Many excellent attorneys know a book would help their practice. What holds them back is the process: the belief that a book has to be long, that a publisher has to approve it, and that someone else will end up owning the revenue.
On a recent episode of Be-Picked, Andrew Colsky spoke with Michele DeFilippo, founder of 1106 Design, an author services company. Her message for busy professionals was encouraging. The book you need is closer than you think, and you can keep control of it from first draft to final sale.
Why a Book Still Works for Professional Credibility
Michele sees a book as a calm way to share what you know. People have had enough of notifications, junk email and high-pressure follow-up. A book or booklet lets a prospective client read your thinking on their own terms and decide for themselves whether they want a conversation with you.
Andrew pointed to a second benefit. When people hear that you wrote the book on a subject, it changes how they see you. A book also gives weight to speaking invitations. Andrew shared that he had just been accepted to speak at an upcoming American Bar Association meeting, and he believes having authored two books on the subject helped show he knew the topic.
Those talks then lead to mentions on other organizations' websites. As Andrew put it, your online credibility becomes not just what you tell the world, but what the world is telling the internet. Michele added that the more you are mentioned, the more AI tools recognize you as a credible source worth recommending.
Start With What You Already Say to Clients
Michele's advice for getting started: sit down and write out the things you have said a thousand times to prospective clients. It does not need to be high-end literature. It should sound like what you would say across the table over coffee.
Andrew added that the book should not be about how great you are. It should be about the problems your clients face and the information that helps them. Michele calls this the "so what" test, a rule from her advertising agency days. If a reader finishes a passage and thinks "so what?", it goes back to the drawing board. Start with a problem that exists in the marketplace, then offer your solution. When readers recognize their own experience, you have their attention.
Andrew also noted that material you have already created, such as podcast episodes, articles and cases you have worked on, can become the raw content for a book.
A Short Book Is Not a Weaker Book
Many attorneys worry that a shorter book will look less authoritative. Michele disagrees. A book should not be one word longer than it needs to be. Her own booklet is 88 pages, and the book Andrew showed on the episode runs about 150 pages.
She pointed out that books have been getting shorter as readers come to prefer information in short bursts. When she started in the business, a book could run to 600 pages. Today a focused book like Andrew's is closer to the norm.
Her guidance on format depends on your goal:
- A full-length book works well if you speak and sell books after your talks, because the audience has already heard you and wants more.
- A short booklet works well as a first outreach to prospective clients: a brief overview that invites them to contact you to learn more.
- If it is your first book, do what feels easiest and do not worry about the big picture yet.
Editors Polish the Language, You Own the Facts
A common worry for attorneys is that an editor who is not a lawyer will change something that should not change. Michele explained that editors are experts in language, not in every subject. The facts are the author's responsibility. The editor's job is to point out what is unclear, smooth the writing and make it a good experience for the reader.
At 1106 Design, copy editing happens in Microsoft Word with track changes, so you see every suggested edit and accept or reject each one. In Michele's words, you are always in control.
She also suggested making the manuscript as good as you can before handing it over, without stressing about perfection. People are usually better writers than they think they are.
Know What You Are Signing Before You Publish
Michele described three publishing models. Traditional publishers buy the rights to a manuscript, pay for its production and shape it into something they think will sell. Because they take the financial risk, they keep most of the revenue.
Hybrid publishers, as Michele describes them, charge the author to produce the book up front and then also take money on the back end. She said some of these arrangements pay authors two or three dollars a book, where an author who sets up their own print-on-demand accounts could earn six or eight.
Author services companies like hers charge for services up front, then help you set up print-on-demand accounts in your own name. When a book sells, the retailer pays you directly, and the company takes no share.
Her red flags: a company that requires you to order a stack of printed books, and a company that does not reveal how it calculates what it pays you. Print-on-demand has been around for about twenty years, so there is no need to store boxes of books in the garage.
Small Details That Save You Trouble
Both Andrew and Michele shared lessons from experience. Always order a printed proof and hold it in your hands before you turn on distribution. Andrew found his table of contents on the wrong page in a proof copy after everything looked correct on screen.
Michele also now advises authors to wait to set up pre-orders until the final files are ready, because replacing files after a pre-order is set up has become harder. And if you want to sell directly to your own audience, she pointed to IngramSpark's share and sell link, which you can post anywhere while IngramSpark prints and ships the book.
Where To Start
Andrew's view is that a book pays off in several ways at once. Researching and writing it taught him a lot about his own business. Being the author earns trust with clients. And the speaking invitations and mentions it creates build the online credibility that helps AI recommend you when a potential client asks.
Start with the questions your clients ask you most, write your answers the way you would explain them in person, and decide whether a short booklet or a full book fits your goal.
If you want to see where your firm stands today, take the free 20-question AQ assessment at be-picked.com/assessment. You will get a report on your strengths and weaknesses and a clear starting point.
Listen to the episode
Why Lawyers Should Write Short Books to Build Instant Credibility
With Michele DeFilippo, Founder, 1106 Design. Watch, listen or read the full transcript.