Hello to all my Modern Authors!

It's pretty cool to be on a stage, speaking to an audience listening to your every word. (Or some of you may say that's terrifying).

I meet a lot of people who say, “I want to speak more.” And often, they do... a breakout session here, a podcast guest spot there, maybe even a conference workshop. That’s speaking.

But let me say the quiet part out loud: there’s a difference between people who speak and Speakers.

Being a Speaker? That’s different than just doing a speech once or twice. A Speaker isn’t looking to add a stage or two. Speaking is the business model. It’s the primary job. The livelihood.

And here’s the hard truth: a Speaker’s book isn’t about selling copies. It’s about getting booked. Meeting planners don’t care about your Amazon ranking.

They care whether your book is compelling enough to hand to 500 attendees in Iowa, Phoenix, or Orlando... and whether your message works across industries, not just your niche.

Which leads to the quiet truth most aspiring Speakers miss: a bad book hurts you more than no book at all. Event organizers won’t risk putting a mediocre book in front of their audience. And a too-narrow book? That limits your stage before you even step on it.

The best Speaker books don’t just get read... they get booked. They’re the hook. They’re the asset that secures the keynote stages 12–24 months from now.

Welcome to Part 7 of the Profitable Author Series where we've been deconstructing the models behind successful authors from coaches and builders to guides and teachers. Today we're going to look at one of the most exciting and challenging business models for Modern Authors: Speaking.

Let's dig into what actually gets you booked some (if you enjoy speaking) and what gets you booked A LOT (if your job is a Speaker).

Who is a Speaker (like really)?

Speakers think differently. Their raw material isn’t a coaching session or a framework: it’s a talk. Their job is to craft a message that moves audiences, creates transformation, and lingers long after the applause fades.

And as someone who has seen his books lead to quite a few stages (and some small, odd non-stages), there's something quite exhilerating about being on stage in front of dozens, hundreds, or thousands (although the last one is still kinda terrifying).

Successful, profitable speakers thrive in those settings. That’s what sets them apart:

• Teachers deliver knowledge.
• Coaches drive transformation.
• Builders scale systems.
• Speakers? They craft messages people remember.

And those messages don’t live in one format. They show up as keynote addresses, breakout workshops, panel talks, and (critically) books that anchor the signature speech. A great Speaker book is like a keynote on paper: polished, memorable, and designed to spread.

Nearly every professional speaker today has a book. Some are pretty mediocre if you ask me, many are solid, and some really catch fire. Why do some perform better than others?

Their books are uniquely memorable, but broadly applicable.

Unlike a narrow case-study book or a niche operating manual, a Speaker’s book has to be broad and evergreen. It needs to work for auto dealers, pharma sales reps, tech entrepreneurs, and educators alike. Because the person who decides whether you’re booked isn’t your ideal reader: it’s a meeting planner who needs assurance you can deliver to their diverse audience.

For Speakers, the book isn’t just a thought leadership piece. It’s the calling card, the hook, and the business development engine for the next 12–24 months of stages.

Most Speakers Start Niche, and Then Find their Category like Steve Fredlund

When I first met Steve Fredlund, he was already speaking: telling stories about safaris and his experiences in Africa. His keynote at the time was called Peeps in the Jeep. It was entertaining, funny, and heartfelt.

But there was a challenge: it was niche. A story about being on safari might delight an audience in the moment, but it didn’t carry the kind of broad message that conference organizers could put in front of thousands across industries.

I had the privilege of working with Steve as he wrestled with this reality. His stories were great... but they weren’t yet a spreadable message. And that’s the distinction every Speaker must eventually face.

Stories make people smile. Messages with a Framework make people book you.

The breakthrough came with his book Do the Unright Thing. Suddenly, Steve’s platform shifted from a fun safari narrative to a universal leadership message about courage, decision-making, and going against the grain. Now his content wasn’t just “fun to hear”... it was transformational. That’s the kind of message an auto dealers association in Iowa, a sales team in pharma, and an economic development summit in Phoenix can all get behind.

It even landed Steve on a reality show (I'll let you hear THAT story from him).

For Steve, the book wasn’t an accessory to his talk. It was the turning point that redefined what he stood for on stage. When he walks into a meeting with a conference planner now, he doesn’t just pitch a fun keynote: he delivers a proven, codified message with the credibility of a book behind it.

👉 The takeaway: a Speaker’s book has to transcend context. It needs to give you a repeatable, wide-reaching message... something that a booker feels safe putting in front of a thousand attendees.

The Speaker Platform Mindset Gregory Offner Used to Get Signed by a Speaker Bureau

Gregory Offner is one of those rare combinations: a professional entertainer and a professional speaker.

When I met Gregory, he was already commanding audiences with his mix of music, humor, and hard-hitting insights about disruption and change. He was memorable. But like many Speakers, he faced a practical question: how do you keep your message fresh, relevant, and repeatable year after year?

Gregory summed it up perfectly in a conversation we had: “You need a book to support 2–3 keynotes or keynote versions, and then another book in 2–3 years to support your next 2–3.”

In short... great speakers need a future-proof speaking platform.

Gregory's line has stuck with me ever since. Because unlike a Builder or Teacher, a Speaker’s book isn’t forever. It’s a campaign asset.

When Gregory wrote his first book, Tip Jar Culture, it wasn’t about creating a single, enduring product to fuel his business for decades. It was about anchoring the 2–3 keynotes that were driving his bookings at that moment. His book gave event planners confidence. He got signed to a speakers bureau. All that led to his platform growing (a lot).

His book told audiences the message wasn’t just entertainment: it was thought leadership. And a couple of years down the line, when his next set of speeches evolve, so too will his next book.

