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  • 14
    Feb 19
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Why Writing A Book Step-By-Step Matters

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Have you been thinking about how to write a book, how to get published, or how to write an autobiography? Whether you’re a writer or not, is it your dream to start writing a book and becoming an author? Your dreams on how to write a book, how to make a book, or even how to write an ebook aren’t out of your reach!

When you’re learning how to write a book, you have to understand that it’s a large project, and it’s not something you’re going to accomplish overnight. So what’s the key to large projects? You break them down into tiny little steps. You’ve heard people say how do you eat an elephant. The answer is one bite at a time. And when you’re trying to write a nonfiction book, those rules still apply but in the form of a step-by-step process.

Write Your Book Step-By-Step

When setting goals it’s important to outline how you plan to accomplish such goals. Without an outline of how you plan to get to your goal, you will most likely find yourself at the end of the year having not accomplished what you set out. How frustrating. The same is true when writing a nonfiction book. When we do that, we develop a Book Map, which is a visual representation of your entire book. I can contend that if you only have 15 minutes, you can actually develop your strategy on how to write a book in 15-minute increments because it’s broken down in such small pieces that you can take those pieces you can write and assemble them into a comprehensive manuscript.

 

Watch below to learn How To Write A Book in Small Steps:

Your experience is unique. In fact, no one else has your story or lived through what you’ve learned. You are the only one who can do this, but if you’ve never written a book before, you probably don’t know how to get started. And how would you know? If you want to know how to start a book, how to publish a book, or how to write an eBook, The Book Professor is here to help.

You’re the only one who can do it — and I’m here to help!

  • 12
    Feb 19
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Write More Than A Book With The Book Professor

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If you’ve been thinking about writing a book, you may feel hesitant because you don’t know how to get started. That’s no surprise. You can spend a lot of time spinning your wheels and burning precious hours if you don’t have a process to follow. But when you have a step-by-step method and follow it faithfully, you can systematically write a high-impact nonfiction book that will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best on the market AND have content that can be repurposed to deliver your message across a variety of channels.

You already know that everyone isn’t going to read a book, but does that mean they must miss your message? Your finished book can now become the launchpad through which you deliver your message in multiple venues. When you follow our methodology to construct your book in Chapter Silos, you can take those chapters and repurpose them for articles, workshops, seminars, keynotes, online courses, video training, podcasts, etc. That’s the extended value of this carefully constructed methodology!

The Whole Shebang

Through the combination of our three sister companies, The Book Professor®, Stonebrook Publishing, and Bookarma®, we offer authors a unique model in the world of publishing. We are a one-stop-shop for the entire book process. This includes the writing, editing, publishing, marketing, and repurposing your book material into additional revenue-producing products.

You bring us your nonfiction book manuscript, and along with supportive services from our sister companies, The Book Professor® and Bookarma®, we help you write your book, edit your manuscript, publish your book, and help you repurpose the content so you can develop additional revenue-producing products such as podcasts, seminars, workshops, blog articles, and online courses.

We strictly work with high-impact nonfiction material that will either save lives, change lives, or transform society. We are the only author support company that offers what we call “The Whole Shebang.”

Ready to write more than a book in a year with The Book Professor and repurpose your material for workshops, seminars, speeches and more? Contact us today and we can help you take the next step!

  • 08
    Feb 19
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Nancy Erickson-Dedicated Author Strategist

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My name is Nancy Erickson, and I’m The Book Professor®.  My entire life and all my experiences have led me to this point. I have worked in big business, small businesses, nonprofits, and have been self-employed. I have written books, developed curricula, published other people’s books, and taught university classes. And now I am The Book Professor®, your personal book writing coach and dedicated author strategist.

We have so many problems in our world and the top-down approaches don’t seem to work. I believe the answers are trapped inside of people. My role is to connect the people who have solutions with the ones who need those answers, and I do it by coaching busy professionals to write a high-impact nonfiction book. I’m actually the least important component in the process — I’m just the hallway they pass through to take their message to the world.

You only have an idea of what you want to write, and we take it all the way through the writing, editing, designing, publishing, and marketing phases.

As a writing coach and author strategist,I help busy professionals write a high-impact nonfiction book that will save lives, change lives, or transform society.

How I’m Different

There are a lot of book coaches to choose from and, of course, you want to choose the one you trust and whose process fits your style. Because I’m a professional publisher and have taught writing at the University level, I have the credentials to guide you through the process.

But what really sets me apart is the process I’ve developed to take you from your concept to manuscript to your cover to marketing your book. This soup-to-nuts approach will guide you to write a book that will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with anything out there on the market. And that’s what you want. Not some slapped together book that will get lost in the crowd, but a professionally written, packaged, and marketed product that will have a lasting impact on your readers.

Some writing coaches suggest that you can write your book in ninety days, or in one month, or even in a weekend. That is not my approach. It takes a lot of thought and effort to construct a quality product, and that takes time. I don’t subscribe to the write-a-book-in-a-hurry method because it wastes time, energy, and dollars, and ultimately produces a substandard product. I guide my clients to write a book that will serve as a platform through which they can deliver their message in multiple venues. We construct your book in Chapter Silos, and when your book is finished, you can lift out any chapter and expand it into a workshop, seminar, keynote, etc. I know of no other book professional who has this approach.

I believe our world is in crisis, on a national, personal. and spiritual level. Government can’t fix it, organized religion can’t fix it, but it can be fixed. And it is being fixed. An uprising of individuals–everyday people–is taking place, and we are linking arms, and we ARE changing the world. In my world, you do that one reader at a time.

What about you? Are you ready to share what someone else desperately needs to hear and change the world, one reader at a time? I’d be honored to walk with you.

 

  • 05
    Feb 19
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The Book Professor-The One Stop Shop For Writing Your Book

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You’ve always wanted to write a book, but you haven’t been able to get that dream off of your bucket list. You know there’s something you can share with the world through your memoir, your leadership book, or your how-to guide, but you’re overwhelmed at the process and unsure of where to start.

That’s where I can help. I have spent more than 25 years developing my process for helping authors share what’s inside of them. Whether you have a manuscript in hand and need help with editing and marketing or if you don’t have anything written and aren’t sure where to start—we can help.

Three Options for Those Wanting To Write A Non-Fiction Book

  • Self-Study: Do you feel confident in your ability to dedicate the time and follow along with the material on your own? Maybe our Self-Directed Course is right for you. With weekly lessons and homework through the course, you receive a wealth of information and support all designed to help you complete your manuscript in less than one year. Click here for details.
  • Group Coaching Classes: Are you looking for the group support that comes with my group coaching? Consider the online group writer coaching option, which connects you with a group of writers to push and inspire you throughout the one-year process. Click here for details.
  • 1-on-1 Writer Coaching: If you’re looking for more in-depth help with writing and publishing, consider my 1-on-1 writer coaching. You’ll receive my one-on-one attention and support from concept to finished book. Plus, you’ll get it done faster than if you chose the Group Coaching classes. Click here for details.

 

Book Marketing Blues? We Got You

Frustrated with marketing your book yet? It’s never an overnight success, and the best approach is to implement a variety of strategies to get the word out. It takes a consistent effort to get the word out and drive traffic to book sales. And you can do it.

Why not add one or more new channels to your marketing efforts such as:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIN
  • Amazon
  • Your author website
  • Book reviews
  • Further book publicity

Take a look at all the book marketing options you have when working with us.  Want to take it a step further? Are you Interested in more speaking opportunities, catalog sales and special distribution? Learn about our bulk sales options here.

Publishing and Editing

Publishing is an industry, and a very old one. There are standards and conventions—from the writing, to the interior design, to the book cover, to the choice of paper and cover stock that most lay people don’t notice or even understand. But others will judge you on the quality of your book, which makes self-publishing very risky. If you want to write and publish a book that reflects your professionalism, you must work with professionals.

At our sister company, Stonebrook Publishing, we walk you through the entire step-by-step process to produce a professional book product that’s a credit to your name and accepted by the market.

Not Ready To Write Yet?

Are you thinking about writing a book but not quite ready to sign up for our Get My Book Out course for writers? Do you want just a taste of the Book Professor’s book coaching or want to learn about a specific topic? Take advantage of these Small Bite Seminars that can get you started!

Choose one or select them all — they’re easily affordable at only $39 each! With topics like:

–What You Need To Know Before You Write and Publish Your Book

–10 Mistakes New Authors Make And How To Avoid Them

–A Simple Formula For Telling Your Story

–How To Attract The Right Audience For Your Book

–How To Purpose, Plan, and Title Your Book

–How To Manage Your Time To Finish Your Book

Chose one or choose them ALL and get one FREE!

Through the combination of our three sister companies, The Book Professor®, Stonebrook Publishing, and Bookarma®, we are a one-stop shop for the entire book process. This includes the writing, editing, designing, publishing, marketing, and repurposing your book material into additional revenue-producing products.   

If you or someone you know wants to learn how to write a nonfiction book, please contact us today and we will be happy to help you take the next step!

  • 31
    Jan 19
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Goals of Writing a Nonfiction Book-Establish a Purpose

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One of the worst things you can do is write a book without a purpose. Your Purpose Statement is the foundation of your nonfiction book. It defines your mission and describes your job as the author: to deliver your audience to realize the purpose of your book. It’s clear, concise, and specific. And it’s the can’t-do-without-it guide for everything you’ll write.

Purpose Statement

The Purpose Statement is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a statement—a single sentence, not a paragraph—that states what the book will accomplish for its specific audience.

If you want your nonfiction book to make an impact, it must perform an action. If what you’re thinking about writing doesn’t deliver your audience to realize the purpose of your book, then leave it out.

Here’s a fill-in-the-blank formula that will help you craft your Purpose Statement:

The purpose of this book is to do action for audience.

What do you want your book to do? Hard question. Maybe it’s easier to explain what you don’t want it to do: You don’t want your book to raise awareness. Seriously.

You might think, I think I do want to raise awareness. Actually, you don’t. If you write a book to raise awareness, you miss an opportunity to change lives, save lives, or transform society.

You could write the most captivating, awareness-raising book in the world, but at the end, your readers’ response will be, “Well, that was interesting. Now I know about that.” Then they’ll shut the cover and promptly forget about it. Or maybe it will stick with readers a few days, and they’ll think, “Somebody should do something about that.” But that’s as far as it will go. In the end, you’ve spent your time, energy, emotion, and money to write a forgettable book.

You want to create change in a specific, targeted audience, and you can use this formula to write your Purpose Statement:   

The purpose of this book is to action for audience so they can result.

Here are a few examples that my clients wrote:

Example 1—Nancy Nelson, Lessons from the Ledge: The purpose of this book is to guide women in crisis to dig into their resilience, to push past the pitfalls, and to reframe the pain so they can thrive instead of merely survive.

Let’s analyze Nancy’s Purpose Statement in light of our formula:

The purpose of this book is to guide (action) women in crisis (audience) to dig into their resilience (result 1), to push past the pitfalls (result 2), and to reframe the pain (result 3), so they can thrive instead of merely survive (result 4).

Example 2—Craig Hughes, The Self-Driving Company: The purpose of this book is to inspire small business owners who are spread too thin, cash-strapped, and feel trapped by their business to take action that moves them from their current all­consuming, hands­on approach to the freedom of a self-sustaining enterprise.

Let’s break it down:

The purpose of this book is to inspire (action–part 1) small business owners who are spread too thin, cash strapped, and feel trapped by their business (audience) to take action (action–part 2) that moves them from their current all­consuming, hands­on approach to the freedom of a self­sustaining enterprise (result).

Example 3—Terry Lammers, You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know: The purpose of this book is to show (action) business owners who are seeking an exit strategy (audience 1) and people who want to purchase a company (audience 2) the critical steps and the resources needed to buy or sell a company. (result)

Practice these techniques when writing your own purpose statement for your nonfiction book, and watch your audience be motivated to change!

 

  • 29
    Jan 19
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Writing a Nonfiction Book: Where To Start

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Have you ever heard of the saying: “if you fail to plan then you plan to fail?” It might sound cliche, but I think its applicable to many situations in life. Whether your goal is to become financially secure for retirement, lose weight, purchase a home or more recently set a New Years Resolution—it all starts with a plan. You have to know how you will get to that goal.

Writing a book is the same way.  If you’re one of the millions of people that say “I should write a book,” but then never sit down and create a plan on what your next steps should be, chances are you won’t ever write your book. But, with a proper plan in place and some tips on where to start, you can finish your book within 1 year.

Make a Decision

Before I can follow a new process, I have to make a decision to do it. I have to say to myself, “Nancy, this is something you need to learn, and there’s no way around it. So make the decision, be committed, and get started.”

Do you know what the hardest part about writing a book is? It’s making the decision to do it. You’ve probably had the idea for your book for a long time. I bet it’s been percolating in your head, banging against the doors to come out. At times it probably drives you crazy, but books don’t write themselves, and the only way yours is going to get written is if you make the decision to do it. You have to decide to write your book then figure out how to start writing it. It’s your story. Only you can write it.

Whenever I travel, it seems I am seated next to chatty types, and it’s fun to get acquainted. On one particular flight, I sat next to Don, and when he asked me what I do for work, I explained that I help people who aren’t writers become authors of high-impact nonfiction books.

“Really?” he replied. “I’ve always wanted to write a book.”

I hear that a lot. A lot of people say they want to write a book. “Then why don’t you?” I asked.

“I’ve never really looked into it,” he said.

His answer spoke volumes. Don had flirted with the idea of writing a book, but he’d never taken it further than just that — the idea of writing a book. People tend to glamorize the writer’s life and don’t realize that it’s a lot of hard work and it takes a lot of time. Don never made the decision to write his book, so in all likelihood, it will never get done. If he cannot make the decision to write a book, he’ll never know how to start writing it.

Contrast that to Bryan. When I ask Bryan why he hadn’t written his book, he said, “Because I don’t know how to start writing. I have all these ideas, but I don’t know what to do with them. This is where I get lost.”

Make a Plan

That makes perfect sense to me. If you’ve never written a book, how would you know how to start writing one? Writing is hard work and the publishing industry is complicated. Some people sit down and start writing first, but they soon find that all those ideas that have been rattling around in their head have no form, no shape. What comes out is like a spaghetti mess — a bunch of threads that aren’t connected to one another. It’s frustrating. They know they have a message, but they don’t know how to get it down on paper. That’s not how to start writing; you need a plan before you put words on paper or on a screen.

The problem with the “write first” approach is that it’s like trying to build a house without any plans. You have no blueprint to follow, no foundation poured, and you have no idea what the house will look like when it’s finished.

I don’t know a lot about building, but I know you never put up the walls first. They have to be attached to something solid, so you pour the foundation first. But even before that, you need a comprehensive plan, or blueprint, that shows where each room will be and what features it will have. Before you pull out your hammer, you have to have a plan.

The same is true for your book. If you want to save time, energy, money, and frustration, you begin with the end in mind. You take the concept for your book and turn it into a concrete plan.

To do that, we start with the foundation. Perhaps you know the topic of your book, but do you know what you want your book to accomplish? The book must have a purpose, or there’s no reason to write it. Believe it or not, the purpose isn’t always easy to figure out, at least not without some concentrated effort.

I like to start with these Foundational Questions:

  1.  Why do you want to write this book?  What is your motivation?
  2.  What purpose will the book serve?
  3.  How is it different from other books published on this same subject? What new information or angle does your story present that hasn’t already been heard?
  4.  What is the main theme of the story, as you see it now? What are the secondary themes?
  5.  Who is your audience? Be specific. Define your primary and secondary markets.
  6.  How will this work impact that audience? What change do you want to invoke in the reader?
  7.  Why will people want to read this story? Why would they recommend it to others?
  8.  What is the pivotal moment in your story?
  9.  Write a Purpose Statement for the book that begins with, “The purpose of this book is to …” and list the primary and secondary purposes that you have identified.
  10. Write a two- to three-paragraph synopsis of the book.
  11. Write the copy that you envision appearing on the back cover of the book.
  12. Who do you want to endorse the book?

These questions will help you crystallize your message and figure out how to start writing. Beyond that, you need a process you can follow that will get you on the right track and keep you there. In my Group Coaching classes we create a BookMAP, which is a visual representation of your entire book. We map out all the contents of your book before you write a single word. Then, when you are ready to write, you follow your BookMAP, and even if you only have 15 minutes, you can write something to contribute to your book.

Let us show you how to start writing and finish your book in just 1 year

A new year is upon us, and you can make 2019 the year you finally write your book that will establish you as an expert in your field, raise your credibility, and attract a following. We’re here to help! In fact, a new Group Coaching class begins in January, and you can join now. Make 2019 the year you finally write your book!

  • 25
    Jan 19
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Writing A Book About Abuse

Abuse. It’s one of the hardest things for someone to experience and recover from and can present itself in many forms: emotional, physical, sexual, and even spiritual.  But one of the most under-reported forms of abuse in our country is domestic violence. Domestic violence against women continues to be one of the biggest problems in our country. Sometimes it’s obvious who these victims are, and other times she might not “look” like your average victim. Domestic violence victims come from all races, and all social, education, and economic classes. They could be someone you see in your own neighborhood.

These victims are not just abused physically, but emotionally, verbally, financially, and spiritually. You might be thinking, why don’t they just leave their abuser? It’s not as easy as you think. Many times, they’ve grown up in in a cycle of violence that began in childhood, and it follows them into their adult life. The feelings of being unworthy and undeserving were ingrained in them as children, and many of them witnessed horrors in their own home.

Take a look at some of these statistics:

  • 1 in 4 women will be victims of severe violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
  • 3 women are murdered every day by a current or male partner in the United States.
  • Over 4 million women experience physical violence by an intimate partner every year.
    Helen Gennari

    Helen Gennari

  • 8 million: The dollar amount working women lose every year due to time off from the job because of the abuse perpetrated against them by current or former male partners. The loss is equivalent to over 32,000 full-time jobs.

(Source)

Meet Helen Gennari: Author, LCSW, MSW

Helen Gennari is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and advocate for abused women who has taught and counseled many women toward self-empowerment. She offers compassionate guidance and hope for healing, especially to women who have grown up with family violence. She believes that abused women can be more than survivors–that they can return to their true selves, replace the patterns that kept them imprisoned, and thrive as whole happy people. After working with Woman’s Place in St. Louis, a shelter for abused women, Helen was confronted with her own issues, which led to writing a book she initially never planned to write.

Hope and Help for Abused Women

helping abused womenWhen Helen first came to us with her book, she already had much of it written but needed some help to pull it all together and get it ready for publication. Her book: From the Heart of an Abandoned Daughter: My Personal Journey Through Family Violence and Beyond is her personal story about growing up with and surviving family violence, and how to work through the emotional aftermath. We are honored to have been a part of this journey for Helen and are humbled by the countless women that she helps daily. This book is a must-read for anyone affected by domestic violence and/or childhood family abuse.

If you or someone you know has an autobiography or memoir you would like to write, please contact us today and we can help make it happen!

 

  • 24
    Jan 19
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Writing a Book About Your Own Life

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It is my honor and my calling as a non-fiction book coach to help a great many people including business and community leaders transform their experience into a story that moves people to action. I am a believer that the wisdom and power to create real change is trapped in the minds and experience of leaders, community builders, and everyday people all over the world.

As a book writing and publishing consultant, my role is to connect people like these, who have solutions for the world’s problems, with the people who need those answers. I do this by coaching them to write a nonfiction book that makes an impact – a book that will give them a broader platform to share those ideas.

Write Your Story

Your story deserves to be told–and I believe it’s your responsibility to tell it. Most aspiring authors don’t know how to get started on their book and feel overwhelmed before they even begin. Below are some tips & tools, including some I’ve developed for you, which will help you share your truth.

Develop a Concept 

A book about your life, or a memoir, captures a period of time or a set of events in your life, rather than cataloging your experience from cradle to grave, as in an autobiography or biography. In order for your memoir to appeal to an audience beyond your friends and family, you must develop a solid concept that bridges the gap between your life and that of your reader.

Publisher Sharlene Martin once said, “[Your memoir] needs a solid concept for the book that invites the reader’s concerns into the experience of reading it, instead of just saying, ‘Let me tell you all about wonderful me.’” Consider the elements of your story that are universal and find ways to write them that invite your reader to imagine and consider their own life through the lens of your circumstances.

Make it Memorable

You can make your nonfiction book as memorable as its fictional counterparts by using sensory language–language that conveys how you felt, what you saw, heard, smelled, and tasted during the scenes you present. I encourage my writers to close their eyes when they write a pivotal scene to take themselves back to the place, the time, and the emotion of the moment.

Once you’ve transported yourself back to that moment, open your eyes and write your scene. When you’ve gotten it down on the page, go back and look for ways to vary your language to make it richer and more interesting. Break out your thesaurus if that helps!

Your Story is Exceptional

What are you waiting for? What better time is there to write a book about your own life than now? Someone needs your message today. When you share what you know and what you’ve learned, you become the solution. The answers are trapped inside of you; please don’t keep them to yourself. You ARE the solution and your story is exceptional!

I had the great honor of speaking at an Arête – HPA event.  Arête is a truly exceptional group of leaders who have exceptional stories to tell.  In this presentation, I talk about how to go about designing your exceptional story:

 

Contact us today to get started your book!

 

 

  • 22
    Jan 19
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How To Write A Book And Get It Published

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As  a book coach, I’m often asked the blanket question: “So how do I write a book and get it published?” Want to know the short answer? Make the decision. That’s really the first step. Once you’ve decided that you’re ready to write a book and get it published, following the guideline below will put you on the right track.

STEP ONE: WRITING AND WRITING AND WRITING

  • Initial Book Writing – The first step is to plan your book project in a BookMAP and write all the components until you have a finished manuscript. This is where you invest your time, energy, and emotion, and when you are finished you will have accomplished something few others have done! You will have a complete manuscript.
  • Editing Your Book – Every top-notch author has a first-class editor who does several things to improve upon what you have already accomplished. In the first pass, you will want a developmental editor. A developmental editor takes a look at your overall work and gives feedback on the structure and organization of the manuscript, the development of your characters, the consistency in your story line, your vocabulary, the impact of your message, your use of language and how your unique voice can be amplified. A developmental editor will point out any missing elements in your manuscript and make suggestions about how to weave them in. A developmental editor is crucial for every author, particularly if you are not a professional writer
  • Book Focus Groups – I’m a big believer in focus groups, and the best way to understand if your manuscript achieves its goal is to gather a group of six to ten people who are part of your target market, give them a copy of your manuscript, and ask for their raw feedback. This will be invaluable to you. When you receive that feedback, you make the changes you think are appropriate, then pass the manuscript to your editor for final editing.
  • Final Editing Process – This time, you need what we call line-level editing. You editor will scrub your work and make corrections in punctuation, verb tense, spelling, and sentence structure. They will correct your grammar and make suggestions about how to rewrite your sentences for clarity.
  • Proofreading – If you want a flawless manuscript, you can’t skip the step of hiring a proofreader. Understand this: You are not a capable proofreader. You already know what your story is supposed to say, and your brain will fill in any gaps with what you intended.

Once these steps are complete, you are ready to turn your manuscript into a book.

STEP TWO: THE BOOK DESIGN

Before you design your book, you need to know what you want to produce, and you have a lot of choices to make. Do you want a hardcover book? Or a softcover? Both come in a myriad of sizes, and you need to decide which size best fits your format. Will you issue an eBook, and if so, you need to prepare separate digital files for Kindle, Nook, and iPad.  

One of the most important elements is your book cover design. Your title and your book cover art will work together to invite the reader to purchase the book. They also work together to communicate the essence of your book, while creating a key question in the potential reader’s mind: What is this book about?

Remember that books are often shelved with only the spine visible, and you will want yours to stand out. What will the spine of your book look like? Try adding a dash of color to draw attention.

When turning your attention to the interior design, consider these questions: What fonts are you going to use? What will your copyright page look like? Your table of contents? You must use industry standards for chapter starts and page numbering. And be sure you’ve calculated the appropriate thumb holds – that’s the margin space where a reader places their thumbs to hold the book. Readers should not have to shift their thumbs while reading the book because this causes a degree of stress that interferes with their reading experience and causes fatigue.

Just for fun, take a look at some book interiors, and notice how they differ in style to match the book content. You need a professional designer for both the book cover an interior.

STEP THREE: BOOK PRODUCTION

Of course, you’ll need to get your book produced, and you have several options. Do you want to use an on-demand printer that will print the books as they are ordered?  There’s a higher cost per book for this option, but you won’t have to put your money into the inventory up front. However, if you want to pay the lowest possible amount per book, you will opt to print a large quantity of books and warehouse them until they are sold. The warehouse can be your basement, and many authors like this option because they can maximize their profits with this approach.

STEP FOUR: BOOK DISTRIBUTION

So now you’ve got the book in hand. How are you going to distribute it?

There are numerous ways to distribute your book and, of course, your eBooks will be distributed online.

If you print a number of books, you can elect to ship them out yourself as they are purchased, but bear in mind that this option requires you to have shipping supplies and a fair amount of time to send things out. Some people make arrangements with warehouse distributors or sheltered workshops to send out their books, and others elect to work through book distributors who receive orders and ship them out to bookstores, online retailers, and libraries. All your distributions methods require payment, so find out what the distributor requires before signing any contracts.

STEP FIVE: BOOK MARKETING

Books don’t sell themselves, so you need to plan your marketing strategy. Will you engage the services of a publicist? Or will you do what many authors do and use the social media tools that are so readily available? Will you hold events, like book readings? Use email marketing to get the word out? Or go the traditional advertising route?

Be specific when defining your primary market. Picture the person who buys your book. Is it a woman between the ages of 30 and 50 who is unhappy with the signs of aging? It isn’t every woman between 30 and 50, it’s a subset of that group. Who are they?

What are your secondary markets? Secondary markets are those people/organizations/institutions who will also purchase your book, like educators (if you’re writing about children) or mental health practitioners if you are writing about coming out of a depression. You’re going to use this information when you start reaching out to customers, so think it through.  

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF WRITING & PUBLISHING YOUR BOOK

So what’s the most important part of this process? The most important part is always what you are working on right now. Focus on today. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Just do the best possible job on what’s in front of you. There will be plenty of time to focus on what’s ahead.

If you need help to write your book, consider one of my nonfiction book coaching programs:

 

 

author-coaching-book-coach-online-writing-class-get-my-book-outAbout Nonfiction Book Writing & Publishing Expert Nancy Erickson

Nancy Erickson is better known as “The Book Professor,” a writing and publishing consultant who specializes in helping aspiring nonfiction authors bring their book ideas to market. Nancy works as a book coach assisting authors that write self-help books, biographies, business books, and other nonfiction books through online courses and book coaching. Contact Nancy with questions or to have her speak at your upcoming event by clicking here.

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    Jan 19
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Are Book Coaches Expensive?

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If you are predisposed to view money as something you don’t have, you’ll probably see the price tag for a book coach and run the other way. It’s not worth it, you might think.  I can’t afford it, you might say. You will see the cost to write and publish your book as a risk you can’t afford to take. What you are actually saying is I’m not worth it, and you will disqualify yourself without exploring the options.

Writing a Book is a Financial Investment in Your Future

When you make the decision to write a book you must change your mindset. If your focus is just on the dollar amount upfront and not as an overall investment in your financial future, you might miss taking the next right step to financial security.

Meet Joe Fingerhut, Author of Permission To Play How Teens Can Build a Life that is Fun, Fulfilling, and Promising

“I don’t have the money.”

If you’re like Joe, a man who has spent his life figuring out how to get what he wants, you’ll say the same thing he did, “I don’t have all the money — yet.”

Joe saw that writing a book was an investment in his business, that it would be an extension of himself that could help him get more speaking engagements. The expense wasn’t something that would deplete him, it would expand him.

Over the next year, Joe followed my process to a tee, and built the components of his book line by line, chapter by chapter. When he finished his manuscript, it was my pleasure to be his editor and publisher. Of course, he didn’t have the money for that part of the project at the beginning, but by the time he finished writing, it was all there.

About six months after Permission to Play: How Teens Can Build a Life that is Fun, Fulfilling, and Promising hit the market, I ran into Joe at a conference and we sat next to each other.

“How’s the book doing?” I asked him. “What’s it done for your business?”

“Oh my gosh, Nancy,” he said. “It’s unbelievable. Because of the book, I’ve been able to raise my speaking fees. The first time I raised my price I was really scared. But no one even blinked! So I raised them again and I’m still fully booked.”

Being a published author gives you credibility and shows that you are an expert or authority on a particular topic. As an author, you have already proven that you can communicate your message, so event organizers are more likely to take you seriously as a possible candidate for a public speaking gig. New York Times Best Selling Authors can earn anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000 for a single speaking engagement (Source) but you don’t have to be on the Best Sellers list to book an event. The standard starting rate for non-fiction authors is between $2,500 and $5,000, plus the cost of travel and accommodations. (Source) By publishing your own non-fiction book, you become eligible for a pretty good pay rate right out of the gate and immediately present yourself as an authority on that book’s topic. Not only can you give talks based off the title and general subject matter of your book; you can also break your book down by chapter and address its issues in more detail. You put a lot of hard work into crafting your book, and that work can continue to pay off if you can repurpose your content into speaking events.

I Can Help

I have spent more than 25 years developing my process for helping authors share what’s inside of them. I’ve found that everyone has different roadblocks in the writing process-and that each of us must take his or her own path in the creation of their book.
I have developed three tools for writers who are seeking help writing their book, all available online. All of my expertise gained in working as a writing and publishing coach has been distilled into these tools to teach you how to write a book online.

With my three options listed below– Self- Study online writing classes, Executive Group Coaching, and 1 on 1 Coaching Writing and Publishing help – you can choose the pace and the price that feels right for you.

A published book is an invaluable asset when it comes to proving your credibility, and will most certainly improve your reputation and notoriety-an investment in your future! All you have to do is make the decision to write. Let’s get started!

author-coaching-book-coach-online-writing-class-get-my-book-outAbout Nonfiction Book Writing & Publishing Expert Nancy Erickson

Nancy Erickson is better known as “The Book Professor,” a writing and publishing consultant who specializes in helping aspiring nonfiction authors bring their book ideas to market. Nancy works as a book coach assisting authors that write self-help books, biographies, business books, and other nonfiction books through online courses and book coaching. Contact Nancy with questions or to have her speak at your upcoming event by clicking here.

 

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    Jan 19
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Your Book Needs a Pre-Sale Period To Be Successful

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This article originally appeared on bookbaby.com

A pre-sale period gives you an opportunity to build a foundation for your book’s success. Without spending the time and energy to make sure that foundation is ready, your book sales will suffer.

Want to know the best time to promote your book? Before it’s available to be sold.

Savvy authors know their pre-sale period can make or break a title and even start developing a strategy for targeting the market before their book is complete.  They understand that being “best to market” beats being “first to market.” The most successful authors are not thinking weeks in advance, but months.

I’d argue that your pre-sale period is so important, it should be the centerpiece of your book marketing and promotional campaign.

There’s a lot to do in your pre-sale period

Technically, your pre-sale period is the time between the moment you hand your book over to retailers to when it’s actually available to be shipped to readers.

First-time authors often see this time as a chance to relax. You’ve finally finished your book and shipped it to retailers. It’s time to take a break, right? Wrong. In fact, as an independent author, you now have a whole new series of responsibilities to take care of.

For example, if your book will be available on January 1, you need to make sure all the distributors you’ve enlisted to sell your book — Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. — know that your book should become available on that date. It’s your responsibility to make sure all your partners have their ducks in a row.

To complicate matters, each retailer has its own schedule and process for handling the ingestion of new books. Some are on a weekly schedule, others are monthly. Because this involves the shipment of a physical book, there is a lot of prep work involved to set up an inventory number in each retailer’s catalog database.

If you don’t work to make sure everything is good to go for your book’s launch from a logistical standpoint, your sales will suffer. This is one advantage of partnering with BookBaby: we make sure your book is available in all your desired retail locations in time for your release date.

BookBaby handles the pre-sale workload for you

After you’ve approved your book proof and the file is finalized, BookBaby will send your digital files and metadata to our entire retail store network, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s, Books-A-Million, and the Ingram and Baker & Taylor catalogs.

Your readers — old and new — can order your book once it’s available for pre-sale, which increases your chances of becoming a best seller.

If you’ve put in the work, as your book enters the various retailers’ systems, your listing will start appearing on retail websites around the globe — usually two to three weeks after you’ve finalized your files. This is when the critical part of your pre-sales period really starts and when the work you’ve put into getting everything set up for your book pays off.

It’s at this time that readers are able to purchase and pay for your book. This is exciting, but there’s a practical payoff: the longer your book is available for pre-order, the more time you have to send readers to Amazon and the other stores to accumulate orders. All these pre-sale orders count as sales on your release date, which gives you a good chance at cracking some top-100 bestseller sub-genre lists on sites like Barnes & Noble and Powell’s when that date comes.

Your pre-sale period is critical for your success on Amazon, but for different reasons, as your pre-sale numbers do not increase your chances of becoming a bestseller on Amazon. Amazon counts pre-sale orders on the day your book is actually ordered, not all combined on the eventual release date.

