Tagged: book shepherd

Authors: Your Big Four Questions for the 2019 New Year

Authors: Your Big Four Questions for the 2019 New Year

It’s that time of the year … you’ve just completed the Holidays; you have good intentions pouring from everything cell of your being; and then, January progresses to February. The diet ends; the New Year’s resolutions start to tank; and you are back doing the same thing as you’ve always done.

Here are four questions to ask yourself as your kick-start your authoring and publishing year:

Authors Need to Ride Surfing the Publishing Wave

Authors Need to Ride Surfing the Publishing Wave

Thirty plus years ago, one of my author friends coined one of my favorite book titles: Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers. It’s all about change and slashing through the things that continually hold people and companies back. Fast forward 20 years. I ran into the author Bob Kriegel at a conference we were both speaking at. He was still talking about burgers and he reminded me of a story he told me long ago …

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Is There a Book in You? How’s It Doing? Get Resources for Success

Is There a Book in You? How’s It Doing? Get Resources for Success

Question: If you are an Author, are you happy with your book sales?
Question: Would you like to be an Author of a successful Book?
Question: Do you really know how Authors become rock stars who get minimal advances, if any, yet soar?
Question: Would you be thrilled with a few hundred copies of your book sold (average is less than 500) or would you like to sell thousands?
                       
Answers: The answers are in front of you. Within the …

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Traditional Publishing, Self or Independent Publishing: Which to Choose and Why…Advice from the Book Coach / Book Shepherd

Traditional Publishing, Self or Independent Publishing: Which to Choose and Why…Advice from the Book Coach / Book Shepherd

Ahhh, times have changed—which publishing road does an author take today? With the Internet and today’s technology, traditional publishers are being turned on their heads, self and independent publishers have morphed into new critters—ranging from “Wow—look at these books, they are amazing” to “Wow—these like they were done with Elmer’s Glue at the kitchen table.”
The publishing road answer: it depends. Authors are choosing to bypass the traditional method that had been so coveted by the …

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Authors, Books and Webinars Go Together

Authors, Books and Webinars Go Together

One of the challenges that every Webinar seems to encounter is the talking head syndrome. In TV land, this is typical of your news shows. Your Webinar needs even more energy and when your attendees can’t see you. Your challenge is to create action in their eyes with your words, your phrases, your pausing, your illustrations, your speaking style, your examples, your stories, your segways, your everything … it’s your show and whether the attendee comes back for another Webinar will be based on whether you can connect with your audience or not.

Don’t Confuse Independent Publishing with Self-Publishing

Don’t Confuse Independent Publishing with Self-Publishing

Indie, Independent and Small Press Publishing Are So, Soooooo Different from Self-Publishing, Vanity Presses and Pay-to-Publish “Publishing”

I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a zillion times: yes, dear author-to-be (and those already published), there is a difference between self-publishing, vanity presses, pay-to-publish, a small press, and independent publishing. Don’t mix them up. Don’t get confused.
Use Wikipedia as an initial guide:
“The terms “small press”, “indie publisher”, and “independent press” are often used interchangeably, with “independent press” defined …

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Why Publishing on Your Own Is a Very, Very Viable Option

Why Publishing on Your Own Is a Very, Very Viable Option

Once upon a time, in a land no so far away, there were two types of publishing: the coveted traditional route, where thousands of books were printed, media releases created and publisher reps marketed the books that only real authors wrote; and the disdained vanity press—here the giant spitting sound. Authors went the vanity press route only as a last resort. Under the vanity umbrella dwelled the small presses and self-publishing, costly ventures where mass …

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5 Blunders Guaranteed to Crush Your Publishing Efforts … Part I

5 Blunders Guaranteed to Crush Your Publishing Efforts … Part I

Everywhere you turn, there is info via the Internet , on the bookshelf,  via videos,  and certainly from workshops. Info that tells you want to do with your publishing efforts; what not to do.
You would think that any beginning author would start with a quick search on the Internet to begin their quest–a quest that would identify common snafus  and traps that newbie authors fall into. It would certainly reveal a plethora of information—how to do it; …

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Leave Me Alone … I just want to write my books …

Leave Me Alone … I just want to write my books …

Sometimes the best of an author’s plan goes kaput.
                    The question that should be asked: was it a plan, a real plan … or a fantasy … or a wish?                        

We authors are good at creating the “what ifs” during the germination of a book; during the writing of a book; during the production of a book; during the marketing of …

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