Becky Robinson's Blog, page 29

Self-Publishing? You Don’t Have to Go It Alone

You’ve written a book and decided to self-publish. Amazon KDP makes it possible for authors to write and publish a book from start to finish on their own. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you have to.

When it comes to self-publishing, just like the Farmer’s Insurance commercial says, “We know a thing or two, because we’ve seen a thing or two.” And so have our authors who have self-published books.

In my recent post, I shared some of the benefits our authors have found in self-publishing. I also asked them this question:

During which part of the self-publishing process did you most need help?

Copyediting and Proofreading

Every author wants his or her book to stand out. But you don’t want it to stand out because of misspellings, sentences that don’t make sense, and grammatical errors. There is a difference between having trusted individuals in your circle read your book and provide feedback, and having your book professionally edited. No matter how much writing experience you have, you are too close to your own content to find the mistakes, and your inner-circle friends are not likely to have the necessary skills or be as honest as they need to be.

Cover and Interior Design

We all know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. However, we also know that the right cover design can really set your book apart from the rest. In fact, self-published author Danise DiStasi shared, “I definitely needed professional help with the design of the book. While I wanted to provide the book at a reasonable price, it had to be eye-catching. The book rivals many other traditionally published books because the design was well done. I would never self-publish a book without the funds to have it designed professionally.”

DiStasi also shared that she was recently complimented on the professional appearance and quality of her books Love Like Louie and Lead Like Louie, which made them stand out from other self-published titles before the person had even read the books.

It is possible to go from a Word document to a paperback book using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. However, trim sizes, bleeds, and spine widths all impact the appearance of the final product. Professional typesetting with the right tools can make all the difference.

Logistics and Administrative Details in Working with Amazon KDP

Amazon provides a wealth of information on its site designed to walk you through every aspect of publishing a book on the KDP platform, and many authors work through this on their own with no problem. For others, either they don’t have the time to devote to learning how to do it and then setting up the account and moving the book from manuscript to book, or they may find working with the technology daunting.

In either case, working with professionals who have already been through the learning curve and are experienced in troubleshooting can save both time and headaches on everything from obtaining ISBN numbers, to registering the book for copyright, understanding the financials, and converting your files for Kindle.

Marketing

While not inherently a part of the book publishing process, if you want to sell the book you’ve written, you’ll need a marketing plan. For Paul Larsen, author of Find Your Voice as a Leader, it was important to “Be deliberate with my strategic marketing activities as there are so many options to choose from but having the help and support to align those activities with desired outcomes versus just throwing darts at a dart board and hoping to get a bullseye.”

All of the Above

Most of our authors are experts in their fields with an important message to share. However, when it comes to publishing a book, they admit to being out of their element. Many indicated that they needed help throughout the process.

Richard Greenberg, author of Never Coach on an Empty Stomach: Bite-size Actions to Energize People and Teams, said: “Wow. You name it. Design, editing, critique, the process of working with Amazon… All of the above really.” And Beau Sides, author of Lessons  from China: A Westerner’s Cultural Education and Unseen Tears: The Challenges of Orphans and Orphanages in China, said: “I was just a guy with some stories to tell, not a skilled writer. My knowledge of publishing was so limited it was embarrassing, so I needed help in every aspect of publishing.”

If you’re considering self-publishing, reflect on the experiences shared here as well as your own strengths and resources. In those areas where you need support, seek help from experienced professionals and always ask to see examples of their work prior to making a decision.

 

4 Benefits of Self-Publishing Your Book

Google returned about 240,000,000 results in 0.62 seconds when I searched “Benefits of Self-Publishing Your Book.” As I sit down to write a post on the topic, that result is daunting. What can I possibly share with you that you can’t find elsewhere via Google?

Maybe this: insight from self-published authors.

