Apply The Lessons

Each of us have some things we do very well and others--well, we simply don't do them at all. Maybe that's OK not to do them but maybe you simply aren't applying the lessons that you've been taught. It's always good from my view to continue to grow, change and learn. It's the mode that I'm in these days--and I'm determined to stay in this mode.

I've come to the understanding that I've not been as effective with my teaching for writers as I could be in the future. For many years, I've traveled the United States and Canada teaching at various writers' conferences. It's a rich experience for me and the opportunity to give back as well as learn from other writers. If you look at my schedule, you will see I'm continuing to travel and teach. In fact, I need to get over to the schedule page and add another conference from the last couple of weeks.

Many of these conferences are set up to record the sessions and sell workshop CDs (and it used to be cassette tapes). It's a normal practice for the speakers to sign a release then receive a complementary copy of their workshop if they pick it up on the spot after the session. After my workshop, I'll drop by and get my CD and carry it home. Then I stick it in a drawer and don't think about it again--until I return from another conference. I haven't been irresponsible with this material. I have not been proactive and sharing this wealth of information with others. I'm changing and applying some of what I've been learning.

At the Mega Book Marketing University in Los Angeles, I acquired some equipment to make some changes. I picked up an Edirol R-09 MP3 recorder, a telephone bridge and Sound Forge Audio Studio. I learned about this material from Mike Stewart, who is known as the Internet Audio Guy. You can follow his link to learn more about creating audio products and watch his demonstration videos.

I've been learning how to use the Edirol R-09--which is a complex professional digital recorder with loads of features. In the last couple of days, I managed to record a new introduction to one of my workshops about book proposal creation. Yesterday I used Sound Forge for the first time to make some simple edits to the workshop, then pasted in the new introduction. To my surprise, editing sound was like Mike Stewart had told me--very similar to editing a text file with the same sort of cut and paste functions. With a bit of a learning curve, it worked like the instructions and I managed to edit the audio of my workshop and send it into production. In the coming days, I'll be telling you (and others) more about Editor Reveals Book Proposal Secrets.

One of the challenges with this project was getting the audio files sent to the production company. They told me about a site called Yousendit.com. This site was easy to use and accomplished the task to get the large file sent to someone else. It's a good resource to know about if you need it. I learned the bulk of the techniques to produce audio product from Bob Bly's Internet Marketing Retirement Plan. This four CD package is loaded with insight. I like the simplicity of the program. Bob out sources the majority of his production. I'm learning to apply the lessons from this material.

Each of us are on this journey to learn more information and apply it to our writing life. If you don't have an online e-newsletter, I'd suggest you subscribe to my free newsletter and read the free ebook about it. Also read these articles about producing a newsletter. There are many articles to teach you about different aspects of writing through Right-Writing.com and these entries about the Writing Life. If you are looking for information about a particular publishing topic, use the search engine in the right-hand column of these entries. Then apply the lessons to your own writing life. It's the course I'm taking and you can do the same.