How I Opened Doors With Nonfiction Books
As an author specializing in healthcare nonfiction, I chose to self-publish my books. This approach allowed me to quickly reach and educate my intended audience on crucial healthcare topics. Most of my written works focus on healthcare, patient safety, the patient experience, and patient advocacy. I wrote them with patients, their families, healthcare workers, and hospital personnel in mind.
Using a nonfiction book as a business calling card is a powerful way to establish expertise and visibility in your field. Here are a few ideas that worked for me:
Include your book in your marketing materials. Promote your expertise by incorporating your book cover into business cards, websites, email signatures, and other promotional materials. Obvious, right?
Offer your book as a resource to clients or potential clients. Consider giving away copies of your book as a gift to clients or prospects. This serves as a tangible representation of your expertise and value. In the beginning, I gave away more books than I sold. Using the book as an introduction, this strategy quickly scheduled speaking engagements at hospitals, nurses’ associations, healthcare conferences, and patient-related events. One of these free book handouts led me to be invited to speak at the Cleveland Clinic Patient Experience Summit. This event cascaded into requests for staff training, articles, and lots of book sales. I can trace that single book to so many positive outcomes.
Host or attend events focused on books. Coordinate book signings, workshops, or speaking engagements that explore the themes of your book. These events help you network with potential leads and clients. If you don’t have time to spend an entire day at a book event, pay the table fee for a friend who wants to sell their books at the event. Use some table space for your books and have your fellow author sell their book and your book, too. Granted, you won’t meet people to further relationships, but it’s a passive way to get your book out there.
Use the knowledge and expertise in your book to craft articles and blog posts. Post them on your website, social media, or industry publications. This boosts traffic to your business and solidifies your reputation as a respected authority. I often submitted my articles to patient safety forums, hospital newsletters, and other industry magazines and online outlets. This resulted in speaking invitations and wholesale book purchases for entire organizations. And once you post something online, it can stay there indefinitely. This means your message could reach a broad audience and have a lasting impact, even years later.
Use your book at speaking engagements. When giving presentations or speaking at conferences, reference your book and its content to position yourself as an expert in your field. Share just enough information to entice the audience to purchase your book. Provide copies of your book as a resource for attendees. Warning: Bring someone with you to help with back-of-the-room sales. People frequently hurry to meet and greet, and multitasking is impossible while conversing and making change.
Develop a training program or workshop based on the insights shared in your book. This is a valuable offering for clients or a way to attract new clients interested in your expertise. I created one-hour sessions about how to survive a hospital stay. Senior groups, church groups, and libraries need engaging speakers with valuable content. This is a hidden gem waiting to be explored. Again, bring in additional help for book sales.
You can boost your visibility by showcasing your expertise as an author on podcasts, radio shows, and industry publications. Don’t be shy about reaching out to people you don’t know. Media is always looking for valuable content.
Expand your network by sharing your book with influential people and potential collaborators. This opens up opportunities for partnerships and collaborations that benefit your business.
Use your book to start a podcast. Create brief episodes highlighting your chapters and embellish them with additional stories and anecdotes. Find guests who can speak to each chapter. When the guests promote the interview to their circle of influence, you get immediate recognition and credibility, making reaching out to them more accessible.
I started my radio show soon after publishing Speak Up and Stay Alive. This gave me several weeks of programming just based on my book. Listeners flocked to the website to get their copy and copies for friends and family.
Using audio allowed me to connect with renowned individuals in the world of patient safety and invite them as guests. The conversations led to them becoming friends. I sought a person of significant influence to write the foreword for my book, Highway to Heart, Humor, and Honesty in Healthcare. I contacted Dr. Lucien Leape, an esteemed previous guest widely acknowledged as the father of patient safety. He gave his consent and penned a beautiful article for me. His voice gave the book an immediate sense of legitimacy. This book has become a popular choice for healthcare organizations worldwide for training and gifts.
And remember—Amazon is not the be-all and end-all. The impact I have made on my own surpasses what my books could achieve on the Amazon shelf. I intended to use them to share my story and healthcare safety facts with large groups of people. I wanted to save patients from the life-threatening hazards that I witnessed as my mom’s patient advocate. I used the books as a strategy to open doors. Amazon cannot do that.
It’s understandable to feel self-conscious about the publishing process. A common belief among writers is that rejection from a major publisher implies their work is not publication-worthy. Wrong! Readers care about the book’s content, not how it was published or by whom. Nevertheless, quality editing, book cover, interior design, and formatting remain essential.
These are a few reasons why writing a nonfiction book based on your specialty is wise. By integrating your nonfiction book strategically into your business activities, you leverage it as a powerful calling card to establish credibility, attract clients, and grow your professional network.
Let me know if you want to brainstorm about writing a nonfiction calling card. I’d love to talk with you.
Visit our new Firebird Inked, which provides self-publishing services for nonfiction authors within specific categories.
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