Aside from the stat in the first sentence, I’m not going to bore you with facts and figures. If you’re interested in that, clearly, Google can help you. What I am going to share are the responses of several of our past and present self-published clients to the following:

What was the number one reason you self-published your book, or the greatest benefit you found in doing so?

Additional Credibility in the Marketplace

For many of the authors we’ve worked with, including those who traditionally publish, one of their primary goals in publishing a book is to gain credibility in their marketplace. This was true for Richard Greenberg, self-published author of Never Coach on an Empty Stomach: Bite-size Actions to Energize People and Teams, who says, “The book has led directly to more business and more clients and I’ve had a lot of fun participating on panels.”

Greater Autonomy and Control

When you self-publish, you retain control of many elements of the process. The two areas this is most evident are in being the sole decision-maker around the content of the book, as well as being able to determine the timeline for publication.

This was an important consideration for Diana Peterson-More, author of the newly self-published title, Consequential Communication in Turbulent Times: A Practical Guide to Leadership. Peterson-More sought advice from a trusted advisor and traditionally-published author whose “strong recommendation was to self-publish, allowing me to retain greater autonomy and control over the entire process.”

Paul Larsen, author of Find Your Voice as a Leader, had similar reasons for deciding to self-publish. He said, “I decided to self-publish as I wanted more control (and thus accountability) over the process. I am the sole-author of my message, via my book, and I did not want any other entity diluting that message and thus, the eventual impact with my target audience.”

Affordability in Publishing

For two-time self-published author, Beau Sides, cost was one of the driving factors in his decision to self-publish. His books, Lessons from China: A Westerner’s Cultural Education and Unseen Tears: The Challenges of Orphans and Orphanages in China, were published to support the work of his nonprofit, Global Partners in Life. Because the organization is a nonprofit, keeping costs as low as possible was an important consideration. By self-publishing through Amazon KDP, out-of-pocket costs are minimal and the print-on-demand platform means authors don’t have to print copies in advance, store inventory, or incur shipping costs.

Sharing Your Message

If you’re an author, it’s because you have a message that you want to share with the world. Danise DiStasi, self-published co-author of Love Like Louie: An Adventure of a Girl and a Lost Dog and author of Lead Like Louie: Leaders Who Love are Life-Changers, stated that she chose self-publishing for Love Like Louie because she “wanted to make it available to schools and nonprofits for a very reasonable price. Self-publishing allows me to offer the book either at cost or free.”

All of the Above

If you read between the lines of the responses from the authors above, you’ll see that each of these themes are woven together. Though their individual goals vary, the common threads of advancing their goals through sharing their message while maintaining control over the message itself and the delivery of it are seen throughout their responses.

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of self-publishing, there are now 240,000,001 results on Google. You can also contact our team and we’ll be happy to help.

How to Reach Your Marketing Goals with Webinars

If you’ve done a webinar in the past, or are planning on doing one in the future, there’s good reason. When we typically conduct a webinar with an author around the time of their launch, we see a boost in sales or pre-orders following the webinar.

Boosting your sales numbers right before or during launch is great! But there are ways you can continue to use your webinar content and have it work for you in the long term to reach your goals. Remember: marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Focused, consistent effort over time will help you reach your goals.

Here are 3 ways you can leverage your webinar to reach your goals.

Use the webinar recording as a lead magnet.

A lead magnet is a valuable piece of content that can be used to obtain new leads (aka, get new contacts signed up for your email list), so that you can continue to stay in touch with them via a newsletter. If you are savvy enough or if you work with a web developer, create an area on your website where you can advertise the webinar recording in exchange for email addresses. Next to, or below that, have fields where visitors can input their email address. Once the user inputs their email address you can set up a campaign to automatically send them an email with a link to the webinar recording. Consider whether you want to send them one email or a series of welcome emails (the first being a link to the free resource) to keep them engaged and wanting more.

Share it on social media.

