Cork city businesswoman Orla Kelly admits that she stumbled into book publishing, but that stumble has served her well. She is now the successful owner of her very own book publishing business. She is also due to launch a course for those who want to learn the ropes of publishing their own book in the new year.
She loved to tell stories to her kids and when they suggested she write them down to keep a record of them it sparked the idea of creating a book. She thought maybe other children needed to read these stories, which all had a moral to each story, and she self-published her first book on Amazon – little did she know the seed was then sown.
She was encouraged, at a local networking event in Cork, to take her experience further and explore the possibilities of making a business of her newfound skill. There was an entrepreneurship programme in Macroom, Co. Cork with a call out for candidates and Kelly submitted an application and gained a place on the six-month programme.
“At the end of the six months my business Orla Kelly Start Publishing was born. I’ve since then shortened the name to Orla Kelly Publishing because it was a bit of a mouthful,” she says.
“From 2014 my business has gone from strength to strength, my services have expanded. And as clients have asked for more, I had to expand my services,” she explains. “I’ve had to upskill and learn.”
“It allowed me to work from home and command my own hours. It’s been really liberating,” she says.
Due to a great reputation the business grew, she had more clients than ever, and she was publishing across 30 different book categories and had published over 150 books. But somewhere in the middle of all that she found herself looking at her business and deciding something had to give.
“I needed to do a critical review of my business and decide where I wanted to see myself,” says Kelly. “My business needs have transitioned to what I love, which is non-fiction and authors who want to publish books to grow their business. “
“Once I made that transition, I was happy with it,” she explains.
Kelly now has two websites, Orla Kelly Publishing and new site Business Book Publishing which does pretty much exactly as it says on the tin. Her services range from basic book publishing to publishing with marketing and PR packages. In January 2022 she is offering a 12-module course on learning the ropes to publishing, adding to her services.
Kelly says everyone in business should be thinking about publishing a business book and below she outlines some excellent reasons why:
– Raises your profile and will give you more media attention and speaking engagements
– It gives you a status that can allow you to command higher fees for these engagements
– You will be seen as an expert in your industry – a thought leader
– Helps you stand out from your competitors
– Great tool and resource for you to organically connect with those who you would like to work with – to influence and educate so they become warm leads in your business
– Gives you that know, like and trust factor
“A business book done the right way should never come across as sales-y or self-promotional, that’s not a business book,” says Orla. “A business book should be educational, informative and really show your authority and expertise.”
“It is all about the end user and what they will get out of reading it,” she adds.
Off you go now and add ‘publish a business book’ to your goals for 2022!
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@OrlaKellyAuthor