IDEAS, INFLUENCE, AND INCOME

A guide to publishing that focuses on using authorship for professional positioning.

In this debut business book, Hall, the CEO of the hybrid-publishing company Greenleaf Book Group, guides would-be authors through the process of publishing a book, developing a platform, and generating income from book sales, speaking engagements, and other related pursuits. She offers strategies for developing publishable ideas, understanding the market, and approaching the traditional and self-publishing processes. Along the way, the book identifies common challenges—such as the fear of criticism and the difficulty of making time for writing—and provides workable solutions for each problem. Readers unfamiliar with publishing-industry practices will find the overview of copyright, retail sales, and marketing particularly useful. Hall discusses developing material for multiple channels, using a publication to drive a speaking career, licensing content and trademarks, and establishing credentials, citing authors Gary Vaynerchuk, Suze Orman, and Joe Cross as examples of success. The book makes it clear that its intended audience isn’t people looking to make writing their sole career (“After all, you are probably not a writer by trade,” notes one aside), and it encourages readers to hire writing coaches and ghostwriters if their own skills are insufficient: “knowing how to delegate is a sign of leadership.” But although the book does acknowledge that not all ideas are best presented in book form, it doesn’t urge readers to ask themselves whether a book intended to accelerate one’s career as an “influencer” is actually a necessary addition to the “crowded marketplace.” Readers who pursue this path will find Hall’s book to be an effective tool, as well as an object lesson: Hall’s company name appears on 15 pages, ensuring that readers won’t forget it.

A comprehensive and informative handbook for those who see a book as a useful step on their career paths.