Turning Off Your Book Funnel Was a Mistake (and How to Fix It)

Introduction

Many authors believe that once their book has launched, the real work is done. But we know at Bestseller Publishing that the book alone is not the crowning moment—it is the beginning of your funnel journey. In today’s article we uncover how Josh Coats made a critical error: he shut off his book funnel after launching a newer title, only to see his high‐ticket connecting program decline in momentum. This was his big book funnel mistake.

Then he made a smart move: he turned his older book funnel back on, with minimal changes, and watched his lead‐machine reignite. If you ever feel like your book funnel ran its course, this case study will show you how to revive it and extract ongoing value.

Why Turning Off the Funnel Hurts

When you publish a book and treat it simply as a new product, you may neglect the infrastructure that turns it into a funnel. For Josh, after his first successful funnel around “F*** Leadership,” he moved to a new book—and decided the old funnel had done its job.

He believed: “This book has done its thing.” He shut down the funnel and invested less energy there. However, his high-ticket network marketing program that previously overflowed from the book funnel started fading. His internal figures revealed his top producers and affiliates all came from the original funnel launch period.

How Josh Revived the Funnel — What He Did & Why It Worked

Here are the key steps he took to restart the funnel and reclaim momentum.

1. Re-activate the landing page without reworking it

He didn’t redesign the funnel or change the messaging drastically. In fact, he didn’t change the landing page, order bump, or primary offer. He simply turned it back on in September 2024 and the system began working again. That tells us the funnel foundation was strong. He shared: “I didn’t change a single word… The only thing I did was write a new email sequence.”

2. Re-engage with personal outreach quickly

Once the funnel was live again, Josh resumed texting those who ordered the book. He wrote: “I personally send them a text message that says, ‘This is Josh. (From my personal phone.) Thank you so much for ordering my book.’” The return on this personal touch was significant—his ideal clients (six-figure earners) responded at a rate around 80%.

3. Analyse the data to separate facts from story

He looked back at his ads and internal numbers rather than relying on feelings. He discovered the decline in leads wasn’t because the funnel failed—it was because he paused it and stopped the flows. His analysis reaffirmed his initial success and changed his mindset about continuation.

Proof: What Happened When He Re-Started the Funnel

Some of the key results from re-activation:

• Within the first week after re-launch: a $5,000 upfront client.
• Within two weeks: five clients total from ~100 book orders.
• Acquisition cost remained ~$20–$30 per book.
• Overall conversion to ideal high‐ticket clients remained strong because the funnel had done the heavy lifting.

How You Can Fix Your Book Funnel Mistake

If you have an existing book and you have paused promotion, here is your “on-ramp” to revive it:

1. Turn the funnel back on. Reactivate the landing page, checkout, and book offer. Minimal changes are fine if the system previously worked.
2. Ensure you have a personal touch follow-up—text or voicemail works better than purely automated emails.
3. Review your ideal client profile and ask for qualifying data on the opt-in form (e.g., monthly revenue ranges) so you can prioritize outreach.
4. Analyse the numbers: cost per book, response rate, conversion to call, conversion to sale. Adjust where needed.
5. Scale the traffic slowly once you prove profitability, and constantly test your upsell or next-step offers.

Outcome & Transformation

When you treat your book like the first step of your funnel rather than just a promotional prop, you unlock long-term, scalable client acquisition. You build a system that continues to produce even when you’re busy working on other projects. As Josh demonstrated, you can turn a pause into a relaunch and reignite growth.

If you’ve been wondering whether your book funnel still has life, the answer is yes—if you simply turn it back on and apply smart follow-up, you’re giving your business a second wind of results.