If your webinar is embedded somewhere on your website, you can share the link on social media to direct people back to your site. There, they may find more information about you, what you do, or find ideas on how to connect with you further. You can also put your webinar on your YouTube channel (if you have one) and share the link there (example). Pull quotes from the talk and use these on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn with a link to the recording. Use relevant hashtags on Twitter to reach new people.

Sharing your webinar on social media increases your visibility and establishes you as a thought-leader or authority in your field.

Use it in a newsletter with share links.

Another option is to embed your recording in a monthly or quarterly newsletter inviting people to learn more from you. Use a resource like Click to Tweet or a share link generator to create easy-to-share posts that your audience can send from their social media accounts about your webinar.

Asking others to share your webinar will multiple your network exponentially.

Whichever avenue you decide to take, there is no wrong answer! Do what feels right to you. Ultimately, you know what goals you want to achieve; your webinar is just another tool to help get you there.

If you are struggling to implement any of the ideas mentioned above, we can help! Just send us a quick email and we will reach out with more information.

When Goals Change

It’s just a part of life; sometimes, goals change.

I remember a time where I was running hard after a business. I had just opened an E-commerce store selling knitted, photography props for newborn photographers and new mothers.

I was a one woman show—the sole marketer, creator, advertiser, and accountant all while juggling a curious three year old and a newborn baby.

Looking back now, I see how crazy it was to try and handle it all. But I had always been an achiever and this was no different. I wanted to be the best at all of it—a good mother, a successful business owner and to top it off with a clean house.

Except it didn’t work out like that.

I remember juggling breast pumps and laptops, typing one handed emails to customers while nursing a baby with the other. And for a while, my business did do well. I made a consistent profit that contributed to our household income and it made me feel important… like I was DOING something.

Because isn’t that the hardest part of being a stay at home mother? The work is never done.

The laundry could be washed, dried, folded AND PUT AWAY only to turn and see your toddler running around with a blown-out diaper. It’s unending.

So for every PayPal notification that rolled in declaring a new order… I felt a growing sense of accomplishment, which was probably why I didn’t notice how much it began to take over.

I found myself pulling more and more late nights as I tried to keep up with shipping times and customer requests. Exhausted, my patience grew thinner and it wasn’t long before I snarled more than I loved on my kids.

I wish I could say that I figured out how to balance it all. But I didn’t.

In the end, I had to choose.

So three years after opening my shop, I shut it all down.

Maybe if the kids hadn’t been so young or if I hired extra help, I could have found the balance I was hoping for. But at the end of the day, I knew I wanted to be more present than successful. I didn’t want to be distracted by every ping of my phone or have my thoughts constantly consumed with improving my business. I wanted to be able to “waste” my afternoons chasing butterflies and tadpoles, watching cloud-bunnies float by and experience what it meant to be completely present with my kids.

It’s just a part of life; sometimes, goals change.

Looking back, it was the right decision. My kids were too young and I would have regretted my choice to continue pursuing my business. When you’re in the thick of it, it’s hard to remember that things change—that little babies grow into big kids and with that comes new freedoms and responsibilities. Six years later, we have found new rhythms that have allowed me to pursue my ambitions while also keeping my kids front and center.

How have you balanced motherhood and a career? I’d love to hear your story.

Spring into Something New on Social Media

Yes, it’s a cliché, but it’s also true — spring is a time to try something new, to dust off the winter blues and throw open the windows to light and fresh air. The same holds true for your social media marketing — it’s time to freshen things up.

We recommend a social media review each quarter to make sure your bios, photos, and social headers are current. It’s also a smart idea to re-evaluate your social strategy on a quarterly basis. Ask yourself, what can I do differently? How can I share my message in a more compelling way?

Experimentation is the key to social media success. In that spirit, here are some ideas you might want to try this spring (or any season!).

