Posts Comments

The Best Business Plan for a Blogged Book (or Any Book)

May 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

http://www.freedigitalphotos.comTo conclude this series on building a business around your book, I’d like to write about business plans. Now, I’m not a great one to spout off about business plans, since my business hasn’t had one until recently–and it’s not really quite done yet, if I’m going to be totally honest. (But I’m working on it.) I do, however, know a lot about business plans for books. Yes, I do.

In fact, the best business plan for a book has been around for ages and ages. I help aspiring authors create them all the time. Usually, those aspiring authors are wanting to approach traditional publishers to ask them to invest in their books. So, they need a business plan. Aspiring independent publishers–writers planning to self-publish–in most cases don’t bother to create a business plan for their books. Big mistake. They need one even more than their traditional-hold-out friends, so I work with many to do just that.

When you come up with an ideas for a book–blogged or other wise–rather than sit down and  begin writing, create a business plan. And use the publishing industry standard: a book proposal. Yep. That’s it. A book proposal.

Here’s the deal: Not every blogged book idea (or traditionally written book) deserves to become a book. Some ideas make better articles or essays because you don’t have enough subject matter to produce a full-length blogged book. Others might be appropriate for a book but only your friends and family  might be interested in reading that book because it doesn’t have a market beyond your immediate circle of influence. Or maybe your idea simply isn’t unique—the market is flooded with other books just like it, so it isn’t going to garner a big enough readership. You may not have a large enough author’s platform (or fan base) or be well-known enough expert to attract readers to another book on the same ol’ subject.

That’s why its a worthwhile venture to evaluate your book idea’s success potential–its marketability– prior to writing a word.  If you do this using the sections of a book proposal as your guide, you will accumulate all the information necessary to put together a top-notch business plan for your blogged book. Why? Because you will be looking at your book through the eyes of an acquisitions editor and producing the type of document a publisher requires before moving forward with a new book venture. You need that document as well. That document–the book proposal–serves as a publishers business plan, and it can–and should–serve as yours. So use the publishing industry standard—the book proposal—as your guide to creating a business plan for your book. Take your idea and look at it through the lens of a book proposal, and you’ll know soon enough if your idea has the ability to make it as a print or ebook. Evaluate your idea as any agent or acquisitions editor might if they were to read your book proposal. And you’ll end up with very specific information about who you will market your book to, how you will promote your book and how to position your book in the market so it is unique and relevant to your readers.

If you don’t plan on ever approaching a publisher, your business plan can be less formally written. Just go through what I call the “proposal process” and accumulate the information necessary for a proposal and place it informally in a document.  (To learn more about this process and all the parts of a proposal, read the appropriate blogged chapter on this topic.)If you do want to do approach a traditional publisher, go through the process and then place the information in a document that you have professionally edited. You will later submit this to an agent and publishers after you have sent a query letter.

Book proposals contain a variety of sections. Some of them are:

  • Markets: This section asks you to describe your book’s markets—large groups/numbers of people who might be interested in and purchase your book. These are the people who will find your book relevant for some reason.
  • Competing Titles:  In this section you look at the previously published books and compare your book idea to them.
  • About the Author: In this section you write a bio of yourself and discuss why you are the best person to write this book. This is a chance to compare yourself to the authors of the competing books and ask yourself if you can compete with them. Are you unique? Do you have the credentials necessary?
  • Mission Statement:  Do you have a reason to write this book? Is it your purpose or mission? Will your book serve a purpose, too? Will it add benefit and offer value.
  • List of Chapters: Create a table of contents for the potential book. Does it look like you have the makings for a book? Can you see an actual structure and imagine content for a full book?
  • Chapter Summaries: Describe each chapter’s content.
  • Promotion Plan: This is the real business section (or sales plan). How will you promote your book prior to publication and after? This plan ensures your book will sell over time. It’s how you build a fan base of readers and how you create a continuous flow of buyers (readers) for you book.
  • Author’s Platform: This section describes everything you have done to create a base of potential readers for your book. If you have nothing to place in this section, normally you would wait to write your book. However, by blogging a book you build platform (pre-promote your book)–create a platform. This is about getting known before the book deal or before the release of your self-published book to ensure that it sells.

A book proposal has more sections, and all of them help you create a sound business plan for your book. Going through this process helps you see the Big Picture of your book. If you want to explore more about the book proposal process, check out my workbook, How to Evaluate Your Book for Success. If you want more information on how to write a book proposal, check out the two books below.

 

 

Don’t forget to join me and the guest bloggers who joined me this month at
Expert Platform Building 101 + Entrepreneurial Fundamentals 102
on May 19-20 in San Jose, CA. Get the details here. Please register prior to coming (if possible). I have 2  Speaker’s Special discounted tickets left… Contact me directly at nina(at)ninaamir.com, if you are interested.

Filed Under: Book Proposal, Build a Business Around Your Book, The Proposal Tagged With: , , ,

Boost Your Publishing Business by Becoming a Speaker

May 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

public speaking, giving a speach, business around a bookCongratulations on blogging a book or even considering writing and publishing a book. You gain a lot of credibility as a published author. But now the real hard work begins. Unless you are a celebrity with a large publicity and marketing staff—and a huge following of fans, the burden will be mostly on you to get the word out about your book. Most publishers will announce your book to the world and then move onto other projects. If you self-publish, you don’t even get help with that initial launch

The burden of marketing always settles onto the author. Book signings are a great way to reach out to the public, but people want to actually hear what you have to say. Enter the world of public speaking. Verbal communication is what sets us apart in the animal world, and writing and speaking are the longest arrows in your quiver. I often tell youngsters that regardless of what they major in at college, if they can speak and write competently they will be far ahead in the business world. Most universities offer many writing classes, but when have you heard of “Speaking” being an elective course?

Many people are born communicators. I grew up in an American German-Italian heritage household. With four siblings, if I were not vocal I was left behind. Some of us are hams and thrive in situations where we can speak and perform. Others need some help to become proficient speakers. I’ve even kissed the Blarney Stone; the Irish legend has it that if you visit the Blarney Castle and kiss a certain stone in the structure you will be endowed with the “gift of gab.”

