This could be the greatest credibility builder- EVER

This is coming from years of experience selling books,marketing books, and promoting myself.

These "co-authored" books are not going to help you at all.
They are sold to people who think that the names of the other authors will sell the books. Maybe. But nobody is impressed when you write a chapter to an anthology. You will never see these books rank highly on Amazon, because few people buy them. In fact, the entire purpose of putting together these anthologies is to sell copies to the authors and charge them fees. This is another form of Vanity publishing.

How many top selling business authors do you know that pay to be part of another author's anthology? None.

Do you really want the names of well known authors to help you in selling a book and establishing credibility? Write your own short book. 100 pages is enough, you can do that in a week or two working on it for an hour a day.

Publish it on Amazon's Createspace. It's free. You'll have your book on Amazon in a week. You pay nothing, and you get more than half of every book they sell.

In your book, quote the other authors. And recommend their books. Do it in the introduction, and when you list your book, allow the readers to sample the first chapter and introduction. Your book will come up in Amazon searches...when the other authors are searched.

But I've contributed to these books, and seen other fellow speakers do the same. They do nothing to build credibility. And nobody is impressed.
But your own book? You as the sole author? Absolutely.

Writing an E-book or a book on Kindle doesn't have the same effect. It has to be a physical book, that you can hold in front of you, that generates the response you want.

Anthology books are books created to sell copies to the authors, not real book readers. Sorry.

Steve; You sure have the right idea about why you get a book published.
One other thing, when I get introduced to speak and and introduced as "Claude Whitacre, Author of..." you can see people sit up straighter in their seats. There is still a mystique about authors. It's also alot easier to get radio interviews.

I was exposed to this idea in 1982 when we only had hard copies. It was through a member of a national speaker association I belonged to. Believe me when I say these books don't sell very well. I sold them at seminars and night classes and struggled to get buyers.

People didn't care about my fellow authors. They wanted the info I was presenting. Always got great reviews and always was invited back.

The moral is like a few have said - nobody cares or knows these other guys. They only know you and if your material stinks you won't sell a single book or be invited to return.

Good luck if you go this route. Personally, I'd let this 30 year old marketing GIMMICK fade into yesteryear.

Tom

No. Read the experiences of people who have actually paid for the privilege of being a "co-author" of a Guru. The books don't sell. Nobody orders them on Amazon, they are hard to sell at events, and they are terrible "sales letter books". You will never see these books in bookstores.

Really. There are thousands of garages full of these books. There is no demand. You are not going into "business" with these gurus. You are buying printing from them, at highly inflated prices.

If you pay to be included in a book, you are not an "author"...you are a customer. Literally everyone who has bought into this idea has lost money. No exceptions.

The only exception is if you are already a Guru, and you joint-author a book to gain access to that author's niche. But these authors never pay for the privilege. They get paid.

Have you ever heard of "Who's Who"? There are books printed for every profession. You pay to be listed...after you get a letter saying you were "Nominated". The entire sales effort is to the people who are listed. They are the market, not the readers. All the books are sold to them, and nobody else.
This is precisely the same idea.

This "Be in a book with 12 other authors and a guru" idea has been around for decades. It preys on people who do not know how publishing works. And there are plenty of those people to go around.

And here is what really bothers me. The people selling this idea absolutely know that none of these books will ever make it into the hands of anyone other than the paid participants. No effort is made to market these books. None. And the only number actually printed are the ones ordered by the authors themselves.

I can promise this: Anyone who says this is a good idea has never done it.

Think. Have you ever seen the Guru try to sell one of these books at any event? No. Because even though he/she is the main draw of the book, he/she knows that there is no value.

I hope I didn't make anyone cry.

Co-branding works. Buying into an anthology with 12 other authors (and Tracy being one of them) does not.

I want to sincerely apologize. I read your first post, but did not watch the video. So, every argument I made was trying to save you anguish...but didn't apply to this thread.

Now that I've watched the video, I still think the "Brian Tracy" brand name has limited value. And I wouldn't buy the package for $3,000. That money could easily pay for a ghost writer to write a book for you based on your notes or video of you speaking.

The "Co-author" idea has been updated here to include a video product (which has appeal), and you would be the only one your prospects see as the co-author to Brian Tracy. I understand the appeal of this offer now.

