Author Type #2: Professional Expert

You know your stuff inside and out. 

People pay you for that knowledge, sometimes a great deal. You see a clearly defined gap in the market, and you fill it with your depth of experience. Your book gathers what you know and showcases it as a way of establishing your expertise, broadening your appeal, and raising your visibility.

Justin Smith knows a lot about warehouses and factories in Southern California’s Inland Empire. I mean, a LOT. So much that he wrote two books about the subject: Industrial Income and Industrial Intelligence. You cannot read these books without concluding that “if I were renting a warehouse in SoCal, I’d call this guy.”

Many of the authors we work with are like Justin, people I consider to be “professional experts.” They know a great deal about B2B sales, or family business dynamics, or employee engagement, or cybersecurity, or even how to throw an absolutely amazing fraternity party. Their books are full of strategies, tactics, lessons and examples to help readers learn more about their field. Professional expert books lean heavily into teaching specifics that are going to directly benefit their readers. 

These authors have identified a defined information gap in their audience and they bring to their pages equally well-defined solutions.

For these authors, a successful book is one that earns them money not through book sales (at least not as much), but through the benefits of being perceived as a stand-out expert to potential clients. Their audience may be highly specific, for they understand Seth Godin’s admonition that “the riches are in the niches.” Their books bring them new business, speaking invitations, podcasting opportunities, and a higher profile in what might be a crowded field. 

Often, a single new client more than recoups their investment in their book.

Justin Smith’s books, published in 2021 and 2024, have both earned five-star rankings on Amazon.