Today, I'm joined by Carlos Whittaker, a people's choice award winner, a former recording artist who spends his time creating new books and travels to speaking gigs. I'll be chatting with Carlos about how he sold his books "from the trunk of my car."
With a passion for writing starting with his blog, Carlos was pursuing writing in addition to a career as a singer. In 2010, he created a VLOG that went viral, which, in turn, produced traffic for his blog. At this point, he had 30,000 readers per day looking at his website, and publishers started to find his blog. "Although I was a singer, I had more people reading my words than buying my music."
When Carlos decided to write his first book, he chose his best blog writings from his work that created the most traction from his past seven blogging years. Moment Maker was birthed from his blog in 2014. Although it didn't sell well, "this was my little experiment, and I'm proud of it."
He took his first offer from a publisher that approached him. "The first book was a book that I wanted to write that felt good for me, and I thought that maybe this could help a lot of people." Carlos decided to be strategic in writing his second book and directly answered his audience's pain point. Doing beta testing, targeting sales, and tweaking his talks to target more book purchases in the lobby post-speaking. "Once I found that secret sauce, I just stuck to that."
With his third book, he is creating many Zoom talks and hasn't had as much success with video marketing. Carlos is looking forward to 2021, when he can hit the road and see people in person to market his book.
Listen in to find out how you can make your audience the hero of your story, how to set up your book sale to get more people to buy your book, and Carlos' pro tips for selling books.
Show Notes
[01:40] Why Carlos decided to write his first book. [05:16] Getting approached by publishers to write his book and had one offer. [07:01] Tips for bloggers who want to turn their blog into a book. [09:52] Why he wrote his first book. [18:18] How to make your audience the hero of your story. [24:26] Pro tips for selling books at speaking gigs. [28:05] Figuring out how many books to bring with you to sell. [32:14] What Carlos reviews when revising his talk to sell more books. [37:30] Parting advice for listeners about how to be a better author.Links and Resources
Visit Self Publishing School Online SPS Free Training Course How to Write a Children’s Book Online Course Visit Carlos on the web Connect with Carlos on InstagramSPS 124: How To Sell More Fiction Books & Build A Full-Time Fiction Career with Ramy Vance
SPS 123: The War of Art & Turning Pro As A Writer with Steven Pressfield (Fiction, Nonfiction, and Screenplays)
SPS 122: The Bezos Letters: Writing A Great Research Based Book That Sells Well (And Selling International Rights) with Steve Anderson
SPS 121 - Passion To Purpose- Adding A Nonprofit Arm To Your Book Or Business with Amy McLaren (And Advice For Nonprofits Writing A Book)
SPS 120: Building An Email List, The Long Game & Becoming A Full Time Author with Dorie Clark (Behind The Scenes On My Next Book Launch)
SPS 119: Read To Lead: From Podcaster To Published Author with Jeff Brown (And How To Write A Book From Your Podcast Topic)
SPS 118: How To Create & Launch An Online Course From Your Book (And Get Your First Sales) with Amy Porterfield
SPS 117: Why I Published Six $100 Books I'm Not Selling On Amazon (And How I'm Using Books To Grow The Warrior Movement) with Garrett J. White
SPS 116: What I Learned Launching The Most Successful Books Of The Last Decade with Daniel Decker
SPS 115: Using Atomic Habits To Write & Publish A Book (And How I Sold 4 Million Copies In 3 Years) with James Clear
SPS 114: How To Write A Book If You Have ADHD with Chalene Johnson
SPS 113: How To Find A Ghostwriter That Writes A Great Book Without Wasting Time & Money Doing It The Wrong Way with Carol Tice
SPS 112: How To Turn Your Podcast Into A Book (To Get More Subscribers & Sell More Books) with Nick Loper
SPS 111: How My Real Estate Investing Book Helps Me Close Deals & Get Funding with Hayden Crabtree
SPS 110: Supporting A Cause Or Charity With Your Book Launch (How To & Mistakes To Avoid) with Susie Harder
SPS 109: How To Sell More Books & Make A Full Time Living As A Non-Fiction Author with Scott Allan
SPS 108: Giftology, “Love Bombs”, And Why I Have A $250 Book with John Ruhlin (Using Your Book To Build Relationships & Get Referrals)
SPS 107: How To Write A Perennial Bestseller If You're "Not A Writer" with Dr. Henry Cloud (The Real Secret To Selling 20 Million Copies)
SPS 106: Hybrid Publishing 101, Audible Originals, And Why You Should Focus On Audiobooks with Phil Jones (Exactly What To Say To Get People To Buy & Read Your Book)
SPS 105: Using Partnership Marketing To Sell Books, Change Lives, And Grow Your Business with Pedro Mattos (An Immigrant's Guide To Affiliate Marketing)
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