Anna David Explains How to Write Your Business Book (Full Q&A) 

You’ve been running a successful business. You have a treasure trove of information about your industry. But you’re watching competitors get on TV and featured on podcasts — and wondering what sets them apart.

In many cases, the answer is: a published book.

Even if your company’s blog ranks for competitive SEO keywords and your social media manager posts regularly, a book can take your content marketing authority to the next level. It could even lead to TEDx Talks, news appearances, and — ultimately — bigger and better clients.

But before you set off to document your greatest successes or business tips, decide if you’re ready to make the most of what could be the most powerful marketing collateral you’ve ever created. Writing a book is a huge commitment, and getting published (even if you self-publish) is a difficult process. The average self-published book sells only 250 copies, so how can you ensure that the massive effort is worth it?

We spoke with New York Times bestselling author Anna David, who helps business owners navigate the book world.

b.: Tell us about Legacy Launch Pad Publishing. How do you help business owners?

David: Entrepreneurs in all fields hire us to write and publish their books. We do it “soup to nuts.” Sitting down, coming up with the initial idea, interviewing them, edits, the layout, the cover, the launch. We do also publish completed books, but we go through four rounds of editing first.

The purpose of the book is not to sell a million [copies]. It is to establish the person as a thought leader. For people who know everything about their field, but no one knows who they are, the book exists to showcase them as a legitimate expert. They wrote the book on it, literally!

Then they can start getting better clients, getting on TV, doing TedX talks, whatever it is.

b.: How did you launch the company? What’s your background?

David: I was an author — selling the books, doing the deals — in New York and it was brutal. I sold my first book to HarperCollins in 2005. I got this lovely book deal, sold the movie rights. I was like, “Oh, this is glamorous. This is awesome. This is fun.”

Between 2005 and 2010, I sold five more books. I got six book deals total. And my book deals went from $50,000 to $2,000. At the same time, I was freelance writing. I was making up to $4 per word to do a celebrity cover story. Suddenly … everyone’s writing for free. Then they’re charging people to write. Here I had a New York Times bestselling book, and I couldn’t pay my rent. … I figured people just didn’t value writing skills anymore.

I tried starting websites, I tried selling courses, and at the same time people kept coming up to me asking if I could write their book. And I kept saying no. I’m stubborn and a slow learner!

One guy, Darren Prince [founder of Prince Marketing Group], was super insistent. At the same time, I knew a girl who was a writer and needed work. I said, “What if he pays me, I pay this girl, she writes the book, and I edit it?” He said as long as I was involved, he was in. So we have this manuscript, and then he says, “Okay, now let’s publish it.” I didn’t know anything about publishing. HarperCollins took care of that for me. So I learned. We put his book out. And the week it comes out, he gets a six-figure spokesperson deal.

Then, [coach and creator of Sober Mom Squad] Emily Lynn Paulson came along and asked the same thing. The message was coming from the universe to do this.

Since those first two books, we’ve published 24 other books, and the same thing happened every time.

b.: Because you were open to these opportunities and didn’t ignore them or say no, they came to you. Can you talk about that philosophy in life, especially for entrepreneurs and business leaders?

David: It is everything. You know the saying “Luck comes to the prepared”? It’s really true.

Once we’re tuned into what the universe is saying to us, we can get anything we want. Problem is, it’s a lot harder than it sounds, because we have little minds and usually we’re thinking too small.

When I started my career, I worked at People magazine. I thought the highlight of my life could be interviewing famous people. It never occurred to me that I could be part of the story. My little brain was not big enough for that.

What’s hard is, we never know what the answer is, so we put our effort into this, and this, and this. You’re laying the bricks, and you think it’s never going to end. But then you look up and you’ve got a castle. But it requires that day-to-day work for something to click.

b.: When you first started this — obviously you were a bylined writer for prestigious markets — did you face any opposition or questions about the ethics of ghostwriting?

David: For me, it’s not an ethical issue. For years in publishing, we knew celebrities weren’t really writing their books. But they were pretending they were. I think for someone to come out and say, “I didn’t write this. I hired a company,” is great. The book doesn’t exist without … the person who is providing the information.

Everybody thinks they should write a book. I think maybe everyone has a book inside them, but maybe they should not be the one writing it. If you have not spent decades — day in, day out — writing, you should not be writing your own book. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a book.

b.: Who’s the ideal client for your company?

David: Our ideal client is a seven-figure entrepreneur who is self-made, who has created a business. It doesn’t matter what the industry or business is.

We want clients who have a business set up and a service or product they are charging for. Ideally, we want somebody who can say they have hundreds of prospective clients, and if they send them a copy of their book, that’s going to make them hire the company. That’s what I do.

