Badass Author Money Making: Jen Sincero’s Cheat Sheet Applied to Your Book Marketing and Author Business

Ten mindset shifts translated for building a sustainable author biz

Photo by Jason Edwards on Unsplash.

I read and write about a lot of business and mindset books as a coach and business strategist. This one I picked up at a neighborhood book swap because I recognized Jen Sincero’s name from somewhere in the internet ether.

You Are a Badass at Making Money is a classic money mindset book in the sense of its scope and approach, but it’s a highly entertaining read — as if your “least likely to succeed” friend figured it all out and writes about it for you in their most hilarious, sassy, irreverent, down-to-earth voice.

If you need a different lens for absorbing such content, I recommend reading the whole book.

Available at indiebound.org.

If you want the quick fix, read on.

At the back of the book, Jen includes a cheat sheet — ten principles distilled from the longer work. I read them and naturally wondered: how would a mindset-oriented author apply these to their specific business challenges? So, here’s her cheat sheet with my accompanying translation for authors building sustainable businesses around their books.

[embed]Creating a Sustainable, Income-Generating Author Life You Love, Step 6 of 7: Up Your Mindset Game… On the heels of build your business savvy as you go, from where you’re at — and similar — is simple step number six: Up…slowcharacter.medium.com

1. Stay obsessed with your WHY.

Jen’s point: Your why is your fuel. When things get hard, your why keeps you going.

For authors: Why are you building a business around your books? Move beyond your passion for writing, why you do it, why you like it, to why are you doing the hard work of marketing, selling, pricing strategically, building partnerships, showing up at events?

If your why is because I’m supposed to or everyone says I have to, you’re going to fade out fast. But if your why is something more purposeful like I want financial freedom to write full-time or I want to reach readers who need this message or — my personal favorite: I want to prove I can build a sustainable author life on my own terms — that why will carry you through the uncomfortable and difficult parts. Tough pricing conversations. Awkward outreach phone calls. Events where three people show up.

Stay obsessed with an actual, motivating, clear-vision why.

[embed]Values Sabotage: When Authors Use Principles to Undermine Their Own Businesses And how it differs from values arbitrage, when others use differences in meaning and value systems to exploit youslowcharacter.medium.com

2. Make fear your friend, not your foe.

Jen’s point: Fear shows up when you’re about to do something important. Don’t let it stop you.

For authors: Marketing feels like a chore. You avoid outreach jitters by cleaning your house instead. Pitching to potential partners feels presumptuous, giving you an excuse to put it off. You drag your feet to get one lousy testimonial. Setting boundaries with readers and clients feels mean.

Translation: That jumble of discomfort and avoidance is fear-based. And fear shows up just when you’re about to do something that could bump your business forward. (Read about the sure-thing tests of your threshold guardians below.)

Stop treating fear as a sign you shouldn’t do something. Reframe it as a sign you’re about to do something important, which you are. You’re learning (skills + mindset shifts), scaffolding, building towards that something bigger that you want.

An author who sends the partnership proposal despite feeling presumptuous builds relationships. An author who prices their services appropriately despite feeling uncomfortable earns sustainable income. The author who markets their book despite some tentative ick reaches more readers and customers. In all cases, we learn what’s possible and that we can rise to new norms.

Acknowledge the fear, give it a friendly nod, then do the thing anyway.

[embed]Authors, Prepare for Your Threshold Guardians You've committed, really committed, this time to making a go of your big author goal. This is it. You've got this! Then…slowcharacter.medium.com

3. Respect your inner smarty pants.

Jen’s point: You know more than you think you do. Trust your instincts.

For authors: You’ve been told you need to be on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, everywhere. You’ve been told you need to post three times a day, use specific hashtags, bend and twerk with the algorithm. You’ve been told there’s one right way to market books: all the things, all the time.

