Your Book: Your 24/7/365 Content Engine – With Dr. Carolyn Wiley

Today I’m very excited because I have a guest with me, Dr. Carolyn Wiley, and she is the founder of Rose and Pearl Publishing. And this month, we have been talking about content and how you can get more out of your content, how you can create once and reach more, and we’ve been talking about simple strategies for repurposing your content.

She has a fabulous idea for this, which I was really excited about because, as authors, we always want to get more out of our books and our work so that we will not have to reinvent the wheel every time. Her topic is your book, and get this, your 24/7/365 content engine. And I love that because we want to get more traction out of what we spent so much time working on. And so she’s going to be sharing with us about how we can do that.

Your Book Is Your Starting Point

Alyssa: I wanted to start by asking this question, since many authors think of their book as more of a finish line. This is where the be-all end-all. Why should they see it as more of a starting point instead?

Dr Wiley: Because the purpose of the book is to do something, grow your business, create speaking opportunities, launch a movement, right? It’s got a job, and if you stop with it being written, the job’s not gonna get done because the launch is not enough momentum to still be working in month 18.

Alyssa: Exactly. And so a lot of authors think, “Okay, the way… If I’m an author, the way that I’m going to make money is through book sales,” but it is actually like a jumping off point to how you can make income. So it’s not like the result. So what are some of the biggest opportunities that authors overlook when they do get their book published?

One Book, Multiple Content Opportunities

Dr Wiley: So there are four content opportunities that I think authors are sitting on as a gold mine that they aren’t using.

The first one is honestly chapter titles. Most authors have eight to 12 chapter titles that are essentially fully formed content pillars, and they never use them. So, pick a chapter and start using it as a content pillar, pulling out all of the amazing content that you talked about in that chapter

A second one would be all of the stories inside the book. You probably shared anecdotes, whether they were personal anecdotes or client testimonials. You probably shared stories in the book. Each of those stories, whether it’s a personal failure, a turning point, or a success, is another content piece waiting to happen. You probably have four of them sitting in chapter six, just collecting dust. Make them LinkedIn posts; make them podcast episodes; make them an email sequence.

Number three is to look at your framework. If your book has a method, a step-by-step process, or an acronym, that’s a content series. Every step in that process is an episode. Every step is an email sequence. Create that.

And then lastly, I think this is the biggest one: authors skip posting about the question their book answers.

So, if their book answers, how do I become a VA for authors? That should be, like, the main thing you post about. And then, as a very simple thing at the end, say, “And if you want to know more, I have a book on the entire topic.” That is just the perfect content. It drives SEO, and it’s a hook every single time.

Your Goal in Sharing Content

Alyssa: Yeah, and do you think people maybe… Like, authors may worry that they’re giving away too much if they do that? What do you think the reason is that they don’t do that?

Dr. Wiley: I do think that’s actually the fear, but here’s the thing. In order to get the full package, people would have to buy the book. Buy the book, yeah. Otherwise, they would have to consume hours upon hours of your content before they got the same amount that’s in your book. Well, don’t we want them to consume hours of our content? I mean, isn’t that going to create that know, like, trust factor the same way that the book does? So the goal, honestly, this is gonna sound crazy coming from a publisher, the goal, honestly, isn’t to sell the book. The goal is to create these bigger opportunities, clients, speaking opportunities, podcasts, and media appearances. And whether that comes from the book itself or the content the book has generated, the result is the same.

Alyssa: Yeah, so it’s still the same road map. You’re still wanting to go to the same place, to get to the same place. Right. Okay, so I think that authors, really honestly, I think they overcomplicate this process. So if they’re feeling overwhelmed by the content creation, how can they use their book as a source for ideas?

Your Book as a Source of Content

Dr. Wiley: Okay, so I’ve already kind of touched on this when I said chapter titles. Yeah. Literally open the table of contents and treat it like a content calendar. That’s it. And if you’re struggling with that fear of I don’t want to give away my book, put them out of order. You know, you don’t have to make content in the same order as the book itself, right? The book’s all beautiful and structured. You can start with chapter four in your content, right? So that’s the whole system.

If you have 10 chapters, that could literally be 10 months of anchor content with one focus per month, broken up into weekly pieces. You’re not generating even new ideas; you’re simply repurposing the existing ones, and repurposing content is so much easier than trying to create it. And I think that overwhelm usually comes from thinking that you have to create stuff from scratch. You don’t. You have a treasure chest sitting right there on your bookcase. And so I always tell my clients, your book’s not a product that you’re trying to sell, it’s a content goldmine. Go dig.

Alyssa: Yeah, exactly. So, can you give us a practical example then of how one chapter, say we’re gonna take this one chapter, could become multiple pieces of content?

Dr. Wiley: Absolutely. Okay, so let’s come up with an example. Let’s say there’s a chapter in your book called “The Comparison Trap”, and it’s about why Christian women leaders keep measuring themself against someone else’s calling. Does that sound familiar to anyone? Okay. That one chapter could become a podcast episode where you teach about the comparison trap. It is a YouTube video breaking down the three signs that you’re in a comparison trap, and that sits alongside the podcast episode. That’s not the podcast episode. See what I’m saying? It could then be an Instagram carousel with the framework pulled directly from the chapter. It could be an email to your list with the personal story from inside the book.

That could then translate into a blog post that you’ve optimized for SEO and AI search. And then you could literally take the chapter itself, create it as a free download, and now you have a lead magnet that you can mention at every one that then leads people to the book, which then leads them to knowing you better, trusting you more, and then coming on as a client, asking you to come and speak, whatever those next steps are that you’ve outlined in the book. That’s six pieces of content from one chapter, and if you have 10 chapters, that’s 60 pieces of content with a single idea per chapter. Not even goldmining all of the ideas from each chapter.

