The Passion Factor for Authors

The Passion Factor

I’m lucky. I’m passionate about what I do when working with authors and their books and about the books that I write. When authors attend my various Publishing and Speaking Salons, they know what they are writing or want to speak about. They come with enthusiasm … and passion. And many show up a bit overwhelmed with the whole process.

It’s their passion that fuels their engines and enables them to work one more hour, take one more step to write their “baby” and get it to lay-out and design and on to the printer. It’s their passion that allows them to roll up their sleeves and create a marketing and promo plan and even speak about it.

If you want to write a book, you’ve got to love the topic/cause. If it’s just something to do, my question to you is this: “Why do it?”

Contrary to popular belief, not everyone should write a book, attempt to create a small press, or become an independent publisher. Maybe someone said “you should,” but the real question is “should you?”  Does a deep internal drive say, “Yes, your thoughts, your words need to be read, seen, or heard”?

If so, go for it. Embrace and wallow in it. Commit to it with your time, your talent, your energy, and yes, your money. This is an investment that can change the lives of others as well as yours.

I write primarily in the business genre with an emphasis on professional development in the workplace. For the past two decades, 90 percent of my speaking engagements were within the healthcare sector. It’s a niche I developed a passion for but, truth be told, one that I fell into—not be design. It happened when I spoke in upper state New York, and a group of hospital executives heard me. A domino effect ensued that took my words and work to other hospitals. It led to the creation of three books specifically for that industry.

Now, I’m morphing once again. Twenty-eight books later (who would have thought!), I’m leaving health care, an industry that has delivered revenues that most authors and speakers would envy, and directing my energies to authoring and publishing, a field I know a great deal about. I’m one of those rare birds who has successfully (and sometimes not so successfully) published with New York. I’ve also led publishing associations, crafted and chaired several publishing conferences, created a successful imprint, founded a consulting and project management practice for authors, and developed long-term partnering relationships with most of the experts in the independent publishing market—friendships that were seeded in the 80s.

I know publishing … and it is a passion. I wouldn’t be pouring in the hours to develop Author U the way I am without passion. Sometimes, I work odd-ball hours seven days a week to complete a book about publishing that will go to press this year and to present with Brian Jud and Dan Poynter in Advanced Book Marketing workshops throughout the country—a passionate commitment to our joint vision. With that same passion, I have teamed up with John Kremer and Rick Frishman to create the Show Me About book series—Show Me About Book Publishing, an idea that came from a breakfast meeting where we said, “What if … what if we created a book together …”

We nailed the series title that morning and came up with a dozen different book ideas between sips of coffee and tea, each building on the other as ideas bounced around the table. And we decided that my book would be the lead, but all of us would be on each book as the trio of authors. We are excited about Show Me About Book Publishing—not the normal tome of 500 pages that many publishing books birth at—but key concepts, practical tools and solutions … all in a 240-page format.

Next up are Show Me About Book Publicity and Social Media, Show Me About Book Marketing, and Show Me About Book Special Sales and Niche Marketing. Other titles are being considered. We have a vision, a commitment, and a passion for the project.

What topics, areas do you know about—either by schooling, life experiences, the school of hard knocks? Are there subjects you gyrate toward or that others tell you that you are a whiz at?  Do you have a deep, burning desire to advocate a cause or reach out to help others? Is this what you write about?
Publish about? Is this what you are willing to commit the time, energy, and money to support?

Guaranteed … it’s the passion factor that will drive your work, your book, to completion and success. It has mine.

Judith Briles is known as The Book Shepherd (www.TheBookShepherd.com) and the Founder of Author U (niversity (www.AuthorU.org), a membership organization created for the serious author who wants to be seriously successful. She’s been writing about and conducting workshops on publishing since the 80s. She’s the author of 28 books including Show Me About Book Publishing, co-written with John Kremer and Rick Frishman and a speaker at publishing conferences. Do a “Like” on Author U and The Book Shepherd on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @AuthorU, @MyBookShepherd. If you want to create a book that has no regrets, contact her at Judith@Briles.com.

