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Choose an audience, share useful material, record responses, and review the plan.
You already explain your best ideas to clients, colleagues, and audiences. Join Mike Giannulis, founder of Dictate, for practical 10- to 15-minute episodes on turning that spoken expertise into a published book through conversations with an AI interviewer. Each episode gives experts, coaches, and business owners one clear step to capture their ideas, shape their message, and move their book forward.
Episodes of this show are narrated by an AI-generated voice.
Your book is live. What will you do next? A simple ninety-day plan can help you share useful ideas, notice the response, and decide which activities deserve your time.
Welcome to Talk Your Book Into Existence with Mike Giannulis, founder of Dictate. Learn how to turn the ideas you already share out loud into a published book, one conversation at a time. Today, you will leave with one practical step you can use on your own book.
A quick note before we begin: this episode is narrated by an AI-generated voice.
Choose an Audience and a Useful Idea.
Publishing gives you something to share, but a launch announcement is only one opportunity to help readers find it. In my book, I encourage authors to plan beyond launch day. For this episode, use ninety days as a manageable period for trying a few activities and reviewing what you learn.
So before we talk about what to do in week one, we need to talk about something that belongs in your thinking before launch day. Who are you actually trying to reach, and what is one genuinely useful thing from your book you can put in front of them?
Start with one audience whose interests overlap with the book. That might be a professional association, a relevant podcast audience, or a community focused on the problem you discuss. Check the community’s rules and how members actually participate. Relevance gives you a reason to contribute; it does not entitle you to attention or a promotional post.
Once you know the community, the question shifts. What excerpt, idea, or framework from the book is actually useful to that specific group? Not the whole book. One idea. One chapter concept. One story that crystallizes the problem your book addresses. When you can answer that, you have something worth sharing instead of something that just promotes.
An announcement tells people the book exists. A useful excerpt lets them assess the thinking inside it. Both can have a place in your plan. For example, explain one framework in the context of a question your audience already asks. Give enough detail for the piece to stand on its own, and make the connection to the book clear without turning every paragraph into a sales pitch.
If you approach a podcast, read or listen to enough of it to understand its audience and format. Suggest a specific discussion you can contribute honestly. A short, relevant proposal gives the host something concrete to evaluate, but it does not guarantee an invitation. Avoid claiming your idea is unprecedented unless you can support that claim.
For a guest article, study the publication’s submission guidance. Develop a focused idea for its readers and disclose your connection to the book where appropriate. The editor may have different expectations for links, bylines, and promotion. A useful article can introduce your work without needing to summarize the entire book.
For individual outreach, use a real connection and a relevant reason. You might say: our conversation about chapter planning made me think this section could be useful; would you like me to send it? Only refer to a conversation that actually happened. Keep the request easy to decline and respect silence or a no. A personal note should not become repeated pressure.
For a first experiment, concentrate on a community, an idea, and an appropriate way to share it. That makes the work easier to schedule and the response easier to interpret than changing several audiences and formats at once.
Choose an excerpt that makes sense without pages of missing context. Include any qualification or limitation needed to avoid changing its meaning. A reader should be able to learn something from it even if they never buy the book. Interest in the rest may follow, but that is something to observe rather than assume.
This is a starting plan, not a rule that every author must follow. Pick a small set of actions that fits your purpose, available time, and audience. You can expand later if the evidence and your capacity support it.
If you want to work through this process in more detail, my book, Talk Your Book Into Existence, is at startdictate.com/talk-your-book. The link is also in the episode notes.
Plan a Sustainable Weekly Schedule.
Now turn the intention into a weekly schedule you can actually maintain.
Imagine a plan with a launch-day announcement, several pitches, guest articles, and a stream of posts. Each action may be reasonable, yet the combined workload may exceed the time available. Before committing, ask who will prepare each item, review it, and follow up appropriately. A shorter plan with clear ownership can be easier to sustain.
One possible starting rhythm is a useful piece of content and one relevant outreach action each week. Adjust that to your situation. A thoughtful article might take longer than a short excerpt, and not every week needs a new channel. Reserve time to respond when someone does engage.
Here is a four-week example you can adapt. These are suggested actions, not quotas or predictions.
In week one, choose one idea and prepare it to stand alone. Share it through a channel you already use where the topic is welcome. Identify a small number of people for whom it may be relevant, and decide whether an individual note is appropriate. You do not need to contact everyone at once. Record what you shared, where, and the question you hoped it would help answer.
