The WRITE Strategy

Welcome to The WRITE Strategy newsletter for business book writers and self publishers. 

The Write Strategy is a community of business experts and leaders who want to share and leverage their knowledge, build their profile and be recognised as a leading voice in their field.

Trust - what is it, why it’s so critical now and how you can build it through your book?

There’s a trust deficit in the world. We read and hear about it every day. From misinformation to disinformation to blatant lying and, for those of us living in Australia, now election porkies.

The research is in. Audiences have declining levels of trust in what they consume for a range of reasons, some of which include global uncertainty and complexity supercharged by the second Trump Presidency, and deployment of AI without linked transparency about who and how the algorithms are developed and the ‘advance’ of deep fakes. How do any of us know what’s real and what’s not?

Trust is a topic I’ve been exploring during the video course I am undertaking at the moment. Perhaps not so oddly, not being perfect on camera is a plus in an increasingly fabricated world. Being natural on video is pretty easy to ‘see’. It’s our very human imperfections that are the very things that build trust.

The same goes for writing. I can spot AI generated content a mile off. Those flowery words that read like a 2025 business version of a Jane Austen novel, the structure of the writing: Intro, 3-5 key points followed by a summary. Such writing isn’t really writing. I want to read the real you, not the lazy, content-pushing you, and so do most of your potential readers, clients and current network.

Trust is what we humans ‘do’ best. But you need to be discerning in what you watch, read and write.

And trust is what Eddie the Cat (and other animals) gave me and The Book Adviser community. Alas Eddie is no longer with us as a result of a serious heart issue. It’s been a tough weekend/week as I mourn our furry WFH manager, his attitude, companionship and quirks.

5 things to do

1. Do you have a LinkedIn Newsletter? Did you even know you could do this? I don’t have one – yet. I learnt more about these on a recent LinkedInLive I was a guest on with Lynnaire Johnston and LinkedIn Newsletter Expert Bruce Johnston. It’s worth watching to learn how articles and LinkedIn Newsletters can supercharge your visibility and that of your book. CLICK HERE I have to say I loved Lynnaire’s summary of the LinkedIn Live: What Happens When a Newsletter Pro, a Book Coach, and a LinkedIn Nerd Walk Into a Livestream?

2. Have you watched any of Bettany Hughes’ various series about the ancient world-Middle East? CLICK HERE  
I have and I love them all, but then I would as I’ve spent many years working around the Middle East and have taken two holidays to Iran – amazing. In fact I was on a plane from Tehran to the UAE in 2018 when Trump terminated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in relation to nuclear weapons. I landed in the UAE to that ‘news’ and was taken aside for a discussion about what I was doing in Iran. Fair enough question, maybe. Trying to describe the difference between a writer and journalist was interesting as was the fact that I was on a holiday. Who goes to Iran for a holiday? Well, me. My hundreds of photos eventually bored the airport officers. 

3. Are you measuring your content engagement? I have to share that as a writer I love the writing of ‘content’ not so much the analytics. But there comes a time when we book writers and content creators have to step up and use analytics to assess if our book/writing is actually resonating with our target audience/s.

I regularly share that the world doesn’t need more crap content…and I need to say that you don’t need to push out good, well written content if it’s not resonating with your target audience/s, and the only way to do that is ‘get analytical’. You don’t have to do this yourself (I don’t, I have engaged someone to do this for me and then listen to their advice).

4. Read these two books: Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope and the Human Spirit by Henry Kissinger, Craig Mundie and Eric Schmidt.  AI is an integral part of our collective future and its way more than Chat-GPT.

The forever war: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself by Nick Bryant. Keen observations about why the USA is where it is now. And, if you don’t already listen to Nick on the radio on a Saturday morning, do yourself a favour and tune in to Saturday Extra. CLICK HERE

5. Have a book idea but not sure if it’s any good? Share your book idea with me and I’ll review and discuss it with you over a FREE 45 minute book review session. Book in a time using this link. CLICK HERE

5 things from The Book Adviser

1. Do you have a book that didn’t sell as well as you thought, or didn’t deliver the visibility you wanted? You’re not alone. Writing and producing your book is only half the job. The other half is marketing it. Here’s a 7-step process for how to plan your book marketing:

1. What is your goal, and what will success look like?
2. Who is the audience?
3. Where is your audience?
4. Where and how often will you/can you post and with what?
5. Schedule and budget
6. Review/look. Measurement and resetting
7. What skills do you need to learn to implement?

