Make Writing Your Nonfiction Book Your Top Priority, Or You Won't Finish It
It’s an exciting moment! One you’ve been waiting for. You’re finally writing your book!
But there is one important last step: Make this book project your priority. Otherwise, you won’t get it done.
That’s the message delivered by Published Author podcast guest Jyotsna Ramachandran. Jyotsna is bestselling author of Job Escape Plan: The 7 Steps to Build a Home Business, Quit your Job & Enjoy the Freedom.
Jyotsna is also a book publisher, having founded Happy Self Publishing to help overwhelmed, yet purpose-driven authors publish their book and amplify their message. So far, Jyotsna has helped more than 400 authors from 35 countries through her global publishing agency, Happy Self Publishing.
FOCUS ON YOUR BOOK AHEAD OF LAUNCHING A COURSE OR CAMPAIGN
Jyotsna observes that for many authors who are struggling, the main issue is that the book is not their number one priority.
“They have a lot of other things happening in their life, such as a new course, a campaign or personal commitments.
“In that case, we tell them ‘Please don't feel guilty. Let's do it one step at a time. If you want to take a break from this, we are completely OK with that. But when you come back, let's only focus on this,” she says.
BE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR BOOK’S PURPOSE
Jyotsna says that entrepreneurs who are clear about the purpose of their book and have a strong reason to complete it are the most successful.
These clients have been thoughtful about choosing the right topic, completed their book’s outline, and meet deadlines are on a sure journey to success. These clients also access all the support structures that are in place, show up for weekly calls, take and share feedback, and complete every step in the process.
THE HARD WORK OF WRITING A BOOK PAYS OFF WITH UNEXPECTED SURPRISES
Entrepreneurs write nonfiction books for different reasons. Some want to grow their business, others want to leave a legacy and help mentor the next generation. So from that perspective, success means different things to different entrepreneurs.
“A lot of times authors do not expect that they are going to get a lot of different opportunities after the book gets published. But only after the book is published do they realize that many things about their life have changed,” explains Jyotsna.
She shares the example of a client from Spain. Fitness was his passion, but not his main business - he was a full-time employee in an IT company.
After he saw that a lot of people were benefiting from his book, he started listening to what his readers wanted. Slowly, his side hustle produced more and more services and products for his readers. He developed an app, protein shakes, energy drinks, and fitness classes online.
Fast-forward two years, and this entrepreneur-author is about to quit his job and manage his growing business full-time! Comments Jyotsna: “I'm sure he did not have the slightest clue. He did not plan this. But then he started to build his author funnel and create their entire ecosystem around his book, which has given him a lot more freedom.”
BUILDING AN AUTHOR FUNNEL
Some entrepreneur-authors such as the example above become excited about growing their business after the initial experience of success.
To do this, Jyotsna says it’s a good idea to do an asset audit. What assets do you have? Do you have a course, a coaching program, or something else?
If the answer is none of the above, that’s absolutely fine, because for most authors their book is their starting point.
“My recommendation to authors who are business owners is that your target reader for your book should be the exact target client for your business,” emphasizes Jyotsna. “Because, ultimately, some of the people who are going to read your book will become your clients, and you need to be really strategic about that. Otherwise, your book and your business may not have a proper connection.”
Jyotsna scopes out a typical entrepreneur-author funnel:
Your book on Amazon and other online and offline sales points.
A free value offering, such as a blog, podcast, or content related to the book
A paid value offering for entry point clients who are motivated and want to see results. This could be a course or membership.
A premium offer you deliver personally, such as one-on-one coaching, consulting, or speaking.
Jyotsna and host Josh Steimle cover a lot of ground in this episode. If you find it inspiring and want to begin working on your book, reach out to Publishedauthor.com
LINKS
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Josh Steimle:
Today, my guest is Jyotsna Ramachandra. Jyotsna is bestselling author of the book, Job Escape Plan: The 7 Steps to Build a Home Business, Quit Your Job & Enjoy the Freedom. But she's not just an author. She's also a book publisher and owner of Happy Self Publishing. Her publishing company helps overwhelmed yet purpose driven authors experience the process of publishing their book and amplifying their message. So far, Jyotsna has helped more than 400 authors from 35 different countries become published authors. Jyotsna is an author coach and a two times TEDx speaker. She also helps authors build a super profitable author funnel with the help of their book. Jyotsna, welcome to the show.