Since your new nonfiction book offers written testimony that you are an expert in your field. Now you need to build the confidence to let others hear similar verbal confirmation. We’ve all heard of the classic “elevator speech,” where in  three minutes you need to tell the essence of your passion, product or service. Can you talk for an hour to relate the thrust of your book?

If you don’t feel comfortable speaking in public, no worries. Speaking in public can be learned.

  • Many corporations offer public speaking classes for their employees.Take advantage of them.
  • If you are a true entrepreneur without access to corporate resources, try the Toastmasters organization. It has made a nice business out of teaching people how to speak in public.
  • The Dale Carnegie Program is another program I recommend.
  • Practice makes perfect.

We all need to remember that public speaking is NOT about you – it’s about the audience. Here are some thing to remember when developing a speech to go with your blogged book:

  • While you may walk on water, but they will soon tire listening to you boast. Keep in mind that it’s not about you.
  • You are the band-aid for their pain. Give them solutions for their problems, answers to their questions.
  • They are trying to find ways your topic can benefit them. Offer added value.
  • Your mission is to do one of three things: inform them, persuade them or entertain them.
  • Establish yourself as the expert and the most qualified person to be speaking – then you relate your ideas in ways that apply to them. For example, climbing Mt Everest is an exciting story. The key is to relate how this experience taught you teamwork, responsibility, goal setting etc. and how the audience can apply the same principles.
  • Ever since Neanderthals huddled around a campfire, humans have loved to hear stories. Nothing has changed. If you can develop stories that create visual images in the minds of the audience, they will remember them way more than just facts.

I hope you can see that public speaking is a big subject, worthy of your study. We haven’t even talked about delivery techniques, eye contact, body movement, PowerPoint, and many other topics for successful speaking. Our current president is a master speaker. He can inform, persuade and entertain all in one forceful talk. You can, too.

Most of my training was received in the Air Force, Company programs, classes from the Mandel Communications Company, and Dale Carnegie. I have written two books on Yosemite National Park and managed to sell 10,000 copies. To support this, I write a daily blog and give close to 50 talks a year. I am a member of the National Speakers Association and get paid for my expertise. I also lecture on cruise ships – free cruises for my wife and me. You can, too. On May 19 at the Expert Platform Building 101 program, I will be providing the tools to begin the speaking facet of your book business – an important platform building and promotional tool for all authors. Speaking is fun and it can be profitable. Click here, if you’d like to find out more and register.

About the Author

Rick Deutsch, San Jose, is a veteran of the Cold War and of Intel and Sun Microsystems. He lives the Carpe Diem Lifestyle – Seize the Day. As an author, speaker and adventurer, he has visited every inhabited continent. He’s become “Mr. Half Dome,” having written the only hiking guide to the signature landmark of Yosemite and has done this extremely strenuous hike 31 times. He speaks at museums, outfitters, companies, civic groups and on cruise ships. He’s also a certified Nordic Walking instructor and introduced this fitness program onboard Crystal Cruise lines.  His extroverted style displays his subject expertise while delivering a highly entertaining presentation. MrHalfDome@gmail.com

 Join Nina Amir and Rick Deutsch at
Expert Platform Building 101 + Entrepreneurial Fundamentals 102
on May 19-20 in San Jose, CA. Get the details here.

Filed Under: Build a Business Around Your Book, Increasing Traffic, Publicizing Your Blog, What to Do When You Complete Your Blogged Book Tagged With: , , ,

Thinking Like an Entrepreneur is Essential to Your Writing

May 8, 2012 By 7 Comments

Whether you want to be a part writing, business, blogging, blogging a book, business around a booktime author or to build a writing empire, you need to be able to think like an entrepreneur. Thinking like an entrepreneur and not just a “writer” will help you pull the right levers when you need to give yourself a “cost of living” raise or help you live the lifestyle you most desire. As a writer and business owner, you need to learn to make decisions that allow you to not second guess what you are doing while creating consistent income.

In my research I found that most successful writers also think like entrepreneurs as they approach their businesses. And hands down there are two key perspectives you want to consider when building your business: 1. Your desires 2. The desires of your market. It is the blend of “You” and “Who” that allows the most successful writers stay ahead of the game.  It also allows them to rise when things may be less than favorable and to bounce back when they missed the mark.

As writers and business owners, thinking like an entrepreneur ensures you will be happy and make the kind of money you most desire. So if you are ready to learn to think like an entrepreneur, start by refering to these 5 quick tips as a foundation:

  1. Get inside the head of your ideal reader, or client or customer. Start talking to people, finding out what they want and learn how they think. This information is invaluable for talking to your ideal clients or customers via blogs, articles and books. In addition, it will help you better market these products, ensuring high sales. It is also great information as you create posts, articles or concepts for your next book. Consider yourself a Cultural Anthropologist studying a little known society. Even if you think you know your ideal customers, think again.  They change just like you do, so never sit on your laurels.  Keep on studying and course correct as you go.
  2. Be clear on what’s truly important to you in a business and as an author. Do you want to travel or stay put? Do you want to hire people or go solo? How much money do you want to bring in? The list goes on and on. The point is to get clear about what you want and to stick to your guns! Think of this as the rules for your business that will help you make better business decisions. When you evaluate opportunities, do so with your criteria clear in your mind.  This will also allow you to not get sucked into the “next best marketing technique” or business workshop that you don’t need. Also keep in mind, the success of your business is dependent on you actually liking it and how it is structured.  Be honest with yourself about what you’d like it to be.
  3. Make your business decisions by thinking about the short term and long term consequences. Often I see clients not invest in themselves because they are afraid of parting with money in the short term, when sometimes that investment can yield 10 fold or more in the medium to long term. Any time you need to make a business decision, take a few moments.  Really step back and ask yourself: What will I gain short term? What will I gain medium to long term? What are the tradeoffs both short and long? And most importantly:  Is this aligned with where I want my writing business to go?  Will this help me get there?  By asking yourself these questions you will get a bigger picture of what truly needs to happen. This also helps control the impulsive decision making that often is extremely short sighted.
  4. Surround yourself with people who desire to achieve the same level of success you want. It has been said that you are the average of your 5 closest friends; consider that to be the same with your business. If you are hanging around writers and business owners that aren’t going where you want to go, it’s time to find some that are! This is where events like Expert Platform Building 101 + Entrepreneurial Fundamentals 102 are extremely beneficial.  In addition, workshops like this allow you to learn from other attendees by using the compounding effects of masterminding.
  5. Choose your tasks wisely. Whatever you work on in your business needs to be the 2-5 things that will absolutely move you closer to your financial and time goals. If you are doing things that aren’t producing results that directly impact your financial or time goals, then you are doing the wrong things and, therefore, spinning your wheels. Remember Pareto’s Principle, 20 percent of the effort yields 80 percent of the results.  This is where you need to be honest with yourself and determine what your 20 percent is! Living by this rule will help you get all sorts of time back on your calendar. In fact, this is one of the keys to helping me keep my business hours under 30 a week and allows me to take multiple vacations a year.  It is a leap of faith, but try it for 1 week and see what happens.

