How To Write a Book after Signing a Contract with a Publisher
When I emailed, “What do you want to discuss on our call?” all my client wrote was, “How to write a book.” Dr. James Zender had just signed a book contract with a publisher and, not surprisingly, self doubt reared its ugly head. Can I really write a book? Step 1: Address self-doubt. Perhaps you’ve experienced similar doubts: “Can I write a good enough book?” “Will I be able to write a book within the schedule that I just agreed to?” “Will anyone want to read it?” “How can I do it right?” Before we could move on to other… Read more
Get Thyself on Podcasts: Reach Readers & Sell More Books!
Earlier this year, I asked Rusty Shelton about the PR activities that most often resulted in book sales and learned that being interviewed on podcasts is one of the top things you can do to sell more books. Why? Because podcasts tend to be very targeted, you can reach the exact audience who is the core market for your book—the people who most want and need what you have to offer. What are Podcasts? If you know what podcasts are, just skip this brief paragraph. A podcast is a regularly produced “program” by audio or video that people can subscribe… Read more
How to Get a Book Deal: 7 Qualities to Cultivate
Have you ever wondered how to get a book deal in this increasingly competitive environment? Certainly, there are the actual steps to take, including writing a top notch book proposal and growing your author platform. Yet, there’s another side to getting a book deal—and that’s the grit. How do you stick with it? How do you complete all the steps to get there—sometimes in the face of disappointment, rejection and even what seems like failure? Thursday’s Happy Book Deal Story I received an email last week from a client sharing his good news: he’d just heard from his literary agent… Read more
The Power of Community in Writing, Publishing and Promoting a Book
This week, I’ve seen the power of community in action as Leena St. Michael reached out to her community and over 200 Activists and people-who-love-Leena signed up to be part of her launch team. The result is that Leena’s book, The Happy Activist, has hit several bestseller lists on Amazon. It reminded me how powerful it is to do things in community. While writing itself can be a solitary sport (and maybe even not that when we consider the divine guidance that often comes through to help us), so much of the act of creating and sharing a book comes… Read more
The Library: “A Vessel of our Shared Culture..a Meetingplace…a Refuge”
We have a little treasure in our neighborhood, sitting atop the hill. It’s the smallest library in the smallest state, Willett Free Library. I so enjoyed our librarian Kathy Fitzgerald’s letter that I’m sharing it here with Kathy’s permission. I hope it inspires you as much as it did me! From Willett’s “Ferry Whistle” : Autumn is our unacknowledged season of preparation. Thoreau conveys the spirit when he writes about his time at Walden Pond, “In October . . . I collected a small store of wild apples for coddling . . . When chestnuts were ripe I laid up… Read more
