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This is The Vanessa Barrington Show. In today's episode, I am going to be diving into two of the six revenue buckets that every author should consider if they want to build a million dollar business off the back of their book. So you're going to want to listen up to this one if you're looking to attract more money and more impact. Into your world and life. Alrighty, let's do it. Hi, I'm Vanessa Barrington, also known as The Book Doula, founder for Healing House Publishing, Psychic Medium, and a woman on a mission to heal the world through story. I help you turn your story into a published book and a global movement that builds authority, impact, and legacy. This is not a writing podcast.
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It's a show where I explore voice, truth, spirituality, and what it really takes for you to trust yourself and share your story with the people who most need it. This is The Vanessa Barrington Show. Hello and welcome to episode 16 of the Vanessa Barrington Show. I'm your host and today I am taking you through the first. It's a bit of a mini series, really. And I wanted to produce this mini series to really dive a bit deeper into six of my favorite ways. that an author can generate more revenue from their book. So I want to introduce you to the six big buckets or categories first, and then we're going to dive into the first. And the next couple of episodes, I'm going to really expand on the others. Okay.
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So first up. Here's the six categories. So the first category where you can generate more income as an author is coaching and consulting. This is really where you turn your story or framework or your special expertise into transformation for others. That can be done in a whole range of different ways. And we're going to dive more into that in today's episode. The second way that you can generate more revenue as an author is really from speaking gigs and from the matter is when promoted in the right way, your book gets you in the room. It opens doors to podcast interviews. It provides an opportunity to become a keynote speaker. speaker to be featured in press, possibly even to guest, be a guest journalist, panel discussions— all kinds of stuff.
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So we're going to talk a bit more about that today. And then in the future episodes, I'm going to introduce you more to some of the other ways you can do that. So the rest of the six, we've got building a scalable brand. And digital products and passive income. Now, this is one of my all-time favorite ways to increase revenue and, in fact, has been instrumental in my own growth. Both as a creative and as an entrepreneur. We're also going to look at collaborations and partnerships and licensing and certification because those are areas that can also be a little bit confusing, sometimes overlooked, and just have so much opportunity for growth and for income and abundance in your world and life. But today specifically, we are going to talk about coaching and consulting first up.
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Now, I want to acknowledge that for some of you, when you hear coaching and consulting, you're going to immediately contract. And I also want to call out here that the term 'coach' is a term that really frankly is quite overused. I don't care what you call this skill. Okay. Whether you want to call it mentoring, coaching, we're going to talk about all of those things. I want you to just acknowledge and notice if you're listening to this and thinking. I'm a writer, I don't want to be a coach, I'm not an expert, I didn't write my book to teach people anything or who would even really want to learn from me. If that's you, I want to say to you, first of all, Coaching is not the only pathway I'm going to talk about today.
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Consulting, mentoring, advising, guiding. These are all valid, powerful models where you can leverage your book as an expert. Okay. And this also applies to fiction writers. So stick with me, guys. If you're a fiction writer, because I know that. The obvious thing for a lot of people is, okay, I'm an expert. Let's say you're a psychologist. You've written a book on your unique framework as a psychologist. Just great. It seems like a no-brainer, right? That you would then go on to consult and coach in that area. But for fiction writers, it can seem a little bit less gray, but I want to say. To you, there is absolutely an opportunity here for you as well. Okay, there is an opportunity here for really, for both groups— fiction and non-fiction writers— to look at expansion opportunities by listening to this podcast without pressure.
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Okay. So I'm going to show you in today's episode, how your book already qualifies you and exactly the ways that you could consider being able to generate more income. Just by the nature of having a book. First thing I want to reframe you is that you do not need to be an expert to be able to help others. Okay. You do not need credentials, perfection, or authority titles to monetize your book. I want to clarify a couple of things without going down the rabbit hole around who's a coach and what is a mentor and what is. The difference and all of those things. That is not the purpose of this episode. You can go and figure that out and find that out yourself. Okay. And certainly there are certifications.