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Thank you so much, Josh, for having me on your show.
Josh Steimle:
So this is an exciting one for me. Because before the interview, we were talking a little bit that Jyotsna and published author, we kind of do the same thing. But there are a lot of people out there. And so we don't see each other as competitors. It's more, hey, who's the right fit for what type of audience and such. But before we get into your program and your company, tell us a little bit more about where you come from? And how you got to this point? How did you get interested in books? And how did you decide to start a publishing company? That's not something most kids think about doing when they're young.
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
That's right. So I live in India, Josh. I've been here all my life. And my journey with the publishing started about seven years ago. That happened when my daughter was born. Back then I was running another company. That was my first business. It was a staff recruitment agency. And I had actually quit my job with the ambition of becoming a very successful entrepreneur. But after my daughter was born, my recruitment agency was kind of dying away, because I was not able to give it the time and attention because of my new life as a mom. And I was wondering if I should just be a stay at home mom, or probably look at opportunities to build a career online. So I started just Googling, how do you make money online, and I came across a lot of different blog posts and videos on Kindle Publishing. Back then it was like a goldmine, where people would just put together these short ebooks and they would publish it. And people would buy it on Amazon, surprisingly. So I took a bunch of different online courses on how to publish books using Amazon as a platform. But at that time, I didn't have the confidence to write my own book. So I would just hire ghostwriters. I would just give them a hot topic to write on. And I started publishing books that way. These are short little ebooks, not very content heavy, but a quick read kind of a book out. But then, within six months, I published over 50 titles. And that kind of gave me the revenue, which was much bigger than my recruitment agency. So that's when I decided to completely focus on book publishing. But then I was not really feeling fulfilled or happy, because these were not books written by me. And I had no clue about those topics. But I thought, why not write my own book, because I've successfully quit my job and started something on my own from home while being a new mom. So maybe some people would get inspired by my journey, and they would get some inspiration. So that's how I wrote Job Escape Plan. But that one book completely changed my life, Josh, because after that book got published, people started to ask me if I can help them become authors. A lot of people wanted to interview me. I started getting invited to big stages to speak. That's when it dawned on me that probably instead of continuing with this ghostwriting kind of a business model, why not actually helped real authors who have this real message and story and experiences to share, but they didn't know how to go about publishing their books? So five years ago, I started Happy Self Publishing with the intention to help aspiring authors. And in the last five years, we've helped so many clients from so many different countries. So it's been an amazing journey.
Josh Steimle:
That's great. So when people started coming to you and asking, hey, I need help, what were some of the challenges that they were dealing with when they came to you? Was it just that they said, “Hey, I want to publish a book. Can you help me with this?” Or what were some of the things that you were hearing from these first clients?
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Right. So my initial clients were other authors who were in the same author community that I was. When I wanted to write Job Escape Plan, I thought that I did not know a lot of things because that was the first time I was ever trying to write a book. So I had joined an author community based in the US. So I got into the network of a lot of other authors who are writing books along with me, and the few common things that they were asking because most of them were choosing the self publishing method. They mostly wanted cover design, editing and formatting. So those were the initial three services that I launched my company with, because that is what I kept getting asked by people.
Josh Steimle:
Now you're based in India, right? So you're launching this business within India from India, right?
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Yes, but the funny part is, more than 80% of my clients are from the US. And the rest are spread across the globe. So it's just me and a couple of my team members in India. But right now we have more than 25 team members, and they are all spread across different countries.
Josh Steimle:
Having lived in Asia myself for six years, I know how hard that can be to manage these clients all around the world and in different time zones. How do you get it done? How do you make sure that that works? Especially, I mean, because your audience, if 80% of them are in the US, then you're trying to get some sleep while they're trying to get work done?