Now, here is your challenge.  I encourage you to assess yourself and your writing business against these 5 entrepreneurial tips.  Which of these are you doing consistently? Where can you use a bit more work?  Be honest with yourself about what you are doing to help move your writing business forward.

Bonus Tip: The most successful entrepreneurs often do quick assessments of their business and then determine how to make the appropriate course correction.  Get in to practice by assessing yourself against those 5 tips above. You will be happy you did!

About the Author

Silvia Johnson is the founder of Outside The Cubicle, LLC, and the creator of the Thriving Business Model™. She has over 10 years experience in the areas of personal and business transformation. Having a knack for modeling success and an ability to walk others through the steps to achieve their own goals, she has transformed hundreds of lives and businesses on an international scale. Learn more at: http://OutsideTheCubicle.com

Join Nina Amir and Silvia Johnson at
Expert Platform Building 101 + Entrepreneurial Fundamentals 102
on May 19-20 in San Jose, CA. Get the details here.

 

Filed Under: Build a Business Around Your Book, What to Do When You Complete Your Blogged Book Tagged With: , , ,

Build Your Book Business on Your Passions and Strengths

May 3, 2012 By 2 Comments

business around a bookEconomists say that when the economy takes a dive, it is common for people to turn to their inner entrepreneur to try to create their own work. The task of finding a job is daunting and, therefore, encourages many entrepreneurs to make work for themselves. If you’ve already blogged your book, or if you plan on writing or blogging a book, you feel the entrepreneurial spirit and the “can do” attitude to begin a business that revolves around that expert platform created by a blog and a book. Therefore, its time to change your life and the economy along with it.

The Benefit of Building a Business Around Your Book

The life purpose of the true entrepreneur is to change the world. In the case of authors, you are doing so one book at a time. But you can make this change about more than a book, and, indeed, you have done just that when you decided to blog a book. At the moment when you created a blog, you also developed an online platform. You became a blogger, and then you became an author. Now take it a step farther: Become an entrepreneur.  As an entrepreneur you provide products and services–books, other information products, coaching, consulting, etc.—that benefit the community. You can also benefit your own life, creating the lifestyle you desire.

Go Inward To Go Forward

People become entrepreneurs for four reasons:

  1. Passion: They want to be their own boss or control their destiny.
  2. Purpose: They want to do what they love.
  3. Prosperity: They want to create a lifestyle they prefer.
  4. Power: They want the individual power to change their community and the world.

No matter whether you write your book and build a business around it or write a book to support your business, to succeed once you enter into business you must put passion and purpose together. Chasing passion often leads to a greater income because the quality of your output is so much higher. If you are passionate about what you do and love your work, you are more likely to work hard and persevere until you achieve success. So choose the books you write and blog carefully based upon your passion and your purpose. Or  choose your area of business based on your passion and purpose and then blog a book to support that business. If you don’t know what to write about, ask yourself:

  • What do I love?
  • What am I passionate about?

The answers to those questions will guide you.

Then, focus your energy on investing in your core strengths. This will help you reap rewards. If you don’t know what your core strengths are, ask yourself:

  • What am I best at?
  • What are my skills?

Focus your energy on these areas. And create a mindset that is positive so your thoughts and actions support your passion and purpose.

I think about what Steve Jobs once said, “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” When you wrote your book, you followed your heart and intuition. Now you need to take that one more step further and do the same with your your business. Put the same passion that made you want to write (or blog) a book into your writing and publishing business or into the business you build around your book. Or, possibly build a business around your expertise and support it with a blog and a book. As Sir Richard Branson said, “Ideally, since 80 percent of your life is spent working, you should start your business around something that is a passion of yours.“ 

As an entrepreneur, if you build a business based on your passions and core strengths, you will gets more from life—more fulfillment, more excitement, more pleasure, more peace, more self-assurance, more satisfaction, and more happiness. Plus, you will make a difference in the lives of your readers as well as in the economic stability of your community and in the American economy.

About the Author

Roger Palmieri is a Human Behaviorist and Mind-Set Performance Expert who is an internationally acclaimed speaker and trainer since 1978. He has spoken to more than one million people around the world on LifeStyle Entrepreneurship as well as Sales and Management Performance. He shows people strategies and insights to dramatically increase their performance and mine every hidden asset to create explosive profits creating a life-time of value. He can be reached at Roger@ThePalmieriGroup.com or 408-685-8161. Or come learn from him at the Make America Prosperous Conference on May 19-20. Attend Expert Platform Building 101 on May 19th, with Nina Amir, and get the second day, Entrepreneurial Fundamentals 102 FREE on May 20, when Roger Palmieri speaks. For more information, or to register, click here.

Join Nina Amir and Roger Palmieri at
Expert Platform Building 101 + Entrepreneurial Fundamentals 102
on May 19-20 in San Jose, CA. Get the details here.
Filed Under: Build a Business Around Your Book, What to Do When You Complete Your Blogged Book Tagged With: , , ,

How to Succeed as a Blogged Book Author

May 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We live blogged book success, publishing business, writing businessin a period of history when the lines between technology, information access, business expertise and customer expectations have blurred or been obliterated. This unprecedented confluence has enabled individuals to tap into their creative side and become bloggers, writers, authors, and speakers. It’s enabled you to not only write a book but to blog  a book. But to paraphrase a Tale of Two Cities, “It is the best of times and the worst of times.”