Alyssa: Yeah. Absolutely, and it builds your list, and it points them where you want them to go, so it’s like win-win. So many wins. I think that past the overwhelm, there are probably some mistakes that we often make as authors when we’re trying to market our books through content, and we don’t know how to do it right. Give us some guidance on don’t, don’t do this type of guidance.

Mistakes to Avoid

Dr. Wiley: Absolutely. There are two big ones that I would really caution you to avoid.

The first is talking about your book instead of talking from it. So, the “My book comes out on Tuesday. Here’s the link,” that’s not content, that’s an announcement. You want stories. You want ideas. That’s what people share. They don’t share announcements. So instead of, “In my book I talk about X,” just talk about X.

Alyssa: Yeah, just share the story.

Dr. Wiley: Let the content do what the book does: teach, illuminate, convict. And then the book becomes the natural next step. It can literally be something as simple as, “If you want to know more, comment XYZ in the comments, and I’ll send you a link.” That’s where you then get that conversion.

The other big mistake that I see is that people go all in on a book launch, and then they stop. But here’s the thing, books don’t expire. They’re not like Instagram content that’s gone tomorrow. They’re not like a Facebook post that you’re not gonna see unless you’re in the twenty percent of the followers that Instagram decides or Facebook decides to show it to.

It’s out there forever in libraries, bookstores, on your shelf. It’s just more permanent, and if you stop after the launch, it’s just sitting there not being used. And the chapter on boundaries is just as relevant 18 months from now as it is today. So use that content. Talk about that content. So, I would say stop treating your book like a news cycle and begin treating it like the infrastructure that it was meant to be.

Alyssa: Absolutely. Why spend all that time working on it just to let it go just a couple of months later? So if someone, if one of our listeners is listening and has published a book and it’s sitting on their shelf right now, what’s one action that they can take this week to use it as a content engine?

Take Action Using Your Content Engine

Dr. Wiley: Very simple. As I’ve said, open the book to the table of contents, pick a chapter that you’re excited to talk about, find a story that you’ve told a hundred times, maybe not the framework, not the data, the story, and write a post about it. Or go on Instagram and talk about it on a Reel. It doesn’t have to be something professional and polished, because often it connects better if it’s a little bit more raw and real.

Think of it as, “I’m gonna tell this to my friend over coffee.” End it with this is the outcome. This is what the story taught you. This is what it can do for you who are listening to or consuming this piece of content. Don’t mention the book. If you’re going to mention the book at all, do it as a very end, like I’ve said before, of a, “And by the way, I go deeper into this topic in my book, X, Y, Z.”

It, it is meant to be forward-facing for the reader, not I’m promoting myself as the author. That is the type of content that’s actually going to generate book sales. That’s your starting point. Once you know how to do that, just keep doing it on repeat. I promise you, the people who need your book are gonna find it because they’re finding the value that you’re talking about.

Alyssa: Absolutely. I think we overcomplicate it, and we don’t realize how simple it actually is. We’re like, when we realize it, we’re like, “Hey, it was more, a lot more simple than I even imagined. “From today’s conversation, I think the biggest takeaway is that your book isn’t just something to sell. It’s something that you continue to share, you teach from it, and you build upon it for years to come, and that reinforces everything that you’re going to do, right?

A Note for Authors In Progress

Dr. Wiley: Absolutely. And let me even talk to those authors who are in the writing stage of the book instead of those who are finished. If you’re writing the book, don’t wait until the book launches before you start talking about it.

You should already be doing everything we just talked about as you’re writing. But you get something that the published author doesn’t get. You get the ability to test your ideas. So if you’re writing chapter three and you’re not sure which story would land better, make two pieces of content, one with each story, and see what gets the most likes and comments.

That’s the one that then goes in the book. So you get the advantage of using this system over an author whose book is already published and on the shelf.

Alyssa: I love that. That’s awesome because I’m writing a book. I love that idea because this morning I was writing. This morning I was… I had two stories, and I’m like, “Hmm, which one should I use?” So that’s a great idea.

Okay, tell the listeners if they are interested in being published or having you help them with books, you do writing coaching, and help us get started as authors, how they can get in touch with you.

Additional Support

Dr. Wiley: I would love that. So I am “carolynwileywrites” on any pretty much social media platform except Substack, which I just started, and I’m “Dr. Carolyn Wiley” over on Substack. And I am just starting today, as of the recording, so it’ll be out for a few weeks by the time the recording goes live for this podcast, walking through writing my own signature book with the paid tier of people on Substack. So you would get behind the scenes, what the structure looks like, what the process looks like, the methodologies that I’m using, all of those things as you watch me implement this in my book.

Because I’ve been a published author for a very long time, but my books have never spoken about my main business concept. Right. So that is now changing, and I’m so excited about that. And so that’s going to be on the authorityunlocked.substack.com. And then I also have a gift for your listeners.

This is a getting-started guide with a private podcast. So if you go to roseandpearl.net/getstarted, you can download the free get started guide. It’s called The Write Start, but write is spelled like W-R-I-T-E. Right. It’s The Write Start, and you can get started on writing your signature book for your business.

Alyssa: Awesome. Thank you so much for being on today’s episode, and I can’t wait for the listeners to hear all you’ve had to say.

Dr. Wiley: Awesome. Thank you so much, Alyssa.

 

If you’d like support in building a simple, sustainable marketing system for your book or your business, you can connect with me.