Ephemeral Content

It’s what all the cool kids are doing, really, all the top influencers live in ephemeral content. Ephemeral content is simply content that disappears in 24 hours. If you’ve wondered what Facebook and Instagram stories are . . . they are ephemeral . . . and you need to post here. This is a great place to show your personality and really open up to your audience. Brene Brown does this very well. Seriously, she has a saved category of Stories that are just her playing music while riding down the highway. Doesn’t have much to say about vulnerability, but it does let us know a bit more about her, and Texas — it’s all very Texan — and if you don’t follow her, these stories make you want to! (By the way, you can also save your Stories and create great categories like Brene.)

Video

I know I sound like a broken record (see here and here), but video performs better than anything on social media. Why aren’t you posting video content? Is it because you don’t want to hire a production team? Well, I have great news — you don’t have to. You can create short, fun videos with your phone, and if you post them in Stories, you can even annotate and draw on them.

Live Content

Most of our clients do speaking and consulting work — you basically tell people important and worthwhile things for a living. I challenge you to do this live on social media. You’ll be able to connect directly with your audience, impart actionable ideas, grow your brand, and have a great time. It’s truly a win for everyone! It’s also simple. Just go to your social platforms as if you are posting content and hit the live button. Bill Treasurer is having a lot of fun with it! Be like Bill.

Create a Campaign

This may sound complicated, but I’m here to let you know that it’s not. You have great content — just organize it around a theme, come up with an engaging hashtag, and share it all in a regular cadence. Voilà, you have a campaign! You can use free tools to create fun graphics to support your campaign, and encourage others to jump on board and share their content, too. Ruth Carter, the Academy Award winning costume designer for Black Panther, kicked off a campaign built entirely on user-generated content. Her users are celebrities, but you can do this too!

Get creative, have fun, and try something new on social media this spring!

You may be surprised how it energizes your social media marketing and grows your brand and thought leadership. You also never know who might dance along with you. Just ask Ruth!

Speaking with Intention—Key Factors in a Successful PR Strategy

I rarely do yoga, but I found myself in a studio last week, stretching out my hamstrings and listening to the instructor softly speak about acting with intention. What is your intention in this moment? she asked. What is your intention for the day? In everything you do, act with intention.

This was some pretty good advice that went beyond becoming more limber. After some reflection, I realized it applies to pretty much everything in life—from holding a meeting, to grabbing lunch with friends or getting media placements (aka, public relations).

After all, public relations is merely a way of communicating with others with intention—thinking before you speak and knowing your audience. Acting with intention with public relations means having a PR strategy.

Don’t have a PR strategy? Here are the 6 key components.

A Goal

You know you want some media placements, but stop for a moment and think about why. What is your ultimate goal? Is it to build credibility? Sell books? Boost thought leadership? Boost business? This information will guide you in honing your message and who you want to spread it to. If possible, try to put numbers or guideposts onto this goal, e.g., you want to sell a thousand books in the next six months.

A Message

Okay, you want to sell books or get more clients. How do you do this? By telling them people they should buy your book or collaborate with you. Aim to make your messaging short and simple, believable, memorable, distinctive, credible, and key to driving your agenda. Think: What makes you different from your competitors or unique in your industry? What expertise and experience do you have that benefits your potential customers? What’s your story?  Why are you doing what you do? Take these answers and package them into an elevator pitch.

An Audience

You know what you want to say and why. Now, who do you want to say this to? Do you want to reach human resource trainers or aspiring entrepreneurs? Pinpoint your target group. These are the individuals or groups that have influence and decision-making power over your products or services. Then, investigate key media outlets that these folks read. Google can be your friend here. Visit each media site to ensure it is still active and a fit for your target audience. Then, write out this list.

An Avenue

Now it’s time to investigate who to pitch at these outlets, e.g., editors or writers. If you cannot find the info online, call their newsrooms and ask who you should pitch to. (WI subscribes to a media directory to get updated info in our back pockets.)

