What Separates the Best from the Rest
Authors, it’s simpler than you think if you choose and act accordingly
Five principles that create extraordinary author business results
A recent Emma Grede podcast conversation with Mellody Hobson revealed five principles that separate extremely successful entrepreneurs from everyone else.
These aren’t complicated, but they’re not easy either. They’re just rarely practiced with commitment and consistency. Or given the amount of respect and consideration due.
Here’s what they are—and here’s how the things that make a defining difference may apply to your author business.
The difference between the best and the rest is caring the most.
Authors care about their books, their writing, their career. The best authors care about everything: the reader experience, the follow-up email, the event details, the quality of their pitch, the thank-you note, the website copy, the partnership terms. And they care to a different degree. They care when no one’s watching. They care about the small things other authors dismiss as probably doesn’t matter. It’s not that important to me…or others. But extra care compounds. Readers feel it. Partners notice it. Opportunities follow it.
If you want to stand out, out-care everyone else in your category.
Attention to detail
One subcategory of caring the most is attention to details. Details. All of them. The author who proofreads their pitch email three times books more speaking gigs than the one with typos. The author who personalizes every outreach message gets better response rates than the one using templates. The author whose website is current, whose bio is compelling, whose book descriptions are sharp—that author gets chosen. It’s easy to dismiss many details as minutiae. But, it’s also the details that signal to others whether you’re a professional or an amateur. Professionals sweat the details. Amateurs hope they don’t matter. They do.
Sense of urgency
Another subset of caring the most is acting from a sense of urgency. The author who follows up within 24 hours gets the opportunity. The author who waits a week to respond likely loses it to someone faster. Last week, I replied to an email about an open book fair spot three minutes after I received it. Too late. Someone else responded faster.
The author who pitches now gets considered. The author who waits until they feel right and the timing feels right watches others fill the slot. You may think that attention to detail and sense of urgency are at odds. Maybe. The author that responds fast and with an eye for detail is in a real way two steps ahead.
Think of urgency as respect for an opportunity’s short shelf life. When you see an opening, move. When someone expresses interest, respond immediately. When you have an idea, test it this week. Speed compounds just like care does. The urgent author flourishes.
“At any given moment the one with the bigger dream wins.” ―Dave Chappelle
If you’re dreaming of selling 1,000 books and your competitor is dreaming of building a six-figure speaking business around their books, you each are going to make different choices. Bigger dreams demand bigger actions. They require bolder asks, more ambitious partnerships, higher pricing, more creative thinking. Your dream size determines your action size. If your results feel small, check your dream. It might be too small to pull you toward the actions that create real momentum. Dream bigger and see if bigger actions don’t follow.
Extraordinary results come from extraordinary requests.
Ordinary request: “Would you be willing to share my book with your audience?”
Extraordinary request: “I’d like to design a custom workshop for your members based on my book’s framework and share revenue with your organization.”
Ordinary request: “May I speak at your conference?”
Extraordinary request: “I’ll create a signature experience for your conference attendees that becomes the most talked-about session—here’s what I’m proposing.”
Most authors make timid, ordinary requests and wonder why the corresponding results and enthusiasm tend towards mediocre. Extraordinary requests create extraordinary opportunities. Ask for something bigger and see what happens.
The pattern
Care more than others. Pay attention to details they skip. Move with urgency they lack. Dream bigger than they’re willing to. Ask for more than they think is reasonable.
None of this requires talent or luck. It requires choice.
Choose in line with the best, not the rest, say these business dynamos. What do you think?
Tell us in the comments
Which of these five are you already doing well? And which one will you try this week…in what context?