I’ve gathered the most useful resources for business experts who are thinking about writing a book. If you’ve got a 1:1 or want to explore the possibilities for your own book project I highly recommend watching as many of the videos and reviewing the other information here. That way any chat we have can be much more tailored to your own needs than dealing with the basics…
A few of the details around the various book approaches we take need to be updated, but the broader advice still applies!
Let me know how helpful you find these resources: richard@mpowrpublishing.com.
Online Meeting – 8 April 2020
Recording of the second Online Meeting – 15 April 2020
During this session I also referred to www.masterclass.com – a potential resource for those interested in developing business, creative and personal skills.
Recording of the third Online Meeting – 22 April 2020
FEEL FREE TO IGNORE THE POST VIDEO/RESOURCE QUESTIONS
The questions at the bottom of this page are only for those who want further guidance or to grab a consultation session with me. You may decide, after reviewing all the stuff here not to explore further—that’s fine. An email with your thoughts and feedback (richard@mpowrpublishing) would be much appreciated.
If you do want to continue the conversation around your project, simply complete all the questions and submit the form. Then we can set up a Zoom. Reviewing the resources here and clarifying your own strategy should prove useful in expanding or tightening your thoughts on the questions you may have for me…
Foundation Exercise
As mentioned during the meeting, you’ll find a link to a Disruptor Book Proposal below.
This has two functions.
- It is the pitch of the author to the publisher (me!) that should convince me that the book is investable – once the manuscript is actually completed (if they’ve worked with us on a development project), I refer back to this document to judge whether or not they’ve hit the target before making a decision about publishing it or not
- It is the business case / plan for the author for their book / product project and the detailed agenda for the first project
Simply have a go at contemplating the questions for a while, without the stress of completing it. They may approach things a little differently than you’d expect so give them time, there is a reason for the way each one is asked.
When someone works with us on a Rapport book the first thing we do is spend around a month or so on the book proposal and the foundation document (content oriented), two months when it is a disruptor project. It is the business / strategic foundation of the project – but it (necessarily) doesn’t lock every detail down.
Please don’t share this document. Thank you!
The Publishing Landscape
Below are three introductory videos exploring some of the options available to you. Most of the core routes to market are covered here. Be aware, however, that the space is adapting all the time and there is often blurring between the different business models.
We are in the midst of revamping the Immersive Publishing website and resources so the videos below are a little outdated in quality. Updates coming soon.
Self-publishing pros and cons
Book coaching and hybrid publishing
How mPowr Publishing and Immersive Publishing work
The creative partnership for authors
When business experts work with us through the development period of their project Martyn Pentecost is your critical creative partner. Below are some background videos (previously part of an email sequence spread over a week) giving you a feel for him, his approach and the mission behind his work.
Martyn’s latest book, Storyselling, is a comprehensive introduction to the bigger vision behind creating books and product ecosystems based on the unique intellectual property that genuine business experts can create.
Welcome to Immersive Publishing
What do you want to deliver for your reader?
Storyselling your business
Developing your ecosystem
Grabbing and keeping attention
Reach your audience
Traditional Publishing
As I mention in the How mPowr Publishing and Immersive Publishing Works video above, all our books are published traditionally (i.e. we invest time, money and energy into the editorial, design and production processes when we agree to take a book on for publication).
Many business experts though need a helping hand to get their book from idea to full manuscript. The developmental approaches below apply at this point.
Rapport, disruptor and authority books
Many people have lots of ideas about what they want their book to look like, the size of it, the number of pages. Fewer have clarity about the real purpose for the book.
At Immersive Publishing we focus on working with business experts who are wishing to create books for a general business or personal development market. We are not publishers of technical books such as software manuals or legal texts.
Over the last ten years reviewing the market and working on our own projects and with other authors we have identified three distinct needs that business books fulfil.
Rapport
Your rapport book may be pocket-sized or much larger. The format is secondary to its purpose for you and your readers.
You want a brilliant book that demonstrates your value, delivers real value to your readers and encourages them to trust you as their ideal provider when they want a partner in the future.
It is designed to create rapport, not simply by promising future success, but by delivering insight and tools they can apply successfully today. This might be through a broad overview of a topic or an in-depth dive into one single area. The key is value for the reader.
