FAQ

What if I’m not sure I have enough to say for a book?
Talk to us. We’ll help you figure out if your idea is good enough for a book. Our process does not work unless you actually have a book’s worth of ideas in your head. But the reality is that someone who has deep expertise in a field typically has knowledge that would be interesting to others.

What if I’m not sure what I want my book to be about?
Call us, because we’ll help you figure out the best possible topic. We are experts at helping you understand not only what the best book is in you, but the best way to use it to grow your business, so we will build it from the ground up with that in mind.

What if I have more than one book in me?
We’ve found this to be true with many entrepreneurs; they have multiple books they want to write and aren’t sure which one is best. We’ll help you decide which should do first, and why. It depends on your goals in writing the book, the target market for your book, and what type of return you want to achieve.

Am I the author of the book?
Yes, you are the sole author of your book and it is in your voice. You are the only one contributing the ideas, the knowledge, and the content to the book. We act as a conduit to get your ideas into a book by properly structuring and organizing and recording them. The ideas and content are 100% yours. Because we add no content, so we take no credit. The idea is what matters, not the scribe who copies it down. The writing itself is also exclusively in your voice. That is what makes this so different from ghostwriting. We just structure and organize your ideas into a high-quality book.

How long does the whole process take, start to finish?
If you work at our speed, we are comfortable promising a completely finished and published book within 3 to 4 months (sometimes a little shorter).

How long will my book be?
Book length is entirely dependent on the author. We don’t have a fixed length but generally find that most authors end up around 75-100 pages. Based on our research and testing, this is the optimal length for non-fiction books. It is not an intimidating length, so readers are more likely to buy and actually read the book, and it’s about the right length for most authors, where they have the opportunity to discuss substantive information while not repeating themselves or padding the pages.

How many books should I expect to sell?
We do not recommend focusing on how many books you will sell. This is because book sales are a poor measure for ROI. Professionals see books as general marketing tools, not profit centers themselves. For example, if you’re a consultant or a coach, and a client is worth $30,000 to you, then one client actually more than doubles your investment in your book.

Can you get me on a bestseller list?
Yes, in fact, that is part of the included marketing campaign. We promote your book to email lists and groups that are interested in your book topic. This usually results in the book becoming a best seller in at least one Amazon subcategory. We do not run campaigns for The New York Times or Wall Street Journal bestsellers. These are very expensive, and not our focus. However, we can recommend a consultant to add on this service.

What makes this different from ghostwriting?
Simply put, ghostwriting means the book is not really your ideas or words. With our service, your book is entirely your ideas and your words. A ghostwriter just takes your concept and writes the book for you. You pay them and stick your name on it. But, it’s not really your book.

With BizSmart Publishing your book is authored by you. The ideas and words and content are entirely yours and are in your voice. We just translate your ideas into a proper, professional book.

The two other main differences are these:

• Ghostwriters only give you a manuscript. We do full publishing, distribution, PR and business integration.
• A decent ghostwriter is much more expensive than our process (usually $40k+).
• We’re able to be much cheaper precisely because we don’t add content. Instead, we just translate your ideas into book content. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, then you need to hire a ghostwriter. That way the ghostwriter can do the research and write a book that makes sense, and you get to have your name on it.

How do you decide if I qualify to work with you?
Most entrepreneurs, small business owners, consultants and service providers are not qualified to work with us.

There are two criteria we use to decide which authors we’ll work with:

• The author must know the subject matter of their book deeply. Our interview process works very well, but only if the author actually knows what they’re talking about. We don’t add content, so the author must knowledgeable on the topic of their book. We can’t make things up for you.
• There should be a clear ROI for the author. This means there needs to be a reason for wanting to write this book, and/or a path to a return on investment other than from book royalties. We can help determine if there is one for you.

That’s why the first step in our process is a qualification process. If the result you’re hoping for is unrealistic, we don’t want to work with you.

Can I use my own writing?
Yes. We’ll still do the initial positioning call, and then assess whether any of your existing writing fits into the book concept. If it does, then we will happily include it.

What if I don’t like my book?
It’s actually fairly common for authors to be a little unhappy with their first draft. In almost all situations, once we’ve done the first round of revisions, the author is very happy. However, since we don’t create or provide the content (that comes from you), we can’t 100% guarantee your happiness. We’ll do everything we can on our end to ensure that you get a book you love. Anything reasonable, we will do to deliver.

How can I make money with my book?
You can use a book to get more exposure, increase your authority, lead generation, get more customers, speaking engagements, sell products and many other objectives. A book is the best multi-purpose marketing tool there is.

Do I have to publish through you?
No, you don’t have to use the BizSmart Media Publishing Brand. You can use any publishing company you want, or we can even help you create your own publishing company.

What is the difference between you and traditional publishing?
“Traditional publishing” refers to the older New York publishing houses. If you have a big enough built-in audience, they pay you a small advance, and they own all the rights and royalties to your book. They do the work of publishing and distributing your book, but that’s it.

The biggest difference is that we do everything that a traditional publisher does, plus a lot more. We actually help you write the book, run a national exposure campaign for the launch, and then help integrate it into your business so you can maximize ROI.

Can you get my books into a bookstore?
Yes, we make your book available to thousands of major online and offline bookstores and retailers. Your book will most likely not be on bookshelves. This is because bookstores carry very few books, and reserve their limited space for established authors or books from publishers who are paying for shelf space. However, your book will be available for in-store special orders as well as online from major book retailers like Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million.

However, most people who shop at Barnes & Noble also shop on Amazon. Lack of bookstore distribution won’t lose you many sales. Being in a bookstore is purely about ego, and not about actual ROI.

I have a book already written. Can I use you to publish and market?
Absolutely. We have a $3000 package that includes everything but the actual writing. Fill out this form and we will get back to you with the details.

Is there a book purchase requirement?
No, we don’t require you to buy any books. In fact, we will send you 50 as part of the package.

Most traditional publishers require you to buy 2500 books at 50% off retail. So, if you have a $15 paperback, you are looking at having to spend $18,750 on books.

You can order as many copies as you want at wholesale pricing. We’ll set up your printing through Amazon’s CreateSpace platform. They will charge approximately $3 a copy for as many as you want. They usually take about 10 days to print and fulfill.

If you want to do larger orders (over 1000) or want hardcover books, then we will handle the set-up with a commercial offset printer, and you just pay the price for the books. No charge from us.

What marketing is included?
The first thing we do is a national news release a few weeks before it releases. This is to build up hype and introduce you and the book concept to the world.

Second, we get you booked on a popular iHeartRADIO business show. But before you go on, you’ll receive an interview training session and an interview 1-sheet that will give the host the perfect questions to ask. You’ll be able to use to easily book more appearances.

Next, we run an Amazon Bestseller Campaign when your book launches. We promote your book to email lists and Facebook groups that are interested in your book topic, and pair that with a 99-cent promotion for the first 48 hours. This usually results in the book becoming number one in its Amazon subcategory.  However, we do not guarantee a number one placement, only that it will become an Amazon bestseller.

Why don’t you take royalties?
The quickest and most effective strategy to get a great book published is to use the service-based model, where we are paid a fee, and you own all rights and all royalties. This ensures that we create a book that serves your goals (such as getting more customers or creating influence), not a watered down book that is only about selling copies to the mass market.

I can’t afford your services, but I still want the benefit of being published. Is there any other way for us to work together?

Yes! We can feature you in one of our multi-contributor books, help you create a one-problem, one-solution book, or license one of our subject matter books. Just fill out this form and we will get back to shortly.