First Word

For the first time in almost two years we are finally on the up side of business growth. Persistence + pressure = Yippee! What people believe is "overnight success" is really that formula come to fruition. I don't know anyone who can announce from the rooftops they are an overnight success. People see it that way. The media lauds it like lightning in a bottle, but the reality is that's all "bunk" (as Chris says). So how did I manage to avoid driving Uber as my income supplement LOL? Remember that one? I pondered driving Uber for about a day and a half. Do you know why I put that random thought away? I am about to share the greatest lesson any businessperson or author could ever hear: If you have a fall-back option you will undoubtedly fall back! Don't give yourself a safety net! Don't do it. Don't think it. Don't consider it. Don't create it. Once you've launched a business or a book never, ever go backward....

I never tell clients to do anything I am not willing to do. When I encourage my clients to market, market, market and never stop marketing, it's because I don't let my own promotion wane. Whether it's a book you're trying to make a best seller or a product or service that you're trying to sell, you have to continually market it. Few businesses enjoy momentum without pressure. Once in a while a company can't keep up with its growth. They cut down on marketing because they can't keep up with demand. And while that sounds like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it can also cause a slow death. You have to find a middle ground to handle business growth. You have to find a scale-able business model that works when things are growing fast, and it doesn't kill your company if things slow down.   When it comes to independent book publishing I've noticed an interesting business model that seems to work effectively for self-help books...

What about those blog tours for book promotion? I wonder about those tours and whether or not they lead to any kind of success. The authors I know who have done them have not seen a demonstrative increase in book sales. If you have done one and it helped your sales I would love to hear your story. The most success I’ve seen when it comes to book sales has been in nationwide exposure. So, let me share what I’ve seen work. Nationwide exposure in one key media can make a best seller . The word here is key media. I’ve seen books enjoy national exposure in some major media, but if that media outlet doesn’t reflect the right demographic for your book, it will generate only a small handful of sales. A book promoted to the right media that reached the “sweet spot” of your demographic can produce in a single promotion a best seller. So a national spot in and of itself won’t necessarily produce results. It has to be the right media placement to the right audience. ...

People’s perceptions of your business or book for that matter determine whether they will give you enough credibility to work with you or buy your product. When it comes to publishing, realize that people perceive information in a blink of an eye. I think the book Blink addresses this point. I run into authors all of the time who don’t understand why low-rent self-publishing services often don’t serve their success. I know as a consumer I can tell when a book looks cheap and printed by one of those repo-cheapo printers. Little things tell the tale. Stapled binding, flimsy paper, stock graphics – all of these things send a message you may not want people to perceive. One of the most important things we strive for at 3L Publishing is excellence. As authors we have enough challenges in the marketplace to overcome without adding to it. If your book automatically looks cheap how does that affect sales? I’ll walk you through it. Book reviewers are deluged with bo...

I had an interesting conversation with my best friend's teenage daughter about writing. Gena who is exceptionally bright excels especially in math and science. I was urging her to pursue a career in this male-dominated field and make her mark as a remarkable female. I strongly believe we need to push our girls in the math and science areas. My own daughter Cambria loves geology and science, but she's also extremely creative. While we were talking the subject of English vs. math came up. It was interesting how (like many people) Gena saw English as being more open to interpretation and not as "black and white" as math.   I've thought about this a lot since I am an editor and writer. What most people don't realize is that grammar is finite. Once you determine your style rules (AP Style, Chicago Style, Strunk and White), you then have to play by those rules. Grammar though while driven by different styles is precise. I sometimes think people ...

Hello First Word Friend-Os. True to the words of Mr. Chris Carter, what a difference a day makes. It also proves my theory that "outflow gets in flow". Just last week I was considering driving Uber to supplement my projects since it had been slow the last month or so. Of course when I told my daughter I was going to drive Uber she objected. "Mom! Someone will kidnap you! You're too pretty!" LOL ... Okay, well I'm fairly certain there are many "pretty" Uber drivers out there who are safe and sound. You have to give it to Cambria for her dramatic flair. I may just drive Uber anyway here and there for fun. Chris said I could write a book of stories about the people I meet. So back to 3L Publishing and books not driving...   So while marketing my little heart out my theory and Chris' sage wisdom all came together. I went from 0-100 in one day . My marketing and promotional efforts paid off. I'm sharing my story to teach you a...