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And things that are utilized for different credentials to be able to recognize to be recognized and make claim as a coach. That is not what I want to talk about today. Though, okay, what I want to talk about is more the fact that in order for you to help someone, whether you call yourself a mentor, a guide, whatever label you want to give it, the fact is that you don't need to be expert in an area to be able to help someone else. In fact, you can actually be just 5% ahead of someone else in my view to be able to support them. However, doing that does not mean that you lay claim to being an expert.
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And in fact, the best experts—or the best people that are really the ones to teach you something— are usually ones that have lived experience, have had to come up with their own process and pattern recognition. And they've gone through enough experience in a particular matter to then be able to teach it or share it with others. Okay. In 2026. The fact is, with thanks to AI, content, as we know, especially for those of you who have listened to my episodes this year, you'll know that people are not paying for content anymore. What people are paying for is clarity. They're paying for problem solving. They're paying for perspective and they are paying for insights from someone who's already walked the road that they want to walk on.
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So you don't need to be the authority. You do not need to be the very best in the world in a particular area to be able to help someone else. You just need to be a few steps ahead. You need to be authentic about that. You need to be clear on what you really do have deep expertise in versus don't. And you need to be willing to walk beside someone. Okay. That's it. All right. So coaching is really a delivery method. It is not an identity. Okay. And there are a range of valid roles that an author can step into without having a coaching certification. You might decide to mentor people, to be a consultant back to organization. You could be a strategic advisor, a guide, a thought partner, facilitator.
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It really doesn't matter what the identity is. And this isn't about monetizing your story. It's about monetizing how you think, how you decide and navigate complexity, how you go through a process. Because the thing is, if you finish a book, you're in the 2% in the world. So let that land for a second. If you finish a book. You are the exception to the rule because 80, over 80% of people in the world want to write a book. And less than 2% actually go on and publish and release a book. Okay. So you are already in a very minute category of peace. In comparison or contrast with a whole number of people that say that they want to do it and, frankly, lack the discipline or the focus.
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Range of quite unique traits and likely experiences that you've had to be able to do this. So let's talk first and foremost about the obvious one. For my non-fiction writers, my memoir writers, my business writers, my experts, my health coaches, my healers, you guys who are writing nonfiction. You probably already know. That you can monetize your book by sharing your expertise, especially if you're qualified in a particular area. But have you ever considered providing mentoring based on your lived experience? Have you ever considered consulting on implementation of the ideas that you present in your book? Have you considered reviewing someone else's strategies, systems, or processes through the lens of the expertise that you teach? Have you considered consulting on decision-making, clarity, and direction that needs to be brought forward in a particular area of the framework?
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Doing this does not require you to hold emotional labor, and consulting can actually be lower exposure, higher leverage. And also you can. Really, especially if you are qualified in a particular area, charge a premium if you're not already for your expertise. But I want you to think more broadly than just 'I've developed a program and I'm selling it.' Coaching and consulting can look like so many different things, and there's many different ways we can actually package up that service. And you can design that based on your life. Like what your life preferences are, how many days a week you want to work, how many hours you want to work, who you want to work with, all those kinds of things. It's like the sky is literally the limit.
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Let's talk about fiction writers before we then talk about the mechanics of different ways you can leverage for coaching and consulting. So, for fiction writers, yes, this does apply to you too. So the first thing I want to just call out is: I know that many of you already may have switched off and, hopefully, for the ones that are really focused and dedicated and do want to change circumstances and improve and accept more money and abundance into their life, welcome. Congratulations that you made it to this point because Fiction actually provides a unique opportunity for you to teach meaning. For you to teach. About identity. And about transformation. Like the best fiction writing is often based in fact, right?
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So here are some pathways that you could consider as a fiction writer if you were wanting to generate some more revenue in your life. So first of all, you could provide very obvious one. You could provide story consulting. So whether that's manuscript review or story consulting for others. So you could review others' work based on your own. Lived experience as a writer, you could review others' work and provide structural and narrative clarity, advising on pacing and character arcs and reader experience on your own publishing journey— all of that kind of stuff. You could support writers in your own genre. You could guide other people through the process that you go through. And you could also provide process-based mentoring. So what I mean by that is, here's my process for writing my book.