Yet, your inner smarty pants strongly suspects this isn’t working for you. All the things (A) + Because I said so (B) does not equal © Cash money. Your inner smarty pants is starting to notice that while you’re spending hours creating content for bots, real readers are browsing local bookstores, hanging out at libraries, and seeking out community events. Your inner smarty pants is starting to glean that a partnership with a boutique gift shop down the street is more likely to generate book sales and a solid relationship than six months of Instagram posts.

Respect the pants, trust your sense of the mismatch, and move on to strategically building a business based on what works for your books, your readers, your life. Every part of your business model should be earning its keep.

[embed]Dead Internet Theory and Author Marketing: Back to Real People in Real Places Dead Internet Theory and Author Marketing: Back to Real People in Real Places When it's all bots talking to bots, your…slowcharacter.medium.com

4. Seek and ye shall find.

Jen’s point: Opportunities don’t just appear, you have to actively look for them.

For authors: Readers don’t magically discover your books. Partnerships don’t spontaneously materialize. Speaking opportunities don’t fall into your lap. Volume sales don’t happen because someone stumbled across your website.

You have to seek. Actively seek. Like reach out and touch someone active. Walk into stores of all kinds with your books. Approach potential partners and sponsors with specific proposals. Contact organizations about bulk sales. Pitch yourself for speaking gigs. Ask for introductions. Look for opportunities instead of waiting for them to find you. Make your own magic.

[embed]172 Non-Bookstore Places for Authors and Publishers to Sell Their Books Real authors and publishers I know have sold books at all these places, often in larger quantities than at bookshopsslowcharacter.medium.com

5. See through new eyes.

Jen’s point: Question your assumptions. What if everything you think is wrong?

For authors: What if social media and every little bookstore signing you can line up aren’t your best paths to readers? What if events aren’t just for extroverts? What if partnerships create more value than ads? What if you don’t need a massive platform to build sustainable income? What if you used every misstep as a stepping stone to a bigger piece of your business model puzzle? A bigger piece of the pie?

Practice seeing your author business through new eyes. Question every thing you’re supposed to do and every claim to the right way. Look at what actually works for authors building successful businesses as starting points, but double down on what actually works for you.

For more on beliefs that keep you stuck…

[embed]What Many Authors Get Wrong About the Business of Being an Author Some beliefs that keep you stuck — and what to believe insteadslowcharacter.medium.com

6. Intend.

Jen’s point: Be deliberate about what you want and what you create. Vague hopes create vague results.

For authors:

• “I hope more people buy my books” is vague. “I intend to sell 500 copies through volume sales to three specific organizations by the end of July” is deliberate.
• “I want to make money from my writing” is vague. “I intend to earn $5,500 monthly from a combination of book sales, speaking fees, and coaching by the end of the year” is deliberate.
• “I should probably do more marketing” is vague. “I intend to partner with two local businesses every quarter to create ongoing visibility in my community” is deliberate.

Intend specific outcomes, then build and work the plan that brings them about.

[embed]Authors, Draw an Arrow from the Quiver of Your Heart: Setting Intentions Authors, Draw an Arrow from the Quiver of Your Heart: Setting Intentions: the 19th of 28 big ideas from the world of…slowcharacter.medium.com

7. Ask for help.

Jen’s point: You don’t have to figure everything out alone. Ask for help.

For authors: To repeat my favorite insight from having coached kid business owners: Kids know when to turn to Google, when to turn to AI, and when to just ask grown-ups for help. That we all do the same.

Ask authors whose success you admire for some tips. Ask stores of all stripes if they’ll carry your books. Ask local businesses to partner on events or product bundles. Ask readers for testimonials. Ask colleagues for introductions. Ask organizations about bulk sales (and loop in a sponsor or two). Ask your cover designer for their professional opinion. Ask your agent what’s going on in the industry. Ask people doing bigger things to coffee so you can learn from them.

Asking for help is not only how you get help, it’s a bona fide way to build relationships, learn faster, and create opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise exist.