That’s how professional Speakers think. The book isn’t the legacy... it’s the amplifier. It packages a moment in your thought leadership journey, making it easier to get booked, easier to get remembered, and easier to justify higher fees.

👉 The takeaway: Speaker books aren’t meant to last forever. They’re campaign assets, designed to fuel bookings over a 2–3 year window before your next message evolves.

Write What You Speak About (so They Know What You'll Say)

Josh Linkner is someone I’ve admired for years. He’s lived a full entrepreneur’s journey... founding companies, leading teams, even building a venture capital fund.

But what makes Josh stand out isn’t just his track record as a business leader. It’s the way he’s translated that credibility into a thriving career as a professional speaker. How do you transition from your prior life (for Josh as an entrepreneur) into a Speaker?

For Josh, he wrote his way there: he has written multiple books: Disciplined Dreaming,The Road to Reinvention, and Big Little Breakthroughs. Each one has acted like a seed. It plants a fresh idea into the market, establishes him as a thought leader on innovation and creativity, and then serves as the backbone for a series of keynote speeches.

Often times aspiring speakers try to get cute... but Josh told me: "I write the introduction of every book knowing it's the essence of the keynote. And the rest of the book? It's going to be the workshop that goes with it."

This is what too many aspiring speakers forget... these are assets that flywheel if built to flywheel.

Here’s the brilliance of Josh’s approach: the book isn’t the end point. It’s the starting gun.

He writes a book, distills its ideas into a powerful keynote, delivers that keynote to companies and conferences around the world, and then leaves the book behind as a lasting artifact. The cycle repeats every few years, with a new book fueling new speeches.

I’ve watched Josh’s career and noticed that he doesn’t separate the two: speech and book. They’re part of the same system. The book gives him credibility and distribution. The keynote brings the ideas to life with energy and emotion. And together, they reinforce one another, multiplying the reach and impact of his message.

👉 The takeaway: Great Speakers don’t see their books as standalone products. They see them as multipliers. A book seeds the idea. The keynote delivers the experience. And together, they expand influence far beyond what either could accomplish alone.

How to Build a Book that Creates Speaking Opportunities

Not everyone can be a professional speaker... not everyone wants to either.

But if you'd like to increase your speaking and your speaking rate, you'll need to design a book that makes you easier to book.

Don't just focus on the speech... focus on your platform.

When most people imagine professional speakers, they picture someone walking onto a stage, delivering a rousing keynote, and stepping off to applause. But if you’ve ever spent time with full-time Speakers, you’ll quickly realize that the keynote is just the beginning: not the whole business.

A great Speaker book unlocks an entire portfolio. Yes, the keynote is often the centerpiece: the signature talk that conferences build around... but behind that keynote sits a tiered set of offerings:

• Paid Keynotes (the flagship): 45–60 minute talks, priced from $5K on the low end to $50K+ for top-tier speakers. The book is often bundled for every attendee, reinforcing the message.
• Workshops & Breakouts: Interactive sessions for smaller groups. The book gives the workshop structure and credibility, showing clients it’s more than “ideas”... it’s a method.
• Executive Coaching & Leadership Retreats: Some speakers spin off intimate coaching programs for senior leaders. The book becomes the “curriculum.”
• Corporate Programs & Licensing: Think train-the-trainer models, organizational rollouts, or subscription-based access to content. The book serves as the core intellectual property that scales into an enterprise offer.
• Digital Products: Online courses, recorded keynotes, or toolkits that extend reach beyond the stage. Again, the book anchors the authority.

👉 The lesson? For a true Speaker, the book is the entry point to a business model, not the exit. It gives event organizers confidence, provides attendees a lasting artifact, and creates hooks for additional revenue streams long after the stage lights go down.

Final Thoughts about Speaking Today

I love speaking and I'm fortunate to get to do a paid talk about every two months.

But I (wrongly) assumed with my first book it would naturally lead to speaking opportunities. Nope.

When I talk to aspiring speakers, the most common misconception is that the book itself will fill their calendars. The truth is harder but more freeing: a book doesn’t get you gigs... what it does is make you bookable.

Here’s what I mean. Event organizers want certainty. They want to know that if they put you on their stage, you’ll deliver a message that resonates with their wildly diverse audience... educators, sales reps, engineers, nonprofit leaders... without alienating half the room. A book signals that your ideas have been pressure-tested, packaged, and made broad enough to land

But only if it’s a great book. A poorly executed book? That’s worse than not having one at all. No conference wants to hand out a book that feels amateurish, self-indulgent, or hyper-niche. Your book has to stand on its own as something attendees will actually read and remember.

That’s why the best Speakers approach their book as a campaign tool. Steve Fredlund broadened his platform from safari stories to corporate transformation with Do the Unright Thing. Gregory Offner uses his books to refresh his keynote lineup every few years. Josh Linkner treats each book as both a seed for new speeches and a multiplier for his impact.

So if you’re a Speaker, or aspire to be one, don’t write your book as an afterthought or ego piece.

Write it as the most important sales asset you’ll ever create. Done right, it’s not just your hook into stages. It’s your ticket to building a sustainable, thriving speaking business.

This is the Speaker's advantage: once your book exists, it becomes both the backbone of your speech and the proof organizers need to book you.

Happy Speaking (and Writing), y’all.

Eric

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🟦 This is Part 7 of a 10-Part Series on The Profitable Author. In the coming weeks, we’ll be diving into the Guide, and more, breaking down exactly how each persona uses their book as a profit engine and growth system.

📬 Subscribe at ModernAuthorGuide.com to get the rest.

🟩 Want help designing a book that elevates your speaking platform?

Reply and let’s talk. Or grab 15-minutes... I'd love to chat: https://go.oncehub.com/ManuscriptsBookTopicChatf​