Guy Kawasaki has written twelve books in twenty-five years. He went the traditional publisher route and ended up self publishing later. During his self publishing venture he learned many things and he captured ten of them in his article “The Top Ten Mistakes Writers Make When Self-Publishing a Book”. You can read it here.
Last month’s blog carnival on Author Marketing Experts, Inc. includes at least a dozen blog posts with excellent advice from a variety of experts. You’ll find tips like “How to find your own writing style” and “Writing Fiction The Walter Mitty Way”. Take a look and let us know what you think.
If you are looking for a literary agent then we highly recommend the blog written for Writer’s Digest by Chuck Sambuchino. Chuck blogs regularly and includes interviews with agents and writers, writing tips and information about upcoming seminars both offline and on. To learn more visit Chuck Sambuchino’s Guide to Literary Agents Blog.
Author Nathan Bransford gives us a wickedly funny take on publishing a book in his post “The Publishing Process in GIF Form“. Although his take on the usual process is dead on, it doesn’t have to be like this. If you work with new publishers like 42Rules, you don’t have to go through the traditional process that can take years to get your book to market.
With our proven formula, you can go from having an idea, to having a book on Amazon in less than six months. The 42Rules program is the only program of its kind to combine the three critical elements required to make a book successful: Writing, Publishing and Marketing.
If you have a non-fiction book in you, contact with us right away to learn more about our program. We look forward to working with you.
Joel Friedlander of The Book Designer blog has an insightful and honest article that discusses the inherent flaws a self published book might have if an experienced editor was not used. Joel was a judge of the annual BAIPA Book Awards and shares some questions posed by an author who received some criticism of her book. You can read the answers Joel provided but I think the point of the post is that even a self published author needs an experienced editor who understands formatting and publishing conventions. If you want a book that gets read you need help and there are plenty of experienced independent editors who can help you.
300 residents of Vernal, Utah love their book so much that when their new library opened they formed a human chain to move the books from one building to another! Librarians were thrilled at the turnout and more books need to be moved but residents made a good start with their efforts. To read the rest of this inspiring story click here.
A great way to create a relationship and build trust with a potential reader is to give something to them for free. This could be an excerpt of your book, a free chapter, a tipsheet or checklist from the book, etc. In return you can ask them to give you their name and e-mail address so you can keep in touch.
Some of you may be unsure about this idea. You’re thinking “but why give it away when I can charge for it?” You can’t charge people for stuff if they don’t know you exist. People aren’t going to do business with someone if they have no idea who you are.
There are two things to remember when you give something away:
1. Make sure it has your name and contact information on it.
2. Make sure it has a real perceived to your clients.
In order for this strategy to be successful you need to make sure people know about it. Here are some promotional ideas to try:
1. Issue a press release using a free press release distribution site.
2. Announce it to all your social networks (FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.).
3. You can put an announcement in your local Chamber of Commerce email distribution.
4. Send an email to all the Associations, Networking Groups, industry groups that you are a part of.
There are so many grammatical rules to remember when writing your book but one that is often overlooked is when to use capitals. Thanks to the Grammar Book site we have 17 important capitalization rules. Read it for yourself at Grammar Book.
The book conference of the year, BookExpo America, is being held June 4-7, 2012 at the Javits Center in New York City. Just about anyone who is anyone in publishing attends this event. If you want to join this crowd visit http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/
The benefits of being a published author are many but some of our favorites include the fact that a book will make you a subject matter expert, you take an active role in promoting your industry, you earn a level of respect not equipped by many of your peers, you attract more clients and build your business and you build your own sense of pride that cannot help but get give you confidence. If you need more convincing read “42 Rules For Driving Success With Books” by Mitchell Levy at http://42rules.com/book/42-rules-for-driving-success-with-books/
This book will help you appreciate the ease of creation and the depth of value a book (or series of books) can create for your business. Whether you write the book yourself, have your clients or partners provide content, or have it ghostwritten, you will be informed and inspired by the stories and lessons of others who have had success with books.
The authors of this career book wrote content that allowed them to demonstrate innovation, share their marketing strategy, improve client retention, and share tricks and techniques on using a tool or service. The fact that they put this content in a book gave their ideas weight and increased their credibility and reputation. Having the books show up on Amazon, BN.com, and other bookstores, as well as personally delivering their books to clients and prospects, really helped to drive the impact of their message.
If you are a CEO, CMO, evangelist or someone in your company that needs to demonstrate thought leadership, drive lead generation, and increase revenue, this book by Mitchell Levy is an invaluable read as it will help you catapult your success.
“There’s no better way to establish instant credibility on a topic than by saying ‘I wrote the book.’ Mitchell Levy has established himself as Silicon Valley’s author’s author. Authors and aspiring authors turn to him for guidance on how to do it easily, quickly, and with credibility. In today’s era of marketing turbulence, this book is incredibly relevant for anyone looking to market themselves or their brand. A must read.” Rich Goldman, VP, Corp Marketing & Strategic Alliances, Synopsys
“I always say that in order to achieve success you must first build visibility and then credibility; only then can you move forward into profitability. In ’42 Rules for Driving Success with Books,’ Mitchell Levy explains how becoming a published author is the ultimate way to build visibility and credibility by branding yourself as an expert which will inevitably build your business. Simply put, this book is an essential read for anyone wishing to attain a higher degree of success.” Ivan Misner, NY Times Bestselling author and Founder of BNI
“Nothing can accelerate your success curve faster than becoming an author. Mitchell has brought together all the secrets of 40 bestselling authors, providing the best single source for both inspiration and do-it-today advice.” Gerald Sindell, CEO thoughtleadersintl.com and Author ‘The Genius Machine’ (New World Library, May 2009)
Rule 6 An Investment With A Long Payback
Rule 11 Have The World Come To You!
Rule 37 To Give Is To Receive
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