I am a serial entrepreneur with 30+ years of comprehensive business experience. I’ve participated in the creation of the personal computer industry, the advertising information industry, the online music industry, and democratization of information in the real estate industry. I’ve seen how the deployment of technology has radically changed these industries– from vendors to suppliers to producers to distribution to consumption.

This type of radical change has come to the publishing industry and, consequently, radically changed your responsibilities as an author. Let me explain.

In the past, the business rules for authors were owned by publishers and agents. Individuals created the content, and these organizations controlled editing, printing, financing, marketing, sales, and distribution. The book business world was essentially a “funnel” wherein aspiring writers submitted their passions to publishers through agents. They controlled thee fundamental elements in the process: access to production (printers); access to distribution (book stores); and access to customers (marketing, advertising).

Today the business rules are different. To have a financially successful, long-term career as an author it is no longer “enough” to have a great book. Successful authors needs to think of themselves as entrepreneurs and of their books is their products. You don’t have to master all the elements, but you need to know how to navigate the waters of this unfamiliar sea.

To help you do so, let me identify the 8 categories of entrepreneurship with which you should become familiar. Doing so ensures that you will have a financially successful blogging, writing and publishing career:

  1. Development – The tools of the trade. What tools should you use to effectively use your time?
  2. Human Resources – The best ways to select the people with whom you will surround yourself. Without others, you can’t succeed.
  3. Finance – The business models have changed (and are continuing to change). You need to stay abreast of these to maximize long term residual income.
  4. Operations –  As the demands of your time grow, you need a plan to keep yourself on track to accomplish your goals.
  5. Production - The tools to research, author and publish your passion. For example, blogging a book.
  6. Marketing – You now have the responsibility of understanding the ways of getting people to know about you and your book.
  7. Sales – You now have the responsibility of deploying the tools necessary to sell your product in “non-traditional” ways: social media and website sales.
  8. Support – The mechanisms for staying in touch with your readers and keeping them interested in books or other services you might want to produce.

But here are the two BIGGEST tips I can provide to help you to be a successful author-entrepreneur. These are the foundation upon which you can build the “ship of your dreams” – a sustainable business with residual income:

  • Define and own your “why” – Your “why” is the organization of your values, your vision and your mission. Together, they are the rudder that will guide you on your voyage to success.
  • Create a mindset of success – As the boat of your writing and publishing business sails, the waves of fear, uncertainty and doubt will throw you. To navigate these swells properly, you’ll need to identify and repeat your personal affirmations of success.

Using these tools, put yourself “out there” and sail the sea to your success.

About the Author

Jim Herrera is a serial entrepreneur with 30+ years of business experience working in world-class organizations like Apple, Creative Labs and Arbitron. He has also started six entrepreneurial ventures in various industries including: computer technology, entertainment, advertising information, and real estate. Jim works with entrepreneurs to define their vision, purpose and goals and provides ongoing strategic decision-making and marketing mentoring.

Jim is also executive producer of a series of educational symposiums called “Make America Prosperous: Empowering Entrepreneurs to Rebuild Our Economy” (MAP). MAP is a practical, hands-on education service that employs entrepreneurial expertise to growth-oriented entrepreneurs. The next 2-day education symposium is on May 19th and 20th. Day 1 is Entitled “Experts Platform Building for Entrepreneurs” and will teach you how to  easily write your book, become a well-known expert in your field and build your expert platform online and off. Day 2 is entitled “Entrepreneurial Fundamentals” and will guide you through the steps necessary to build an on-going, successful business around your book. For more information about the MAP conference visit MakeAmericaProsperous.com or to register, click here.

For more information about entrepreneurship and building your powerful “Why” visit PerceptiveInsights.com.

Filed Under: Build a Business Around Your Book, Selling Books and Information Products, What to Do When You Complete Your Blogged Book

Build a Business Around Your Blogged Book

April 26, 2012 By 2 Comments

blog, author, expert author, expert industry, business of booksAll my posts during April, National Book Blogging Month (NaBoBloMO), have helped you blog a book fast—in just 30 days. Blogging a short book fast provides you with something you may not have had before if you take the manuscript you created with your blog posts and actually get it edited and then publish it as a printed book, ebook or both—author status. Not only that, if you blogged a book on a topic related to your area of expertise, you have now catapulted yourself into the expert industry arena. This is the place where experts in their fields make a lot of money by having an online presence, speeches, consulting or coaching services, and information products. They build businesses around their ability to take their expertise and communicate about it from the podium, the page and beyond. To accomplish this, however, you need some business acumen.

I often write and speak about wearing more than just a writer’s hat; I say you need a businessperson’s hat as well. If you want to create a successful book—one that sells, you have to know something about promotion, sales and marketing. If you want to become an independent publisher and self-publish your book, you have to know how to run a publishing company. If you want to land a traditional publishing deal, you have to be the kind of businessperson in which a publishing company wants to invest their money. If you want to become a professional blogger, you need to know how to make money with and run a blogging business. If you want to develop a new entrepreneurial venture around your blog and your book, you must know what it means to be a successful entrepreneur, how to get that venture off the ground and possibly how to get yourself out of your current job and into your new business.

In other words, you need more than an idea for a book and the ability to get it written—or blogged—and published. You need to become an entrepreneur and a savvy business person. Next month, this blog will host five experts who can help you go from author to expert author, thus making it possibly for you to enter the expert industry, and who will give you some of the foundational information you need to succeed in this business. They will help you form a business around your blogged book.

After all, don’t you want your book to be successful? And don’t you want to make some money as an author? Of course, you do. So do I.

Most of us begin writing and blogging because we are passionate about our topics or we feel we have a purpose to fulfill—or both. And that can be enough to sustain us, but it’s even nicer if we can earn a living in the process and maybe even create a lifestyle around our business.

Hmmm. A business and a lifestyle built upon our passion and our purpose. Sounds pretty nice.