In week two, review the response before preparing the next piece. Did readers ask a question, use an example, or point out confusion? A comment can suggest interest, but a small number of responses is not a reliable picture of the whole audience. Record both the action and what you can actually observe. Separate your interpretation from the reader’s words.
In week three, make a modest adjustment if the evidence supports it. Perhaps the topic was relevant but the explanation was unclear, or the timing was poor. Do not abandon an approach solely because one post received little response. Compare several attempts and consider how many people had a reasonable opportunity to see them. Change one feature at a time when practical.
Week four. You look back at the full month and ask two questions. What response did I get, and what does it tell me about what to do in month two? You're not expecting to have cracked the code in thirty days. You're building a feedback loop. A ninety-day plan isn't a guarantee of outcomes. It's a structure for learning what works for your book with your audience, and then doing more of that.
Assign responsibility for the work. If you are doing it yourself, give each action a realistic place in your calendar. If someone helps, specify the deliverable, deadline, and review process. For example, draft one excerpt for Tuesday and send it for review on Monday. Clear instructions leave less room for avoidable misunderstandings.
Treat the ninety days as a planning horizon rather than a promise of results. At the end, you might continue, reduce the effort, try a different channel, or stop an activity that is not worth its cost. Consistency helps you carry out an experiment; it does not by itself establish that the experiment is working.
Review Responses and Adjust Your Plan.
Include a review point in the plan so you can respond when the results differ from your expectations.
You may hear back from fewer people than you hoped, or receive no visible response to an excerpt. Silence has several possible explanations: limited reach, timing, lack of relevance, or simply a reader who does not reply. Record it without pretending you know the reason. It is an observation, not a verdict on the book.
So let's talk about revision. Not revision of the book. Revision of the plan based on what readers and potential readers are actually telling you, explicitly or by their behavior.
Look at shared pieces separately. Which topics generated specific questions or useful feedback? Were the audiences and opportunities for exposure comparable? A story, a clear example, or a practical question may suggest a direction to test again. One successful post does not establish why it succeeded. Repeat the promising approach and see whether the pattern holds.
For a piece with little response, examine clarity, relevance, placement, and format. You might shorten the introduction or explain the example more directly. If you try another format, keep track of that change so you do not attribute every difference to the idea itself. Choose formats you can produce well with the time you have.
Read replies for what they actually say. A congratulatory note is different from a request for help implementing a method. Neither needs to be dismissed. If someone asks a question, answer it within the scope you can support. Ask permission before moving into a longer discussion or using their feedback publicly.
My book recommends looking for evidence of interest before building a course. A reader’s implementation question can be a useful lead, but it is not proof that they want a paid program. Explore the need before committing substantial resources. Ask what they are trying to accomplish, what help they want, and whether a small pilot would be useful. Keep curiosity, willingness to participate, and willingness to pay separate in your notes.
After each week, write three things: what did I do, what happened, and what would I change? Ninety days gives you roughly thirteen weeks, with a final review to bring the observations together. You do not need a complex system. Keep enough detail to compare the activity with the time it took and the purpose it was meant to serve.
A plan can change as you learn. That does not mean changing direction after every quiet day. Set a reasonable review interval, give an approach a fair test, and make deliberate choices. Document why you continue or stop an activity so your next decision is based on more than a vague memory of how busy the month felt.
At the final review, choose what deserves another test and what does not. Consider usefulness to readers, your own time, and any costs. Your conclusion may be modest: one audience seems relevant, one explanation needs work, or one channel is not a good fit. Those are concrete findings you can use when planning the next period.
Your book is a conversation that keeps going. The ninety-day plan is how you stay in it.
Choose one relevant audience and one useful idea from your book. Put a realistic sharing task and a short review into your calendar for each of the next four weeks. If individual outreach is appropriate, make it relevant and easy to decline. Record what you do and what happens, then use those observations to plan the next month.
Take the next small step on your book today. For more guidance, find Talk Your Book Into Existence at startdictate.com/talk-your-book.
Visit startdictate dot com slash talk your book.
Next time on Talk Your Book Into Existence: Measure What Your Book Is Actually Doing. Choose measures that help you learn whether your book is reaching and helping the intended reader. Follow the show so the next episode is ready when you are.
Thanks for listening to Talk Your Book Into Existence. Follow the show for your next practical step, and share this episode with someone who has a book in them. Your next conversation could be the start of a chapter.