Edelman asked 3,500 buyers. 60% pay a premium for good material, 86% open a door for it, and only 15% rate what they read as very good. The bar is on the floor.
WHAT TO WRITE
30 years of pulling books out of people who swore they had nothing to say. No fluff, no gatekeeping, no AI garbage.
The worst question is the one everybody opens with. A ghostwriter's actual method for interviewing a parent, a founder, or anyone whose story will otherwise leave the building with them.
It’s not a vision board. It’s not “just write from the heart.” Here’s the actual framework behind every Createcation retreat.
The Authors Guild surveyed 5,700 authors: $10k median full-time book income. Treat that as true, then measure the column that actually pays. Peter Merrett doubled his speaking fee.
Day 4 ends and then Tuesday happens. This is the part of the retreat nobody puts in the brochure.
A ghostwriter talking you out of a book. The 4-minute test that tells you whether you have a book, an article, a talk, a course, or nothing yet.
Bowker counted 4 million US titles last year. 90% of self-published books sell under 100 copies. Here is how to count the dozen that genuinely compete with yours.
Somewhere between 4 days and never. Which one you get has almost nothing to do with how fast you type.
Open your membership directory and read it as a publisher's catalogue. Why member author programmes die, what they're worth to your board, and the 1 question to ask 10 members this week.
Making an audiobook got 73% cheaper. That is the least interesting thing that happened. Spotify moved production inside distribution, and that changes what you should do about yours.
The worst brief I ever got was 4 words long. What to send a speaker, what to ask for, and the 3 things that guarantee you have booked a dud.
I always wanted a seat at that table. Nobody pulled out the chair, so I built my own. On truth-telling, community, and what happens when you ask a better question.