FAQs

What are some other types of books I can publish?

In addition to the sample books I've suggested, you should also consider publishing books that are related to an area that is interesting to you. For example, if you enjoy music, you could publish a book that interviews music store owners, music producers, music studio owners, entertainment lawyers, music agents, etc. For almost any type of interest, there are businesses that offer products and services to people with that interest. Additionally, almost every type of business owner would love to have the opportunity to have their business featured in a paperback book that highlights their business and their expertise. Here are some other types of books you could publish, with businesses that you could include in each book. Obviously, this is just a very small example of the different types of books you could publish:

Book Type:	Potential Interviewees:
Yoga	Yoga Studio Owners, Yoga Clothing Retailers, Yoga Equipment Retailers.
Cooking	Restaurants, Cooking Schools, cooks who have published their own recipe books
Personal Finance	Financial Advisors, Insurance Agents, Estate Planning Attorneys, Mortgage Brokers, Real Estate Agents.
Gardening	Garden Centers, Landscapers, Farmers
Cars and Car Maintenance	Car Dealers, Auto Repair Shops, Body Shops, Tire Centers, Transmission Shops, Car Stereo Installers, Car Wash/Detailing Centers
Elder Care / Caring for Aging Parents	Nursing Homes, Home Care Providers, Social Workers, Home Monitoring/Security Companies, Family Physicians, Senior Living Communities, Hospice Service Providers, Insurance Agents that offer Long Term Care coverage
Art	Museum Owners and Museum Curators, Independent Artists, Art Schools, Graphic Design Schools, Art Auction Houses
Geo-specific books that highlight cities or towns (e.g. "All Things N.Y.C.", "Chicago's Greatest Restaurants", "Hot Spots for Singles in L.A.", etc.)	Any company within the geographic area being highlighted, which is also relevant to the theme of the book. For example, you wouldn't feature a NY Insurance Agent in a book about New York City attractions.
Career Assistance	Head Hunters, Career Counselors, Heads of Human Resource Departments, Life Coaches
Magic Tricks	Magicians and Magic Shop Owners
Photography	Professional photographers, Photography schools, Portrait Studio Owners
Making it in Hollywood	Hollywood Agents, Private Acting Coaches, Voice Coaches, Talent Agencies, Casting Directors, Acting/Art Schools, Modeling Agencies, Headshot/Glamour Shot Photographers
Energy Conservation / Lowering Energy Costs	HVAC Contractors, Solar Energy Panel Installers, Roofers, Landscapers, Home Oil and Fuel Companies, Electricians
Preparing for a new baby	Lamaze Instructors, Baby Furniture Retailers, Baby Clothing Retailers, Home Security Companies, Privately Owned Toy Stores, Life & Health insurance Agents, Child Care Centers, Pre-Schools, Nanny Services, Pediatricians, Pediatric Dentists

What do I do if more than one business, in the same category submits interview questions? Do I place them in the same book?

If it's a book like the "Personal Trainer" example, where you're interviewing personal trainers exclusively, or just a couple of different types of businesses categories, then it's ok to have more than one interviewee in the same business category. Just try to make sure they service other local markets, because they may not want to be featured in the same book as one of their competitors. If you happen to get more than one interview from businesses in the same category and local area, I suggest that you create different editions of the book. You may even want to change the titles and the cover layouts, for additional differentiation. Just let the interviewee know if the title of the book, that they're going to be in, is different than what you originally told them. Try to keep the title close to the other one, so that they don't think that you're using their content for something that's different than what they originally thought they were participating in.

If I'm looking to get one business in a particular category, how many emails should I send out, so that I don't get too many responses?

Don't worry if this happens, because the more books you publish, the more money you make. When first starting out, though, figure that you'll get about one interviewee for every 15-25 emails you send out. This number could vary for you, so keep track of your conversions, but this is a pretty good estimate.

How long should I wait in between sending each email?