The Amazing Power of Books

The Amazing Power of Books

When Amazon’s eBook sales, a la Kindle, exceeded its print book sales that we authors and publishers love so well, the “book sky is falling” dooms-dayers and sayers came out of the woodwork.

Stop it! Printed books—pBooks—are not going to disappear. There’s a significant body of evidence growing that not only are pBooks here to stay, they do some downright wonderful things for reader.

Books have power!

The University of Tennessee has been exploring students’ test scores for the past three years. Research led by Richard Allington has found that students who brought “real” books home had significantly higher reading scores than those who didn’t. It seems that those who toted books home avoided the “summer slide” that data has shown to impact so many students during the summer hiatus. For lower income kids, the decline is even greater.

Kids are important … they are our future. In The Shallows, author Nicholas Carr’s thesis is that the expansion and use of the Internet is a major contributor to a short-attention-span culture.

Those who tout the Internet as the “end all to be all” got some bummer news when Jacob Vigdor and Helen Ladd of Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy examined 500,000 fifth- through eighth-graders’ computer usage. The results: the greater the use of home computers and high-speed Internet, the greater the DECLINE in math and reading scores.

Research in over two dozen countries has also shown that kids who grow up in homes that have hundreds of books stay in school longer and do better academically. When you see the modeling factor, it becomes part of your life. What’s interesting about these studies is the timing. Facebook and Twitter belong to this decade. So do the kids in these studies. Is there a direct correlation between the increased use of the Internet, Facebook, and Twitter and the increased school drop-out rate and decline in math and reading scores and comprehension? Could the increased use of all things Internet be harmful to a kid’s academic performance … and eventually career?

If you are a parent, pay attention! If you are someone who requires comprehension or the use of math in your work, pay attention! You just might be in deep doo-doo if you decide that the electronic format is the only way to fly … read … do everything.

We live in the Internet vs. paper book era. In my opinion, neither will go away. The Internet is a Godsend for quick research, tracking things down, spreading the word—whatever the “word” is. It’s also an amazing rumor mill, burping up misinformation right and left in a format where gossip thrives.

Books require a bit more vetting and investment. With the exception of a “crash book”—one that is rushed into publication within a few weeks (usually tied to something sensational)—the great majority of printed books are grown and nurtured into a package—one that you can savor and enjoy as you unwrap each page and chapter. Tap into book power. Accumulate and keep books in your house. (Your kids will thank you.) Learn how the Internet can support book and brand. And don’t toss one out for the other.

One last thing: put away your buggy-whip scenario.

Judith Briles is known as The Book Shepherd (www.TheBookShepherd.com) and the Founder of Author U (niversity (www.AuthorU.org), a membership organization created for the serious author who wants to be seriously successful. She’s been writing about and conducting workshops on publishing since the 80s. She’s the author of 28 books including Show Me About Book Publishing, co-written with John Kremer and Rick Frishman and a speaker at publishing conferences. Do a “Like” on Author U and The Book Shepherd on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @AuthorU, @MyBookShepherd. If you want to create a book that has no regrets, contact her at Judith@Briles.com.

Book Publishing: Everyone is a Publishing Professional

Everyone is a Publishing Consultant/Professional … really?

Years ago, I was a financial planner … before financial planning was a profession. Starting as stock broker with EF Hutton, I learned that savvy investors did something besides buy and sell stocks and bonds. An early bird in the CFP arena (Certified Financial Planner), I eventually left Hutton to start my own company, where I specialized in overall financial planning. Then a national study was done on up-and-coming professions … and being a Financial Planner (now with caps!) was at the top of the list. In fact, the fellow who headed up the study was so impressed with the results that he quit his day job and became a Financial Planner.

Fast forward to today. I've been coaching and shepherding authors for almost 20 years now. But it wasn't until last year that I formally tossed in the day-job towel and embraced Book Shepherding full-time.

