How I Went From No Audience to 6-Figure Business By Self-Publishing a Book

When I read that Russell Brunson generates $238 in income every time he gives a book away for free, I was convinced he was lying.
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I self-published my first book, Smart Sports Betting, when I was 22 and unemployed.

When it made $1,150.06 in profits its first month, I was pleasantly flabbergasted.

Four and a half years later, I've made over $14,000 in total and earned a deal from Simon & Schuster (which I turned down) ... without touching the book or doing any marketing.

But as nice as it’s been to make true “passive income” for my words … $3,111.11 a year isn’t exactly paying the bills.

My second book, You Are An Author: So Write Your Book Already has barely sold 100 copies.

At first glance, it seems like a catastrophic failure.

And yet … my self-published “failure” has directly led to over six figures in profits for my business (now 7-figures indirectly).

‍How?

People who read my book are led into my “Book Funnel,” and if they’re a good fit for my services, they receive one of a few offers (ways I can help them).

If they're a good fit, I sell them the best offer for them (currently it's my Accelerator program ... but in the past I've sold coaching and ghostwriting packages ranging from $5,500-$50,000).

They pay me with a smile on (because we’ve built a relationship and trust through the experience of reading my book) ... and they only receive the offer if they opt-in.

Sometimes, people just see that I have a book … and are too busy to read it, so they get on the phone anyway.
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My first big contract was a $25,000 ghostwriting content (for a short book).

That came from a stranger, a month after he found my book (and never actually read it).
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In the 2.5 years since publishing that book, I’ve worked with dozens of ordinary people and successful entrepreneurs (first at 4x New York Times bestselling author Tucker Max’s Scribe Publishing, and now here at Platypus) … to help them write books that:

- Sell insanely valuable and profitable online courses
- Lead to 6-figure consulting gigs and lucrative speaking careers
- Start businesses and writing careers from scratch
- Turn valuable messages into worldwide movements, changing the world for the better

And after seeing successes in a variety of niches (entrepreneurship, photography, self-help, investing, Amazon FBA, memoir, etc.) … I’m convinced that no matter what you do (or aspire to do):
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Writing a (good) book is the single most effective way to launch or grow your business … directly making you money on autopilot.

Or, to get a message out, make an impact or build a writing career.

I used my business example to show you the "best-case scenario" of publishing a book financially -- but there is still tons of upside for non-entrepreneurs, too.

While the $14,000 and general impact I made from my first book didn't pay all the bills -- it certainly wasn't shabby. If your goals are more along those lines, a book is still a fantastic way to spend your time.
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Now: I’m convinced that anyone can do it, but it sure as hell isn’t easy.

Watch the "Punchy Books Masterclass" to get a 90-minute lesson on the Three Commandments of self-publishing success.

The Masterclass is a one-stop shop to get you started -- going from no idea (or general idea) to successfully self-published book.

To be clear: The Book Strategy will only launch or explode your business if your book is one of a kind.

At Platypus, we don't believe in mediocre books.

Self-publishing has a bad rap because most self-published books are mediocre at best. But they're not mediocre because they're self-published — they're mediocre because they were made that way.

We won't let you do that.

At Platypus, we provide you comprehensive resources to create a great book yourself ... or customized offers to do it for you (adding our logo or your own, so it's technically "indie publishing").

Your book will look as good (or better) than any "traditional" book in Barnes and Noble, and your book will be taken just as seriously by readers and media.

Generally, we help people in one of two ways.

1) Start-to-finish teaching and guidance.

A 90-day program with unlimited email support from me and lessons/exercises on ideas, writing, audience-building and book/biz launch. And you get lifetime access, in case life gets in the way (or you want to write multiple books).

2) Ghostwriting.

You talk for 15-20 hours, we turn your ideas into a book ... including publishing, design, editing, business strategy and launch. No extra work from you. (Note: Starts at $30k.)

If you're interested in either option, please email support@mattrud.com with some background and what you're looking for.

We consider traditional (corporate) publishing a glorified scam, so our business model is the complete opposite. You pay us for our services, but you also retain 100% of royalties and creative control, and unlike the corporate bureaucrats, we will help you with your marketing.

If you have an existing offer (online course, consulting, speaking, etc.), we'll help you integrate it into your book. If you don't, we'll help you create one.

We only want you to pay us to write a book if you'll make money on your investment.

(The one exception is if you truly don't need the money and only care about spreading your ideas or making an impact. We can optimize for that, too.)‍

We don't publish books for vanity. We publish them for profitability and impact.

You have a book in you -- let's get it out :)

If you have any questions, please email us at support@mattrud.com.