Please see the Project Progress & Revenue Details form that I've included in the Operating Forms folder. This form outlines when to send each email. Keep in mind, this is just a general suggestion. If you vary this a little, that's ok too.

How can I build this business around a full time job or college class schedule?

You're just sending emails and doing work from your home computer, so you can do this whenever you're not working or in school. Feel free to send emails out during the morning, at night, or on the weekends.

What if interviewees want me to pay them a royalty or compensate them for submitting content?

Don't do it. It will become too cumbersome to try and keep track of which interviewees you need to pay royalties to. The email you send them makes it clear that they do not receive royalties and that this is just a form of promotion for them. If they are not happy with those terms, your best bet is to find another interviewee. Someone who is interested in getting paid royalties, for answering a few interview questions, doesn't "get" the value of what you're offering them.

What if I'm not pleased with the content my client sends me?

Just send them an email back, thanking them for their submission and asking them to please make changes to the areas that you're not pleased with. Feel free to ask clients to provide more in-depth answers or to provide answers that are not as "salesy" if their whole interview is a big commercial for themselves. The worst thing they'll say is that they don't want to change their answers, in which case, you don't have to include their interview in the book. Never be afraid to ask a client to improve upon their responses. At the end of the day, the book has your publishing company's name on it. You want your company to be known as a publisher that produces good content and books that provide value, not interviews that are poorly done or thinly veiled commercials for the interviewees. At the same time, don't be overcritical of the interview responses and keep in mind that most of your interviewees are not professional writers. As long as the answers address the questions and provide some value, that's the main goal.

If I want to make as much money as possible, what criteria should I consider for book themes and interviewees/business categories?

Businesses that are in more competitive markets, such as real estate, insurance, financial advisors, and the wedding industry are ideal. Additionally, if you focus on businesses that wouldn't have a problem spending a few dollars to buy copies of the book, you'll have a higher likelihood of getting more wholesale orders. Conversely, if you publish a book that features the most talented, starving artists, you might not get as many wholesale orders.

What if I want to change the website you've given me?

Feel free to use the website or the content on the website pages in any way that you'd like.

What if I want to do things differently than how you've taught me in the course?

You are welcome to do things in any way that you'd like. I have simply provided you with the process that I consider to be the most efficient way of doing things, to help you generate the most revenue, with the least amount of time or money spent on your part.

Can I offer other services too?

Sure! Just be careful to not spread yourself too thin. Also, consider the fact that clients might find it odd if you are a publisher who also offers services that have nothing to do with publishing books. Large publishing companies usually don't offer SEO services or article writing services too, although there are no steadfast rules when it comes to how you run your business.

What if I'm not a good salesperson?

There's no selling involved. You are just sending out the emails that I've provided to you. If clients try to take you off track of the methods that I've shown you in the course, by making requests that fall outside of what you offer or how you run your business, it's very simple to just say to them, "We don't do that." Examples of this might include a client sending you an email that says, "I want my Special Edition cover to have these colors and these fonts." or, "I'd like to speak with someone before I place an order or submit my interview questions." Everything about how I have taught you to run this business is perfectly reasonable. Most publishing companies do not have in-house telemarketing firms, so there is no reason for you to think that you need to incorporate phone sales into this business. Additionally, the website makes it very clear how your company operates and why you run things in the way that you run things. If someone wants you to do things other than how you run your business, they have simply not qualified themselves as a client. There are tons of business owners who will understand that your company does not exist to do things how they want, so don't worry about the people that you come across, who don't want to do things how your company does things. You're the company offering the product/service that can help them, without them being obligated to spend any money at all. Don't change how you do things simply to please companies that are already getting this very generous, free offer from you.

What if a client asks if I can guarantee that this will get them new customers?

The purpose of the service is to feature them in a book that your company is publishing. You cannot make any guarantees as to whether or not this will generate new customers for them. Getting new customers is their job, not yours. Your job is just to publish the book and extend to them the privilege of purchasing books from you, at the same prices that bookstores and book distributors can buy the books.