What is the Harris Estate about? Harris Estate is an alluring mystery that takes our protagonist, Leah Murphy, from San Francisco, California to Oakdale, Texas when she inherits a long abandoned ranch estate. A grisly discovery on the property sparks an investigation with local authorities, which opens up Pandora's box and everything Leah knew about her life is changed forever. During the trials and tribulations, her marriage is tested, her desires are amplified, and she has decisions to make that will affect everyone she loves. Why did you write the book? In January, my grandmother passed away at the age of 96. We celebrated her life and the love that she gave to all of us.   Like many people after losing someone special, I found myself analyzing my life, past, present and future. A week after the service, I was on a several-days-long road trip for work when I drove past an abandoned farmhouse.   My mind and imagination went into overdrive as I w...

When it comes to public relations and promotion, the key to ongoing success is persistence. Don't let the newness and excitement of a new product or service wane after the shine has worn off. The most successful people whether business people or authors are the ones who don't stop promoting and networking and pushing. The shelf life of any product once it gets past the new promotion and launch is dependent upon the ongoing effort to keep it in front of the public and promote interest.   The no. #1 mistake I see almost every author I have ever worked with is this:   Losing interest in their own product and moving on to something new and exciting again.   I would say that at least 80 percent of the people I work with lose interest in their product/book after about six months. Interest is especially lost once the initial sales finish and the book must now stand on its promotional and marketing efforts to continue to sell. One of the key problems is ...

Book Launch: Sept. 17, 2016 Time: 1pm to 2pm Location: Avid Reader Address: 617 2nd St., Davis, CA    A new author has emerged in the literary world by the name of Stacey Cotter who has penned a captivating mystery titled Harris Estate: Some secrets can’t be buried.. . This well-written and fast-paced novel reveals the story of a young woman named Leah Murphy who sets out to sell the family’s estate in Texas only to uncover many dark secrets that completely unravel her identity. Harris Estate is loaded with tense intrigue as Leah Murphy learns more than she bargained for when she visits the decaying farmhouse estate. The novel is the frosh effort of Stacey Cotter who worked for many months to bring this story to print. Her writing style takes situations that on many levels might seem ordinary (exploring the estate or even sitting down for a meal) and flushes them out by creating layers of subtext and deeper meaning. The very nature of Leah ...

I learned an important lesson this week. I use a service called Help a Reporter Out (it’s free) to find subject matter experts or contacts for books. I have been recently gathering profiles for Dr. Lance Casazza for his forthcoming book Habits and Attitudes . A few weeks ago I posted a request for more profile participants. I got zero responses (that time). I was perplexed and wondered if I had drained the proverbial pond of opportunities from HARO as a source. So I gave it a few weeks and posted a second request and guess what? I got a flood of responses. Wow! What they say about timing is absolutely dead-on right. Timing in marketing and promotion is everything. A powerful lesson here: Don’t give up just because your first or even second shot at promoting your book, product or service doesn’t get results. Who knows why I got zero responses the first time. I felt discouraged. I assumed (which really stands for “ass out of you and me”) … don’t assume an...

When it comes to marketing anything be it a book or a product or service don’t be a starfish, be a crab. A starfish sticks to rocks and stays put. A crab scuttles along and even pinches once in a while. I would rather be a crab than a starfish that goes nowhere. Starfish wait and don’t do much. Some authors mistakenly believe if they wait a swell of readers will instantly not only find their books, but also bring in new swells of readers. The idea is passive – wait and see. A crab scuttles and looks for opportunities to create swells of readers. Crabs don’t sit. In fact crabs can move fast and get places. Reality in any kind of marketing and promotion is being an active crab – doing things. Now sometimes with luck and fortune a swell will turn into a tidal wave (what we all hope to do). Even then if you want to keep the interest growing you can’t turn into a starfish. The inclination to sit back and watch the wave crash in and then wait for the next wave is pass...