Many executives think about writing a book but never do it. That was me, until I finally did it and generated over $1,000,000 in new business within a few years despite limited book sales. In this article and accompanying podcast, you’ll learn the process to go from book idea to a real book that builds your personal executive brand and grows your business.
You’ve got years of experience leading teams, solving problems, and growing businesses have given you valuable knowledge. Yet many executives struggle with how to start writing a book. A book that you author can help you get on nonprofit or corporate boards and earn more from speaking events, consulting deals, and new clients.
The good news is that you don’t need a big publisher or an immense amount of time to build your brand through a book. Better yet, the financials are worth the effort and the money you make goes far beyond book sales. And best of all, learn how to start writing a book while you’re still running your business. Let’s dig in.
Table of Contents
Books hold a special place in business content. Thousands of people write LinkedIn posts about their skills. Hundreds might write good industry articles. Only a few people commit to writing full books on their topic. Watch the full podcast:
Naren Aryal, CEO of Amplify Publishing Group (acquired by Civica Media), explains this well: “A book is the ultimate long form content flex.” The trust gap between short content and book writing stays big, even as digital content grows everywhere.
Compared to social media posts, newsletters, and blogs, the book format itself gets a lot more respect. Plus, physical books still outsell digital versions for business authors at first. Professional networks like having real copies for their offices and reference use.
See this guide: Content Marketing Template & Framework for Strong B2B Sales
Can You Make Money Writing a Book?
As you’ll see in the examples later in this article on how to start writing a book, making money from a book isn’t always tied to books sales. There are many other ways you can monetize your book, turning it into revenue streams from other parts of your career and business.
I can personally attribute over $1,000,000 in new company sales over a two year period to a book I wrote on technology marketing, which helped position my company at the time MailerMailer for a sale to Ziff Davis (Nasdaq:ZD).
I only sold about 8,000 books, and many of those I gave away for free on Kindle. So, how did I turn a $14.95 book into a million dollars? I used to offer a hard copy of the book at the end of demo conversations in which I thought the prospect would close soon. I signed the book to the prospect’s name with the words “Wishing you continued success”.
Your book is a calling card, the kind people do not throw away. It showcased our company’s authority on the topic. While many didn’t read the full book, it sat on their shelf as a reminder of where to get marketing expertise for their IT business. Just sending a copy of the book added over 200 clients to my business within two years.
How to Start Writing a Book: A Leader’s Blueprint
Learning how to start writing a book begins with smart planning, not just creative ideas. Publishers suggest making a “one-pager” with these five key parts before you write:
- Proposed title and subtitle that clearly tell people what your book offers
- Author credentials that show why you can write about this specific topic
- Big idea description in just a few sentences that captures your main point
- Target market definition that names exactly who will benefit from your ideas
- Similar titles that are already available to help position your book in the market
Here’s his example of a one-pager that you can model for writing a book:
This document forces you to answer hard questions that cost more to fix later. Picking your target market needs special attention. Business books work by serving specific professional groups, not trying to reach everyone.
Aryal makes this point clear: “You have to understand who’s going to care about your book, and the truth is most people won’t care about your book.” This limit actually helps you focus your content and marketing work.
The next step is to build your outline, then simply start writing (or using one of the other options below, like ghost writing or getting a little help from AI to interview you for content – not to write it for you).
The Transformational Value of Writing a Book
Writing a book can completely change your position in the market. Melissa Agnes learned about the power of smart book publishing when she wrote Crisis Ready several years ago. What started as a way to share her crisis management knowledge became something much bigger. The book didn’t just capture what she knew. It changed her whole professional image.
Agnes went from being one of many crisis management experts to having what Aryal calls “the go-to book in crisis management.” The trust boost opened doors she hadn’t expected. Harvard University picked her book for classes, giving academic weight to her real-world skills. More important for her business, the book became a tool that kept bringing in high-value consulting jobs.
The book’s goal wasn’t to be on bestseller lists or generate money from sales. Instead, it created a lasting edge over competitors that kept paying off years after she published it. Agnes learned what many executives find out: books work as long-term business tools that grow in value over time.
