| Publishing Coach Weekly |
| Page: Articles-on-Writing-Publishing-Promoting-Successful-Books |
by Diane Eble
I was talking to an acquisitions editor of a mainstream pubolishing house the other day. (The kind of publisher who pays to publish you, and also pays all the upfront costs. As opposed to a self-publishing company.)
"What do you look for most in a publishable author?" I asked.
Most people, when they think of publishing a book, automatically want to get published by a mainstream publisher. The kind who will pay you to publish your book, as well as pay the upfront publishing costs.
There are definitely advantages to being published by mainstream publishers. However, there are downsides as well. It really all comes down to what your goals are in getting published.
When I mention to people that I am an author and book publishing coach, I often get the response, "I want to write a book someday."
I then ask, "Why someday? Why not today?"
The reason, of course, is because most people don't know where to start in writing a book. I'm going to banish that right now, by giving you a simple technique that will take you only 10-15 minutes per day.
Yet, if you do this faithfully, it will turn you into a prolific writer.
Test Your Book Idea Using Keywords
One of my subscribers wrote to me recently, "Are there any ways to test the idea(s) one would have for a book? No sense working hard on a manuscript if it wouldn't have market appeal."
I agree. Writing a book is a big project. Indeed, why do all that work unless you have some assurance of success?
So, how do you assess whether there's an audience for your book idea?
How much do you enjoy writing?
If writing is not fun, yet you feel you have a message you need to get out there--perhaps even a book--read on. There's no one "right way" to write. Finding your own "writer style" can open a door of pleasure in writing that you didn't even know was there!
You want to write a book. You have an idea. Great!
But you don't know where to begin.
I have your answer.
Start with an article.
You've heard the expression: "How do you eat an
elephant? One bite at a time."
The "elephant" is the book. The "bites" are the series of articles that will eventually make up the book—each article a piece of a chapter.
You can assure yourself of finishing the book if Read more ...
People who want to publish a book usually start by thinking about what they want to write about.
I submit, that's not the best place to start.
Yes, you do need to have some idea of what to write about. But more importantly, I think, is to start with Who, rather than what.
Whom do you want to lead? Read more ...
5 Ways to Use Teleseminars to Build an Author Platform--Before or After Your Book is Published
I was talking to an editor of a mainstream publishing company recently about the many changes happening in publishing.
She told me that her company (which used to be a magazine publishing company) now considers itself a media company, and one of its main thrusts is electronic marketing of digital products.
This IS the way of the future. In fact, it is the PRESENT as well.
"How do I protect my book idea from being stolen?” is a question I’m often asked.
My answer is usually two-fold.
First, once you have your words down on paper, you are protected by copyright law. So if you sent me (or a literary agent or an editor) your manuscript, you are already protected from anyone stealing your idea. If someone put out your exact words with their name on it, you’d have a pretty strong case for their plagiarizing your work.
Using Twitter to Create a Following
Just a couple of months ago, I had only heard of Twitter. Several people I knew were using it, and saying it was "great."
"Great" is such a generic word.
Then I took a class on "Blogging in a 2.0 World " with Cathy Perkins. (She will be teaching it again in a few weeks so stay tuned!) I learned about Twitter from Cathy and started "Tweeting."
What has happened since and how can you, too, benefit? (Read to the end for your free gift.)
This time, I'm going to answer questions many people ask by sharing a couple of resources. Note that there's a deadline of Feb. 9, 2009 to sign up for the second option.
The questions are:
No doubt you've heard lots of talk of "Web 2.0" bandied about.
Do you know what it really means?
In particular, what does it mean for an author or aspiring author?
Web 2.0 is THE reason I say, "This is the BEST time to be an author." It's one of the key things that make this truly a "new era of publishing."
When you’re trying to market your book, nothing beats the “social proof” of other people’s response to your book.
That’s one of the reasons amazon.com is so successful. Not only can you “skim” the book by looking at table of contents and an excerpt, but you can read what other people say about the book–good and bad.
Plus, a great endorsement can almost create a best seller. I believe one of the reasons The Shack took off the way it did was because it had such a strong endorsement by a very well-respected writer, Eugene Peterson.
Some of the questions I’m asked as a publishing coach/consultant are, “How do I get endorsements and testimonials, at what point do I seek them, and what do I do with them?”
First, the difference between endorsements and testimonials. (A fine distinction not everyone makes, but I find it helpful.)
“I’m an author. Is podcasting right for me?”
“I’m a business person. How can podcasting fit into my business?”
These are questions many people asked me this week.
After taking the Podcast Secrets course last year, I would say that podcasting is right for a lot of people.
It’s right for an author who has a book and wants to reach a wider audience. One of the things Paul Colligan stresses is how fast the market is growing of people who buy and use portable media players. One-third of this audience is overseas.
"Should I go through the added work of doing a book proposal and then waiting for a traditional publisher to decide on my book, or forge ahead with a self-publishing company?"
This is the happy, though difficult, decision facing two of my clients right now.
Two traditional publishers are interested in seeing their proposals and manuscripts. These are major publishers with whom it would be prestigious to publish.
