Three Reasons to Do It Yourself

This morning I packed up a copy of Book Proposals That Sell.  An order for the book came into my shopping cart. I've developed a little pattern of printing the packing receipt, the label and getting it ready to take my post office. When I look at what other authors are doing with their websites, they often send their buyers to Amazon. I understand these authors make this choice because it is easier for them and they do nothing additional and many people already have all the buying details set up on Amazon.

It took me several additional steps to get this book packed up and ready to mail. Why do I bother doing it myself? Here's three great reasons:

1. Make more money through selling directly to the reader than through Amazon or some other places. I purchased these books at a steep discount (something authors need to think about when they contract or create a book). You don't need a shopping cart like I use and can simply use a free PayPal button for the sale. Most readers have a PayPal account so this option is easy for them to use. These readers get the book directly from you and if they prefer it to be autographed, then they have this possibility since they've bought it from the author.

2. Personally touch my readers and add them to my email list. You can learn more details about creating an email list here. My shopping cart is also where I send emails to my list. Every author needs to create and be adding to their email list. More and more editors and literary agents are looking for authors who have email lists and can directly reach their readers.

For my case with Book Proposals That Sell, I have an additional reason. This book has been on the market for a decade. Recently I got a One Star review on Amazon because of the out of date information. Admittedly publishing has changed since this book was first published. Yet the book has over 130 Five Star Amazon reviews. Now I've lowered the price from $15 to $8 and I've “fixed” all of the out of date websites. If you buy the book through my website, then you get these fixed websites through an automatic email (called an autoresponder). Plus you receive other unique bonuses which I've created. Notice my intentional planning: the only way for the reader to get these “extras” is to purchase the book directly from my website.

3. Provide the reader additional value and give them the opportunity to go deeper in this subject area. I wrote Book Proposals That Sell as a frustrated acquisitions editor. Later I wrote and developed other products in the book proposal creation area.  I have a 12 lessons course called Write A Book Proposal. I have a CD package called Editor Reveals Book Proposal Secrets. Finally I have a teleseminar called Proposal Secrets where I interview a number of publishing colleagues about book proposals.

To be honest, packing books is not my favorite task. In addition to having a way for the reader to give you money, mailing supplies like labels and priority envelopes) have to be kept on hand. I've gotten the process down to a few minutes for each one. I'm committed to continuing to mail my own books. 

As an author, you have the greatest vision for what can happen with your book and the deepest passion for it. Let your passion show in how you sell your book. 

Tweetable:

Are you packing and selling your own books? Here's three reasons for every author: (ClickToTweet)

Not Accepting Failure

The USA Today headline blared, "Entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki doesn't accept failure." What's up with that?

Through the years, I've heard Guy speak a number of times in different settings. When I worked at Christianity.com, I met Guy at a conference (years ago). He is an out-going, highly-visible and innovative person. I encourage you to read the USA Today article and in particular this last quote: "At the end of my life, is it better to say that I empowered people to make great stuff, or that I died with a net worth of $10 billion? " Kawasaki says. "Obviously I'm picking the former, although I would not mind both." You can actually hear Guy Kawasaki tomorrow (Tuesday, November 11th) if you follow this link.

I began to consider what it takes as a writer in today's environment to not accept failure. It means summoning the courage to persist in the middle of rejection. It means continually pitching and knocking on doors until you locate the right one (or ones) which open for your work.

If you want to get your book idea published, are you learning the best possible way to pitch and position your idea when you talk with literary agents and editors? The expectations of editors and agents are high ones for book proposals and manuscripts because of the flood of information coming their direction. You have seconds to capture their attention and you don't want to squander that opportunity.

I've been re-reading Fern Reiss' excellent book, The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days. On page 18, Reiss includes a remarkable list of books which were self-published when introduced to the reading public. Here's just a few of 27 titles:

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

The Elements of Style by William Strunk

The Publishing Game is focused on how you can create your own book and push it into the market. It honestly says, "The entry barriers to independent publishers are high. True, by independently publishing you bypass the agents and publishers who wouldn't even unwrap your manuscript. You have control. Unfortunately, unless you have a direct line to your customers, you may nonetheless find it difficult to get your book into circulation." (page 18 & 19). Then the promise of the book, "On the other hand, there are creative ways to bypass these entry barriers. This book tells you how."

