Publishing a Kindle book is a great way for an online business to build authority. It sends their name into the public sphere and tells others that they have knowledge on a given subject. Additionally, as the Kindle book can link to various public profiles, it builds further and wider authority. However, business do have to choose whether to have a single author, or whether to use multiple authors. Both options have pros and cons.
The Pros and Cons of Single Author Book
The biggest benefit of using a single author publication is that it offers a personal connection between the reader and the author. As such, a single person within an organization can become a public face, and become the authority figure on a single topic. Furthermore, it creates a unified voice, creating a recognizable presence. As such, readers will come back to that person and this, in turn, creates branding. Also, when choosing single author Kindle books, the ownership is complete. There is a single responsible person who will also have to be responsible for any failures.
“If people like you,” says Zig Ziglar, famous author, salesman and motivational speaker, “they will listen to you. But if they trust you, they will do business with you.” This highlights the main benefit of single author Kindle publishing: it helps to build trust and thereby, attract customers.
At the same time, there are downsides to using a single author. Firstly, it, means that postings are potentially limited. A single author can only write so much as well as having to complete their regular duties. Additionally, although the expertise will be true and demonstrate real authority, it is limited to the knowledge of the single author. Finally, it can be quite difficult to be included in Google News by using a single author. This is mainly due to the fact that a single author can only produce so much work.
The Pros and Cons of Multi-Author Book
Using multiple authors for Kindle books has its own pros and cons, too. One of the biggest benefits is that a full team of experts can work together. This allows them to cover more ground and create a wider brand, with a huge wealth of knowledge. Each of the topics covered can be linked back to the overall aims of the organization itself and this allows all services to be highlighted, rather than a single area.
“If you delegate tasks, you create followers,” says Craig Groeschel of the Global Leadership Summit. “If you delegate authority, you create leaders.”
Furthermore, it means that there is a wider range of people to whom your readers are able to relate. Different people have different writing styles, and different readers connect to different styles. This means that by using multiple authors, a wider audience can be reached as well. Finally, by having multiple authors, there is the possibility of always having a steady stream of Kindle books on offer. If an author were to leave the company, or even be off due to personal reasons, the information stream would not dry up.
At the same time, there are some downsides to multi-author publishing. The first one is that it can be a lot more difficult to create a personal touch, which is something audiences do look for. It is difficult to build a relationship when there are multiple people presenting information. And perhaps the biggest challenge is finding good writers. In order for people to write with authority, they have to care about the subject as well as be knowledgeable about it. By having multiple authors, there is a risk of the information to be provided in varying levels of quality. Hence, an organization must be entirely sure of the expertise of their writers.
Finally, it can be more difficult to engage in internal linking if there are multiple authors. One way to build authority is to ensure information is provided in different locations, and for these locations to be linked together. It can be quite complicated to get this right with multiple authors.
Overall, most experts agree that it is more effective to build authority with publishing a Kindle book by using multiple authors. However, managing this process tends to require more resources, including time. Additionally, this needs to be done on top of other online marketing efforts, including branding efforts, content production, identifying leads and more. As a result, most businesses start by having a single author, and build their way up if and when they find the time.
Patrick Hurinenko
SBT Contributor