A Plan

Also for consideration in your strategy is what you want to pitch. Are you looking for contributed articles? Or do you want broadcast media? Do you want to spread the word of your new book with a press release or just targeted pitching? Are you comfortable with speaking about hot news topics to get your expertise out there, even though it may be a bit off topic? Do you want to do the pitching yourself, or do you want a publicist to handle it? Do you want to send books to media or share PDFs? Do you need a press kit? Other PR tactics for consideration include email newsletters, social media campaigns, blogs, and public speaking.

A Review

You figured out what you want to say and why, who you want to say it to, how you want to say it—and, you’ve said it. You’ve pitched media or put out a press release. Now what? It’s time to keep track of your efforts and outcomes by going back to your goals. Did you sell any more books? Get any more business leads? PR successes can be a bit nebulous. After all, it’s difficult to draw a line from someone reading an article to then going online and buying a book. If you have some key performance indicators, you should be able to identify whether your PR efforts have lived up to your intention.

Namaste.

Hit or Miss — the Reality of Book Sales

In 2010, two years before I joined Becky at Weaving Influence, my husband and I finalized the production and publication of a short, illustrated children’s storybook about a boy named “Little Brother.” Even though I told myself that we weren’t going to get rich off of it, there was an underlying hope that someone would see it, love it, tell their friends about it, and a real publishing house would make us an offer. After all the time, effort, and money that we had poured into getting the story illustrated, edited, and through the self-publishing process, it would have been nice to see some kind of return on our investment, or at a minimum, break even. I had big dreams.

Let’s Talk Reality

In the nine years since Mashed Potatoes entered the book world, we haven’t recouped the cost of getting it published, let alone the money that we shelled out for illustrations. Although we have 10 reviews on Amazon (all 5 star), all of those are from people we know. When we decided to use it as a fundraising tool for our 2016 adoption of 5 siblings from Costa Rica, we thought it might be the “secret sauce” we needed to really get it out there. I ran a Facebook page for it (now closed), tweeted about it (then stopped), and even created a book trailer. I think we sold 16 books, which might have covered the cost of one fast-food meal for our new family of seven.

Sometimes, no matter what you do, it’s not enough to turn you into Dr. Seuss.

In the almost seven years that I’ve been working with Weaving Influence, I’ve learned a lot about marketing books, building platforms, and weaving together a community of supporters. I’ve been a part of really successful, best-selling book launches, and I’ve also been on the receiving end of unhappy authors who didn’t get an Amazon “Bestselling” flag. It’s the nature of the business.

If you’re preparing to launch a book, there are a few things that you can do to prepare yourself — mentally and emotionally — for what’s ahead.

Be Realistic

You might think your book is the answer to the world’s problems (and I hope you do, since you wrote it!), but that’s not a guarantee that everyone else feels the same way. Go into the process of book promotion with a realistic outlook. Make a plan, do the work, build your team, but maintain a grasp on the reality that only 15-20 titles (per list and subcategory) make it to the New York Times Bestseller list.

Decide Who You’re Writing For

It is estimated that there are 2 million books published each year around the world, and at least 600,000 of those (or more) are published in the United States. You may have written a great book, but so did lots of other people. Acknowledge that other books are probably better than yours, and then work harder to find the niche of people who will appreciate and be helped by what you have to say.  

Not Everyone Walks On the Moon

While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were busy walking on the moon, Michael Collins was up in the Command Module making sure they could all get home again. Even though Collins often gets lost in the shadow of Armstrong and Aldrin, he saw his role as equally important. I think the same can be said of authors who want to add to a genre like leadership, which is already filled with successful names like Blanchard, Maxwell, Drucker, and Covey. You may never get the notoriety that they have, but that doesn’t mean that your contribution isn’t vital.

Would You Give It Away?