The route to getting published is not easy. Can you take a smaller (and shorter) goal such as writing for magazines before your book idea gets into print? Absolutely. Editors and agents are looking for evidence of your involvement in the publishing world--and writing for print magazines can validate and build that confidence.

Keep stretching and learning. The next bit of information you gain from your writing education may provide the key to open the door of opportunity. I encourage you to look into a session I did with eight top editors and literary agents called Secrets About Proposals. You can instantly access this information, download the audio and listen to it. A second tool that I created to help you get on the publisher and agent radar is Proposal Secrets:

This audio coaching program will help answer the typical questions that authors have about pitching and proposals.

Finally I want to return to something everyone can apply to their writing life: attitude. Look inside and summon the courage to persist and move ahead with your dreams and not accept failure. This attitude will show up in your writing.

Good News For You

Last Wednesday night, I hosted a teleseminar with eight publishing professionals who are top editors and agents in different aspects of publishing. I was intentional about the mixture of people, publishers and types of writing. The teleseminar was completely unscripted and I know a brand-new experience for several of my publishing friends.

Let's face reality. These publishing experts are busy and hard to reach. I asked each one to spend ten minutes with me on the phone talking about one book proposal or manuscript which attracted them from the beginning. I also asked each one to point out one of the key errors writers make when they approach them. Each of these eight people had the same questions and our conversation was completely unscripted. If you listen to the call, you will see each person arrived at a specific time. And then we talked and they said good night. After the call, I sent each of the speakers the edited teleseminar so they could hear their colleagues (if they wanted to do so).

In addition, I asked each of them to send any document they had about creating an excellent book proposal or pitch. Not everyone had something to send but I compiled the material into a study guide to be used in advance of the teleseminar. It turned out to be 65 pages of excellent advice and insight for writers of all levels of experience.

While I've been in publishing for over twenty years, I was amazed at what happened during this teleseminar with eight different perspectives. Each person brought a different type of proposal. Some of them referred to a nonfiction book proposal and others talked about a fiction manuscript. Each one pointed out a different aspect that attracted them and brought value to the overall experience. Also each one pointed out a different error or mistake that many writers make when they approach them. The result was something with broad appeal in the book publishing landscape. It wasn't focused on the Christian market (some of it is) nor totally focused on the general book market (some of it is).

And if you missed the experience, I've got good news for you. I’ve turned this call into a permanent product. You can still get every part of it but you don’t have to wait for the live event. Instead you can download it instantly to your computer or iPod and see for yourself what I'm talking about from last week. The value of this teleseminar far exceeds the price. I hope you will check it out.

Excitement Builds For Teleseminar Event

On Wednesday evening, January 9th, I will be interviewing eight top publishing professionals about what attracted them to a particular book proposal or book manuscript. The excitement is building as people register for it. It's not too late for you to register at this link.

It’s left me little time for writing these entries about The Writing Life. I've learned the hard way that if you are going to put together one of these events, then you need to do the behind-the-scenes work to make it successful. If some detail isn't right, it can bring huge problems.

One of the keys to holding a successful teleseminar in my view is to include a study guide. This guide can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. I've created one for this event and it is on the confirmation page for people to download and prepare for the teleseminar. Beyond space for notes from the various speakers, I've asked each one if they had any background material about book proposal creation. Several of them gave great material. My study guide for this event is 65 pages and added tremendous value to the experience.

As for what will be said during the teleseminar, I have some ideas but no specifics. It will be a give and take conversation about the characteristics of successful book pitches with each participant. I'm eager to see what we learn from the conversations. In between the conversations, I'm going to be encouraging the listeners to learn more about Proposal Secrets and the value built into each of the 50 answers. Here's another one of the banners, I've prepared for this course:

Hope to see you at the teleseminar.