So, how do you get started? Here’s what you need to know (and what my expert guest bloggers will be telling you about over the next five weeks):

  1. How to connect your personal values to essential business processes—vision, mission, strategy, marketing, and operations so you achieve entrepreneurial successful.
  1. How to use your mindset and passion to build a business that fulfills your needs, desires and dreams as well as those of your clients and customers.
  1. How to do quick assessments of your business goals and then determine how to take the appropriate course of action to get your business moving forward.
  1. How to add “expert speaker” to your “expert author” status, thus accelerating your ability to bring in readers, customers, and clients.
  1. How to raise your company’s brand awareness and name recognition online and off.

To get you started thinking in the direction of building a business around your book, I’m going to ask you to think about the following:

  • If you were going to blog two or three more books, what would you write about? (Write a 50-word or less pitch for each of those books.)

Publishers like to invest in writers who are not just one-book authors. That’s why book proposals, the business plan used in the book publishing industry, includes a spin-off section. So, you want to consider what other books you can write to build your business.

Also, answer these questions:

  • What do you feel you are an expert in (and this doesn’t necessarily have to be something you learned in school)?
  • What are you most passionate about?
  • What’s your mission or purpose in life?

The answers to these questions are definitely important as you begin to consider how to focus and direct your entrepreneurial venture, whatever that might look like or encompass. It begins with a blogged book, but it could take you almost anywhere.

If you are serious about building a business around your book, join me at Expert Platform Building 101 on May 19 in San Jose, CA. During this all-day intensive, you’ll learn the three “must haves” for your platform: competent speaking, a powerful published “calling card” and a robust online presence. That means a speech, a book and a blog. (I’ll be teaching the section on writing and publishing books.) But…but…there’s more. If you register, for Expert Platform Building 101, you get a second day free: Entrepreneurial Fundamentals 102.  During this all-day intensive, you’ll learn how to become your own CEO and successfully build your entrepreneurial venture. By attending both days, you’ll learn how to create a business as a recognized expert in your niche—a business around your blogged book. Click here, if you’d like to find out more and register.

Remember, if you blogged a short book fast this month of 7,500 words, send me the manuscript, the table of contents, a 50-word pitch, and an overview of the book (synopsis). It must arrive by 12 p.m. 4/30/12 Pacific Time.  Email it to me at nina (at) ninaamir (dot) com. One lucky person will win a signed copy of How to Blog a Book, the book.

Filed Under: Blogging Short Books, Build a Business Around Your Book, National Book Blogging Month, Professional Blogging, Selling Books and Information Products, What to Do When You Complete Your Blogged Book Tagged With: , , , ,

Publishing Options for Your Booked Blog

March 29, 2012 By 1 Comment

book a blog, repurpose blog posts, publish a bookOnce your booked blog has been professionally edited, you must decide how you will publish it. You have a variety of options for turning your blogged book manuscript into an actual book.

Traditional Publishing

If you’ve come this far—spending time and money on professional editing services, you have likely decided not to go the traditionally publishing route. However, nothing stops you from changing your mind and deciding you want to see what an agent or acquisitions editor might say about your booked blog manuscript. In fact, I usually advise people who have a small but nagging desire to have a publisher back their project at least to give it a try. At this point, go ahead and write that query letter and proposal, have these professionally edited by a book proposal editor, and send them off. See what happens.

You will want to send the query off to an agent first if you plan on approaching mid-sized to large publishing houses. Small publishing houses take unagented work in most cases; some mid-sized houses do as well. However, an agent can prove helpful in all cases. I see mine as my business partner; she looks out for my best interests when it comes to my contract.

The advantage of traditional publishing remains the same as always:

  • a bit of clout or credibility (someone has put their money behind you)
  • some money up front for your work (not a lot in most cases, but something)
  • help funding the design of your book and the printing
  • help funding the editing (although you’ve already done that)
  • a little bit of help with promotion
  • some distribution into stores
  • a business partner

The disadvantage, of course, is that you earn a lower—much lower—percentage on each book sale. You also lose control over your book; the publisher, editorial staff and design team will make the decisions about your book. And you will likely not be able to publish anything else on a topic similar to your book until your publisher has decided not to take on that project as well. (This is called “first right of refusal” and is a clause in most contracts.)

Self-Publishing

If you don’t want to do all the things that go with self-publishing, though—like hiring a designer (or an editor, if you didn’t already do that), figuring out how to get your book printed, purchasing an ISBN, getting your book converted into an ebook format, handling distribution, etc., traditional publishing may be the best route for you. If this stuff doesn’t bother you, or it actually turns you on, maybe you want to go the indie publishing route.

I make no claims to be THE expert on self-publishing. My expertise lies in helping you get your book written. That said, I have self-published a few short books, one of which was a blogged book. It’s not too difficult, but it does take time, effort and attention to detail. You have to be a good manager. The advantages of being a self-publisher are:

  • You have total control over the process and your work.
  • You get to choose your cover and interior design.
  • You get to choose your book title.
  • You earn more per book.
  • You can choose more creative ways to promote you book, like giving away books for free.
  • You have the freedom to write and publish what you want when you want.
  • You can bring a book to market quickly.

If you choose this route, you can produce a print-on-demand (POD) book, a fairly inexpensive option that allows you to print just one book at a time in many cases or none at all. Many authors today are using Amazon’s CreateSpace to do this; I have used them, but I was not that happy with the quality of their books as compared to a digital printer I used previously. You can also use Lightning Source, a well-respected and well-established POD printer that has been around a long time. However, their services do cost more.

You might also choose to print your booked book using offset printing. Doing so is considered “true self-publishing,” but it requires printing large quantities of books. Personally, I find this a high-risk option, and I don’t want to have those books stored in my home somewhere.

Of course, the cheapest option is to get on board with the biggest publishing trend and produce an ebook. By far, this is the most inexpensive self-publishing option, since you really only need a cover design. You can have an interior book design, but it isn’t necessary. You may need someone to help you convert you booked blog manuscript to the right format for uploading, and there are great services available for distributing ebooks, like Amazon’s Kindle or Kindle Select, Smashwords.com and Bookbaby.com.