Ironically, I’m now hearing more and more people saying that they are publishing consultants. With the explosion in the self-publishing fields, it seems as though everyone and their distant cousin is laying claim to being an expert. But are they, really?

The answer is a resounding NO. Someone who wrote a book a year ago is not an expert—or even ten years ago if that’s their solo effort. Sure, lessons have been learned throughout the process. Usually, those lessons are one-dimensional, their own experiences. They haven’t walked the paths of others that, guaranteed, deliver a variety of twists and turns.

In financial planning, I always warned clients to never, never, never trust someone with their money unless that person had been in the “business” for a minimum of five years, be it stocks, annuities, insurance, real estate, commodities, fill-in-the-blank. Why? You want them to make their learning curve mistakes with others … and their money, not yours. Most people in the “advising” professions don’t survive—80 percent drop out the first year and another 10 percent the next. That’s why I've always recommended the five-year mark. There’s a reason they are still there.

The same principle holds true in publishing. You want to work only with someone who knows the path, has worked the journey, has survived through the maze of obstacles and detours that surface. This applies to a printer, publisher, designer, coach or consultant, or anyone else in the book business. Are there new entries into the field? Absolutely! Just think of the electronic publishing world. Even with that, eBooks are not new … they've been around for many years. It’s just now that the world is paying attention.

Don’t get suckered in to someone’s siren call to you. The odds are that they don’t have the depth and moxie to get you through the ups and downs that are sure to come your way. Never, never, never trust someone with your publishing issues unless they've been in the business for a minimum of five years.

Judith Briles is known as The Book Shepherd (www.TheBookShepherd.com) and the Founder of Author U (niversity (www.AuthorU.org), a membership organization created for the serious author who wants to be seriously successful. She’s been writing about and conducting workshops on publishing since the 80s. She’s the author of 28 books including Show Me About Book Publishing, co-written with John Kremer and Rick Frishman and a speaker at publishing conferences. Follow @AuthorU and @MyBookShepherd on Twitter and do a “Like” AuthorU and TheBookShepherd on Facebook. If you want to create a book that has no regrets, contact her at Judith@Briles.com.

Book Publishing: Book Editors and Book Publishing Are Like Peanut Butter and Jelly

Book Editors and Book Publishing Are Like Peanut Butter and Jelly

Why so many authors think that their friend who teaches literature at the local college, or their sister who
loves everything they write and do is the perfect editor for their work is beyond me. Your editor can make or break your work—she can shape and shore it up … or, put in some commas and check your spelling. There are now more self and independent published books than those produced by the traditional NY houses—and too, too many have minimal, if any, editing. Think “ruthless editing.” Cut and shape, hire a pro—and, when in doubt, cut it out.

Look for an editor who “gets” your topic … it will save you hours in their education. Let them know if there are quirky or unusual phrases or words in the beginning. If all the editor is doing is copy–the grammar and punctuation–he won’t be thinking about what sub-heads and layout should be. Somewhere along the line, authors began to think that editors worked at minimum wage … wrong. You will pay from $25 an hour and up–most are going to come in the $50 an hour range. The cleaner the copy you give them, the less you are going to spend.

Book publishing and editors are like peanut butter and jelly–finding the right combo will enhance your book from the get-go.

Judith Briles is known as The Book Shepherd (www.TheBookShepherd.com) and the Founder of Author U (niversity (www.AuthorU.org), a membership organization created for the serious author who wants to be seriously successful. She’s been writing about and conducting workshops on publishing since the 80s. She’s the author of 28 books including Show Me About Book Publishing, co-written with John Kremer and Rick Frishman and a speaker at publishing conferences. Follow @AuthorU and @MyBookShepherd on Twitter and do “Like” AuthorU and TheBookShepherd on Facebook. If you want to create a book that has no regrets, contact her at Judith@Briles.com.

Becoming Part of the Author U Community with Your Know How!