Even the clients who tell us they don’t care about book sales, usually do care about book sales. We’re all human. When you spend so much time writing, editing, reworking, and finessing, it’s inevitable that you want to see people get excited about it, and it would be fantastic if that excitement translated into sales. But if it doesn’t, as is so often the case, are you still passionate about your book? Do you still believe in it so much that you would be willing to give it away? Bob Tiede, a longtime Weaving Influence client, just recently published his third book, Now That’s A Great Question. He spent hours making sure it was just perfect for his audience and poured his heart, time, and finances into the project . . . just so that he could giveaway a resource for others to use. Do you feel that strongly about your message?

My work getting Little Brother from notebook paper to printed book was a labor of love, and I wanted other people to see it, and appreciate it, the same way that I did. When they didn’t — it stung a little. There are times when — no matter how hard you try or how much you love your book — the final outcome doesn’t live up to your expectations.

But before you get discouraged and chuck it all, remember this: And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, Dr. Seuss’ first book, faced 27 rejections before Vanguard Press agreed to publish it in 1937.

If at first you don’t succeed . .  .

Big 4 Numbers to Monitor in Google Analytics

We’re often asked to advise clients about which social media platforms will deliver the best results. We have a general answer based on the results we see across clients and the overall growth patterns on the social platforms, but Google Analytics helps us make custom recommendations.

You may be asking yourself, what does Google Analytics have to do with social media?

The answer? A lot.

If you don’t have Google Analytics on your website, make an action item to create that connection as soon as possible. It’s critical data that can help you achieve greater results, faster.

Next, dive into those numbers. Google Analytics offers a wealth of information about visitors to your website. Here are four important metrics you can learn.

How many people visit your site: This is one of the first numbers you’ll see in Google Analytics. It lets you know what kind of traffic you have to your site. Tracking this from week to week or month to month will help you detect trends. The goal is always to drive more traffic; so if your numbers aren’t climbing, you may want to dig deeper into why.

How long they stay on your site: In the dashboard, this is called the Bounce Rate. The numbers here show you the percentage of time people stay on your website. You want that number to be low. It’s shown as a percentage, and it lets you know how many people view one page on your site and then leave or ‘bounce.’ You’ll also see just how long people are staying on your site. Anything above a minute is good, but again, the goal is to keep visitors longer. Having ‘sticky’ content that draws people in will help those numbers increase.

What they like on your site: This metric is really important—it lets you know what the majority of people are checking out on your site. Click on Behavior in the dashboard to find out where people are going on your site. If you have a blog post that performs well month after month, it’s a smart idea to try to create more content similar to that post—in style, subject matter, or appearance. Conversely, these metrics help you identify what’s not working, so you can stop creating that type of content.

Where they are coming from: This metric lets you know how your marketing efforts are working and can help shape your social media plan, too. If you click under Acquisition in the Analytics dashboard, you’ll find out how people are discovering your site. Odds are, many are coming via a direct link, but social media should be in your top 3 traffic drivers. Click on Social, and you’ll see exactly how many people are coming from each platform. If you love Twitter, but it’s driving the least amount of traffic, it might be time to update your social media strategy.

Google Analytics offer a wealth of information and the numbers can be overwhelming. There are great tutorials online to help, or you can get comfortable with the Big 4 and start updating your marketing efforts to take advantage of this data. Remember, as Peter Drucker so famously said: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”

A New Website to Inspire Conscious Success

The Weaving Influence team is please to feature a new website designed and developed for change management consultant, executive coach, and author David Neilson. If you are tired of the trial-and-error approach to your life, explore davidenielson.com and find yourself on the path to conscious success today!

David Nielson & DNA Worldwide

David Nielson is the founder and CEO of DNA Worldwide, a management consulting firm specializing in the execution of business strategy implementation and large-scale change. He brings over three decades of corporate, Fortune 500, and private consulting experience in organizational change management, leadership development, and training.