A similar thing happened for Mark Fian and Jeff Rosenberger, customer experience experts who launched The Customer Experience Imperative. Their plan focused on business impact over book sales. While they might get modest sales of maybe 10,000 copies, the impact to their business growth can be 25% or more in the year after publishing because the book positions them as the authority in customer experience.
Books Build Your Executive Brand, Not Just Sales
Maybe the most dramatic example comes from the husband-and-wife team Kass and Mike Lazerow behind Shoveling Shit: A Love Story about Entrepreneurship’s Messy Path. After selling their company to Salesforce, they turned their startup experience into honest stories about building businesses.
The book not only hit the New York Times bestseller list but also led to an internet series where they review businesses and give entrepreneurial advice. They’ve also become highly sought after speakers and podcast guests. Writing a book can open opportunities that go far beyond normal publishing.
How Busy Executives Begin Writing a Book
There are three main ways to begin writing your book: writing a book yourself, working with a ghost writer, or using a writing coach. Each method works for different situations and preferences.
Aryal says that 35% of their publishing projects use ghost writers, professionals who capture clients’ knowledge and voice through detailed interviews and content review. Good ghost writers study your existing materials and speaking style to keep authenticity throughout the book.
Writing coaches give middle-ground support through accountability, chapter-by-chapter review, and outline help. This option needs more of your personal time while costing less than ghost writer arrangements.
| Writing Approach | Time Investment | Cost Level | Control Level |
| Self-Writing | High | Low | Complete |
| Writing Coach | Medium | Medium | High |
| Ghost Writer | Low | High | Collaborative |
AI Book Writing Software: Use It Judiciously
There’s a fourth writing approach that’s emerging: using AI to expedite your writing process. The rise of AI tools has created new chances and new problems for business book authors. It can be tempting to have AI do all of the thinking and writing for you.
Don’t go there.
During a recent hiring process, I noticed that one candidate’s resume featured his published book. It got me curious about his writing ability, so I looked up his book on Amazon to read the sample pages.
The opening paragraph immediately raised red flags: “In today’s digital landscape…” The wording was clearly generic, showing the signs of ChatGPT’s formulaic business writing style. What should have been a good credential became a problem, and we removed his application within minutes.
As AI-generated content floods the market, real voice becomes more valuable. Readers can quickly spot generic writing that sounds more like Wikipedia entries than personal knowledge. Writing a book needs to be authentic for it to carry value.
See the data: 5 Eye-Opening AI Detector Test Results
That doesn’t mean you can’t use AI.
In fact, you can move a lot faster when writing a book with the help of AI. But the key is to use it for efficiency, not to create your thoughts for you. Readers will look for your personal stories, the ones you lived and experienced that made you an authority. At MakeMEDIA, we use AI to help you articulate your thoughts. You can see the difference in the quality of the drafts we write. They are designed to reflect an executive’s voice, not give them ChatGPT’s default voice and personality.
This authenticity need extends to audiobook production, where the human element becomes even more important. Authors who narrate their own books create stronger audience connections than those who hire professional narrators. Aryal points to one of his board members, Mel Robbins, as a great example, noting that “there’s something about her voice that just draws you in” and explaining why her audiobooks get exceptional performance numbers.
Aryal estimates that current AI narration technology achieves about 85% accuracy. While this might be fine for many authors, it still lacks the nuance and emotional connection of human delivery.
Best Book Length and Structure Guidelines
Business readers expect solid content without unnecessary padding. It’s important to remember this as you start writing a book. Nobody wants to read fluff. The recommended length for executive books falls between 40,000 and 55,000 words, which equals about 200 pages of finished content.
This length provides enough depth to justify book format while respecting time-pressed executive readers. Shorter books risk looking like overpriced white papers, while longer books often contain repetitive content that disappoints readers.
Structure your content around two or three primary takeaways. Even comprehensive 250-page books typically leave readers with just a few memorable insights. Design your chapter outline to reinforce these central messages rather than trying to cover every aspect of your knowledge.
