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How To Hire An Author (or expert) Already Selling His His Own Book/product..

by TheWebGuy
8 replies
Hi Warriors!

There are several niches I want to get into and I am getting a little tired of trying to create products myself or outsource it to writers on outsourcing sites. It takes too long to create it yourself and I never get what I want when I hire writers (and end of editing it a whole lot and also training them for weeks). It's a time waste and fatiguing.

However, there are experts already out there either selling their own books on Amazon or making Youtube videos or with their own website. I'd like to approach one (or multiple) experts and get them to either:

1) Create a new ebook for me

2) Or let me sell the product they are already selling themselves (maybe under a new product name).

What is your advice on this?

a) How much should I pay?

b) Should I have some sort of contract (so they can't sell the guide to someone else)?

c) Should I just re-brand their current product (and pay them to do that) OR should I get them to create something new (although, it would be on the same topic, etc).?

d) Are there any resources out there that teach about this (I thought Ryan Deiss used to have a course about this).


I also want control over the marketing of the product and I also probably don't want to profit share. I'd rather pay a 1-time fee and have complete control/ownership of the product.

Any recommendations or advice?

Thanks.
#author #book or product #expert #hire #selling
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
    If someone was already an expert, and known to be an expert in that field, what would the advantage be for them to write something competitive to their product and sell it to you to market under your own name?

    That sounds like something you would have to pay a lot for.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheWebGuy
      Hi Michael,

      Great question and thought. You are definitely correct. I should have specified that I mean someone who is a content expert but not necessarily a New York Times bestseller

      I certainly know how to bundle, market, and sell products at scale; however, the product creation aspect is tedious and time wasting to me. I'd rather focus on the selling/marketing/affiliate attraction aspect.
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      • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
        Maybe you could try looking in Amazon, especially in the Kindle section. There are some folks in various niches there who write well but are not well known. Not asking for you to divulge your niche, just thinking that is where indie authors hangout who might be on the way up and open to a partnership of sorts.
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      • Profile picture of the author Steve B
        Have you investigated "licensing a product?"

        I have done this a number of times. You purchase a license to sell an ebook, or software, or some type of product. You keep 100% of the profit you make from the sales.

        Typically you can't claim to be the author (unless you have a PLR license) or change anything - you just sell the product "as is" from the creator.

        The downside is that others can license the same product and you may end up being one of a thousand people trying to sell the exact same thing.

        Also, you mentioned finding an expert author in the niche to write the book for you. Most of the time, that strategy isn't going to work. Why would the expert want to sell his hard work once . . . when instead . . . he could simply add another book to his own credit and sell it forever?

        Steve
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        Steve Browne, online business strategies, tips, guidance, and resources
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    Two simple questions. How much are you paying the writers that are giving you all the grief? Also, what do you mean when you say, "training them"? Any competent writer should be able to do what you're asking without a lot of supervision.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheWebGuy
      It's not my writers faults. They're just not experts in these niches. And the content is just not quite delivering. I have no doubts they're trying though.
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Here's an idea for you.

        It will take some digging, but could pay off very well.

        Depending on your niche market, look for authors that know their stuff, write well, but couldn't sell ice water in the Sahara.

        The Kindle marketplace is one possible source. So is Clickbank. You could even contact dead-tree publishers and ask about titles they're dropping from their catalog. Once located, simply make an offer to buy all rights.

        Hire a decent writer to brush up and update the material, revamp the marketing, and away you go.

        I can't tell you how much to pay, as that would be up to you and the rights owner to negotiate. I can tell you that, faced with the prospect of getting nothing for the IP, many owners find "something" much more attractive than "nothing."
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      • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
        Originally Posted by TheWebGuy View Post

        It's not my writers faults. They're just not experts in these niches. And the content is just not quite delivering. I have no doubts they're trying though.
        Okay, then the next logical question is, why are you hiring people that aren't up to speed on the topics?
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