What if a client wants to return all or part of a wholesale book order?

Simply tell them that wholesale orders are not refundable. As a publisher, you can let them know that you don't inventory books. If you want, feel free to make it clear that wholesale orders are non-refundable on the wholesale order page or in any email you send prior to the purchase. Simply stating, on the wholesale order page, or in an email, "Wholesale orders are manufactured on a per order basis and are, therefore, non-refundable" is more than sufficient.

If I outsource the emailing, how can I verify that they're doing the work that I'm paying them to do?

Just create an email account for your worker(s) in cPanel. Give them the email address and password for that email address only. You can log in to webmail whenever you want and click on the Sent box or just look at the Inbox, to check on the work being done.

If I outsource parts of this business, is it possible that the people I hire will copy this business and do it themselves?

Anything is possible, but keep in mind that your workers will not have this course that you have. You are just sharing with them the parts of the business that you want them to work on. They don't need to know about Create Space or any other aspect of this business, just the tasks that you assign to them. Also, don't be afraid of expanding your business because you're afraid that people will copy you. Think of all of the businesses in the world, who have employees. Very rarely do employees try to start an entirely new business to compete against their employers. People looking for work, who you hire, are generally in an "employee mindset", where they just want to get paid for their time or for performing specific tasks.

I thought that Create Space required me to buy a proof copy of every new book I create.

This is no longer the case. As of November 2011, Create Space only requires one proof purchase total, for any product category. In other words, once you buy one proof copy of any book that you publish, you will never have to purchase another book proof again, no matter how many additional books you create. The one proof copy that you purchase does not need to be ordered until after you get a wholesale order from one of your clients, so this is not something you have to pay for until after you've been paid for a wholesale order. Your cost for the one time proof is the member cost. So, with shipping, it's just around $6-$7 one time, forever, for just the very first book that you ever publish (after you get a wholesale order). For this very first book, you will not be able to add it to Amazon until after you purchase a proof copy, but you're under no obligation or deadline to add the book to Amazon, especially if none of the interviewees have purchased any books from you. After you do this for the very first book you publish, you can bypass the step of ordering a proof for all other books that you add to Create Space in the future.

What if prospective clients want to see other books I've published during my first project, before I can point them to any other books, or what if they ask how long I've been doing this when I'm still new?

Always be honest with your clients and prospective clients. You can let them know that one of the reasons why you're making this free offer to them is because you are a new publishing company. You can also let clients know that their content can be removed from the books at any point, so they realize that there is no risk on their part. Most business owners are happy to help out new businesses. Remember: They were a new business once too. Also, keep in mind that they are not required to buy anything from you and you don't even ask them to purchase anything from you until the project is complete, so it's not as if they could buy books from you and then you don't complete the project. You don't even give them the opportunity to purchase books from you until after you have all of the content for the book and the front cover designed. Also, don't forget that they're the ones submitting the content, so it's not as if you're writing the content for them, which they may or may not like.

How can this service/product benefit a local business? In other words why would they submit content to me for free and/or why would they purchase books from me at wholesale?

There are several benefits to the business/interviewee. First off, it's free promotion for them, in a book that is related to their industry. Secondly, being featured in a book that is related to their industry helps them to be viewed as a published expert and an authority within their market. Thirdly, they can use the book as a way to get more sales, by sharing copies of the book with prospective customers, who are considering hiring them. Handing prospective customers a copy of a book that features them inside is a very powerful thing to do, which most of their competitors will not be able to do. Fourth, they can actually resell the books to customers and generate additional revenue for themselves. Granted, they probably won't become rich by re-selling the books, but earning $6-$7 on each book they sell can add up over time.

Can this type of business ever become saturated if too many people start it?

