Fifteen questions, built around one question

What will it take to make this the most widely read book in the history of the financial services industry and
the one COIs actually pass to each other?

What Actually Makes a Business Book Spread

Books do not become industry-wide because a lot of people bought them. They become industry-wide because a manageable number of people gave them to someone else — repeatedly, unprompted, for reasons they could explain in one sentence.
That reframes what we need to learn. The old survey asked would you buy this? The right question is
closer to would you hand this to your CPA, and what would you say when you did?
Four things have to be true for a book to travel that way:


Condition What we must learn
A hook that
survives retelling		 Can a reader say what this book is about in one sentence, in their own words, without our help?
A reason to
give it away		 Who specifically would they hand it to, and what do they
get out of doing so?
A moment
of recognition		 Which page made them feel personally seen? That page is the whole marketing campaign.
Crossover
credibility		 Does it read as a financial services book, or as a book about the professions generally? This determines whether a CPA reads it
or dismisses it.

The fifteen questions below test exactly those four things, plus the friction that stops each one.

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1. Which best describes your profession?

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2. How many business books have you finished in the past twelve months?

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3. How much of the preview did you read?

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4. Was there a specific moment where you thought, “that is exactly my experience”?

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5. After reading the preview, how would you describe your reaction?

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6. Was there anything in the preview you disagreed with, doubted, or found unconvincing?

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7. On a scale of 0–10, how likely are you to recommend this book to a colleague once it publishes?

0 10
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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8. What is the main reason for that score?

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9. Who would you give a copy to? (Select all that apply)

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10. If you gave this to a CPA or attorney you work with, what would you say when you handed it over?

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11. Would you buy multiple copies to give away?

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12. Which would make the biggest difference to how valuable this book is to you?

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13. In your own words, what is this book about?

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14. What would this book have to deliver for you to consider it one of the most useful books you have read in your career?

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15. Which of these would make you most likely to read the full book the week it comes out?
(Select up to two)

Thank you for your time and your honesty.

Your feedback is helping us build something that will genuinely change how this profession performs.

Sarano Kelley and Brooke Kelley
Co-Founders, The Kelley Group

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