DNA Worldwide, LLC, is a management consulting firm that provides custom organization change management products and services, executive coaching, and leadership development. They serve an international clientele by ensuring change can be implemented with confidence, internal capability, and success achieved at every level within the organization. Utilizing their proprietary methodology, Change Management Essentials (CME), the DNA approach is straightforward, practical, focused on bottom-line results, and guided by the idea that “simpler is better and less is more.” This efficient approach makes change manageable and measurable – even within the largest organizations.

Conscious Success

Personal and professional success in today’s crowded, competitive economy is dependent on your discovery of the answer to the following questions:

What is my best purpose to achieve conscious success?
How can I demonstrate high awareness for conscious success?
How can I positively differentiate myself from others?

In his book, The Nine Dimensions of Conscious Success, David Nielson addresses the dilemma of how to define your purpose in life to achieve conscious success. Drawing upon his unique life experiences as a management consultant, an executive coach, and an organizational developer at Coors Brewing Company, he outlines a practical process model for you to achieve individual success. He uses real-life stories, humor, and a humble approach that has connected with audiences of all ages worldwide in his consulting practice and in the pages of this breakthrough book.

Nielson builds the foundation of his “Conscious Success Model” on three pillars: Purpose, Self Awareness, and Social Awareness. When combined and mastered, these essential starting blocks will bring you fulfillment on their own; but they can also be used to create your unique brand, style, and strong reputation.

Visit the new website to learn more

Discover his approach to change management essentials and CME services.
Learn more about David’s newest book Conscious Success.
Watch David in action on his speaking page.
Take the assessment to discover your strengths and barriers to success.

 

Interested in learning more about our web design and development services? Contact us to schedule a meeting!

Meet Kyle Csortos, Children’s Book Illustrator

You may not be aware that Weaving Influence provides book production services including copy editing, typesetting, interior and cover design, paperback book publication through Kindle Direct Publishing, conversion to ebook, and hardcover production.

We are always looking for opportunities to provide you with fresh, up-to-date services. Enter Kyle Csortos, a graphic designer based in northern Ohio, who specializes in illustrating children’s books. We were introduced to him recently and spent some time chatting with him to learn more more about his work.

Meet Kyle Csortos

Q. How long have you been illustrating, and do you only illustrate children’s books?

A. I have been illustrating my whole life, but I have been doing it professionally for 4 years. Besides illustrating children’s books and covers for authors, I also illustrate people’s pets and homes.

Q. Can you share examples of books you have worked on in the past that are now published?

A. Of course! Here is a link to my website that shows the books I have done that are published on Amazon: https://kcsortos.myportfolio.com/books.

Q. Is your fee all up front or do you also work on commission (meaning, based on how many books are sold)?

A. I have done both ways, and I find that doing a fee pricing that they pay throughout the process works a bit better. Especially if they aren’t looking to sell a lot of books and just wanted to create a book for a grandchild, etc. But if I know they are going to put the time and marketing in the selling of the book I will also do commission on royalties, it just all depends.

Q. Do you work for yourself? And if so, where do you do most of your work (home, office, coffee shop)?

A. I do work for myself. I work out of my home in my office.

Q. What do you enjoy most about the work that you do?

A. What I enjoy most about the work I do is that I get to be creative. I am able to create things out of a story or an idea people have and make it something people can see and get an emotion from. Sparking joy and happiness in someone is something I love to do.

Q. Have you ever written and illustrated your own book?

A. I have actually! I am just finishing up my first book I have written and illustrated. It is called Scaredy Bat. It is a story about a bat named Benji that has trouble seeing in the dark and gets afraid easily because of it. This book teaches kids about bullies, bravery, and bats.

Q. How did you become connected to Weaving Influence?

A. I became connected with Weaving Influence through a business connection. He is a business coach named Ernie Lewis. I was talking about my upcoming book and he mentioned I should get in contact with Becky Robinson from Weaving Influence. So I did and I am grateful that I reached out.

Thanks for chatting with us, Kyle!

Want to learn more about any of our book production services? Send us an email!