For the Love of Bringing Books to Life: Write, Publish, and Be Known
Ever Feel Embarrassed at How You Articulate Your Business? Features vs. Benefits
Ever find yourself talking about what you do and feeling tongue tied? Or thinking you’re doing okay until you see that look of confusion dawn on the other person’s face? That happened to me in a workshop of about 25 other business people. It was embarrassing but also one of the most enlightening moments I can remember. And you can see me go from embarrassment to clarity and insight right here (it’s in the second video). You see, a couple months ago, I took part in a workshop with one of my mentors, Ken Foster, and it literally changed my[...]
For Love and Money: Your Book and Your Business
Many aspiring authors write their books from a yearning or passion to get their message out to the world. This is a beautiful place to come from–whether your book will help people heal, help them be better managers or help them choose the right college. Take another step, now, and think about how you’ll reach these readers and have the greatest impact on their lives. Will you reach tens of thousands of people through public speaking? Will you offer teleseminars and private coaching to help them take the work deeper? And don’t stop there. I want you to also think[...]
How Much Do I Share?
One of my private coaching clients called today as we’re wrapping up her book proposal and making our short list of agents. She had a number of next step questions on her list, but one stuck out for me. A colleague had asked to interview her for a chapter in the colleague’s book. The colleague had written a successful first book and things looked good for book two. Seemed like an opportunity. But something just didn’t feel right to her. Fortunately, she listened to her intuition. I took her through an exercise to meet and communicate with her muse. We[...]
Are You Getting the Word Out?
I was the first one up in my house this morning. That’s unusual. I bounded out of bed and ran to the computer before anyone could wake up, reflecting on last night’s teleseminar, which I hope you had a chance to hear. Morgana Rae interviewed me about writing and publishing a book right now in this market: how do you get started? Is anyone getting publishing contracts nowadays, or should you just self-publish? When is it better to self-publish anyway? People asked lots of great questions. The call reminded me how important it is for us authors to be out[...]
Answers to Kathi’s Questions about Agents and Publicity Expenses
I often hear questions about literary agents’ fees and book promotion expenses, such as those asked by Kathi McKnight in response to my last post. I’m sure many of my readers, students and writing coaching clients are burning to know the answers; so, rather than answer them in a comment, I decided to write a new post and address them in detail: 1. Do you pay literay agents up front if they say they want to represent you? No. A literary agent receives a percentage of your royalties. Usually that’s 15%, but in some cases, such as if you already[...]
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