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
This is actually a great question. So, initially, I did not realize that, but then now it's, initially it was just like a side business for me. But now I see this as my legacy or something much bigger than me. So right now, in the last couple of years, we've become very intentional about building our company's culture and the team. And therefore, I think a few best practices that we follow are excellent team communication. So we use a lot of great tools online. For example, Slack is a very important tool that completely has taken over our email inbox. So we don't do much of email communication internally. It's only for client communication through emails, but most of our team communication happens on Slack. So that's for the quick communication. Then comes our daily huddle. So irrespective of where people are, 15 minutes we are live on a call like this. So we actually see each other. We actually know what each person is working on. And if they need any immediate help, we are there for each other. So the daily meetings are super important. Then each department within the company, like we have a sales team, we have an author success team who do the operation. So each of these teams have their own weekly meetings where the head of the department meets up with the other team members. Some of them are full time. Some of them are part time. Some of them are freelancers who do other things, and they just work with us on a commission basis. But whatever be their role, they just make sure that they are part of this team. And, you know, they are happy to, for us to hold them accountable. So I think these are certain things that's really helping us. And the other super important thing, which I just implemented six months ago is our weekly trainings. So every Wednesday is our training days. Today, though I'm not at home, I'm sitting in a hotel here, but we don't miss it at any cost. So the entire team comes together, and we train each other on something or the other. One week could be related to publishing. The other week could be about time management, or meditation or some totally different topic. All these small little things has helped us to build our team's culture. So now we have our vision, mission, values, and everything dialed in. And I think that has really helped us to manage a virtual team, though we're all sitting in different countries.
Josh Steimle:
So sounds like you've got a great team, and you've got great systems and processes in place. So when a new client comes along and says, hey, I'm interested in working with you, what is the process look like? How do you onboard them? And then what offerings do you have for them? Does everybody go through the same program? Do you have different offerings for different types of people? Or how does that work?
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Right. So before, we would just work with anybody and everybody, because we really wanted the cash flow as a new company. But then now we have understood which are the few clients who really benefit from our services? And we are focused on serving those clients. And they are typically service based entrepreneurs who could either be coaches, consultants or agency owners. They are already experts in whatever they are doing. But they just don't have this book, because that's the only missing piece in their marketing. And they know the importance of having a book, but something has been stopping them from getting it published. So people come to us at two different stages, typically, Josh. They either come to us with a rough idea. And they know that they don't have the time or the bandwidth to do everything themselves. And they come at that stage or they somehow finished the manuscript and they come to us just for the next steps to get the book published and marketed. So if they come to us right at the beginning, we have a program called Impact Amplifier, and that has two options as well. There's one called the Plutonium option, which is for people who know that they cannot write the book themselves. They want to be an author, but they know that they're not a writer. So these guys are happy to work with our Angel writer who would interview them on a series of calls, and record all these conversations, listen to those recordings and write the book for them. So in three months, the book is written, and we take another three months to publish the book. And then we have this other option within Impact Amplifier called the Platinum option, which is for people who love writing. Writing is something that they enjoy. But they have not been able to finish their book due to accountability issues, or due to lack of clarity. They just need the support and motivation and the guidance of a book coach. So we give them a book coach who works with them for three months, help them write the book, and then we follow the same process of getting it published. So Impact Amplifier is for somebody who's coming to us at the beginning stage with no manuscript. Whereas we also have authors who finish writing the book, and then they look out for ways to self publish it, and they find us and then they reach out to us. So during our initial 30 minute strategy call, we kind of understand which program would be the best fit for them. And we recommend them that. So for those who have a book with them, the manuscript, we offer them Author essentials or Author rock star. Now essentials is for somebody who just wants the book out there on Amazon. And they are just happy to be known as a published author. So we take care of the cover design, editing, interior design and publishing. But there are others who are a little more ambitious. They also want to be on the bestseller charts. They also want to have a PR campaign and a podcast booking campaign happening around the book launch so that they are not just published, but they also market the book well to be positioned as an expert. So if they need that, then Author rock star is a better option. So we typically have these four programs, two inside Impact Amplifier for those who don't have a manuscript, and two programs for people who have a manuscript. So that's how we have kind of productized our service now.
