The Book ROI Calculator
A four-question calculator for professionals who sell a service. You put in what a client is worth to you, and it shows what a handful of new clients from a book would add up to, next to results that Scribe authors in similar fields reported. It is a thinking aid and, openly, a sales tool.
- What it is
- A web calculator on scribemedia.com.
- Format
- Interactive, four steps. One sitting.
- What it asks
- Your profession and three numbers. First name and email to see the full report; phone optional.
What it does
The calculator asks four things:
- What you do: financial advisor, consultant, speaker or coach, founder or CEO, physician, attorney, or other.
- What one new client is worth to you per year.
- How many new clients you win in a typical year now.
- How long a client stays with you, in years (it defaults to three).
As you type, a preview line does the basic arithmetic: what one new client is worth over the years they stay, and what three a year would be worth. That part is visible without giving any details. The full report, which sits behind a short form, adds Scribe's monthly pricing for its services, the point at which each would pay for itself on your numbers, and links to success stories from Scribe authors in or near your field.
Who it is for
People whose business runs on high-value clients: advisors, consultants, attorneys, coaches, agency owners, founders. If one new client is worth thousands of dollars a year to you, the exercise is worth doing. If you are writing a memoir for your family or a book for a cause, this is the wrong tool. Your reasons are real, but they are not measured in client revenue.
What you come away with
- A plain number for what one more client is worth to you over time. Many professionals have never written this down.
- A sense of how few new clients it would take for a book to cover its cost.
- If you give your details: Scribe's current monthly prices next to your numbers, and links to authors in your field whose stories you can read in full.
What it asks of you
Honest numbers. The preview runs on whatever you type, so the result is only as good as your estimate of client value. To see the full report you give a first name and email; phone is optional. Your details go to Scribe, which may follow up. The page itself says the results are your own estimates and not a prediction or guarantee, and that the author outcomes shown are individual results.
How to get the most from it
- Use a conservative client value. Take your median client, not your best one.
- Ask the right question of the result. The calculator does not estimate how many clients a book will bring you. Nobody can. The useful question is the reverse: how many would it need to bring for the cost to make sense, and is that believable for you?
- Read the linked stories, not just the headline numbers. The stories explain how each author used the book: who they gave it to, how it fit their sales process. That is the part you can copy.
- Run it before you talk to anyone selling book services, Scribe included. Knowing your own break-even makes any sales call shorter and clearer.
Its honest limits
- The math is simple multiplication. It does not account for the time a book takes, the work of marketing it, or the chance it brings no clients at all.
- The author results it shows are chosen successes. They are real and linked to full write-ups, but they are not typical.
- It compares your numbers with Scribe's prices only, not with doing it yourself or with other firms. Writing a book yourself costs far less money and far more time.
- It is built for service businesses. Physicians and "other" professions get fewer matched examples.
Before and after
Before: chapter 36 of The Scribe Method, Realistic and unrealistic expectations for a book, sets the frame: most nonfiction books earn little from sales, and the return comes from what the book leads to.
After: read three or four success stories in your industry, and watch the book revenue webinar for a fuller account of where a book's return comes from. If the numbers say yes, move on to the North Star tool. The use your book for business path puts these in order.