You might want to check out my latest LinkedIn article about How to Build your Book Visibility without Paying for Ads CLICK HERE

AND/OR

We offer a customised book marketing service…whether you have an existing book or are writing one. CLICK HERE

2. Did you know that we also help people with their memoirs. Over the past 10 years we’ve helped 15 people take their initial memoir writing and turn this into limited edition print runs for their family and friends. I find this work so rewarding. To be entrusted with a person’s life story is truly humbling. These books are generally not available for sale, but we have one in our bookshop- From Vietnam to Sydney, the amazing story of Phan Giang Seng, a Vietnamese refugee who came to Australia in the late 1970s. Gang wrote the first draft in French. It was launched by Tom Keneally. CLICK HERE

3. Self publishing. Just what is it, and who can you trust?

Here’s a short video that I call Self Publishing 101. CLICK HERE

Subscribe to The Book Adviser YouTube Channel to get more insights and tips. CLICK HERE

4.  Book launch: Achille Ettore launched his book, The Digital Advantage, on 7 April 2025 at the Smith School of Business in Toronto. It’s great to see our worldwide Book Adviser Alumni leveraging their book launch (and other opportunities) to generate visibility.

5. Now we’re in election time, it’s time (political reference intended) to generate visibility for the political satire book one of our Alumni published, The Politician’s Epiphany: Skewered political elite rotate on a political spit roast.

The story humorously chronicles the twilight of a Right of Centre Party parliamentarian’s tenure as member of a fictional Federal seat called The Shire. CLICK HERE

As a political person from a young age (at 10 my father paid me to cycle around the neighbourhood putting how to vote cards into letterboxes – explains a lot), I can recommend this book. It’s pithy, funny and may well just be your sanity over the next 5 weeks.

5 things to know

1. Have you heard about XR - Extended Reality? Granted you might think the world is living through this right now, but I am not talking about that here. XR is the term for immersive technology, which covers virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and other immersive tech that blend the digital with the real world. Not quite sure how this will work for non fiction/business books but I am looking into it. CLICK HERE

2.  If you want to own and leverage your business book content you might want to look at Xpertloop. CLICK HERE

I have had several discussions with them about the platform and am impressed by their offering and their values. I am going to sign up and test it out so I’ll keep you posted. And, I just want to let you know I will not be taking a referral fee. 

3.  A limited edition book just might be the way to market your book. I recently received an email promoting the “Very Limited edition” volume of Turbulence & Transcendence – Biennale of Sydney: The First 50 Years. It’s a whopper of a book at 436 pages, but what intrigued me was how they are marketing it … only 500 copies at $299 each. I’ve been exploring the increasing trend of Limited Editions and while most seem to be in the fashion, travel, arts space I don’t see why this model couldn’t be adopted for business books….your book. Here’s one of my favourite limited edition publishers. Assouline CLICK HERE

4. Did you know I am one of Australia’s leading company historians? I have written 39 company histories for ASX-listed companies (Commonwealth Bank, Woolworths, Westpac, Santos, Cleanaway) and private family businesses (Kennards Self Storage, Peter Lehmann Wines, Aspen Medical, Wilson Transformers, Daydream Island, Craig Mostyn Group, TWUSUPER). And I've started updating her 1991 book, Champions of Enterprise. The history of Australian Entrepreneurship that was published in 1991 as it out of print. Watch this space.

5. Do you love writing and reading? I do and that’s why I’ve been a Role Model for Books in Homes Australia for over 10 years. BIH is a charitable foundation that provides books-of-choice to children living in remote, disadvantaged and low socio-economic circumstances, ensuring crucial early literacy engagement and the development of reading skills needed for lifelong achievement.

At the end of 2024, Books in Homes exceeded the 3.1 million books distributed mark. You can be part of sharing the love of reading and writing with more children. Go to the website to see how. CLICK HERE

special media opportunity

Get your book into the media, even before it's written

I've known Nic Hayes, Managing Director of Media Stable for many years now, and if you've worked with me, you may have heard me mention Expert Registry.

How does it work? Journalists approach Nick for experts to be featured in the media as case studies or thought leaders. If you are part of Expert Registry, he will be able to put you forward. This is a great way of building your personal brand - super important when it comes to selling your book.

Media Stable is offering The Book Adviser Authors an EXPERT REGISTRY profile.

And the best part - in APRIL you will receive 70% off the normal $900 plus GST EXPERT REGISTRY PROFILE. (I've signed up too!)

Just use the promo code SPEAKER or AUTHOR for 70% off the normal rate.

CLICK HERE

is it time to publish your book?

The Book Adviser has helped more than 400 business leaders, owners, consultants and entrepreneurs to successfully self publish and market their business book. 

Find out more about The Book Adviser Program CLICK HERE. 

help spread our message

We’re passionate about business books and helping people share their knowledge and insights to a wider audience as we believe each of us can change the world for the better, one book at a time. If you’ve found this newsletter informative, inspiring or want to share some of the books we’ve mentioned, please share it with your colleagues, friends and family.

Your Unique Link

Or share via, LinkedIn, Facebook or Email

get more of The WRITE Strategy

Do you know of someone that would benefit from our services? DM us or email [email protected]

Was this email forwarded to you?  Get your own subscription by clicking SUBSCRIBE and completing our form.

Copyright 2025 - The Book Adviser