But a physical book that you have written (or paid someone to write) would give you far more credibility to prospective clients. Forget the profits on book sales. If you would write a book, hoping to make a living on the sales....the vast majority are disappointed. But handing a decision maker a book you wrote, with it autographed to them carries far more weight than a video series with you edited in with Brian Tracy.

And you would get far greater return on your money, if you had someone write your book for you, and get it printed in small quantity (or use Amazon Createspace).

The vast majority of decision makers will never watch the video. And they would never read your book either. But the fact that you have a book...opens many doors because of the pedestal people put authors on.

One last thing (we all wish!), One of the best ways I've found to talk to a CEO about hiring you as a speaker is to say that you are writing a book, and you want to interview them. Nothing will open their door faster. Do a 20 minute phone interview, and include parts of it in your book. I promise you they will buy copies for everyone in their company, and hire you to speak.

Here is one of Zig Ziglar's secrets. He would write quotes and examples about CEOs of companies he wanted as clients. His books are riddled with these stories. Then he would send the CEO a copy. Almost every CEO would then hire him to speak at their convention or annual event. THAT's using a book to market yourself as a speaker. Brian Tracy isn't the one you should have as a co-author, it's every CEO in your niche. That's marketing.

Dan Kennedy does the same thing in his books.

This last idea was as compensation for my mis-understanding the appeal of the offer. I sincerely hope you use this idea of "Get CEOs to provide content for you and use it to promote to them". Believe me, that's how the big dogs are doing it.

A simple e-mail is usually enough. Ask the guys that give blurbs to lots of other authors. They are used to it, and may just dash you one off without further communication. If they have phones, call. But I might start off by asking if you can quote them for your book. Pick out the quote you like. Mention you'll send a copy of the book when you are done. Tell them you would also like to mention them and their website in your book, and "to make it more effective for you, I'll use a quote from you to create more connection with the reader".


Of course, when you get the book printed, ask for 100 Review Copies. This is before the main printing, and usually are without the finished cover. Ask your printer to do this for you.

Then you send the books to anyone who said they would give you a quote...and most will. Then they will give you a review that you can print in the front of your new book. We have seen that in lots of Guru books.

It's also really easy to tell the author that you gave them a great review on Amazon. (of course, after you do it.) Mention that you would consider it a huge favor if they gave an honest review of your book on Amazon. A few will (although many will promise).

Giving a glowing and detailed review of an author's book, is quick, free, and painless. But it means a lot to many of them. Hint: It's far better if you review a brand new book that has only one or no reviews. Chances are , yours will stay at the top, and they will actually remember your name if you call.

I've had authors actually see me at conferences and walk up to me and say "Are you Claude Whitacre?" and give me a hug because of one reviews on Amazon. Why? Because most of them know that in depth positive reviews sell books!

Could you give me the title of one of your books? I'd love to read and review it. I'll buy it on Amazon if it's available. PM me if you wish, or just give it here.

Believe me, except for the top, best selling authors that "never give a blurb" they are just like you and me. We just want more sales. And you advertising their book with a "recommended reading" list, a review of your book with their contact details, and a blurb (maybe even a short chapter or introduction) is how they sell more books.

Want to make sure they will talk to you? Ask to interview them to send the interview to your list. Almost everyone will agree to that. Of course, they can promote their latest book.

I don't know you yet, and don't know if you have a specific industry you work with, but asking CEOs of companies to give you a quote, review, or write an introduction...will be more profitable than asking other authors.

When you are working an industry, a few people may know of a leading Guru. But everyone will know the leading CEO in their industry. More juice there, my friend.

Anyway, let me know about your books.

That is of cause a very subjective interpretation. For example even Harvard Business Review had in the good old days the practice, that an academic would walk in, discuss for half an hour an idea with a writer, and in the next issue his article was published.

I am still not sure how to approach this the smartest way. I am in for this purely the reputation, i.e. I need a legit publisher and ideally a well known co-author. But it is tricky how to jump start this the smartest way. Currently my idea is somewhat to take 2-3 ideas, work with a ghostwriter to produce a super high quality sample chapters/summary, and then approach publishers and potential co-authors. Not quite sure how this is going to turn out, but it might be worth giving a try.