Be More Than An Author

It is terrific to be an author and have books in the world. Over 80% of Americans plan to write a book at some point during their lifetime. Many people have published books through traditional publishers or self-published their book.  It's exciting to hold the new book in your hand and dream of people reading and enjoying your book.

This morning I watched this eight-year old video of Robert Kyosaki for at least the third time. Why? Because this video contains multiple messages and insights from a bestselling author. He and his wife, Kim, are always learning, always promoting, always selling and do not see themselves as authors but as entrepreneurs. Leading up to the Quantum Leap program Steve Harrison offers a series of free teleseminars. The next one is Thursday, September 17^th  and you can sign up here. I always learn a great deal from these sessions and recommend it to you.

If you watch this video, you will hear Kyosaki encouraging you to be more than an author—to be an entrepreneur. In the last few years, I've been hearing the term authorpreneur. The word combines the word author and the word entrepreneur.

The authorpreneur is “relevant, entrepreneurial, action-oriented and literary focused.” I pulled these words from the back cover of Will the R.E.A.L Authorpreneur Please Stand Up?

An authorpreneur gets it. They understand they can't simply throw their book into the world and expect people to buy it just because it exists. No, it takes more effort than publishing a book to achieve success. I participated in this book and contributed a chapter to it called Always Learning. If you read this book and study the content of the various participants, it will get you started on your own journey to become an authorpreneur.

From my years in publishing, I find many people looking for the path to become a bestselling author. They are saying, “Just show me the path and I will follow it.” Unfortunately the journey is different for each author.  If there was a single tool or a single path, every author would find it and all of our books would sell many copies—which is not happening. The key from my experience is to always be learning, always trying new tools and new ideas. If the ideas work and increase your sales and your presence in the marketplace, great. If not, then discard those ideas and try something else.

The point is to be taking regular and consistent action in the marketplace. It certainly will never happen if you do nothing.

As I've written before, 80% of the sales for every book is up to the author. As an author, I encourage you to follow the first principle of The Success Principles by Jack Canfield: I will take 100% responsibility for my life. It is far easier to blame others and depend on others than to take your own responsibility.

What actions are you taking today to move forward for your book?