 Author U continues to grow and grow. We have just received notification that we are the proud owner of an official registered trademark! TheExtravaganzahas only 30 seats left and six weeks to fill them! The odds are high—we will be sold out this year. All Exhibitor spots are already taken. TheAuthor Shark Tankalready has one member ready to take a swim. The Extravaganza is going to show every participant how to create the “edge” as an author; and for their book.

We have plans for many new programs and services to help our Author U® members create quality books, as well as market and sell more books. Meaning money and adding to your bank account.  In other words: achieve success as an author. Isn’t that your goal?

The hiccup is that we need some assist.  We have more ideas than people to implement them. Are you feeling creative? Would you be willing to volunteer some time to help us continue to grow?

Please consider being a committee chair, working on a committee or just being available for specific projects, such as the BookCamps, Webinars and other items that that last year’s Board Retreat identified.

Here are some of the areas in which we need help HELP with and in:

Publicity: Big time. We will provide the topics and copy points for you to write and distribute press releases and generate publicity in general. We need someone who knows who the media players are, especially in Colorado to support annual Extravaganza … or is willing to track them down.

Benefit to you: network with the media for Author U and make relationships that could benefit you as an author/expert and your publishing business.

Communications: We will provide the topics and copy points for you to write and distribute regular updates to Author U members, partner organizations, sponsors and advertisers.

   Benefit to you: establish relationships with industry suppliers that can help you when publishing your next products

The Resourceezine: Now created and published nine times a year, there are certain sections that are always there. Your task would be to take on a few of them, gathering info, find people to write short articles (including you) and do and submitting to our layout person.

Benefit to you: Stay up to date on the hot marketing topics of the day and learn more about publishing in general as you review the submitted articles; exposure of your expertise as a contributor.

Annual Extravaganza: Always held the first weekend in May, this year’s is #4—each year, they are bigger and better. We want to keep the “better” in the mix. Most of the speakers for May 1-3, 2014 are already booked. Your involvement would be to work with Judith in getting the best location, arrange for speakers and help put the program together. Kind of a Jack or Jill of all things.

Benefit to you: Knowing how to organize a conference is priceless. The contacts you will make among speakers, exhibitors and sponsors will only improve your professional stature. You are comped to attend.

Colorado BookFest: One of the top “to do” items that birthed from the Summer Retreat was to create an annual Colorado BookFest that would attract authors as participants nationally and become the “go to” place in an outdoor Faire

environment over a weekend in July or August. Booths would be marketed and sold to authors and publishers. There will be “pockets” where authors will be scheduled to talk about their books. Books will be sold by the individual authors within their booths. Working with Communications and Publicity will be important for the BookFest’s success. The word needs to get out to ALL formats for anyone who loves books.

      Benefit to you: Knowing how to organize this kind of event is priceless. The contacts you will make among authors and sponsors will only improve your professional stature. You are comped for a booth.

Colorado Author’s Hall of Fame: This will have its own Board and operate under a 501c3 status. A bi-annual induction event will be created honoring authors who have lived in Colorado at some time; who have used Colorado as a “backdrop” in a book; or have come stayed in Colorado to write. A Nomination form needs to be created; a game plan on how to get information out that CAHF is in play. Committee needs to be set up to evaluate nominees; type of event (lunch or dinner); location for it, etc.

    Benefit to you: Knowing how to organize this kind of event is priceless. The contacts you will make among authors and sponsors will only improve your professional stature. You are comped to attend.

You will never be on your own when helping with any of these projects. The Author U staff and board members can and will provide you guidance, content and names of people to contact (just ask). There would be no out-of-pocket costs to you for helping with these programs—in chairing or being on a committee. If any of the above sings to you, contact Judith at Judith@Briles.com.

What say you?

Author U®is the premier authoring resource in the country creating community, education, guidance, vision and success for the serious author.

 

Dr. Judith Briles 
The Book Shepherd - The Author and Publishing Expert
Create. Strategize. Develop. Publish. Achieve.