I can’t stress enough, however, that whatever indie route you take you make sure you get a professionally designed cover. Covers sell books. Although you can get an ebook cover art for as little as $50 (Smashwords.com has a list of people who do ebook conversions and covers.), you might want to research some other options. For instance, Digital Book Launch offers a $200 book cover option, and the company is know for its marketing know how, which is the touch a cover needs to catch the attention of potential readers and then get them to take your book to the register. (And, yes, I am an affiliate for this program because I think it’s an awesome and affordable service for authors.)

Many subsidy or author services companies offer cover and interior design services as well. Beware that these may not be as high quality or unique as what you will get with a book designer who owns his or her own company. (The same holds true for their editorial services; they tend to be rather “light.”) These companies, like BookLocker, iUniverse, Xlibris, PublishAmerica, and Lulu, call themselves publishers, but they are what used to be called vanity presses.

Which brings me to another important point: If you don’t want to go the traditional publishing route, or can’t find an agent or publisher to take on your project, and you don’t want to be an indie publisher, which basically means you become a publisher, a subsidy or author services company might be your saving grace. The offer all the services you need to get your book into print (and sometimes also into ebook format) usually at an affordable price. Just know that the editing and design may not be the best or most unique. And their name will be on the side of your book, but that does not mean they are your publisher; it just means you bought their services. They say they pay you royalties. That’s kind of pushing it in my mind.

Creative Publishing Choices

Now, last, but not least, there are a few more options. Fast Pencil offers some of the same services you can get at a subsidy publishing company, but you can now use your own ISBN. Plus, you can load up your own cover design, and their system has several built-in interior design options, which makes it fairly affordable. They also have an inexpensive ebook conversion program. Additionally, they have a blog-to-book program that will take your blog and convert it into a book, but you will then have to do the editing and design within their technology. (Disclaimer: I am an affiliate for FastPencil; I have been working with them on and off and was waiting for them to develop the option to use your own ISBN. I will be publishing something with them soon now that they have it.)

If you want to build your fan base or author’s platform—gain traffic and unique readers—while trying to get the backing of a traditional publisher, check out PubSlush.com. Unlike popular sites like kickstarter.com, where you submit a project and ask people to preorder your book so you get funded, at PubSlush you post your book project and start asking people to preorder your book, but when you reach 1,000 supporters, guess what? PubSlush publishes your book for you. In other words, when they see that your book has enough reader interest, they put all those preorder to work in the form of editing, design and promotion—all the things a traditional publisher would do for you. So, you get one more round of polishing on your manuscript, professional design, promotional help—and you don’t have to be an indie publisher if you don’t want to be. Pretty nice. You already have a following of readers, so send them on over to PubSlush.

I have probably not covered all the different publishing options available. And new options show up all the time. These will at least get you thinking about how you want to publish your booked blog.

And that ends March and it’s focus on booking a blog. Guess what? In those 30 days, I blogged a short book.

On to April: Blog a Book in 30 Days

<<Previous Post

My birthday is on April 5th. Want to give me a birthday present?
Nominate this blog for the TOP TEN BLOGS FOR BLOGGERS CONTEST 2012.
Doing so is easy.
Just click here, and then leave a comment with
the URL to this blog (http://www.howtoblogabook.com) and
a reason or two why you think How to Blog a Book should win the contest.
Nominations end April 9th.
Thanks so much for your support.
Filed Under: Booking a Blog (Repurposing Content into a Book), Create a POD Book, Create an E-Book, What to Do When You Complete Your Blogged Book Tagged With: , , ,

Choosing the Right Editor for Your Booked Blog

March 27, 2012 By 9 Comments

editing, editor, substantive, copy, line, developmental, content, polish, Once you have self-edited your booked blog manuscript, send it to a professional editor for another round of developing and polishing (or two or three). After all, that’s what professional editors are: developers and polishers of manuscripts. They make sure the story or content is fully developed—reader friendly and reader ready—and they polish the prose until it shines so brightly that it serves as a beacon to publishers and to readers.

Do not skip this step or skimp here. Don’t become one of the many self-published authors who fail to have their manuscripts professionally edited and end up with a book that does not meet the same quality standards of traditionally published books. If you do so, it likely won’t sell well because it will stick out like a sore thumb as self-published; this fact will be evident in its lack of professional editing.

This also will prove true if you don’t get your book professionally designed. No one will get past the cover of your book without a professional cover design (or a professional interior design). They will pick it up and then put it down without ever even looking inside at one word you have written. If the cover copy is not well written as well, they will not be enticed to read the interior pages.

Types of Editors and Editing

There are three basic types of editors and editing. I’ve combined my own definitions with those of my colleague Sue Collier of Self Publishing Resources. However, these definitions vary from one editor to another. So ask what you are getting. For instance, when I do developmental editing, I do not do line editing. However, I do some of the things listed here under content editing. A few of the things listed under content editing I do when I line edit.

  • Copy editing or line editors
    • Generally strengthen sentence structure and, therefore, writing. They:
      • Correct faulty spelling, grammar and punctuation.
      • Correct poor usage (such as which for that).
      • Check specific cross-references (for ex., tables and illustrations mentioned in the content).
      • Ensure consistency in spelling, hyphenation, numerals, comma usage, and capitalization.
      • Check for proper sequencing (such as alphabetical order) in lists and other displayed material.
      • Record the first references to figures, tables, and other display elements.
  • Content or substantive editors
    • Do all copy or line editing tasks plus:
      • Alter text and headings to achieve parallel structure.
      • Flag or change inappropriate figures of speech.
      • Ensure key terms are handled consistently.
      • Ensure that previews, summaries and end-of-chapter questions reflect content.
      • Track the continuity of plot, setting and character traits for fiction manuscripts.
      • Create queries for the author about discrepancies.
      • Enforce consistent style/tone in a multi-author manuscript.
      • Change passive voice to active voice, if requested.
      • Flag or change ambiguous or incorrect statements in nonfiction manuscripts.
  •  Developmental editors
    • In addition to all substantive editing tasks, this type of editor:
      • Ensures everything makes sense, flows, has been included and is in the correct place.
      • Eliminates wordiness, redundancies, triteness and inappropriate jargon.
      • Smoothes transitions and moves sentences or paragraphs to improve readability.
      • Assigns new levels to subheads to achieve logical structure.
      • Suggests—and sometimes implements—additions and deletions.
      • Rewrites, where needed.

