On Saturday, Author U members were treated to a tour de force of social media info and business strategies at the Author U Winter BookCamp. It was “an aaaaamazing and truly special training workshop for authors and would be authors.”  

Website strategist and specialist in working with authors, Amber Ludwig focused on building six 

critical areas that are must haves to make it in the authoring world today. As the principal and visionary of InsightfulDevelopment.com, she focused on:

• Social Media
• Branding and Message
• Building a Dedicated and Responsive Following
• Product Development
• Website Do’s and Don’ts
• Content and Blogging

What experiences will you carry forward for this New Year?

As Will Rodgers said,“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Get Focused, Get a Plan, Get Going … it can be YOUR amazing year.
 1  HOT News …  the Broncos playoff game is on Sunday, the 20th … not the day of the Winter BookCamp as some were worried about. Sign up NOW—you can’t afford to miss this full day to set the stage, to tweak what you are currently doing, to add amazing new ideas and strategies—it’s the 6 Must Haves for You and Your Book for 2013.     
Attend Author U’s January Winter BookCamp on January 19th. We are excited to kick off the year with a DEEP dive BookCamp that will look at the 6 MUST HAVES to building your authoring and book success … the result is that your business will soar. The date is January 19th and the Early Bird pricing ENDS on next Saturday, the 12th. Here’s the link for that: http://authoru.org/ai1ec_event/january-bookcamp?instance_id=114   

What experiences will you carry forward for this New Year?

1           HOT News … the Broncos playoff game is on Sunday, the 20^th … not the day of the Winter BookCamp as some were worried about. Sign up NOW—you can’t afford to miss this full day to set the stage, to tweak what you are currently doing, to add amazing new ideas and strategies—it’s the 6 Must Haves for You and Your Book for 2013.  

Saturday, January 19^th (there is no Dinner and a Program this month). Info on the website at http://www.authoru.org

Cost: Members $119 early bird through 1/7, Non-Members $159 early bird
AuthorU Members Early Bird – $119
AuthorU Non-Members Early Bird – $159

One person can make a difference—many will build a strong and thriving community. And one person can shatter a community, harming many and in some cases destroying the essence of their very breath, leaving their families and friends gasping.

Have you ever been around someone; read something; or seen something … and you want to get in a shower or a hot bath and soak the slime off?

That’s exactly how I feel when I read about the gobbling up that involves the granddaddy of all Vanity Presses—Author Solutions as the mother ship to Booktango, Inkubook, iUniverse, Trafford, Xlibris, Wordclay, AuthorHive, Pallbrio and Hollywood Pitch. Did you know that Author Solutions and its various companies derive over two-thirds of its income from selling services and books to authors … not to the readers of authors’ books?

The kingpin of vanity presses (as Smashwords’ founder Mark Coker states in his blog that Author Solutions makes more money from selling services to authors than selling authors’ books, “Author Solutions is one of the companies that put the ‘V’ in vanity. Author Solutions earns two-thirds or more of their income selling services and books to authors, not selling authors’ books to readers …”

Today is one of my favorite days—nothing on the agenda—oh there’s football, family and food. For me, I also dive into Macy’s Parade for the kid is me and the National Day Show—I don’t own a dog now, but I love those sassy pooches as they parade around.

I’m grateful for the freedom we all have and often too assume; I’m grateful for wonderful friends; I’m grateful for the relationship I have with my kids; I’m grateful that I can work with hubby John all day and actually like to sit down over dinner with him in the evening; I’m grateful for the silly TV shows I allow myself to indulge in once in awhile; I’m grateful to the many clients and authors that I’ve had the pleasure to touch since my first book was published in 1981; and I’m grateful for all of you.

When someone asks you—anyone—what’s the Vision for your Book, and for you the Author, what do you say? Do you stammer and stutter? Do you feel like you project the “deer in the highlight” gaze? Or are you direct and succinct?

For the visionary founder of Virgin, Richard Branson, he’s been an entrepreneur from the get-go. Virgin was seeded when he was 20 years old—since then; he’s created an empire that includes eight separate billion-dollar companies in eight different industries. He’s birthed a new book, Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School and it is both a good read and incredibly insightful. And yes, he did it all without earning a degree in business. As he writes,

                        “Had I pursued my education long enough to learn all the conventional dos and don’ts of starting a business,
I often wonder how different my life and career might have been.”

Summer has passed and Fall is here, authors start thinking book marketing and business again. Book award possibilities are at every corner. Your email may be loading up with a variety of solicitations to enter book awards. Do you … or don’t you? Are they worth the entry fee? Which do you submit to? And what do you do if your book is recognized … besides telling all your friends?

Book Awards … Some Have Deadlines Soon  … Including Special BONUS from USA Book News for Author U!

Which book awards do you enter? Do they matter?

Let’s start with the second question first. The answer: sometimes. Depending upon the tenacity of the author/publisher in getting the word out about the book and the award, you could be wasting your money. Awards can be used to market your book, but it doesn’t happen by itself. You will be the primary promoter. Always.

… Speak About and Market It, Of Course!

When the book deliver euphoria wears off, every author has the gaze in the belly button moment … what do I do next?

Two quick responses:

1     Market, Market, Market. Eighty percent of your time will now be directed to this single word.
2     Speak, Speak, Speak. You will enjoy the reprints, not to mention the book sales.

I am a firm believer that speaking is one of the best ways to move a book—when you connect with an audience, they want to take you home with them. Your book may be the best thing and the least expensive. They are impulse buys—meaning you need them onsite. You must take credit cards. My personal record was speaking at a conference in Utah for 60 minutes. In 5 hours, over $16,000 in book sales happened (560 books to audience of 800) … one book at a time.

I love Costco … as first a member of the Price Club in 1984, it’s been quite a ride to see its evolution from any warehouse almost 30 years ago that was packed with amazing deals to the slick operation Costco has become—nothing fascinates me more than the heralding of the next “season” many months before most of us even have noodle the current one we are in.

As summer comes to a close, it’s kick-start time for book promotions. Seasons occur all year—Fall-Winter brings a boatload of opportunities. Embrace, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, the New Year, Winter Solstice, Valentine, President’s Day/Week, Etc., Etc.

Fall is heavy book media promotion time—on the air, on the TV and certainly in the bookstores. Keep media lead times in mind when planning for book publicity. Some you only need a short time (radio, TV, print); others you need lots (magazines, some TV and print).