Josh Steimle:
Gotcha. So as you see clients coming to you, they are clients who might zoom through the process, and they do everything, and they get their book out there. And then there are other clients who struggle. Have you noticed differences between those who struggle and those who succeed more easily? And what are some of those -- what are some of the challenges or obstacles that these authors get tripped up on?
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Yeah. So the thing is, they are not alone. That's the good thing, because if they're doing it alone, then it's a big problem. But here we have an entire team to support them to overcome the obstacles. So whenever a book coach or a writer is working with the author, and they're still struggling, I have mostly seen a couple of issues. The first thing is the book project is not their number one priority. They have a lot of other things happening in their life. They have a new course that they have launched. They have some other campaign that's running. They have to attend an important wedding in the family. So there are so many other things happening, which is making them not prioritize the book, which is understandable. So in that case, we tell them, please don't feel guilty. You cannot be chasing multiple rabbits at the same time. So let's do it one step at a time. So if you want to take a break from this, we are completely okay with it. But when you come back, let's only focus on this. So that's the kind of, you know, usual conversation we have with clients who struggle with it. But otherwise, those who are very clear about the deadlines, those who are very clear about the purpose for writing the book, and they have that strong reason to complete it, most of those clients don't have a problem because everything else is, you know, supported for them, like choosing the right topic, getting the books outline done, you know, those kinds of, you know, support structures are there in place. But the willingness to, you know, show up on calls, give feedback after every step, that completely lies with the author. Eighty percent of our clients are very, very good that way, but the other 20% of them who do face these challenges, and that's okay. And that's why we are there to support them.
Josh Steimle:
So you mentioned that sometimes people are too busy. And so that means they're not the right fit for you right now. They might be later. But if they're too busy, they might not be the right fit. Are there other authors that come to you, and they're not quite the right fit? And you say, you know what, we might not be the right company for you. Who do you work with? Who do you not work with?
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Yeah, I would like to work with people who also have the same core values as our company. So we have five core values that have been self publishing. And initially, I created those core values as a way for me to make sure that all our team members have those values. But now I realize that it'll be great if our clients also embody those values so that it's a great fit for both of us. So the first and the most important one, I would say, is integrity. A lot of times we see authors who've written a book just because they want to quickly position themselves as a thought leader. They wouldn't have really done the work of getting into that subject and doing years of work and helping a lot of clients. They wouldn't have done all of that. They would have just started on their journey. And there would not be a connect between what they're saying in the book, and what they're actually practicing in life. It's sometimes difficult to say, but sometimes it just is very clear in the first conversation that they really don't care so much about the content of the book. They just want to quickly put a book together so that they can call themselves an author. So those are some clients that we would stay away from. Because after the book gets published, it also is bad for our reputation, right? So integrity is really important. They need to follow whatever they've written the book. They need to believe in that. Then a couple of other important things would be, they need to have the mentality of abundance. That's something really important. I'll tell you what I mean by abundance. For me, I feel that if an author is already successful in whatever they're doing, it is not the ultimate level of success, because by publishing the book, they can 10x or 100x their level of success, because they can attract so many different opportunities, which right now they may not be able to see, but they need to believe that the book is a doorway to abundance. And it's not just for their life, but it's going to, you know, help so many other people, their own readers, after they start reading the book. But some authors do not have that bigger picture. But they would come and say that, hey, if I'm spending $3,000 on this project, how quickly can I get the ROI from this project? So that clearly shows that in their mind, they're only able to see how many books can they sell to get this money back, but they're not able to see how this book is going to help their business? How is it going to impact lives? They're not able to see that picture. So if they don't have that abundance mindset, that also is a problem. Because then at every stage, they would try to cut the costs and you know, ask for refund for the smallest of issues. So I think these are some of the things that I would look for. The basic things like the ideal reader, the ideal client is already defined, you know, we would love to work with entrepreneurs, who are already experts. But these are the smaller things that we get to know only when we have the first conversation with the client.
Josh Steimle:
Can you tell us some stories about clients you've worked with and the successes that they've seen as a result? Well, first of all, the success they've seen getting their book done, but also the results that they've gotten from the book after it was published.