A couple of examples from within the last year or so of mPowr books that are designed as rapport projects:
Ges Ray’s Speak Performance – How to be a confident, compelling and convincing speaker – see on Amazon
Lucia Knight’s X Change: How to torch your work treadmill, retire your boss, dump the ingrates, torment the passive-aggressives, escape the toxic office, get your fierce on and design the career that lets you live, love and laugh after 40 – see on Amazon
The guided rapport book process incorporates preparatory work by the author, a full-day workshop (in room) or two half-day workshops (remote) where the business needs, book purpose and authoring agenda are clarified.
Ten sessions (mix of live zoom sessions and recorded feedback) support you in the completion of your rough draft in the next four months.
At the conclusion of the process (based on your own effort and focus) you should have a complete rough draft of your book. You are free at this point to either submit your manuscript for a publication review to mPowr Publishing or to choose your own route to publication.
Current investment is £4,500 (+VAT) in total paid by direct debit (£1,000 followed by four monthly payments of £875).
Disruptor
If you are a business expert who wants to shift from the generic expert-among-experts position to a leadership position in the market, this is the key book to think about.
It does not present the standard, expected solutions or even the standard, expected problems. It challenges the sacred taboos of the field, exposes the snake-oil salesfolk’s doomed-to-failure approaches and presents a radical vision of the field and the world that fries readers’ brains in a powerful and helpful way.
Presenting a distinctive paradigm that allows the reader to experience the world and your field in a flexible and valuable way creates enormous value and trust and truly demonstrates your desire for their success.
This is a challenging project to develop, but is the foundation for those who are thinking of establishing their own leadership and product ecosystem to deliver transformation at scale.
An example of an mPowr project that is rooted in the disruptor function:
Mel Loizou’s When Fish Climb Trees: Can-do leadership in a world of can’t – see on Amazon
Disruptor books are normally developed in exclusive, private sessions with Richard and Martyn. If you are UK-based this six-month process usually consists of live in-the-room workshop days (usually in Central London) with other sessions taking place online. It is possible to experience this entirely online (in an adapted form) when you are based further afield.
The live structure:
- Light preparatory work
- Full-day workshop
- Four sessions creating the book proposal, the paradigm blueprint and the foundation document for the book
- Second one-day workshop
- Twelve sessions as you work through the authoring process and establish your audience-building strategy
Our project management system acts as the hub for your project and provides you with access to supplementary resources throughout the authoring journey.
At the conclusion of the process (based on your own effort and focus) you should have a complete rough draft of your book. mPowr Publishing has the first right of refusal at this point. Should they choose not to proceed with publication then you are able to choose your own route to publication.
Current investment is seven staged payments of £1,000 (+VAT) with the first instalment paid when the development agreement is made and monthly thereafter.
Authority
Most business experts think they are writing an authoritative book, one that will turn them into the go-to authority.
Most won’t achieve this.
Establishing your distinctive intellectual property and demonstrating its effectiveness at getting results for readers (in a disruptor book) comes first.
Only when you are ready to start training others, licensing others or franchising your intellectual property should you consider writing an authority book. This presents the systemic foundation of your work in all its glory.
Unless someone already has an established and effective paradigm that delivers great results for the audience we do not recommend anyone attempt an authority book. If they do, they will simply present a brain dump that overwhelms, dissatisfies and demoralises the reader and risks damaging the writer’s brand and business.
Many of Martyn’s own books in the complementary therapy sphere are authority projects. His most recent book, Storyselling: Give your business a happily ever after, flows from thirty years of publishing and business experience. See it on Amazon.
Expert to Leader: Evolving a product ecosystem around your unique intellectual property
For those business experts who have a big mission. For those with a desire to create transformation at scale. For those who will do the work and create, craft and communicate their unique intellectual property in order to create transformation for thousands, millions of people.
Before we started working with external authors we spent five years working exclusively on our own product ecosystem. We have continued to evolve this and recently reshaped this into a complete two-year online training experience in five distinct therapeutic modalities.
You can get a glimpse of the potential your own project may have in the following video (watch 15:40-17:45).
This intensive development process incorporates the foundation work that a Disruptor Book project provides. It also includes the design and development of live training and online training products that generate income and live research throughout the process.
The intensity and duration of these projects limits our availability. Contact Richard for further information.