Every author in the country has a wish list of things they want to accomplish. Almost all of them want nothing more than to get the attention of a major publishing firm in New York City. Unfortunately, less than one in a thousand are actually going to make it. Some may be truly generic and…
Category Archives: Author Platform
Author Friends Make Effective Fans
All authors want to promote their books, but their readers are not always the best at building buzz for them. An excellent way authors can find people to share their vision for marketing their books is to ally with other authors, become each other’s fans, and cross-promote. No one understands the need and desire to…
Essentials In Building An Author’s Platform
What’s the common denominator in measuring the success of any profitable author? One word: Platform. An author’s platform is basically an author’s group of fans. These are the people who will likely buy anything that the author writes or creates. These folks often look to the author as a thought leader and closely follow suggestions,…
Your Business Book Won’t Be a Bestseller, But it Might Just Make a Million
Too many authors judge the success of a book by the number of copies sold, instead of focusing on ensuring the book is written in a way that actually brings in valuable business, claims leading book coach and publisher Mindy Gibbins-Klein. When it comes to writing a book, many would-be authors are understandably put off…
Nichecraft
Becoming a successful author requires you to accept the discipline of focus: first the focus of setting goals, and then the focus of developing and using the skills needed to achieve them. Once you prove you can write a successful novel or nonfiction book, publishers will pay you to write about whatever interests you. The…
Become a Publicity Thought Leader with “Year in Review” Press Release
Wondering what would make for a good press release at this time of year? How about writing a “Year in Review” press release for your industry? A Year in Review press release would encapsulate the top 10 or 12 news items or trend s in your field. When you write this kind of press release,…
Back-of-Room Sales: When to Do It Yourself and When to Bring in a Retailer
There are many reasons why authors choose to self-publish or go with a hybrid model that lets them retain their rights, but one of the most frequently cited reasons is ownership of inventory. Having ownership of their own books allows authors to sell directly to the public at high margins, which is great for entrepreneurial…
How Do Authors Make Money?—Thinking Beyond the Book
It’s a commonly held misperception that authors are rich. Yes there are some authors who are well off, and yes some of them sell thousands of books, but here’s the real reason those authors are making money—they’re thinking beyond the book. The truth is that quality books are costly to develop and produce and they…
Do Not Measure Your Success in Book Sales
Many of you might be shaking your head wondering how I could possibly say this, but it’s true. Book sales, even in the best of economic climates, are sketchy and planning your success or failure around them is a very bad way to market your book. Here’s the reality: exposure = awareness = sales. The…
How to Pitch a Speaking Engagement
You’ve been blogging and interacting to build your author platform, and now it’s time to get out there and connect with your audience live and in person—but how do you get those speaking engagements? It takes a combination of three things: relevant speaking topics that can be honed to a specific audience, a speaker’s press…
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