That’s unfortunate, but there’s a reason why your pre-sale period is important as a self-published author on Amazon (and every other retail outlet): inventory estimates.

During the pre-sale period, Amazon uses its inventory algorithm to build a sales forecast for new titles. Amazon takes into account things like product page views, adds to wish lists, and actual orders. This data is used to compile a two-week inventory model.

The more traffic you can send to your book product page, the more copies of your book Amazon will order and restock.

Essentially, this is a way of proving to Amazon that you have a following and that your book will be successful, which helps your book become successful. Titles that are in stock will be listed on Amazon as “Available” and will ship immediately.

If your book product page receives little traffic in the pre-sales period, Amazon will likely not stock any inventory of your book at launch. On your Amazon page, your book will be listed as “Available To Ship In 7 to 11 Days,” because Amazon knows that most new books will, at some point, see some sales.

If some period of time passes and still no traffic goes to your page, Amazon might move it to “Temporarily Out of Stock,” which is the online equivalent of walking into your local bookstore and finding that your book is not on the shelves. Your readers can still purchase your book, but they’ll have to be patient.

This hurts you badly as an independent author who is depending on Amazon to help your book sell: you need your book to be there when your growing base of readers go looking for it.

Here are some ideas to help build buzz around your release

  • Plan. Plan out a multi-week pre-order period with a different promotion each week to help build interest.
  • Contests. Hold contests, do chapter reveals, conduct giveaways, and host your own blog tours.
  • Promote. Include a link to the book product page in all your emails, tweets, and social media updates. This makes it simple for your customers to order quickly.

At the end of the day, it’s never a good idea to neglect pre-sales or otherwise rush the release of your book. 60 percent of BookBaby authors do some kind of pre-sale work through us, and they are, almost without exception, the most successful authors we work with.

Quite simply, you need to build a pre-sale period into your book release timeline. Doing so will help ensure you are employing a best-to-market strategy.

  • 10
    Jan 19
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How To Write a Book Online

Life is busy, and when you want to write a book, the task might seem daunting at first. But fortunately, due to advances in technology, you don’t have to leave your home to write your book. In fact, within one year, you can write a high impact nonfiction book without ever leaving your home—all online. When you work with a book coach and write a book online,  you can access instructional videos, lessons, and handouts at any time, day or night. Your study time is whenever you want it to be. Our Group Writing & Publishing Program includes homework assignments that will ensure that you are making progress on your book, as well as one-on-one coaching sessions. If you’re looking for a method to complete your entire book online, you’ve come to the right place.

How Our Program Works

Each coaching group is limited to a maximum of 10 participants to allow for maximum participation and to give personal attention to each member.

The Curriculum
There are three modules in the program. Each module lasts 16 weeks:

◦ Module One: From Concept to Concrete Plan-In Module One, we work together to build the foundation of your book, crystallize your message, and then build out two BookMAPs, which are the visual representation of everything that will be in your book.

◦ Module Two: Write Without Ruts-In Module Two, you use those BookMAPs to build your book brick by brick and produce your first draft. This is where we pour everything out and get it all down on paper, share your writing with your fellow participants and gain valuable feedback. At the end of Module Two, you will have completed the first draft of your manuscript.


◦ Module Three: Polish and Perfect-In Module Three, you begin the challenging work of making your manuscript ready for publication. All of our time is devoted to polishing your work and getting it as close to perfect as you can before you engage a professional editor to give it that final spit-shine. At the end of Module Three, you will have a manuscript that you developed, organized, wrote, and polished. You will have written your book! Then we’ll get it in the hands of a capable editor for that professional seal of approval.

Weekly Group Coaching Calls
All three modules are delivered online in 16-week modules. We start with a weekly Group Coaching call, which is scheduled on the same day and time every week. This is your own Book Mastermind, and during these calls, we review the lesson for that week, discuss what you wrote, and get valuable feedback from the other members.

It’s a dynamic process, and you learn a lot from each other and enjoy the camaraderie of other professionals who are also writing their books. Group Coaching calls are recorded and are available for replay in case you miss a session.

Accessing the course
During that week, you will log into the exclusive client portal and access the online material, which includes high-quality HD instructional videos, handouts to download and reference during the lesson, and your writing homework to complete before the next lesson. These online tools are available to you at any time of day or night and are accessible for a full year!

One-on-One Coaching Sessions
In addition to our weekly Group Coaching calls, you will also have two separate 45-minute video conferences per module with The Book Professor to discuss your work in greater detail. Your first conference is at the mid-point of the module during Week Eight, and the other is at the end of the module. During your conferences, we will focus specifically on your work, crystallize your message, address any challenges you may be having, and get you ready for the next step.


What about you? Are you ready to write a book online? If you or someone you know is ready to share your story with the world,  contact us today and we can help you with the next step!

 

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