No way. Just about every business I can think of can benefit by being featured in a paperback book that's related to their industry. This means that there are millions upon millions of potential clients. With thousands of new businesses opening up around the world each day, I don't see how this could ever become saturated.

What if an interviewee decides that they don't want to be in the book, after it's published?

That's no problem. Just go into the .doc file for the book and delete their content, their listing from the Table of Contents, and any other areas of the book where you mentioned them. Then, just convert the .doc file to a pdf again, and replace the interior content by going into Create Space, clicking on the book title, and clicking on the "Interior" link to re-submit the new pdf.

What if clients want to speak with me on the phone?

The contact page of your website has been written to clearly explain to clients and prospective clients that your publishing company provides fast, accurate answers via email, as opposed to keeping them on hold on the phone or bouncing them around from department to department. As you've probably noticed, from visiting sites like Amazon.com or Google, many large, successful companies usually do not publish their phone numbers on their websites. As long as your clients receive prompt responses to their emails, with accurate answers to their questions, there is never a need to provide a phone number to clients if you don't want to. Since all of your clients are going to be busy business owners, email is usually their preferred method of communication anyway, since it gives them the flexibility to communicate with you when they're not tending to their own customers, cleaning the store, dealing with suppliers, or any of the 500 other things that they're tasked with each day. Does this mean that you will never come across a prospective client who wants to talk with you on the phone? Of course not. The important thing to understand, though, is that you can never please everyone, even if you provide a great product and great service.

In my other course, I teach people how to implement a client acquisition method that involves prospective clients calling them first. The people who are implementing this other client acquisition method regularly come across people who only reply via email, even though they are clearly asked to call. So, the bottom line is that, regardless of how you run your business, whether you ask clients to call you or to reply to your email, you will always come across people who want to do things the other way, and not how you run your business. In cases like this, you can simply repeat, to these prospective clients, the wording that is clearly stated on your publishing company's website: Your company maintains a policy of requiring their staff to answer all inquiries in writing, as opposed to "on the fly", through phone conversations, and that your company has this policy in order to dramatically reduce the occurrences of inaccurate information being communicated to clients and customers over the phone. In the same way that people do not require Amazon to provide them with a telephone number when they order books from Amazon, your publishing company also has the same right to provide prompt, accurate responses via email too. Of course, if you don't mind speaking with clients and prospective clients, feel free to include your telephone number on your website, though it's not necessary for this type of business. In this era of people becoming increasingly aggravated by being placed on hold or getting the wrong information when they get connected to the wrong departments, most clients will appreciate this method of communicating, to ensure that they get accurate, written answers. Interestingly, by having this communication policy, it works to your advantage, because it implies, to prospective clients, that you are a busy, high volume publishing company, not a company that is waiting by the phone for their call.

Why do you suggest that I create a PayPal button for an individual business in the first part of the "Ninja Method", but a PayPal button all businesses in the second part of the "Ninja Method"?

Because, in the first part of the ninja method, you want to make the offer as personalized as possible, to generate the best response. In the second part of the ninja method, it's better to create a general button first, so that you can send them the final email in the process, which provides them with a direct link to an order page. This way, you'll also get orders from people who are less prone to reply to emails and more likely to just place orders after getting the email from you. This method tries to account for all buyer types. Of course, keep in mind that you can always follow up with your clients at any point in the future, to invite them to re-order copies of the book. Inviting clients to place re-orders every 2-3 months is reasonable.

How do I fill out the Project Progress & Revenue Details Form?

Under each task, add the date when the task was completed. So, if the task involves sending an email, add in the date that the email was sent to that client. If the column pertains to an order you received, write down the dollar amount you received, so that you add up the revenue you earn on the book, and all special editions for that book, over time.

What should the subject lines of the other emails be?

All of the emails you send, after the first one, should just be replies to the last email your client sent you. They will be more likely to read emails that say, "Re: [The subject of your last communication with them]" in the subject.

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