How Many Books to Print
The financial model for business books differs a lot from fiction bestsellers. As I noted earlier, always keep in mind that measuring success should focus on career advancement and business development rather than royalty income.
Typical business book print runs range from 1,500 to 4,000 copies at first. Distribution heavily favors Amazon, which handles about 70% of business book sales according to industry data. Barnes and Noble remains the main physical bookstore chain, while independent stores serve local markets and specialty audiences. Amazon also has a print-on-demand option for authors, plus Kindle.
Book Publishing and Your Intellectual Rights
Writing a book isn’t the only thing executives need to pay attention to. You also have to distribute it. There are three main publishing options, each involving different tradeoffs between control, investment, and support services.
Traditional Book Publishing
Traditional publishers offer prestige and established distribution networks but typically demand extensive rights to your intellectual property. These contracts may include film rights, course development opportunities, and international translation rights. These can be potentially valuable assets for business leaders building personal brands.
You might not be thinking that your book will turn into a film. I can’t see mine doing that either. But what I can see is value beyond simple book sales and I’d like to make sure that I retain the right to do with the content whatever I please. So if the traditional publishing route is your pathway, make sure you read any traditional book publishing contracts carefully.
Hybrid Book Publishing
Hybrid publishing companies provide professional services while allowing authors to retain intellectual property rights. This model appeals to executives who want quality production without giving up control over future content applications. (Amplify Publishing is such a company – and many thanks go to Naren for sharing his advice on the podcast above with me.)
Self-Publishing Your Book
Self-publishing through platforms like Amazon Direct Publishing delivers complete control and higher royalty percentages but requires managing all production and marketing aspects independently. Technology improvements have made professional-quality results achievable for individual authors willing to invest time in learning the process.
For reference, here's the full story on how I wrote and published my first book, which became an Amazon bestseller:
How I Wrote My First Book
Book Production Timeline and Launch
After writing a book, plan for a four-month production timeline from completed manuscript to published book. This schedule includes cover design, interior layout, professional editing, proofreading, and distribution system setup.
Cover design deserves significant attention since readers do make initial judgments based on visual presentation. Professional design investment typically produces measurable impacts on sales performance and perceived credibility.
Audience building should begin at least one year before publication. This timeline allows you to establish expertise in your book’s topic area while creating anticipation among potential readers. Your existing professional network provides the foundation, but expanding reach requires consistent content creation and engagement activities.
Marketing Your Business Book
The most powerful marketing tool to promote your book remains email newsletters, even more so than social media platforms like LinkedIn. Aryal states clearly: “The number one tool that an author has is her email list.” Email subscribers buy books at much higher rates than social media followers.
Your manuscript contains roughly 300 individual pieces of content suitable for social media posts, newsletter articles, and presentation topics. This content multiplication effect maximizes your time investment across multiple channels.
Aryal suggests a systematic approach: “Take that book, the manuscript, there are 300 pieces of content in there you can extract and make that your post. Add a visual, add a case study, tag some people that are particularly relevant.”
Begin creating content from your book material before publication. Share insights through LinkedIn articles, test concepts in speaking events, and improve arguments based on audience feedback. This approach builds excitement while improving your final manuscript quality.
Use a Book Writing App for Your First Draft
Learning how to start writing a book requires moving from planning into action. Your professional insights have market value, and the book format provides unmatched credibility for thought leadership positioning.
To capture your ideas and tie them directly to your intended audience, try MakeMEDIA. It creates a detailed content plan, which you can use as chapters for your book idea. Then, it interviews you through a structured conversation designed to help you share original stories and ideas.
You’ll get a first draft of each book chapter within a few minutes of finishing your interview.
Get Started Writing Your Book
Your book represents a business development asset that compounds over time. Unlike other marketing investments that require ongoing spending, books continue generating opportunities years after publication through continued sales, referrals, and credibility building.
The executives who benefit most from book publishing view the project strategically rather than as personal vanity projects. They understand that thought leadership provides sustainable competitive advantage that transcends economic cycles and industry disruptions.
Get your book outline and draft your first chapter. Try MakeMEDIA:
