A. Samad Said's Blog, page 7
October 5, 2018
Health, Family and Lifestyle Books
Beauty and Fashion
When it comes to beauty and fashion, helpful books abound. Books such as James Wong’s book entitled ‘Grow Your Own Drugs: Easy Recipes for Natural Remedies and Beauty Treats’. James Wong has a MSc in Ethnobotany from the University of Kent so he knows his subject. Basically, the book covers all the various natural remedies that you can grow and distill in your own garden to use as complementary therapies and to produce many natural beauty products. It is certainly an interesting book and pops a lot of questions into your mind – read it to find out what I mean!
Complementary Medicine
James Wong’s book naturally drifts over into the sector on complementary medicine and, I would reiterate – this book is certainly worthy of more than a cursory glance. Another interesting and useful book on complementary medicine is Louisa L. Hay’s book ‘You Can Heal Your Life’, a book that has been a bestseller for a number of years. Apart from the interesting and useful information contained within the pages of her book, you will find exquisite illustrations by Joan Perrin Falquet on each page. Apart from highly recommending this book, I would suggest you read this book in conjunction with Rhonda Byrne’s ‘The Secret’ – each book complements the other and offers very closely similar messages.
Diet and Nutrition
There have probably been more books written on dieting than practically any other subject – fad diets, celebrity diets, dietitian-recommended diets: in fact, you name it and it has probably been written about. Then we have the Harcombe Diet and the Holcombe Diet – and, of course, Paul McKenna ‘I Can Make You Thin’ which comes complete with a CD as well. The book by Zoe Harcombe ‘The Harcombe Diet – Stop Counting Calories and Start Losing Weight’ is actually a book based on very sound nutritional principles. The concept behind this book is easy to follow and makes sensible nutritional sense.
With regards to the Holcombe Diet, that is more of a lifestyle nutritional book that advises on cooking in a nutritional way. Holcombe’s book is entitled ‘How to Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy Balanced Diet, with Very Little Money and Hardly Any Time, Even if You Have a Tiny Kitchen, Only Three Saucepans (one with an ill-fitting lid) and no fancy gadgets – unless you count the garlic crusher’. The title is a bit of a mouthful (sorry about the pun!) but it does reflect the fun nature contained within the book. This is sound nutritional information, presented in a light-hearted, fun way that gets the message of healthy eating for the whole family across.
Family and Parents
Continuing with the theme of healthy eating for the family, Annabel Karmel has written a book about meal planning for the baby and toddler that continues to be a bestseller on the nutrition of babies and toddlers. The ‘Essential Guide to Feeding Babies and Young Children’ was first published in 1991 and hasn’t been out of print since. Annabel Karmel has now published the ‘New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner’ which features home-cooked meals based on fresh, natural ingredients and integrates menu charts to make it easy to plan your shopping trips in advance.
Fitness and Exercise
Moving away from the theme of nutrition and dietetics, the fitness and exercise section features a pretty diverse collection of books from ‘Strength Training Anatomy’ by Frederic Delavier to ‘The Anatomy of Stretching’ by Brad Walker. A book that I have found in the Fitness and Exercise section is ‘Born to Run: the Hidden Tribe, the Ultra-Runners, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen: The Rise of Ultra-Running and the Super-Athlete Tribe’. This title is another mouthful, this time written by Christopher McDougall. It is a tale of endurance, of adventure – with that odd quirk that makes an ordinary book special. It should be way up there with the best sellers. Basically, it’s a story of Christopher McDougall running across the planet where no man should have gone before – but, there is much, much more to this book – and I am not about to spoil it for you by telling you any more about it. Read it for yourself – you will be very glad you did!
Men’s Health and Lifestyle
One book I would encourage every man and his partner to read is the book by Professor Jane Plant: ‘Prostate Cancer: Understand, Prevent and Overcome Prostate Cancer’. Many men are only vaguely aware of their prostate until it starts causing problems with the ‘waterworks’. However, what men need to be made aware of is that prostate cancer really can be the silent killer – unless it is caught early enough. Prostate cancer rarely gives any obvious symptoms until it is too late but, if you are fortunate enough for it to be caught early enough, prostate cancer is completely curable.
At present there are no routine tests to check for prostate cancer as the only real indication is the Prostate Specific Antigen in the blood. In a man of around 50 years old, his PSA level should never be above 3 – and, if it is above that level, he needs to see his doctor. Get it checked out – it may be nothing but, if this indicator gives you an idea that all may not be well, at least you have been given a chance of treatment before it’s too late. If there is one book out of the whole of our book-site that I would recommend, it would be this one – it could save your life!
Book Spine
In an era of vast competition in selling books through bookshops/stores, we all know that one of the important key elements to a book is its cover and design. We together with a book cover designer will consider so many different elements to the overall exercise to include (but not exhaustive) – front cover, image(s); layout, trim size; boarders; type of font(s); font size(s); whether in title in bold, or italic; where to locate on the cover, top, centre, left/right-hand side; where the Author’s name should be; what size should ‘author’s name’ should be in proportion to the ‘title; and where this should be located; whether to add and reviews or renown person’s comments (to give the book more credence), or even a strap line that entices the potential reader and gives them a flavour of what the book is about. Then we move to the back cover of the book which again considers background; font(s)/size(s), content, e.g. synopsis of the book; biography, perhaps author’s photo, (oh and yes, the ISBN or space for the bar code); publishers’ logo, (in the case of an Indie Author your own design), plus where to locate.
We then come to the ‘book spine’… argh yes, that perhaps less important part of the book where we keep it simple, corresponding background to front and back of the book; spacing between spine folds, book title; author’s name… full stop, job done – not exactly quantum physics – or is that enough?
We work so hard on this, spend a lot of money, and rightfully receive positive comment on how good it is – in the end the proof so in the selling, and if people buy our book(s) we are naturally pleased – job well done!
Unless a brand name or a best seller at the time, the balance of probability is that our book(s) will not be laying on display with the front cover on view but sitting on a bookshelf where only the book’s ‘spine’ will be in sight. All that work and all the people see at the beginning is that ‘all important book spine’. There is however a need to try other advantageous ways to get the attention of our books so that potential readers/buyers pick up and look – and with the all important book spine also in mind. Contextually we realise just how important this is.
Given this, there is an increasing need to give added emphasis to the design, font(s), and content of the spine so as to stand out and entice people to pick out/up as against others alongside on the shelf.
Whilst I have some thoughts and ideas they are likely limited compared to book cover designers. Overall experiences of others in the author/publishing sectors will reveal options in accomplishing effectively. For example types of fonts – where appropriate such typefaces as Pantone metallic.
Ideas, thoughts, and tried and tested ways that authors have achieved this would make for a good discussion. It would also serve as a learning curve to consider when producing the next book cover, and of course its spine – even if we are successful accomplished authors there is still likely more to learn.
Knitting Patterns -The Best Ways to Publish Your Own Knitting Patterns
If you design knitting patterns or teach knitting techniques and would like to publish your work, read on to discover the different ways you can publish, the advantages and disadvantages of each option, and essential advice about copyrights and how to use them.
Being a published designer or author is great for your credibility, will give you publicity and allow your work to be seen by a much wider audience. But before you rush in and write your book, you should first do some research and find out more about your market and whether your product or ideas will actually sell.
First of all, you need to think about who your target market is. Will it be a broad range of knitters or crocheters? Or is it a small niche group? Are they beginners or advanced? Is the content of your book in fashion at the moment?
Broad appeal knitting books are usually about knitting basics, how to knit, how to solve problems, and common knitting or crochet patterns. Even though they are aimed at a broad market, the most popular of these books still have something unique about them, or some kind of spin to make them interesting. Books aimed at niche markets are great because they have the potential to come into fashion and sell very well.
To research the market, look on the big book-selling sites like Amazon, where you can see what the most popular books are in your category. Some of the best-selling pattern books at the moment are books about sock patterns, knitted or crocheted decorations, warm weather knitting and solutions for knitting problems. By looking through these lists, you may also be able to find gaps in the market that you can fill.
When you have decided on your topic and created your content, you have three main choices for how to publish, advertise and sell your work:
One option is to use a publishing company to publish your book. There are obviously a huge number of publishers around the world, some very large with wide distribution networks, others smaller and perhaps more suitable for niche publications. The advantage of using a publishing company is that they will copyright, edit, print and distribute your book for you. Some publishing companies specialize in craft books, which means they will have more experience with your style of book. They will have experienced editors to give feedback and ideas for improvement.
If you use a large publishing company, your knitting book will be more widely distributed, much quicker than you could do yourself. It will be advertised in catalogs, and most publishers have reps that will promote and sell your book to stores. The downside is that you will lose much of your control over the book, as well as the profits.
Another option is to self-publish your knitting or crochet book using an online publishing service like lulu.com. By publishing your book in this way, you will retain more control over how your knitting book is presented and printed, where it is sold and how it is promoted, as well as the copyrights.
There are new copyrights called “Creative Commons” that are not as restrictive and allow people to share your patterns more freely, use them to inspire other work, or in knitting classes. This free use will encourage your designs to be distributed more widely and get your name as a designer more commonly known.
When you self publish your knitting book, you will get more of the profits. Most self-publishing services let you to print to order which means lower start-up costs.
However, you won’t get the same book-store distribution as with an offline publisher. And you will be responsible for most of the promotion yourself.
A third option is to publish your knitting book online as an E-Book. This would be a good option if you have an existing website, or you can find sites that would be willing to promote your book. If you don’t want to spend much on start-up, then this is a great way to test your market for very little investment.
You could also list your book or patterns with one of the many online pattern sellers. This way you can control the copyright and distribution of each of your designs individually.
In terms of knitting pattern copyright, there are several options available. All unique patterns are automatically protected under copyright law in most countries, so all you need to do is write “Copyright” and the year of creation, and your name. eg. Copyright 2009 Liz Raad. You can add the phrase “all rights reserved” if you don’t want your patterns used for anything other than personal use. Or you can add specific exceptions like “not to be used for commercial gain”.
However, you may have noticed that the world (especially the online world) is changing to a much more free approach to sharing information and ideas. If you free up your copyrights and use a creative commons copyright as mentioned above, your designs will be shared, and reach a far wider audience than if you severely restrict their use. Your income as a designer comes from sales of patterns or books, and lots of sales are made from personal recommendations, so the more people who know about you the better!
Whichever option you decide on, if you want to make money knitting then publishing your knitting book you will get greater exposure for your designs, and your name will become more widely known. Becoming a published knitting designer or author will provide you with more credibility, and might even bring new opportunities in your knitting design career.
Bonus Book Promotions Are The Latest Win-Win-Win Marketing Strategy
I'm sure you have seen the pages before. Buy a book for $ 18.95 and collect over $ 5,000 in Bonuses! There is a very powerful strategy at play on the back side of that – a joint venture book launch promotion. And what's in it for you? Well, away from all of those bonuses, it is a great way to grow your business is by providing a good, relevant bonus to a book launch in your niche.
Why a WIN – WIN – WIN? Three immediate reasons come to mind:
1) The Author wins, by having a mass of traffic, attention and "buzz" the days leading to the launch and on launch day. You see, the page is built in a way that the buyer has to buy the book and then needs to enter the receipt or confirmation code to access the awesome bonuses. Buy the book for $ 15 and get $ 5000 in Bonus Gifts. Who can say no to that? What is good for the author aside from obvious book sales, is that Amazon is very busy that day with their title, and that often makes them move towards "Best Seller" status.
2) You win, by offering your gift (which you probably already have as an "opt-in" gift or bonus.) People who may not normally be in your audience will see you on the special "Bonus Gift Page" and will have to opt in at your site in order to collect the bonus from you – You are now GROWING YOUR LIST and expanding your audience. You also have the credibility and feel of an expert by aligning yourself with other gurus. Remember that they may not click your bonus today – but they will see you and subliminally, after they see you this way 6-7 times, you become a trusted expert.
3) The book BUYER wins, because not only do they get an awesome book – but they have access to so many other bonuses and gifts: the ultimate reward for purchasing on a specific day.
WIN – WIN – WIN.
It may sound complicated, but the work and commitment is not that great …
First, you fill out a short form asking about the value of your gift and the size of your list. If your list is small, so not worry! This is the perfect opportunity for You to grow it and every mailing counts to the person launching! One person can and does make a difference!
Then, you send an image of you or your product or service. Remember to keep this aligned and consistent with your branding.
Finally, you commit to open, read and share the emails that are sent the week before launch (sometimes it's also 3 days before launch and / or on launch day). Instructions are usually very EASY and arrive on ONE DOCUMENT. This can be passed along to your virtual assistant to tend to or simply cut and paste into your auto-responder and set the proper dates! Nowadays, there are also pre-written LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter posts too. If you have a social media tool, like hootsuite – the process literally takes 2 minutes!
The main commitment from you in exchange to appearing on the launch page with your bonus (bringing attention to your expertise) is that you agree to share news of the launch in the form of mailing, newsletter, tweets, social media posts, etc.
AGAIN, EVERYTHING IS WRITTEN FOR YOU!
You literally just agree to cut and paste and in the process, you develop and expand mailing list, build cooperative relationships, get joint venture partners and realize the massive power of Social Media and how you can finally get it to work for you. It is the wave of activity that makes most books hit Best Seller on Amazon. It's all about the momentum and with a JV book launch coupled with social media, you can leverage that momentum to finally propel you to success!
Why Self-Publish Your Book?
If you want to be a published author, what's stopping you from achieving your ambition? Self-publishing is a highly recommended option. It costs almost nothing to produce an eBook and publishing one is much easier to accomplish than many people believe.
Here are four fabulous reasons to self-publish your book:
1. You can make more money
Even if a traditional publisher agrees to publish your book, you can make more money by going it alone. It all hinges on the percentage of royalties you earn and you can earn a far higher percentage (between 30% and 70%) if you self-publish, compared to the 12% to 20% a traditional publisher might offer you. And, for eBooks you sell and distribute yourself, you can even keep 100% of the royalties.
2. Sometimes it's the ONLY way
Particularly for would-be non-fiction authors, self-publishing may be the only way to get your work out there. Not because there is anything wrong with your book, but because most traditional publishers do not expect to make enough profit from books they consider 'too niche', or that have too small a market of potential buyers. However, that does not mean there is not enough profit in it for the author, particularly when publication costs are low. Beside, profiting from book sales is not the only motive for authors wanting to see their books published.
3. Speed
Once your book is written, polished and correctly formatted, it can be available for your readers to buy within a matter of days. With traditional publishers, you could wait months, sometimes years, for your book to appear. Nowadays, the only real drag on your publishing timeline is how quickly you, not the publishing house, can respond.
4. Greater control
When you decide to self-publish your work, you have more control over the finished product, from the artwork on the front cover to how and where you choose to market your book. These decisions are yours to make. You can still seek expert advice in areas where you are unsure but, absolutely, you decide.
5. Gateway to more opportunities
Having a book affords you instant authority and enhanced credibility. This opens the door to speaking engagements, coaching and consulting opportunities. Non-fiction author? Why not turn your book into an online course? Many course creators struggle to produce content or structure their material so that learners can follow it easily. If you already have a book, you're already certain steps ahead. Your table of contents provides the course framework and structure, while each chapter can be turned into a separate module. Leverage even one of these opportunities and your book could soon provide you with multiple income streams and much higher revenue than royalties alone.
How to Self-Publish a Book On a Shoestring Budget
Let's say you want to know how to self-publish a book, and you want to do it in the least expensive and best way possible. Is this contradictory?
In fact, on my web site at Write and Publish Your Book, the two questions I'm asked the most are how to self-publish a book and how to do it on a shoestring budget. They also, coincidentally, want to know the BEST way to do this.
But for now, let's focus on this question of the best and cheapest way to publish a book. In fact, these are two entirely separate questions. The first question is, "What is the best way to publish my book?" Then, the second question should be, "What is the cheapest way to publish my book?"
See, most people who ask me this question are really just new to the business. It's a perfectly legitimate question, especially if you've committed over writing your book for two or three months (again, the timeline for writing a quality book is the subject of another essay). So let's take these two questions apart.
What is the best way to publish a book ?
Write an outstanding, must-read book that is unique, provocative, controversial, a literary masterpiece, or is approved by someone like Oprah. No, really. That's the best way to publish a book.
Take for example Joseph Finder, author of the best selling corporate espionage book, Paranoia . He'd had moderate success with his previous well-written CIA suspense novels, but he did not hit it big until he inadvertently created an entirely new genre with Paranoia . In his words, "All I was doing was trying something new – a thriller with a fresh setting, a fresh cast of characters."
Or, how about Nora Raleigh Baskin, popular author of middle-grade novels such as In the Company of Crazies (HarperCollins). She'd had a knee-high stack of rejection letters until she wrote the book she'd always wanted to write – not because she wanted to be published, but because she wanted to write this particular book. That one book, which she wrote from her heart, got her on the road to a successful writing career.
Many people have a great idea for a book, and many of these books are from their life experiences. They have no experience as a writer, but the strange thing is that they almost always ask first about publishing the book before it's even written.
Even if they do ask how to self-publish a book, they're still thinking in terms of publishing their best seller before they've even determined if there's a market for the book!
For example, remember the story about the guy who had to saw his own arm off with a dull knife in order to save his life? Aron Ralston did not just come up with the idea to write his book between a Rock and a Hard Place . His story was popularized well before the book was ever written.
Contrast that with the woman who wants to write about her experiences with domestic violence. Unfortunately, this is not an unusual story. As much as I'd like to see an end to this horrible sickness, the story will not need sell books.
And selling books is what it brings down to . Will your book sell? That's the ultimate question you need to answer if you want your book published. The question of the salability of your book applies whether you're self-publishing or trying to sell your book to a publisher. Either way, it's got to sell or it just will not go anywhere.
That said, let's get back to the original question: What's the best way to publish my book ?
Self-Publish or Traditional Publisher ?
There's no easy answer to this question, and the answer you get will depend on who you ask. I think a lot of it depends on you, the genre of your book, your experience as a writer and in sales, and your intentions for the book.
Self-publishing is ideal for a business person who wants to use the book as part of his or her overall business strategy. It's a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field (assuming the book is well-written and informative). The book can be "repurposed" into E-books, teleclasses (telephone conference-call classes), Webinars (seminaries held on the phone and Internet), and often advanced courses sold for thousands of dollars. Thus, the book itself is printed at a loss and is generally given away to seminar attendees.
Self-publishing is also an option for novelists who really believe in their books, but because they're new can not find a publisher for the book. The key here is that you've at least tried to sell your book to a traditional publisher.
Self-publishing with an aim toward historical publishing with a major publishing house will require a tremendous amount of energy and perseverance to market and sell your book. If you can show that the book sells, you'll find a publisher. Just putting it on Amazon will not do a thing. You absolutely must work at marketing your book.
There are many self-publishing options, ranging from "free" (Lulu) to several thousand dollars. Perhaps the worst option is to go with what's called "Vanity" press. These are companies who will publish your book for two to ten thousand dollars, print 2500 or more copies, and do a minimal amount of marketing. You're stuck with a garage full of books and an empty wallet. Beware those companies who want to print your book in bulk.
Lulu is the most popular, but has its own costs. Most of the books published on Lulu sell no more than 10 copies – total. The books are amateurish, with home-made covers that look like something the dog chewed. The book print quality is good, but the printing prices are steep. For a fee you can have an ISBN number assigned and the book listed on Amazon.
On the other hand, for just a little more money you can buy your own ISBN number and have your book printed at Lightning Source for far less money per book. You'll make your investment back with less than 100 books printed.
Then, there's everything in-between, including "Print on Demand" book publishers who will create the cover, edit your book, and format the interior of the book so that it looks professional. Some POD publishers simply publish your book as-is. You provide the cover and the interior formatting.
Just consider that you generally get what you pay for, although some POD publishers will charge you high fees for what loosely resembles a marketing plan. Make sure you compare the options closely.
Traditional Publishing
Expect rejection. Seriously, the vast majority of books submitted to both big and small traditional publishers (publishers who either pay you up front or do not ask for any up-front money from you) are rejected. It's a fact of life simply because they're in it to make money. If they do not think the book will sell, they'll reject it.
The best way to ensure success is to write a beautiful, clever, provocative, inspiring, brilliant book. No, let me take that back. The best way to ensure success is to already be someone popular, well-known, famous, or influential. Think Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, or Paris Hilton (dread the thought).
If you're writing a nonfiction book, it's best to be someone important, have a track record in sales, or have excellent credentials. If you're not any of these, then consider co-authoring your book with someone who fits the above criteria.
Also, for nonfiction or a memoir, do your marketing research beforehand. If you can go into your book proposal or query letter armed with documented proof that people are buying your type of book AND that yours has a interesting and unique twist on a highly relevant topic, then you'll get their attention.
You'll need to write an excellent proposition. I've charged thousands to write nonfiction book proposals (and I have a good track record of success). It takes time to write a compelling lead that draws them into the benefits of publishing your book, and following that with a comprehensive plan for marketing your book. For nonfiction, you should have two solid sample chapters written.
But what about writing fiction ?
The first thing you'll need is a good, well-written, and interesting book. We recently had a novel writing contest at the site, and you'd be amazed at how many books had basic grammatical errors and were poorly written.
What are people thinking? Obviously, this is not you. So, take your great book and write an even better query letter. You'll need to have your book written. Do not say that "it's almost done," or that "I'm thinking about writing …" Ideally you will have gone through about a dozen drafts of your book before you send it to anyone.
It's far easier to get your book published if you've already been published. But if you're new, do not worry. There are ways … and there are certainly ways to do it on a shoestring budget. You can have cheapest, and you can have best, but you're going to have to work at it to have both!
Good luck and good writing!
3 Secrets for Selling More Amazon Kindle Ebooks
Since launching the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform, Amazon has created an amazing tool for authors to take control of their book publishing process. There is no more need to endlessly submit books to dozens of publishers hoping that somebody will read it, like it, and find a place for it in their catalog. But, the new self-publishing frontier is not without its problems.
Self-publishing means you (as the author) are responsible for everything. Once you get your book ready for publication, you are responsible for promoting it too. The marking process does not come naturally for many authors. I am going to share 3 secrets for getting the best results for your self-publishing work.
Here are 3 secrets to selling more Kindle ebooks:
Keep Writing
Internal Linking
Craft Your Amazon Sales Page
Secret #1 – Keep Writing
The biggest mistake first time self-publishers make is thinking they can create one book and strike it rich. The truth is, the more you publish, the better your chances of building an audience for your work. Even better is to create a book series. Tom Clancy had the ‘Jack Ryan’ series, Sir Arthur Conan Dolye had ‘Sherlock Holmes’, and Sue Grafton has her ‘alphabet series’. But, it’s not just fiction writers who benefit from this approach. Think how many ‘Chicken Soup’ books have been written over the years.
Once people read one book in a series, they are more likely to read more. That leads us to secret number two.
Secret #2 – Internal Linking
For decades traditional publishers have used this promotional tactic. Inside every book they publish is a list of ‘Other Books By This Author.’ The more books you have published, the more chances you have to connect with a new reader. If you keep a list of your other books inside everything you publish, satisfied readers will find their way to your other books.
One of the great things about publishing books on the Kindle Direct Publishing platform is that you can update a book after it has been published. This means that every time you publish a new book, you can go back through your older books and update your list of other books available.
Secret #3 – Craft Your Amazon Sales Page
The primary sales tool you have when promoting your books as a self-published Kindle author is the Amazon listing for your book. Too many authors treat the content of this page as an after thought, but it is your single best marketing tool. Your listing must be carefully crafted to entice readers to take a chance and order your book.
The Amazon website is a marketing machine. The key to getting it to work for you is to get you book onto the various bestseller lists. Following the 3 secrets outlined in this article will greatly improve your changes of getting your Kindle ebook onto the bestellers list.
Tips Writing a Book – Get Started With Creative Book Ideas
Need tips writing a book? Even best selling authors got help writing a book from a book coach or other professional. Now you can expand those creative book ideas to write, finish, and market your book now.
You already know the benefits. Your book will make a difference in people's lives. It will help your target audience get their problems resolved.
To get started writing your book, it's important to know your book's hot selling points before you write a word. Creative book ideas include knowing your topic first.
Follow These 10 Steps for Writing a Book to Make Your Book Stand out From the Crowd:
1. List your five favorite topics you'd like to write about.
Choose the one you are most passionate about now and will be for the next two years. Do not write another book until you market the first one.
2. Define on paper your topic, title, thesis and best audience.
After you know these and have spent some time clearing these on paper, take the next step.
3. Create a book chapter outline.
For each chapter topic, write 3-5 questions you will answer in it. Later add a hook introduction with benefits and a last paragraph to attract your reader to the next chapter.
4. Write a clear book title with an angle.
You have less than 10 seconds to grab your readers' attention. Your book cover and title must do that. Your working title or book title helps you focus and answer your buyer's reason for wanting the book. What number one problem will your book solve for your readers? Include your book's promise-the benefits – in your sub-title if not clear in your title. That includes the main benefits.
5. Write a personal Dear Audience Letter to Your # One Audience.
Tell them why your wrote the book and what it can do for them. It's far easier to write a book aimed at only one audience. Think a book series with your other audiences. Book sales grow when your book has an angle. You may think that everyone will want to read your book. Not true. Instead, choose your audience and solve a problem for them in your how to book. Your target audience wants particular, specific information rather than general.
6. Create your cover with your audience in mind. Personal growth people like aqua and shades of pink and salmon.
Include your book's promise-the benefits – in your sub-title if not clear in your title. It's better to be clear than clever, but the ultimate winning combination is clear and clever.
7. Write your book's thesis before you write a single chapter.
A thesis is one sentence stating the audience's main problem / challenge and how your book will solve it. Knowing the thesis before you write the book keeps you on track so you write focused, compelling, readable copy. Each book chapter must support your book's thesis. Take "Write your Chapters in Half the Time with Fewer Edits." A best book chapter title often includes your thesis as this book does.
8. Bypass the fear of low book sales: test your book's significance before you write it.
Know the ways to select a book topic that sells. Know what makes one book outsell another. Your book is significant if it has these elements: It presents useful information. It has the potential to make a difference in people's lives. It's lively or humorous. It helps answer important reader questions. It creates a defect understanding of human nature. If your book has only two significances, it will be worth writing. With three or more, it's a potential best seller. Make your book a priority so you can express your mission helping others to a better life, and at the same time make a consistent lifelong income.
9. Write down your publishing goals for this book.
Which suits your more– self publishing or a traditional publisher? Think about Print on Demand and whether these companies can deliver you a fair deal. Think about writing an eBook first or at the same time as your print book. You need far fewer resources and time to sell an eBook.
10. Organize your book files.
We creative thinkers need help. We waste over 150 hours a year looking for mislaid information. To get easy and fast book files retrospective do these:
First, create a master folder with your book's title. Inside, keep a separate file for each chapter. Name each chapter to make sense later. Within those, add your different notes, research, or resources. Title and date each file easily to find it later. For instance, Chapter One. Why Write a Book? -8-20-08. You will know what chapter version is the latest with new file dates.
You will now stop wasting time and money because unfinished projects that do not get shared, do not make you money and get your unique word out to your awaiting audience.
Writing a book is so much easier when you approach it in small bites. Now you can get started with these 10 tips writing a book.
Book Editing Services
Source by John Halas
Book editing services can turn a mediocre book into a best-selling book. When people write books, they usually make many mistakes that require book editing services. Some of the common mistakes made in books include grammar, wordiness, clarity, and punctuation. Book editing services enable writers to know what needs to be included or excluded in an article. Some writers fail to express their thoughts and ideas in a way that will be understood. Editing services correct these mistakes and ensure that the language used is appealing and captivating to the readers.
There are different types of books that require book editing services. They include fiction and nonfiction books, novels, biographies, memoirs, short stories, and children's books. It is important for an author to take his book for editing once he or she completes it. This is because the writer might be too attached to the book to give an objective critique. Sometimes, what a writer writers might make sense to him or her but not to readers. Book editing services are there before important because they allow the author to see these mistakes, get them corrected in order to transform the book into a best seller.