[embed]Get Used to Asking for Help in Your Author Business Asking for help is so hard but it's also a number one, all-purpose business hack. Here are 40 things to ask for your…slowcharacter.medium.com

8. Use your words.

Jen’s point: Say what you need. Clearly. Directly.

For authors: This is a refinement of a couple of the above, but it’s worth noting as we do have our ways with words. We are in the word business, so use your own big-girl, big-boy, outsized-person words to make exciting, real-life proposals with specific numbers. Vague hoping leads to vague getting. Clear asking gets clear responses — even when the response is no, you know where you stand and can move forward.

• “I’m available for speaking engagements. My fee is $1,000, or $500 if I can sell books afterward.”
• “I’d love to partner with you. Here’s what I suggest: I bring my readers to your store through a book club event, you provide the space and promote to your customers. Win-win.”
• “My book is $18.95. For bulk orders over 50 copies, I can offer a 40% discount.”
• “I don’t do free consultations, but I offer a one-hour paid session for $150 if you’d like my strategic input.”

https://slowcharacter.medium.com/8376ab5e5f22

9. Show up for practice.

Jen’s point: You don’t get good at things by thinking about them, you get good by doing them repeatedly.

For authors: Your first speaking event will be glitchy. Your first partnership pitch might be clumsy. Your first pricing conversations will feel uncomfortable. Your first attempts at outreach might get no response.

That’s getting your foot in the door and proceeding to show up, giving yourself time and space to improve and catch on. Do ten events and learn what works. Send fifty outreach emails and figure out what resonates. Schedule twenty client conversations and find yourself getting comfortable stating your rates. Propose ten partnerships and discover you’ve built the skill of making proposals.

[embed]How the Practice of Practice Is the Secret to a Sustainable Business Commit to showing up consistently and doing the work from where you’re atmedium.com

10. Be okay with the not okay.

Jen’s point: Things won’t be perfect, but do them anyway.

For authors: This is a corollary to practice — and better coming from practice. Courage over confidence. Done better than perfect.

Your website may not (yet) be perfect. Your marketing plan (still) has gaps. Your book has typos you keep finding (more than you want). Your event didn’t sell out (this time). Your pricing feels too high and too low simultaneously. Your sponsorship proposal got (mostly) rejected.

This only means you’re building a real business in the real world where nothing is ideal, everything is contextual. You’re in the middle of it, so the not okay is all right.

You will stay stuck unless you act despite imperfection. Let others sweat the small stuff while you focus on building momentum, learning from experience, and creating the business you want one puzzle piece at a time.

[embed]Authors, Could It Be That You Are Just in the Middle of It? 10 strategies for staying with a journey that is already underway even when it feels like there is no movementslowcharacter.medium.com

Tell Us in the Comments

Which of these ten principles do you most need to hear right now? Where are you letting fear, perfectionism, or vague hoping keep you from building the author business you actually want?

Turn Mindset Into Strategic Action

Understanding these ten principles is the first step. Applying them to your specific author business — figuring out your actual why, making proposals despite fear, seeing opportunities with new eyes, getting deliberate about outcomes, using your words to make clear asks — that’s where support makes the difference. My Author’s Business Accelerator is designed for published authors ready to move from vague hoping to deliberate action. This 1:1 intensive helps you build the practice of showing up despite discomfort, craft specific proposals that serve all parties, identify opportunities your assumptions have been hiding, and create a business model where every element earns its keep. In 8 sessions (with a flexible schedule to work around your life), we’ll develop your customized plan that turns these mindset shifts into strategic action for your books, your readers, and your life. Not group coaching or generic advice — it’s a strategic partnership to build the author business you actually want, one deliberate step at a time. Learn more about the Business Accelerator.

Sharon Woodhouse is a publisher, author coach, partnership architect, and book-business strategist with 30+ years helping authors and publishers build sustainable, profitable businesses they love. Through Conspire Creative, she provides strategic coaching, consulting, and project management for authors and publishers. Her award-winning book is *The Profitable Author: 1,001 Ways to Build a Business You Love Around Your Books*.