Do you need to be the author of a book to get booked as a speaker?
In the speaking world, you often do.
I’ve been a member of the National Speakers Association since 2008, and over those years I’ve heard several speakers say they lost out on speaking gigs because they hadn’t written a book.
Inside that world, it is assume that a speaker has written at least one book. Meeting planners expect to see one next to your name, the same way they expect a demo video. If it’s missing, they notice.
Meeting planners often receive physical copies of books from speakers attempting to get their attention. I’ve heard meeting planners say that even if they never open the book, the fact that it exists is an essential credential for the speaker.
Outside the speaking world, the reaction strengthens. Tell someone outside the business that you’ve written a book, and you’ll see a moment of awe, because you’ve done the thing most people say they’ll do someday.
The same book does both jobs. It gets you past the people who book speakers, and it impresses the people who hear you even before you speak.
The questions speakers ask
Speakers who don’t have a book yet tend to ask me some version of these:
- I’m a good speaker. Isn’t my talk enough?
- Do I have enough to say to fill a book?
- Won’t it take me years to write?
- How can I make millions with my book’s royalties?
Let me take the last one first, because it rests on a belief that isn’t true. The belief is that a book earns its keep through sales.
I laughingly tell people I’ve made about 35 cents an hour in royalties. I’ve also made millions because of the doors my publications opened.
Here’s an example. My book Nursing Process and Nursing Diagnosis was translated into Portuguese, Japanese, and Spanish. A school of nursing in Spain invited me to speak alongside other nursing professors and funded my trip to Spain. I met colleagues there I’d never have met any other way. How would they have known who I was if my name hadn’t been on that book?
My first coauthored book came out in 1986, and that book is what qualified me as a nursing expert witness. Nobody hired me because of my royalty statements.
The book was the credential. The work came after.
As for the years it takes to write one, your book doesn’t need to be long. My own short books run from about 4,000 words to about 11,000. The trend is in favor of shorter books. And your book does need to be professionally edited and laid out to best represent you and your brand.
How to use your book to get booked
A book sitting in a box in your garage does nothing for you. Put it to work.
- Make the book part of your speaker materials. Put the cover on your website’s speaker page and on your one-sheet. A clear title tells a meeting planner what you talk about in a few words.
- Build your keynote from your chapters. When the talk and the book teach the same ideas, the book becomes the next step for anyone who wants more.
- Send the book instead of a brochure. A brochure gets read once. A book on a planner’s desk is a reminder every time they look at it. A digital download of your book makes a wonderful bonus for a paid Substack membership.
- Ask whether the meeting planner wants a copy for every attendee. Some groups would rather send people home with your book than with a tote bag. And selling books in bulk adds another lucrative line item to your compensation.
- Sign books after you speak. The people who line up at your table want to keep hearing from you. Get their names, put them on your mailing list, and stay in touch with them.
One book, many products
Your book is also a source file. Once your content is organized into chapters, you can reshape it without starting over.
Each chapter can become a webinar, a breakout session, or a module in a course. The exercises can become a companion workbook, and a single chapter can grow into its own short book. I sell digital downloads of my books on my website, so one piece of writing shows up in more than one place. And I’ve created courses from my books.
Jay Conrad Levinson, author of Guerrilla Marketing, offered a striking example of how a book can generate income far beyond royalties. Levinson reportedly earned approximately $35,000 in royalties from his first book but attributed nearly $10 million in total earnings to the opportunities it created, including speaking engagements, spin-off books, newsletters, columns, and consulting.
It works in the other direction, too. Over two years, I assembled seven books drawn solely from my podcast transcripts and blog posts, and each one took a day or two to put together. If you’ve been speaking for a while, your recordings and handouts are a good place to start.
Your talk ends when you walk off the stage. Your book keeps working after you’ve gone home.
Authors work with me as a book coach to help them accomplish their goal of getting that book written. Let’s talk about how I can help you. Reach me through the contact form at patiyer.com/contact to set up a call.
Pat Iyer MSN RN LNCC is a consultant, speaker, author, editor, and book coach. She has written or edited 73 of her own books and worked with dozens of authors as an editor and book coach. Book 74 is coming out soon.