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And I would love to show you how I do that. Or here's how I have returned to writing after losing confidence, getting my manuscript rejected, or having a book that flopped— or whatever it is. And I would love to show you how to do that. You could also facilitate story circles. You could support people to look at reef. framing in terms of the narrative as we know as writers oftentimes we struggle to see the forest for the trees in our own work but can very quickly spot gaps in other storylines. That is a very unique skill. Now there are also, so that kind of gives you a bit of a baseline introduction on some of the consulting pathways or coaching pathways that you could pursue.
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as an author Now, I want to talk about some higher value, high ticket opportunities too. And by high ticket, I mean charging a premium for this service. And this applies to both fiction and nonfiction writers. So, as a writer, what you have is proven expertise in storytelling. And if you have published a book and you've gotten to the end of that process, I'm assuming your book is of quality. I'm assuming you worked with an editor to get your book out into the world. In order for you to get to that place, you have to have a pretty decent level of understanding about storytelling. So here presents an opportunity for you to consult. With brands or organizations on how to use story in their business.
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Now, funnily enough, and as someone who has come from this area of experience— in fact, you know, in a past life, many of you will know— a core part of my job was creating brand stories and being able to rally an organization and customers around brand and brand stories. So this is actually an area that a lot of organizations pay a premium for because they know and we all know that stories move people. So this can look like helping an organization with their brand origin story. It could look like messaging clarity through narrative. It could look like campaign work, launch storytelling, helping them with their brand voice, their tone. It could also be copywriting. And some of you who are in the writing area or who have come in to write books often do come from that copy space.
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It can also look like leadership and culture narratives. So for internal teams, how do we rally the troops around a particular story and message? Change communication. So when organizations are going through organizational restructure, story is critical to allow people and support. people to adopt change. Generating conversations and stories is very powerful. Articulating the mission and values. These are actual things that organizations pay a lot of money for expertise in. And as I said before, as a storyteller. This is a huge opportunity. This is an area of expertise that really can provide very high value. Another opportunity here is consulting with thought leaders and experts. So perhaps you're a fiction writer. And you are consulting with experts that are writing nonfiction and helping them shape their ideas into story, advising on books, helping them write speeches, talks, long-form content, and focusing on message clarity rather than life coaching.
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Yeah. So there is just so much opportunity in this area and story really is an area that is. It's its own industry, really, for corporate, for brand, for, you know, and I will want to caveat this and say, like, this is not for everyone, right? Not everybody wants to go out. and make a living as a storyteller. But for those of you that have that in your heart and want to do this, I just want you to be aware that this is an area of expertise that you carry that you may or may not be aware of that can present some very real opportunities. Now, The reason that I want to also bring all of this up is because I think at times people can, you know, for those of you that have written books, some of you frankly are not considering the choices and opportunities that are available to you.
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And if you're someone, for example, that's in a job that you really don't like and you're a fiction writer and you're tearing your hair out because you have to go to a job, a day job that you don't love, I want you to start thinking. More creatively, excuse the pun, and think about some other opportunities, because of the adjacent careers to what you currently do that you may find. Light you up on a level that you never thought possible. Now, the real reason that people can burn out in this space, and if you're someone, maybe you are someone that used to do coaching and consulting and you've decided to write a book because you actually don't want to do much of that anymore. And that is very valid.
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And you know, the brilliant thing about becoming an author is when you leverage your book correctly. It can actually do the teaching for you. So you can dial back if you've said, say, had a big coaching business or a consulting business, but it is really important if you decide to go down this road to have very clear boundaries and just be aware that without clear boundaries, without balance in terms of what you're giving and taking and charging and all of those things, that burnout isn't absolutely a real risk. Okay. Burnout does not come from coaching or consulting itself though. So, if you've had that experience in the past, I'm going to lovingly call you out here and say burnout comes from overgiving, under-structuring, so like not having a clear structure or clear rules of engagement.
