If you ask a successful novelist if writing pays off, they will say yes and point to people like J.K. Rowling who made $$95 million in 2017 from books alone, or James Patterson who checked in at $85 million. In fact, the top ten novelists a year ago, combined for over $300 million. Of course, becoming the next Rowling or Patterson is less likely than having a winning lottery ticket. And very often, non-fiction success is all about your star power (or platform) and whether or not you have a hot topic or a unique story to tell.

The accomplishment of completing a book is exciting, but it’s only part of the process. There’s also the matter of monetizing it. But, yes, it can be done. Here are seven suggestions on how to do just that.

1. Start building your social media presence before you begin writing.  I worked with an author who landed a book deal because he already had 200,000 followers.

2. Tie your book to speaking engagements. Authors benefit from taking their expertise to the stage and speakers benefit from having books to increase credibility and dollars. A motivational speaker once told me that his book helped him triple his speaking engagements and double his fees. That was all money earned from the book.

3.  Add more value through an audio book, or having your book translated to sell in other countries. Perhaps you can also add seminars, a subscription newsletter or an online course.

4. Timing. Be trendy or topical. Look at what is going on in the world before you write. Then look for the right time to promote your book such as a political book in the months prior to an election. To check out what types of topics are trending you might subscribe to Publisher’s Lunch to see the latest publishing deals.

5. Find a great hook. In 2007, Deana Gunn and Wona Miniata went from aficionados of Trader Joes to authors penning the cookbook entitled Cooking with Trader Joe’s. The company allowed the use of their name but not their logo. Now, with six titles in the series, the self-published authors have sold hundreds of thousands of books.

6. Find someone well-known (to your audience) to write the foreword. I worked with a woman whose husband was a big shot in their industry. He agreed to do the foreword, which started a bidding war between publishing houses.

7. Market your butt off, across the internet and offline at conferences, associations or any gathering that relates to your genre. Know your demographic audience and make sure your book is everywhere they go.

Many books do not make a lot of money directly, but they help businesses increase sales and bring in new clients. Others lead to follow-up books that grow in popularity. Some even lead to movie deals. Yes, you can make money from books, but you need to put in the time and effort to market yourself, your brand and your book.