Writing a book is a creative act. It’s a powerful way to share your vision and message with the world. It’s the work of your heart.
And, if your goal is to use a book to further the impact of your business, you have to take into account how it fits into the plan, business-wise.
Writing a book is a huge investment of your time and resources. Hiring a ghostwriter costs you less time, but substantially more money than writing every word yourself. Which is why the first question I ask new ghostwriting clients is how their book fits into their business model, and how they’re going to measure the return on investment (ROI) of our engagement.
Simply put, ROI is a ratio comparing the costs of an investment to the revenue generated by it.
I know, I know.
Talking about a book’s ROI sounds so mercenary! But ROI isn’t always money. It’s often quite intangible and extremely personal. And I guarantee that the earlier you get clear on your own book’s ROI, the more successfully you’ll be able to guide it’s impact in your business—and in the world.
So in this article I’m going to get into the nitty gritty of how to understand your book’s ROI.
You’ll find a business book ROI calculation worksheet in my No Rules Book Organizer (check it out at the end of this post), but here I’m going to take you through some real-life client case studies so you can see how other authors have used their book to further their message and grow their businesses.
Calculating a business book’s ROI
A simple starting point is: ROI = (Attributable Revenue − Total Costs) ÷ Total Costs
“Attributable” is the key word. Your book can generate direct revenue (crowdfunding, royalties, bulk orders) and indirect revenue (speaking fees, consulting retainers, course enrollments, higher close rates, bigger pipelines).
While direct revenue can be fairly easy to track, it’s much harder to track where your indirect revenue came from.
- Did an conference organizer reach out because they saw your book pop up on a bestseller list? They might mention that in their introduction email—score!
- Was a corporate trainer on the fence about hiring you for a training until their coworker mentioned how good your book was? You might never hear that tidbit—but still, score!
And, of course, there are benefits of writing a book that go beyond the amount of money you could potentially make from it.
- Did someone read your story and decide to change their major?
- Did someone gift your book to their sister, rekindling a struggling relationship?
- Did your book save someone’s life, because they read your story at a time when they badly needed light?
Those things are impossible to add into an ROI calculator, but for many authors, they’re as important—or more—than making back the money and time spent writing a book.
Business book ROI case studies
Let’s take a look at a handful of the different ways clients of mine have used a book to grow the impact of their business. In each case, they were taking into account measurable direct and indirect revenue—as well considering the impact their books would have on the world around them.
(I’m lucky that I get to choose my projects these days, which means every client I work with has a powerful message and a heart for service, so “community impact” is always extremely high on their list of reasons for writing a book.)
Case Study 1: Creator, Founder, Community builder
Client A already had a big following, and had built a community through his YouTube channel, podcast, and annual conference. But when he sold his bootstrapped startup and was ready to pivot careers, he realized he had a choice.
He could walk away from that community and do something entirely new and fresh—or he could double down on it. After a long period of self-reflection, he decided to double down.
One of the first steps was to write a book that codified his years of hard-fought lessons for other startup founders. He told me the book was a way of giving back, but it also was meant to cast a wide net and bring even more people into his community—increasing his impact.
He chose to publish the book himself, so after we finished the draft he launched it on Kickstarter—the perfect DIY bootstrapping method his audience would appreciate. And they did—the Kickstarter earned him over $100k.
Notice what he optimized for here: not bookstore prestige, but momentum and community.
Case Study 2: From individual coaching to enterprise consulting
Client B also had a large following from his popular blog and podcast. Much of his career had been spent coaching individuals—creatives, individual contributors, entrepreneurs, business owners—and his previous book was also aimed at that audience.
He wanted to pivot his business to focus more on consulting with corporate clients, where he felt like he could make a bigger impact on the systemic issues he saw people struggling with in the workplace. After all, why keep teaching individuals to be productive and stay sane when he could help transform the unhealthy workplaces they were suffering in, from within?
A key part of the pivot was writing a book aimed at exactly the audience he wanted to serve. He chose to pitch the project to a traditional publisher because he knew that would lend him more credibility his particular audience.
The book we wrote has made an impact on its own—it has hit bestseller charts, won awards, and has been translated into 8 languages. But it also got him in the door to work with his ideal clients, landing him lucrative consulting gigs that helped him make an even bigger difference.
The headline here isn’t bestseller status or a 6-figure advance (even though he achieved both). It’s that the book reframed him in the eyes of his ideal buyer.
Case Study 3: Scaling the framework beyond the founder
Client C knew her unique coaching framework changed lives. She’d coached over a thousand people one-on-one, and was training a network of coaches who used her framework to reach even more people. But she wanted to spread her impact even farther—as well as to open the door for more corporate consulting work, which she was passionate about.
She pitched her book idea to a traditional publisher, both to impress the more corporate audience she was targeting for consulting work, but also because this publisher could get her maximum reach without her having to shoulder the heavy marketing lift. She already knew her energy would be more powerfully applied in other areas of her business.
This book—which was one of the most personally impactful books I’ve worked on—is helping make her coaching framework accessible to everyone, as well as opening doors for Client C to grow her business.
Case Study 4: Book as lead magnet, stage opener
Client D runs a training program for specialists in his field (dentistry), but he doesn’t just teach them technical skills. After watching so many of his students struggle with a “race to the bottom” mentality, he began including valuable lessons about how to structure their businesses and lives to free themselves from the rat race.
Client D’s publicist recommended he write a book. It would help spread that message while also serving two valuable business roles:
- Act as a lead magnet to funnel more students into his teaching program
- Build credibility for landing speaking gigs
He chose to publish it through a hybrid publisher, who will handle the technical details of publishing and distribution while he works with his publicist on a marketing plan. Not only is this book expanding the reach of his message, it’s become a powerful source of new students and a calling card to find speaking engagements.
The best business book ROI model for you
These are only four of the many ways your book can serve an intentional purpose in your business, while also creating maximum impact with your message.
How you use your book isn’t that important. The “best” model is the one that aligns with your audience, your offer, and your energy—and which helps you know exactly what you’re intending to do with it before you even begin writing.
That’s why I list defining your book’s job (and calculating your books ROI) the first step in writing a business book in my No Rules Book Organizer workbook. (That’s where you can find that business book ROI calculator I mentioned above).
The No Rules Book Organizer is a place to track your book’s core idea, your reader, your central promise, and the spine that holds everything together. It’s your choose-your-own-way guide through the writing process, with sections for your messy Magpie Mode brain-dump, your narrative outline, your zero draft notes, your revision plan, and more.
It’s a home base to return to whenever you feel lost in the weeds. Think of it less as a system and more as a trail map. You might hike it straight through. You might jump around. You might discover you need to double back.
But you won’t be going it alone with the No Rules Book Organizer.
—> Grab your copy of the organizer here. <—