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Right. So this is such a great question, Josh. Now, this depends on what success means to different people. And a lot of times authors do not expect that they are going to get a lot of different opportunities after the book gets published. But only after the book is published, they actually realize that so many things about their life has changed. So let me give you a couple of examples. So I worked with a client about two years ago. He is from, I think, Spain, Barcelona. Yeah. And for him, fitness was his passion. It was not his main business. And at that time, we were not so particular of only working with entrepreneurs. So since it was a book based on his passion, which was also his expertise, we went ahead and published his book, but he was a full time employee in an IT company back then. But after he saw that a lot of people were benefiting from his book, he started listening to what his readers want. And slowly as a side hustle, he started creating more and more stuff for his readers. First, I think he started with a fitness app. Then he started creating products like protein shakes, and energy drinks and things like that. And then he started conducting fitness classes online. So now two years fast forward, he is about to quit his IT job because all the different business verticals he created as a result of publishing his book are now making him enough revenue, that he is now totally focused on his passion. And he was not that excited about his job. So he's so happy that he's finally getting to quit his job. And I'm sure he did not have the slightest clue. He did not plan this. But then it so happened that he started to build his author funnel and create that entire ecosystem around his book, which has given him a lot more freedom now. Right?
Josh Steimle:
Yeah, that's a great one. So tell us a little -- sorry, go ahead.
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
No, I was just saying that other than the professional side, I see a lot of people experiencing a lot of success in the personal front as well. For example, one of the first clients I had for Angel writing was my husband, because he is dyslexic. He had this inferiority complex right from childhood that he's not good in academies because of his dyslexia. But after he published his book through the process of Angel writing, and when he held the first copy of his book in his hand, something internally changed for him because he now got the confidence that he is also an expert. So he's basically a relationship coach. He's great at what he does. But he always thought that, you know, he has never excelled in academics. And he's not really good with a lot of those kind of stuff, like studies and things like that. But when all his contemporaries have not written a book, and he publishes his book, and all his friends and classmates look up to him, that's such a powerful, you know, self transformation, which, I think, you know, cannot be tangible. So I think a lot of those kinds of benefits happen after a person's book is published.
Josh Steimle:
Those are great examples. Now, one of the things you mentioned, was this funnel, this concept of building an author funnel, because it's not just the book. And we know, I think most people listening to this realize that they're not going to make a lot of money off of book sales itself. It's going to be how do you leverage that book, to grow your business, to launch courses, to do consulting or speaking or whatever it is that you do. That's where you actually make money. Talk a little bit about the process you take authors through to build this funnel, so that they can get the right people reading their books, but then also leverage the people reading their books to, to sell these other things that they have as offerings?
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Sure, Josh. The first step is to -- that I see is to understand what are the assets they have already? Do they have a course? Do they have a coaching program? Or do they have something else already? So there are people who have absolutely nothing, and the book could be a great starting point. There are also clients who already have, like, say, a done for you service agency or something like that. So my recommendation to authors who are also business owners, is that your target reader for your book should be the exact target client for your business, because ultimately, some of the people who are going to read your book will become your clients. And you need to be really strategic about that. Otherwise, your book and your business may not have, you know, a proper connection. So the author funnel works this way. It has four steps. Right on top of the funnel is the book, because a lot of people are going to hear about this author for the first time by doing a search on Amazon, and they may end up finding the book. But out of those readers are some of them would love the book, and they would want to continue the conversation beyond the book. So, they're going to find the author on social media channels. They're going to find their website. And those people need more from the author. So the author should have a free value level, which is the next step, which could either be a blog. It could be a podcast. It could be a YouTube channel, but some way of giving them free content related to the book. And then comes the paid value level. Now a portion of these people who are the followers on social media will be happy to pay a price to get some immediate results, because these people may not just be happy with motivation, but they actually want results. And those are the people who will be willing to pay for a mini online course, or a membership, or something that's probably between $97 to $497. Not that expensive. But it's a good entry point. And then comes the final step of the funnel, which is a premium value. Now this is where we have group coaching, one on one coaching, consulting with businesses or speaking and even done for you services, because this is the most premium offering that the author can have, because it involves the personal time of the author. Not everybody is going to reach this level, obviously. That's why it's a funnel. But some people will, whoever, you know, is really particular about getting results, but they don't want to do everything themselves, they might as well collaborate with the author in getting these results. Those are the people who will opt for the premium value. Now, it's not important that this funnel has to be functional from day one. It can be built step by step, like the example of the fitness expert that I gave. So he did not have everything on day one. He only had the book, but slowly, yet steadily, he has the entire auto funnel functional right now.