Chief Visionary Officer: AuthorU.org

Book Publishing: Eat, Prey & Kind of Love …

Eat, Prey & Kind of Love …

First of all, I have to tell you . . . I did not like Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Eat, Pray, Love. Oh, there’s no question that the author is talented. It’s well written—about a married women who doesn't want to be married. She’s got to do a re-direct on her life to find herself, so she’s taking a year off and schmoozing, speaking Italian and eating in Italy, praying in India, and loving in Indonesia.

Did I mention she does love her husband, David—the one she doesn't want to be married to? What scares the hooey out of her is having a baby—something that, in the early days of their relationship, they agreed they would do when the big 30 hit. Fast forward to now; it’s approaching and our author is a blabbering mess.

Here’s what I didn't like about the book and the author: she did not communicate to hubby that babies weren't her forte and that it wasn't going to work for her. Then the two could have come to
closure instead of her dumping him for a new language, some pasta, and eventually meeting a guy who wasn't interested in increasing the population.

What’s this got to do with authoring and publishing besides the book itself? Everything. Let’s start with clear, effective communicating, which is what many of the iUniverses, AuthorHouses and those who package publishing projects don’t do. My favorite thing about AuthorHouse is the coining of the word “authorcentric”—it’s a very cool word and one that I embrace. I wish AuthorHouse did. Then there’s iUniverse, which claims to be the champion of “supported self-publishing.” What’s supported self-publishing? Per iUniverse (via its website):

Self-publishing your book with the support of iUniverse is a professional, affordable, and fast way
to get your book into print. Compared to publishing on your own, it costs you control of some aspects of the publishing process, but only in exchange for less hassle and expense. iUniverse professionals with book-publishing expertise will educate and guide you through the entire process for an affordable price.
Supported self-publishing also enables you to test your marketing abilities and learn about the publicity process without emptying your bank account or making it your full-time career. And, because you control the rights to your book, you can get started with supported self-publishing but move to a traditional publisher—or choose to self-publish on your own—after you have experience and a
track record.

Let’s look at the folks at AuthorHouse via its website:

AuthorHouse has grown into the largest self-publishing company in the world – responsible for helping more than 40,000 authors publish more than 60,000 books. AuthorHouse allows you to maintain
creative and financial control of your book while receiving all the personalized attention and support you need – from publishing to promotion and everything between. AND AuthorHouse has
print-on-demand service that combines high-quality production with speed to market. Plus, formatting options and distribution capabilities can help set your book up for selling success.

Each boasts about its marketing services (very expensive), low cost entry into publishing for the author, generous payments (really?), distribution capability, etc., etc. AuthorHouse and iUniverse are just two of the many, many who proclaim themselves as “self-publishers” but who are, in reality, Vanity Presses.
Period—nothing more, nothing less. They are huge and have a literal boiler-room approach, just like a hounding credit collection agency would—dial and re-dial … “If you don’t respond by today at two, our special offer will no longer be available … blah, blah, blah.” They eat, prey (on writers), and probably just
love themselves. Communicate clearly? … nope. It’s grey everywhere.

They all use a POD model—which I’m the first to admit has a spot where it’s the right method for a quick print or end of life. But for the serious author/publisher, the one who intends on making
money with a pBook format, this is a pass.

Self-publishers who are truly serious about their books and being successful need to step, no run, away from the term self-publishing. It no longer fits. The correct term is small press or independent publisher. Use it. Embrace it. Wear it with pride.

Judith Briles is known as The Book Shepherd, a book publishing coach and the Founder of Author U (niversity) a membership organization created for the serious author who wants to be seriously successful. She’s been writing about and conducting workshops on publishing since the 80s. She’s the author of 30 books including Show Me About Book Publishing, co-written with John Kremer and Rick Frishman and a speaker at publishing conferences. Her next audio and workbook series,Creating Your Book and Author Platform will be available in the Spring of 2012. Join Judith live on Thursdays at 6 p.m. EST for Your Guide to Book publishing on thewww.RockStarRadioNetwork.com. Follow @AuthorU and @MyBookShepherd on Twitter and do a “Like” at AuthorU and TheBookShepherd on Facebook. If you want to create a book that has no regrets, contact her at Judith@Briles.com.