Some editors like to edit in phases. Phase I is called the manuscript analysis. They read the whole manuscript and make notes in the margins about what needs to be improved. This is a sketchy developmental edit of sorts. They give the author, first, a general idea of what has to be done to improve the book, and, second, specific recommendations on a chapter-by-chapter basis. This document becomes the blueprint for the work done on the manuscript from that point forward. A writer who wants to learn and improve their own writing will take this document and create a new and improved draft of the manuscript by incorporating the suggestions prior to having the manuscript edited.

Phase II serves as the first round of editing. Typically, this involves developmental editing or a combination of substantive and developmental editing. If a writer chooses to skip the developmental phase of editing, in this phase the editor would a line or copy edit or a full developmental edit as described above, including all areas of editing at once; this is much harder to do from an editor’s standpoint.

Phase III comes into play if the client has chosen a developmental or substantive edit in Phase II. Now a line edit is completed.

That said, Phase II and Phase III involve some back and forth, and if a manuscript has need of major revisions or work, each of these phases could involve several rounds of going from editor to client and back again. It is not unusual for a manuscript to go from editor to client, back to the editor after the client makes additional changes and revisions, back to the client again for more changes and revisions, and then back to the editor again before that phase has been completed.

When the editing is done, it’s time to find a proofreader. Proofreaders provide a different skill than editors. They catch minor errors made during editing—a word not caught by the spell-checker, a second period left unnoticed amongst the changes made, too many spaces between words, possibly even a stray comma that doesn’t fit the style used throughout the book. You may also need an indexer if you have written a nonfiction book.

Choosing an Editor

You do not need to live close to your editor. Most editors work by email, phone or by Skype. The key is to find someone with whom you can work well. How do you do this? Find an editor that suits your style.

editor, content, copy, line, developmental, substantive, editingAsk yourself what type of person you are? Do you need to be handled gently…coddled? Do you need positive feedback about your work first or all the time? I usually put it this way: Do you want an editor that keeps the gloves on?

Or do you want an editor that takes the gloves off? Can you handle criticism? Do you want to be told what’s wrong so it can be fixed? Can you take the bad news first? Do you tend to say, “Tell it to me like it is?”

Then find an editor who does the type of editing that you need. First look for an editor in your genre. If you are writing fiction, you need a fiction editor. If you write nonfiction, you need a nonfiction editor. If you write memoir or mystery or fantasy, it’s great to find an editor who specializes in that area.

You’ll also want to check out an editor’s track record. Look for testimonials from past clients. And if possible, test them out. For example, I am usually at the San Francisco Writers Conference working as a book doctor. These are free short consultations. I also offer a short test edit on people’s work when I give an estimate of how long it will take to edit a job. This gives you an idea of my style and how I would edit your work. Other editors should give you the same type of courtesy.

And do get an estimate. Editors charge by the word, by the page and by the hour. I charge by the hour, and that seems most common for the professional editors I know. This can range from $25-$200+ per hour, and you do, as with all things, get what you pay for in most cases. You can estimate the cost of your manuscript editing by figuring out how many pages you have (most pages doubled spaced in Times Roman 12 pt. have between 250-300 words per page) and then assuming most editors will edit between 3-10 pages per hour depending upon the type of editing they are doing and the cleanliness or strength of your writing.

To find good editors, ask fellow writers for recommendations, attend a conference where they have “book doctors,” or contact the Editorial Freelancers Association.

Next time we’ll discuss your publishing options for your booked blog.

Do you want your blogged book or booked blog manuscript
to shine like a beacon to readers and publishers?

Book editors are manuscript developers and polishers.

Call today to find the perfect editor for your
manuscript.
408-353-1943

Filed Under: Booking a Blog (Repurposing Content into a Book), Editing Your Manuscript, What to Do When You Complete Your Blogged Book Tagged With: , , , , , ,

And the Blog Goes On…and On…and On

February 28, 2012 By 6 Comments

When I speak about how to blog a book, I always stress the importance of choosing a topic carefully. The audience tends to look at me like I think they are idiots. Of course, they are well aware that if you are going to blog a book–or write a book, for that matter–you must choose your topic carefully. But there’s more to my caution than that.

When you blog a book, you can’t simply stop blogging about the topic when you are done. Well, you can…but then the traffic to your blog–your potential book buyers–will taper off just as fast as that last word of your book. So, you really have to pick a topic you want to blog about for a long time. You must pick a topic you want to blog about long after you finish blogging (writing) the book.

In actuality, this is not much different than picking a topic for a blog. Duh. After all, when you blog a book, you are choosing to blog and to become a blogger. Thus, you must choose your topic in the same manner. You must choose one you feel passionate enough about to continue blogging about for a long time to come.

All that said, this really isn’t any different for any aspiring author or published author. The best way to promote a book and to build author platform these days is via a blog. If you write a book off line and publish it, you’ll still need to blog about the subject of your book  before and after that book is released. So, choose your topic carefully. You’ll be writing about it for a long time to come.

Why am I writing about this today? This month I devoted this blog to my blog-to-book journey. It’s the last day of the month. I’ve come to the end of that journey, but my blog continues on…and on. I am no longer blogging a book about how to blog a book. But I am still blogging about how to to blog a book. I’m also blogging about anything and everything related to blogging a book.

That’s the point. You need to have a long-term plan for your blog–one that doesn’t include blogging a book but that does include blogging about the subject of your blogged book.

I did slack off on this blog briefly after I finished the manuscript. My readership slacked off a bit, too. Then it grew organically on its own. The subject matter seemed to become more interesting to people. The blog was getting found without me writing as often. (I was posting a few times a month instead of a few times a week.) But readership wasn’t growing as fast as it needed to for me to attract a publisher. I needed to keep blogging consistently and often.

