Leadership Perspective

And a question crept into your mind that no one prepared you for: “Now what?” If that question has been sitting with you, I want you to hear this clearly: You’re not behind. You didn’t miss a step. You didn’t misunderstand what a book is supposed to do. You were simply never shown the system that comes after publishing.

For many coaches, consultants, and thought leaders, it’s something they’ve dreamed about for years. The message is clear. The manuscript is done. The book is live. And then comes the quiet question no one prepared them for: “Now what?”

Many authors expect the book itself to “do the work.” Visibility will increase. Clients will pour in. Speaking invitations will stack up. Let me tell you , it rarely happens that way. Your book doesn’t automatically grow your business. Your strategy does.

I’ve owned more than a dozen businesses, overseen thousands of events, and spent years helping coaches scale their message — and there’s a truth I wish every entrepreneur learned earlier: Your business can grow without you…but it cannot depend on you. The moment your business becomes dependent on your presence, your constant content creation, your energy, or your availability, your growth is capped.

One of the most powerful lessons I learned from owning 12 businesses, planning more than 4,000 events, and coaching hundreds of entrepreneurs is this: Your book doesn’t create income. Your offer does. A book opens the door. Your offer invites them into transformation.

People don’t remember the agenda.They remember the story that reached them. This is why authors make exceptional speakers. Your book captures your message. Your story carries your authority. Your voice turns that authority into influence.

A good funnel isn’t about automation. It’s about instilling confidence, clarity, and next steps. After working with my sales and marketing mentor, Jim Edwards (Author of the life-changing book - Copywriting Secrets), for several years, I can tell you this: Most sales funnels don’t fail because the content is bad. They fail because the buyer's journey is broken.

Your book is not the destination. It’s the catalyst. It’s the spark that opens doors, builds trust, and positions you as the guide your readers have been waiting for.

One of the biggest misconceptions I see among coaches and service-based entrepreneurs is the belief that writing a book automatically positions you as an authority. It doesn’t.

When people hear I’ve planned more than 4,000 events, they usually imagine glamorous stages, big-name speakers, perfectly timed lighting cues, and audiences cheering in unison. And yes — I’ve been behind plenty of those moments. But the real story of event planning isn’t in the glitter. It’s in what happens when human beings gather with intention… and leave changed.

Publishing a book is often seen as the finish line. You did the hard work — months of writing, editing, refining your ideas, and finally pressing “publish.” For smart authors, that’s not the end of the journey; it’s the beginning of a powerful new chapter.

For many authors, finishing a book feels like crossing the ultimate finish line — the culmination of months (or years) of late nights, edits, and rewrites. If you stop there, you’ve only realized a fraction of your potential return. The real opportunity begins the day after launch, when your book stops being a product and starts functioning as a business asset.

Most coaches don’t have a “book problem.”They have a post-book plan problem. After years helping coaches self-publish, I kept seeing the same painful pattern: brilliant books launch…and then quietly disappear. Not because the ideas weren’t powerful, but because there wasn’t a simple path to turn those pages into presence, pipeline, and paid programs.