Book Publishing Is a Business

The Business of Publishing … Yes It Is!

When John Kremer, Rick Frishman and Judith Briles publishedShow Me About Book Publishing, they shared a story about Sally. Sally wanted to open a Sewing Shoppe. Her objective was to be successful.

What if you were Sally and wanted to open Sally’s Sewing Shoppe? Wouldn't it make sense that you knew about sewing? About the machine and how it works? Maybe inkling about fabric types? How about sewing accessories?  If you wanted to open Sally’s Sewing Shoppe, your answer would be yes. And so must the other three questions that were asked: you should be answering yes, yes and yes.

Viva the Difference

When you self-publish, and you contract with an AuthorHouse, Author Solutions, iUniverse, Xlibris or a LuLu, you are sharing the profit.

Their name is on the door, not yours. Whoosh—with the use of their name, you could easily see 50 percent plus of your profits exit overnight just because you used their name … and you didn’t think you knew enough to do it yourself … or your didn't think you had enough money (or didn’t want to) to front the start up expenses of your publishing enterprise. Or didn’t want to learn some of the ins and outs of publishing.

With self and independent publishing, you are opening a business. If Sally’s Sewing Shoppe needs a sewing machine repair person, a seamstress or a specialist in designing kid’s costumes, it hires a person who can fill the bill on a fee basis—each job has a cost to it.

Hopefully, the cost of the services will be far less than the revenues that are created. What’s left over is the profit. Yours—all of it. It’s the same in publishing. Seamstresses, sewing machine repairs and kid’s costume designers can be likened to editors, cover designers and printers. You have a job that needs to be done; they bid on it.

You hire who you want and pay them on completion. You don’t share your profits with them. When you use today’s modern vanity presses—LuLu, AuthorHouse, Author Solutions, iUniverse, Xlibris, etc., your profitability is severely limited.

As the owner of Sally’s Sewing Shoppe, you could hire, and fire, vendors and suppliers. You make all the decisions. If you don’t want to work with or use someone, you go somewhere else.  It’s still your place, Sally’s Sewing Shoppe.

Not so with vanity press and pay to publish operations. When you publish through anything that doesn't have your name, you lose that option. You get to start over if you decide you don’t like the establishment.  New ISBN, new files, new cover design— new, new, new.

Publishing is a business. Period. If you are serious about publishing, you wouldn't think of it any other way. It’s not something you do to fill your time. It’s not something you do to share cocktails with friends of chit-chat over a cup of coffee. And it’s not something that should be viewed as an encounter of a casual kind.

Publishing takes money. It takes time. It takes an investment and commitment from you.

Author U has your marketing answers/solutions. It’s at the Extravaganza in just four short weeks from now: May 3-5.  Fiction, Nonfiction, eBook or pBook. You can have all workshops for $424 (non-members $574—it’s still a heck of a deal and remember, all meals are included.

Please … Register—there are less than 10 seats left—it’s the business of publishing: Author U (niversity)

Judith Briles is known as The Book Shepherd, a book publishing coach and the Founder of Author U (niversity) a membership organization created for the serious author who wants to be seriously successful. She’s been writing about and conducting workshops on publishing since the 80s. She’s the author of 30 books including Show Me About Book Publishing, co-written with John Kremer and Rick Frishman and a speaker at publishing conferences. Her next audio and workbook series,Creating Your Book and Author Platform will be available in the Spring of 2012. Join Judith live on Thursdays at 6 p.m. EST for Your Guide to Book publishing on thewww.RockStarRadioNetwork.com. Follow @AuthorU and @MyBookShepherd on Twitter and do a “Like” at AuthorU and TheBookShepherd on Facebook. If you want to create a book that has no regrets, contact her at Judith@Briles.com.