So I began again. With the manuscript completed, I created a new content plan for the blog. And as I posted on a new schedule–just twice a week, my readership began to grow faster. And so did my renewed interest.

I continue to create content plans for this blog, and that’s what I suggest you do. Figure out how long it will take you to blog your book. I finished in five months, which was not long enough to build up a solid or large readership. Then figure out what type of content will take the place of the book manuscript. Here are my suggestions:

  • flesh out areas of the book that won’t be elaborated upon in the book
  • have guest blog posts
  • do interviews
  • tie into the news
  • find themes and subjects you touched on but didn’t bother to discuss
  • Answer reader comments and questions

Then, consider blogging new material you can publish, such as:

  • follow-up books
  • special reports
  • ebooks
  • courses
  • workbooks
  • white papers
  • recipe books

You can sell these products off your blog.

I discussed a business plan way back when I started blogging How to Blog a Book. Planning out content is part of that business plan, especially if your book is complete like mine.

COMMERCIAL BREAK!

The next 4-part “Blog Your Way to a Book Deal” teleclass begins next Tuesday, March 7! Save $30 on the registration fee by pre-ordering the book on Amazon.com. For more information, please click here.

<<Previous Post     Next Post>>

Filed Under: Selling Books and Information Products, What to Do When You Complete Your Blogged Book Tagged With: , , , ,

Book Bloggers Write, But Do They Speak?

February 23, 2012 By 1 Comment

Writers tend to be introverts. They like to hide away in their offices with their computers and not talk to many people. Like most aspiring authors, book bloggers in many cases tend to be introverts, too. However, they’ve figured out that they can build that coveted author’s platform from the comfort of their lonely writer’s garret and never really, truly come out and make an appearance except in the blogosphere—online. They only need to blog and be social in places like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and now Pinterest. All that really shows up in these sites for the networking party is their photo and their words. And they are comfortable sending their words out into the world—even the vast cyber world.

Well, I’ve got news for you. Book bloggers occasional need to step out into the daylight. They need to leave their computers behind and actually meet people face to face. Not only that, they need to embrace the most traditional form of platform building: speaking.

That’s right. I’m suggesting you actually get up in front of audiences and talk about the subject of your book. Today I am writing about speaking. How do you make this huge leap? Easy schmeasy.

Oh, I know. Most people fear public speaking more than they fear death. It’s true. As Jerry Seinfeld jokes, “This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”

Here’s what I have to say about this:

  1. Fear = False Evidence Appearing Real. That means that you think you have a lot of reasons to be afraid of getting up in front of an audience and speaking but actually you don’t. The evidence for that fear is not based on any reality. It’s false evidence–mostly evidence created by your mind. You are making yourself afraid with your thoughts. Change your thoughts. What’s the worst thing that could happen? You bomb. You make a mistake. So what? You’ll do better next time. What’s the best that could happen? You do really well. You make no mistakes. People love you and your ideas and want to read your blog and your book. They purchase your services. You have to start somewhere and sometime.
  2. Fear and excitement are the same. Get over feeling afraid by realizing that excitement feels just about the same and both emotions come from the same place inside you. Stephanie Chandler, author of Own Your Niche, told me that before I got up in front of more than 300 people last weekend—one of the largest audiences I’d appeared before. I’d heard it before, but it helps to remember this.
  3. Remember you are speaking to people. Speak to the audience conversationally. Remember there are people out there in those seats. Look at them. Connect with them. When you see them looking back at you, you’ll feel better. Smile at them. Get off the podium if you can and walk around. Ask them questions. Engage them. If you know someone in the audience, get them to smile back at you. Have that person nod and let you know you are doing okay.
  4. The only way to get better as a speaker and get over your fear is to go out and speak. That means go out and get yourself booked as a speaker and start speaking. I started out speaking here and there at synagogues and churches because initially that was my market as an inspirational and human potential speaker with a Jewish bent. I found a little New Thought church willing to bring me in every few months. Each time I had to speak on a different topic. Over time, I got over my nervousness. Speaking in front of 10-30 people was easier than large groups, although occasionally at other locations I had 30-75 people.
  5. Come up with a methodology that works for you. In those early days for the New Thought church, I planned out my topic on what I call “talk cards,” 3×5 cards with bulletted points. I would write out the whole talk and then whittle it down to these bulletted items with a little bit of content. I’d then hold my cards as I talked. It worked and I’ve stuck with that methodology ever since. Recently, I’ve added in PowerPoint, and I only use the cards for places in my talks where I have additional information. I use talk cards when I don’t have PowerPoint. Practice your speech enough times so you don’t have to read from a paper or cards; it’s okay to refer to a written document, though. Unless they are giving the same talk all the time, most speakers do have their speech written down.
  6. Get evaluated. Use an evaluation form to ask for feedback. This an be very helpful. People are happy to tell you what parts of your talk worked well and what didn’t. Think about video taping yourself or recording yourself so you can see and hear how you sound. This will help you improve as well.
  7. Do short videos to post on your blog. This is a great prelude to your “coming out.” Experiment with making your written message verbal.
  8. Create short audios to post to your blog. This is also a great prelude to “coming out.”
  9. Remember that you know your stuff. Simply talk about the topic of your blog. This is the area of your expertise. You are the authority on this topic. Remember that. Hold your head up high and own it. People have come to hear you talk about what you know.
  10. If you can write, you can speak. To write a great speech, just turn a great blog post or essay you’ve written into something you say into a mike. It really is that simple. Read it if necessary.

You can do this. Really. Every time you write a blog post, you are speaking to your readers through the words on their computer screen. Now just put a voice to those words and a face.

Why bother becoming a speaker as well as a blogger? Because when people meet you, they will like you and what you have to say even more. They will subscribe to your blog’s RSS feed and they will buy your book. (You definitely want to speak if your book is published already or will be soon.) A number of people pre-ordered my book just this past weekend after my session at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference.

Book bloggers write. And they do speak. Try speaking. You just might like it.

<<Previous Post   Next Post>>

Filed Under: Promoting Your Book, Publicizing Your Blog, What to Do When You Complete Your Blogged Book Tagged With: , , ,
Next Page »