Josh Steimle:
So what are some of the other valuable or most valuable assets that your authors have as part of their platform? You talked about courses and websites and stuff. Are some of these must haves? Like must every author have a personal brand website? Must they be active on social media? What are some of the things that you've seen really help authors to get the word out there and to sell more books and to get more clients or sell more of their product?
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Right. This totally depends on the author and the purpose that they have for writing the book. Now I have had authors who are very successful corporate professionals. They are like in the CEO levels in a company. They may not be the business owner, but they have 25 years of experience in that particular industry. So their only goal is to condense their years of experience into the book, which can be a great branding tool for that company. So they are really not bothered about their personal brand website, because they're still working in a company. And for them, the focus is not to build their coaching business or their parallel carrier. So those people are absolutely fine with just having the book on Amazon. And they are not even worried about the sales of the books on Amazon, because they have their own vendor network and client network to buy the book directly from their corporate office. So that's one type of client. And then I also see clients who are really intentional about their personal brand, because they realize that everything they're going to build is going to be around their personal brand. They're going to be the face of the brand. So for those clients, I highly, highly recommend them, that they have their author, website and their name, it should have their dedicated page for the book and all the other services that they are planning to offer. It could be and also depends on that author's personality. Some people love one on one coaching, but some people hate it. They just don't want to be spending one on one time. They would rather build a community and offer group coaching and courses inside the community. So it also depends on the author's personality and what they like doing and what they don't like doing. But it's important to have something in each step of this funnel. What they want to have is totally up to the author. And it all depends on their purpose for writing the book.
Josh Steimle:
This is great. We've covered a lot of ground here, talking about Happy Self Publishing. By the way, where can people find out more about Happy Self Publishing?
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Right, so if somebody is already clear about getting the book published in the next few months, you probably already have your manuscript written, then the next best step would be to just head over to HappySelfPublishing.com and book a strategy call with one of our publishing consultants. However, if you're in your early stages, you're just getting started, and you want the right inputs to go to the next step, then I would recommend our audience to go check out my Facebook group for aspiring authors called Happy Authors Tribe, because that's where I conduct a five day boot camp called the Author Success Boot Camp. And that's like a great way to have the right foundations to start the book project. So head over to HappySelfPublishing.com/tribe. That will take you to our Facebook group. And inside the group, you can attend the boot camp for free.
Josh Steimle:
Perfect. So what about you, Jyotsna? What's next for you? Are you planning on writing more books in the future?
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Well, this is something that has been procrastinating for a long time, because I've been helping other authors. And I forgot that it's been five years since I wrote my first book. So I guess that's definitely the plan. So by the end of this year, I'm going to be having my book which is related to what I'm doing right now. It's going to be tentatively called Book Your Success. And it's going to be about how you can write a book to become successful in whatever you want to succeed in. So yeah, that's, that's one of the important projects for 2021.
Josh Steimle:
All right, that's a great title, by the way.
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Thank you.
Josh Steimle:
Well, thank you so much for being with us here, Jyotsna, today. Is there anywhere else that people can reach out to connect with you? Or is HappySelfPublishing.com the best place for them to go?
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Yeah. On social media, you can DM Me on Instagram. That will also be a good place. So it's the handle is happy self pub, and you can just send us a DM, and we'll be happy to jump on a Connect call.
Josh Steimle:
Great. Well, thanks so much for being with us here today and sharing your experience and helping so many entrepreneurs write books and publish those books and leverage them to grow their businesses. Thank you, Jyotsna and for being here on the Published Author Podcast.
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Thank you so much, Josh, for giving me this opportunity. And together let's both help a lot more authors build their legacies.
Josh Steimle:
Sounds great. Thanks so much.
Jyotsna Ramachandra:
Thank you.