In the past, there would be no issue. But today, there is. There are now alternatives.
It used to be, "author" was synonymous with "writer."
Not anymore.
In this New Era of Publishing, "publishing" means "getting your message out." Technology offers a plethora of ways to get the message out, but it comes down to speaking or writing.
It's not necessary to choose between the two; the most effective strategy is to do a combination of both. However, most people prefer one over the other. And that's the place to start.
I've been thinking a lot about the heart.
No, not that internal organ doctors can listen to.
I'm talking about that internal, invisible "center" of your being.
The place of your passion. (Again, I'm not talking about sex here, but the things that move you most deeply, that you care about most passionately.)
The other day, I listened to an excellent teleseminar in which Alex Carroll interviewed Tom Bird about writing. "People want to feel something," Tom said. "They will read you if your writing takes them out of their everyday life and makes them feel something."
The Key To Creating Information Products That Sell (Even In Overcrowded, Highly-Competitive Markets)
I asked Jimmy D. Brown to write a guest article because I ALWAYS learn something useful from Jimmy.
In this case, he's talking about what makes information sell in an age where, as you well know, we're all inundated with too much information. What he says here is an important piece of what I call "the new era of publishing."
Please read the article and my follow-up suggestions below. I also included comments on Jimmy's ideas in a couple of places.
I want you to add a new word to your business vocabulary…
The word is "specialization".
A new age has dawned in information marketing. And it's the age of "specialization."
One of the things I've studied for years, simply because it fascinates me, is the creative process.
There are stages in the creative process. I will tell you what they are, then show you how to work with these stages so that you are always "writing," --i.e. working with the creative process--no matter what else you may be doing at the moment.
Stage 1: Germination. This is the beginning, when you get the idea. There is a burst of inspiration, and that energy carries you through. I like to use this phase for a special brainstorming technique I use (see below). Use the special energy of this stage to get as many ideas out as you can. Don't worry about order; worrying about order of any kind at this stage short-circuits the energy.
Nobody has to tell you that you can hardly do anything or go anywhere without being bombarded with messages—mostly someone trying to sell you something.
I did some research on just how many such messages we encounter on average. The stats are all over the map (click here to read the sources), but the figure that keeps floating to the top is around 3000.
Most of us have become quite adept at tuning out most of those messages.
The trouble is, if you're an author or business person, you have a message of your own you want people to hear.
You know YOUR message is important. Your message deserves to be heard.
But look at the competition!
So, how can you ensure that YOUR message will be "well heard"?
Do you have a blog yet?
If not, you should start one—today! As soon as you finish reading this article!
Why?
Here are at least nine good reasons why every author should have a blog.
1. They are very easy to create, update, and maintain. If you can write an email, you can create and keep up with a blog. Plus, it costs nothing!
O ne of the things that has always been an especial challenge to authors is knowing whether anyone will be interested in what they want to write about. It's always been guesswork on the part of publishers and authors. (Which is one reason most book sales never match the investment the publisher makes, and most authors never earn enough royalties to pay back the advance against royalties—if they were lucky enough to get a decent advance.)
Now, however, we do have the technology to find out what people want to read.
Though I love books, and have been in the book publishing industry for a long time, I'm very glad that technology now affords authors other ways to deliver our content besides a print book.
If you have a print book, the most profit you'll get from it is a few dollars. Usually between $1 and $2.
I was talking to an editor of a mainstream publishing company recently about the many changes happening in publishing.
She told me that one thing that will give a would-be author a leading edge when it comes to getting published is how well he or she understands the whole publishing world.
Another thing was how well the author can navigate the new forms of getting the message out and creating a little "world" in which that person is known, liked, and trusted.
In our teleseminar on blogging, Cathy Perkins told the true story of a friend of hers who has a blog and wrote a post that the Los Angeles Times contacted him about. The LA Times interviewed the blogger, and his name and blog url were included in the article. Traffic to his blog increased ten times, and who knows where that exposure will lead.
Nowadays, to the media, it's less important if you have a printed book than it used to be. If you have a well-visited blog that looks professional and people visit and comment on, you are seen as an expert. Read more ...
Why do people want to write books?
Why do you want to write a book? (Which I assume you do or did, if you’re reading this.)
You have a dream in the back of your mind about what being an author will mean to you. (Or, if you’ve already written one, you had a dream at one time.)
I want you to move that dream to the front of your mind and take a good look at it.
What do you hope being an author will do for you?
This question was asked recently at www.askyourbookpublishingcoach.com, and now that I have more first-hand experience with it, I’d like to give a definitive answer.
I am, overall, for it.
Having recently been through the process with several clients who recently published books, two of them with Intermedia, I have to say this: It is time-consuming, nerve wracking, a ton of work.
It’s also the best way to
It would seem almost a dream come true: You publish with a good 'publishing services" (self-publishing or print on demand) company. They produce a beautiful book. You give it a great launch and it gets on the bestseller list.
The success attracts a top-notch literary agent.
Now the big question is: Should you go with the agent, who may be promising you a huge contract with a Big Six publisher?
Surprisingly, the answer is NOT a no-brainer.