up with boxes of unsold books in their garage. Or worse, an Amazon algorithm that's all messed up because of the games that were played to make them a bestseller instead of just doing tried and true book marketing and sales tactics. What I'm saying is bestseller status is just a fleeting moment of glory that is likely to happen with good strategy. Anyways, so let's focus on the big picture. What do you want your book to achieve? What's your real true goal? What's success look like for you? So instead of thinking of your book as a bestseller, let's think of it as a tool. And not just any tool. Your book is like that screwdriver with all the fancy heads inside. It can do so much more. It can help you grow your business, attract speaking opportunities, establish yourself as an expert in, you know, sell more things and Those are all meaningful goals that go beyond book sales, and your book is a great tool to get you there. Success is not always measured in units sold. It's measured in the doors your book opens and what happens after you step through. One of our clients got a single interview from her book that turned into a paid monthly writing gig plus a speaking spot at a national event. The book opened that first door and that turned into a whole lot of great stuff. On the other side, when you focus on being a bestseller, you build a strategy that will work for one day of results. Here's the deal. What you measure is what you'll focus on, and if you only track book sales, you're missing out on so much more. So let's talk about metrics that can help you with these other goals. Book reviews. Those build credibility. Email opt ins. Your book should lead readers to your ecosystem. Speaking inquiries Is your book getting you noticed by event organizers? Media appearances? Are you expanding the awareness around what you do and the problem you solve? Track metrics that align with your goals. I'm not saying don't track sales. I'm just saying make sure you're also tracking where you're starting from and the progress you're making on the metrics that matter for long term success. So grab your pen and paper. Pause this video while you write down answers to some of these questions. 1. Define your goal. Is it business growth? Credibility? Leads? Be specific and what's your number one for this year? 2. Choose your tactics. For example, if you want more leads, focus on email campaigns and speaking engagements and identify how you're going to use your book to get those. 3. Measure your progress. Set up systems to track these key metrics like Google Analytics for website traffic or we like to use kit, formerly ConvertKit to help us track, well, set up, track and manage emails. Or you could set up feedback forms for speaking gigs or just write down how many newsletter subscribers and speaking engagement inquiries you have today and check back how far you've come. Start with just one or two goals because clarity beats chaos every time. Becca Powers wasn't a big name author. She didn't have massive social media following, but she had clarity. She knew her book was a stepping stone to her dream publishing deal. And by focusing on speaking engagements and building her email list, she turned that clarity into strategy and tactics that she executed. And today she's crushing it with her second book topping charts with her publishing deal that she wanted. Her success wasn't an accident. It was all about setting the right goals and maybe working with book launchers on her first book too. Go Becca. We're so excited for you. So what's the goal for your book? Whether it's to grow your business, build your platform, or land speaking gigs, success starts with clarity and strategy. Let's chat about it in the comments below about your top goal for 2025. I'd love to hear it. And of course, when you comment the day a video is released, you get entered to win some of our no boringbooks swag or copies of my books. And and you get one step closer to being a YouTube bestie like Darla Mondragon, Kevin Hall, Bill Miller, KJ, Stephen Searle, and Alan West. Thank you for your likes, comments and shares. All right, next up, this is the video on Mistakes to avoid in 2025, and it is a great video to watch, as is this one on the study on the ROI of publishing a book. Great info for you to think the right way about your author business. Click on over. I'll see you there.
