Author, results leader and “memoir and legacy coach” Anna David approached me to do an interview with the question, “Has your book made you a million dollars?
I said “Yes” (without thinking).
Was I saying that it made $1 million in sales?
Hardly. The math doesn’t work on a $20 book that sells 10,000 to 20,000 copies. And I only saw a small amount of the proceeds.
But because I wrote the book with timelessness in mind…and I believe “Life is Long” …calculating a $1 million windfall is sort of easy.
Call it a “spiritual calculation,” one that has an unlimited ROI. 😊
And this calculation was enough for Anna to say yes to the interview.
The notion of a “forever launch” certainly helps to make the math work with a book…and as we spoke, I realized we were talking about perpetual launches in our lives, whether a book is involved…or not.
What follows below is a summary of our conversation…but let me suggest you listen to the conversation, where Anna and I wax poetic on this topic, real voices in real time.
Why Your Book Is Never “Done”—And How It Can Keep Making Money for Years
The conversation with Anna was not filled with “new tactics” or the latest publishing hack…but rather, it reinforced something I’ve believed for a long time—and have seen play out over decades in direct response marketing…and also with writing books:
Nothing is ever really finished…especially a book.
And if you treat it like it is finished after it is published, you’re leaving most of its value on the table.
Most people think of a book as a project with a clear endpoint.
You write it, edit it, publish it, launch it.
And then you move on.
That model makes sense on paper. It’s clean. It’s tidy. It gives you closure.
It’s also wrong.
Because the real value of a book doesn’t come from finishing it; it comes from continuing it.
The Perpetual Launch
Anna and I talked about what she calls (and what I’ve seen in practice for years) the idea of the perpetual launch.
Not in the internet marketing sense of constant hype, but in the sense that your book is a living asset.
Something that can—and should—keep working for you long after the initial publication date.
Think about the great books in our world.
Breakthrough Advertising by Gene Schwartz.
Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins.
Influence by Robert Cialdini.
FILL IN YOUR FAVORITE HERE
None of them had a “launch window” that determined their success.
They “launch” every time someone discovers them, every time they’re recommended, and every time they’re reintroduced to a new audience.
And when you see your book this way, a few things shift immediately.
You stop obsessing over launch week and you start thinking in terms of years…decades…and dare I say centuries…of contribution and influence.
And you begin to ask a different question:
“How do I keep this relevant… useful… and discoverable over time?”
This is where a lot of people get tripped up.
They treat writing a book as a creative milestone, something to check off their list, and something to feel proud of (and you should celebrate all of that).
But if that’s where it ends… it becomes a very expensive business card.
Instead, the better frame is this:
Your book is a precious, eternal asset.
One that can:
- Attract the right audience
- Establish authority (without you having to say a word)
- Open doors to opportunities you didn’t even know existed
- And yes… generate revenue directly and indirectly for years
But only if you keep it in motion, you keep putting it in front of people…and most importantly, you keep talking about it.
Like I did with Anna. 😊
The Hidden Trap: “I’m Not Ready Yet”
This is where Anna brought up something that I think is even more important than strategy.
Imposter syndrome.
Or more specifically, the way it shows up before the book is ever written.
Your internal dialogue nags at you:
“I’m not experienced enough yet.”
“I need more results.”
“I should wait until I have a bigger audience.”
“I should make it better first.”
These sound like reasonable excuses but they’re not.
They are excuses that create delay…and an avoidance of discipline. Because the truth is, you don’t become “ready” to write a book by thinking about it.
You become ready by writing it.
There Are No “Shoulds” (Except One)
One of my favorite parts of the conversation was when we got into the idea of “shoulds.”
Anna and I disagreed on the notion that “everyone should write a book”…she says it’s a must…I say it’s optional…but we melded our thinking as we went deeper.
It’s true that there seem to be a lot of shoulds…should you decide to write a book:
- You should outline everything first.
- You should write every day at the same time.
- You should have a perfect structure before you begin.
- You should know your positioning.
- You should…you should…you should…
Most of this is noise. Or worse—it becomes a barrier. Because every “should” adds friction….and friction leads to delay. Which leads to… not writing.
So let me simplify it:
There is only one “should” when it comes to writing a book.
You should write.
Even if you have no intention of ever writing a book.
That’s it.
Everything else is optional. 😊
Writing the book isn’t just about producing the book; it’s about becoming the person capable of writing it.
Clarity doesn’t come before writing; it comes from writing.
Confidence doesn’t come before writing; it comes from writing.
Authority doesn’t come from declaring yourself an expert; it comes from doing the work… organizing your thinking… and putting it out into the world.
Everything you write, whether it’s an email, a journal, a blog…regardless of who receives it (an audience of one/yourself, or dozens, hundreds or thousands of people) must be composed and curated with care and profound thinking…and that’s when the magic happens.
In short, don’t be sloppy whenever you write anything to anyone.
And writing is also how you resolve imposter syndrome.
Now, back to where we started.
The idea that a book is “done” is not just inaccurate—it’s limiting–because it creates a false finish line. And then once you cross it… you stop.
Instead, think of your book as something that evolves.
You might:
- Update it
- Expand it
- Repackage it
- Teach from it
- Build offers around it
- Or use it as the foundation for entirely new ideas
In fact, some of the most successful books I’ve been involved with didn’t stay static.
They grew. They adapted. They found new life in new contexts. From completion to contribution. From a one-time event… to an ongoing asset.
The people who win in this space are not the ones who have the biggest launch; they’re the ones who stay in the conversation.
Anna said something during our conversation that’s worth repeating:
Your book doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to be useful.
Don’t ask “How do I finish this?” but rather, “How do I keep this alive?” And you don’t need to have everything figured out. You need to start by writing all the time and I assure you a book will eventually sprout.
If you do this, you won’t just have a book; you’ll have something that continues to open doors, create opportunities, and yes—make money—for years to come.
And that’s a very different game.
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. I have written two books, The Advertising Solution (with my friend Craig Simpson) and Overdeliver: Build a Business for a Lifetime Playing the Long Game in Direct Response Marketing.
Neither one was a bestseller—although I don’t even know how to define the term.
But they have both been assets that I use in the ways I outlined in the post above…and they have led to millions.
Dollars? Maybe.
Goodwill, impact and satisfaction? Absolutely.
That equals “millions” to me. 😊
You can buy them here…and I can assure you that I get none of the “proceeds” …and you get some bonuses which are worth more than the books themselves:
P.P.S. Sometimes you can make a million dollars on a book…and I’ve made closer to $2 million on one…and it’s a book that was “launched” in 1966…and it’s selling more copies today than ever before (in over 75 countries).
It defines a “perpetual launch.”
More like a perpetual phenomenon.
Of course I am talking about Gene Schwartz’s classic masterpiece, Breakthrough Advertising…and whether you own a copy or not, I want to tell you about a two-week training in May called “The Breakthrough Advertising Bootcamp.”
Six 90-minute calls over two weeks diving deep in the work and the mind of Gene Schwartz, one of the greatest marketers and copywriters who has ever lived.
And how his theories pertain to your business whether you sell online, offline or both. With personalized hot seats and practical application of some of the most profound theories about how human beings behave in the marketplace.
And there is a special offer on the page to buy the book at a 20% discount with your registration to the Bootcamp.
Click here for the call schedule (all calls will be recorded) and to register…and read about some of the success stories from the participants of the 9 previous Bootcamps.
Time for your own perpetual launch. 😊