Different editors specialize in different editing services. It is there before important for an author to choose an editor who is matched for his book. For instance, if the manuscript needs proofreading, a copy editor should be consulted. When a book needs a creative plot and a flow of ideas, a manuscript editor is necessary to turn the book from a dull write up to a creative and appealing masterpiece.
There are various types of book editing services. First, developmental editing is done immediately a writer or author submits its manuscript to a book editor. The editor is in charge of organizing the ideas and thoughts of the manuscript in order to present it in a way that is factual and clear. The plot of the manuscript is critically assessed and improvements are made. Developmental editing is very important because it is targeted.
The book editor has the target audience in mind and ensures that the needs of the audience are addressed. During this stage, the book editor works with the author so that the author authorizes the changes that are made in the book. After developmental editing, it is important to consider book editing services such as substantive editing and proofreading.
Substantive editing is also known as rewriting the manuscript, and it involves thoroughly formatting and editing the book for style, content, and organization. This allows the information to flow well. This is where the book editor offers suggestions to the author in terms of arrangement of chapters and inclusion and exclusion of some sentences and chapters. Photos, references and graphics are checked as well as plagiarism. After this is done, the book will go through proofreading. A copy editor is in charge of proof reading the manuscript so as to check on any errors such as spelling and punctuation mistakes that were missed. When this is done, the author's book will be ready for publication.
The World's Best Book Publishing Formula for Self-Published Authors
The problem most first-time authors face is that they're great at writing but they're lousy at publishing. They do not understand how books are made or how they are sold. They do not realize the simple fact that writing their book is only 5% of the work involved in selling books.
What are the most common misunderstandings? As a publisher, I've seen the gamut, but here are just a few:
They think if they write it, buyer's will just show up automatically.
They are overconfident that their title will easily outshine the 300,000 new titles published each year.
They think publicity is someone else's job
They misjudge their audience's buying habits.
They create the cover art themselves or ask / hire a friend to do it for them.
To become a best selling author you'll need to get educated about literary agents, book proposals, book size options, pricing, cover design, interior layout, proof editing, distribution and how to work with major retail chains. There are lots of ways to gain this experience. You can go to author events, survey a variety of publishing blogs, or talk with your friends and collections who are successful published authors.
You can also check with a publishing insider who makes a living in this complex marketplace. A quick discussion will reveal the areas where your book is strong and where your tactics need to change.
For example, do you plan to publish your book in hard copy, digital, audiobook or all? Keep in mind that Amazon sells more digital books than print books, but both formats remain popular. Consider that having a hard copy of your book can boost your credibility as an author and give your audience something to remember you by. Checking with an expert can help you make the right decision.
Exclusive Yourself – Or Not
Most authors tend to think of Amazon exclusively when they think of publishing their book. However, Amazon is only one sales channel for your book. There are literally hundreds of book retailers – along with special companies which purchases far exceeded Amazon for certain books.
If you want to tap into the market in the most effective way, you're probably going to need some help reaching the buyers for those retail and corporate markets. Even in the Digital Age of do-it-yourself, having a publisher is a big help with this task.
The difficulty in using a legal publisher – those traditional publishing houses that once ruled the literary world – is that they hold all the cards. A legacy publisher has no qualm about taking control of your manuscript, paying you a pittance for it, then burying it in a warehouse after 90 days on the market – literally sinking your project until your contract expires years from now.
Whenever possible, publish your book non-exclusively so you can reap royalties from a wider variety of platforms. Using an assisted self-publishing model can help you navigate these waters more safely and effectively.
Even after you choose to self-publish, you can hire an agency to help sell your book into retail markets nationwide and around the world. Before going this route, consult with an expert to ensure your book is designed and priced perfectly so you're not left holding the cards when returns start rolling-in.
There has never been a better time in history to be an author. However, having your book on the virtual shelves of retailers worldwide is not enough by today's publishing standards. The # 1 problem for authors is that of obscurity in online catalogs, with millions upon millions of book listings. The smartest idea for your book publishing may just be that you do not have to know it all. A wise captain of industry knows when to work with a team.
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