Publish a book that becomes “required reading” in your field.

Required Reading is a 9-month program for thought leaders and change makers.

A couple years ago, I got to help one of my clients write and publish a short (90 pages), meaningful book. One of the very first reviews left for the book on Amazon.com said:

“This book would make a great addition to the required reading list for HR departments, executive leadership, operations, and more. Please read this book!”

Another one of my clients had the experience of getting her book picked up by a corporation who wanted to gift a copy to their whole team and all new hires. Many of the people who left reviews for her book highlighted that it was a go-to guide for anyone early in their career—which was the exact thing she’d designed it for.

I also had the experience of my first print book becoming a required “textbook” at a few colleges in the United States inside their small business classes. And multiple consultants and strategists have told me they gift my second print book to all their clients at the beginning of their work together. And it’s “just” a 116-page editorial planner.

Why am I sharing all this?

Because I don't believe your goal as a thought leader or change maker is to publish a book as fast as possible (“Yay, I'm done in 30 days!”) or to publish a book for vanity’s sake . . .

You want to write your first or next book so your ideas can dismantle harmful systems or change lives. You want your book to become required reading in your industry.

The more your book is referenced on conference stages, shared in DMs, referred to as an essential book on your topic, and/or literally made into required reading material in schools or workplaces, the more your marketing (work) is being done for you.

You’re not working as hard for each ripple of impact your ideas make. And I believe that is not only a great thing, but something we can be intentional about.

As seen in:

Regina here. 👋🏽

I kinda sorta published my first book in 2012. “Book” is used loosely here because it was a document I created then printed out and hole-punched into a binder for students inside my continuing education courses at the University of Texas.

But, it gave me an idea: why not really publish this as a book? Maybe it would be helpful to people who didn’t live in Austin, Texas but still wanted the info 🤷🏽‍♀️?

So, that’s what I did. I figured out all the steps, did the hard work of writing a whole book (and fighting all the mental and emotional roadblocks that came up), and published my first real print book in 2013. Then, a lot happened:

I sold copies each month at my in-person classes ✅.
I sold copies on both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble’s website each month ✅. The book got picked up by a few colleges for their small business classes as a required textbook ✅.
The book made it into certain libraries ✅.
I was approached for a more traditional publishing opportunity through a higher ed institution ✅.
Etc.

I’ve since published many more eBooks, print books (including one that’s made over $100,000 in profit from book sales alone), online and in-person workshops, audio courses, and more. But nothing . . . and I mean nothing, matches the feeling of getting a client’s or student’s book in the mail.

I can frequently be found gushing about their books on Zoom, and/or randomly petting the books 🤣 because I’m so proud of what clients have created.

If you're someone with big ideas who knows your body of work is incomplete without a “required reading” thought leadership book, I'd love to work with you to publish one.

I'll tell you more about the Required Reading program below.

Publish a Required Reading Book is a nine-month accelerator.

We will work together through each stage of the book ideation, development, publishing, and sales process (shared below). After our live accelerator, you’ll keep access to the lessons, templates, and materials inside the Required Reading Program.

Since I've been helping people publish their thought leadership books for more than 10 years now (a.k.a. pre-ChatGPT), there is both a traditional track and an AI track inside this program. But note: I will never recommend having AI write for you ❌. I'll just share ways to use it as your thought partner ✅.