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.
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.
Thanks to Kindle and other e-readers Indie writers are finally getting the attention they deserve. Hot off the presses the “50 Shades of Grey” self published Kindle bestseller trilogy is now in paperback at your local Target and Walmart and the movie rights have already been sold. The blog “Self-Publishing Success Stories” has compiled a list of more than 170 authors who have sold more than 50,000 self-published ebooks to date. These sales figures are meant to inspire other authors but the real message is that traditional publishing houses have become dinosaurs. Unable or unwilling to change with the times they are being left behind while self published authors sell more than many best sellers back in the day. To see who is selling what and how many visit Self-Publishing Success Stories.
If you are a book agent or publisher you’ll want to register for the brand new newsletter from Random House. Random House says “Following positive feedback about our Author Newsletter, we are launching our Agent Newsletter edition this month, containing the same behind-the-scenes spotlights and information, and highlighting new features and content added to the Author Portal.” You can view the first newsletter here.
Update your signature line in your business and personal email with your book title (even if the book is not finished). This idea sounds so simple, but I get hundreds of emails every day from authors who don’t add their book t their signature line. Think about how many emails you send every day. Your signature line is a valuable piece of email real estate that most people simply overlook. Yep, it’s simple and easy to do.
Don’t use your book picture in your signature. In some they come across as attachments and can’t be seen without opening the attachment which most people never do. Sometimes they show as broken links if someone has the html turned off in their e-mail settings. Either way, it doesn’t look pretty.
If you haven’t added your book title to your e-mail signature line do it now!
Gigaom blog has a fascinating post entitled “How Amazon Is Helping To Sustain Long-Form Journalism” that covers the best and the worst of how Amazon is shaping the publishing industry. You can read the entire post here.
If you’ve written your book don’t discount the value of international readers. With the high cost of shipping overseas frequently increase more and more readers are purchasing e-books of various formats. If your book is not in an e-book format you’re losing sales domestically and internationally.
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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