I should add that an ideal client is someone who’s not going to hire experts and then tell the experts how to do it. We have run across people — who are extremely successful in their field — [who] assume they know how to do this.

b.: Is there anyone who wouldn’t benefit from your services? Who would be a wrong client for you?

David: The wrong client is somebody who does not have a business set up. If somebody says they want to write a book to help people, I’d tell them that we are a very expensive company and if they want to help, there are easier ways than writing a book. They can donate time or money to spread the word about a cause.

Also, if someone says they want to get on the New York Times bestseller list or sell thousands of copies, that is not the client for us.

b.: Does your company handle the marketing too?

David: We do not do publicity. We do coordinate a bestseller launch. We know how to work within the Amazon system to corral the friends and supporters of our clients to make the book a No. 1 bestseller. In a sense, that’s marketing. We promote it through social media, podcasts, and email. But we are not the ones out there pitching the book to media.

b.: But obviously, having a book makes it easier for their publicist to promote them.

David: The publicist we work with has gotten our clients on the Today show, in The New York Times, Washington Post, and other big-name outlets. People used to say they wanted to publish traditionally to get mainstream media attention. Today, mainstream media does not care who publishes your book at all.

b.: What are the benefits of indie publishing or self-publishing versus traditional publishing?

David: If you were going to try traditional publishing, the statistic is 2 out of every 10,000 book proposals sell. It’s close to impossible unless you’re a celebrity or Instagram influencer. The process of selling to launch is usually two to 2.5 years. You have no control over your title, your cover, and even the content.

What people don’t understand is that publishing a book, for a lot of people, brings out a lot of fear that they’re not conscious of. A lot of times, as your publisher, we’re doing fear mitigation. We interpret “This is terrible” as “I’m scared.” And we can walk them through it. If they’re doing it on their own, or through a traditional publisher, a traditional publisher won’t even return that email.

b.: What are the benefits or drawbacks to trying to self-publish on your own versus hiring a company like Legacy Launch Pad?

David: People absolutely can try to self-publish on their own. I have a course that literally breaks down every single thing we do. My book Make Your Mess Your Memoir breaks down how to do it.

But if you’re not experienced in publishing, I think you can think things like, “Well, I don’t need an editor.” We put books through four edits. If you’re going to do it yourself, there’s no way without years of publishing experience that you’ll be as meticulous as someone with years of experience. Amazon forgives but it doesn’t forget. It allows you to make a book go back to draft, but it will always be searchable.

My company is Legacy Launch Pad. You’re leaving your legacy. If you’re going to do it, do it at the highest level. Otherwise, why do it?

b.: What should executives know before they set on the path to publish a book?

David: They need to get really clear about who their book is for and what they want the reader to do once they finish reading it. We have a book elevator pitch. It’s a template and our clients fill in the blanks: “My book is for BLANK so that they can BLANK.”

If you don’t have that, you’re probably not going to have a successful book, and you’re not going to be able to talk about it successfully, which is what you want to do.

It can be a memoir. My first two clients [had] memoirs, but the books still helped build their business. You just have to be really clear about who the book is for. Hopefully, it’s your clients. And you have to be clear on what you want them to do.

The book should be written in such a way that someone who can’t afford to hire you can go and do it themselves and someone that can afford to hire you will hire you.

b.: Once your clients have the books in their hands, what steps should they take to get the most mileage out of this investment?

David: The best thing to do is build an audience as they go. Most of these people are not doing social media; they may not be doing newsletters. The smartest thing they can do, while the writer is writing the book, is put out content about the book.

For better or worse, I do believe social media is becoming more of a requirement. If they don’t want to do it themselves, they can have their team take transcripts from the book and make them into posts, Instagram captions, email newsletters. Start trying to attract people who are interested in their topic.

That being said, it can still work without that prelaunch marketing. But it’s going to feel really good to be releasing a book to a group of people who are ready for it and excited to read it because they’ve been hearing about it.

Once they have their book, they should start brainstorming about where they can speak. How can they turn this book into a keynote — or many keynotes? Are there upcoming [mastermind groups] where they can bring the book in for free? Or can they offer to speak in exchange for the mastermind members buying copies of the book?

Keep the book on you at all times. You never know who you will meet.

b.: What tips do you have for selecting a company to publish the book?

David: Obviously, I’m biased, but I think it’s really important to work with people who understand traditional and indie/self-publishing. A lot of companies are started by people who put a book on Amazon and figured it out, but they don’t have a global understanding of this industry. And this industry changes every day. Also, I think you get what you pay for. We’re not the least expensive.

b.: What’s the biggest advice you would offer to business owners thinking about publishing a book?

David: Do it now. There’s that old saying, “The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago. The second-best time is today.” There is no point in waiting, because your competitor is doing it today. If you actually are going to use this book, it could be the most valuable business tool of your life. But you’ve got to do it at the highest level.