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Saying yes when you mean no. Not defining scope or boundaries. And when you don't have a clear idea of the type of people you want to work with and you're not clear on what you will say yes and no to. That's when you're going to get burnout. Okay. Now, if this is an area that is really of interest to you, that you are really keen to not just have your book sitting on a shelf and be trying new. Slog away at selling the book, but you really want to look at how can I leverage the book that I already have. Two. Be able to build a multi-billion dollar business potentially. Then the book doula circle is where you are going to want to be. Now, doors for this exclusive opportunity are going to open very soon.
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In fact, by the time this podcast comes out, the doors may well be open. So I'm going to make sure that we have the link in the show notes. It'll either be to a priority list or it may even be to the doors open. But I want to say to you, if you're a high achieving healer. If you're a coach already, if you're an expert or an author, and you are sick of playing small, and you are ready to leverage greater abundance in your life and business from your book, you want to create a global movement. You're going to want to listen up. Okay. Because genuinely having a book is still today, the most effective way to build a massive online audience that you can monetize into a million dollar brand.
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And the book dollar circle is where I'm going to show you exactly how to do that. So head to the link in my show notes if that resonates and you'd like to know more. I would love to help you. And, you know, I think. One of the things I love so much about this and having worked in this space now for 22 years in storytelling. It has been phenomenal to me to see how many opportunities are available for us creatives and for those of us that have that expertise. Help others so I want you to be open-minded— you can bring that voice that might be saying to you, 'Yeah, it's possible for them and not for me' into this container and opportunity. And that is welcome there. Okay.
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Because really, that is a big part of the work that we're going to be doing in the book Doulas Circle. I really, you know, having worked across pretty much every aspect of storytelling that you can, I have touched in some way. From. Television, journalism, broadcasting, public relations, marketing, brand stories, video production, social media. Media, storyboarding, script writing, speech writing. Like you, if you were to throw a— where do stories show up in the world? Have you ever done this? I could probably say to you, yes, I have. And that is very unique. I think in terms of the skills that I have across the board. And I want you to know now, when I look back 10 years into business.
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And I think about the version of me 20 years ago that was, you know, started my career and was hanging out at, say, the Leukemia Foundation, for example, in charity as a marketing and PR person. I'm so glad for that past version of me and all the different things that I did because that allows me to bring to my work when I'm coaching and mentoring or consulting in the past with organizations a level of experience that I feel like now was so divinely guided, but at the time I never knew any of that. And so the final thing I want to leave you with today is: I want to invite you to maybe take a moment in, you know, whether you're out, if you're walking, open your notes up on your phone.
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If you are driving, don't do anything because let's keep you safe. And if you've got it handy, grab a journal and maybe just jot down what are all the things or experiences that I have had in the past or things that have happened to me that I know on some level, if I pushed the fear aside and I allowed my full self to be seen, that I know I'm good at, that I know I could help other people with, or that I know was bloody tough that I went through and that could potentially help someone else. And that's your first step. But if you would like to monetize this, if this isn't something that you just know you want to do, you are sick of working for the man, you want to create more.
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Abundance in your life. You want the time freedom that comes from being an entrepreneur and a creative. Then I'm going to encourage you to head to the book dollar circle link. Doors will be open if not right now in a couple of days. So I think when I'm recording this episode, they're not, but they will be and go and check it out. And if you've got any questions, come and say good day in Instagram. You can DM me. I love to hear from you guys. And of course, if you found today's episode useful and you know someone that should be doing this, please share it with them. That really helps support me. It takes a lot of effort and time to pull this podcast together and I adore doing this for you guys.
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But if you're finding this valuable, I would be so grateful if you could share it. On your platforms or with your community or with anyone that you think would benefit from it as well. So sending you all so much love. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Next. time we are going to be diving in a little bit more. I was actually going to talk about speaking on stages in this episode but to be honest, I feel like there's so much to cover, we're going to have to do that next time. So stay tuned for that. If you would like to know how to really leverage your book to become a professional speaker and speak on stages, you're going to want to listen to that one. All right. I'll see you real soon, guys. Have a great week. Bye.
