First Word

You’ve worked with me for months on your pet book project. We’ve finished, and it’s ready to go to press. Now it’s time to consider the future of the book, and for many authors their writing and speaking careers. Some authors want to try it on their own. Perhaps they have budget considerations, which is understandable; however, when you’re factoring your publishing costs, especially for those authors who want to expand their speaking careers and their books are part of their platforms, you have to think about the PR and marketing portion.   In fact, if you’re considering working with a hybrid publisher like 3L Publishing, I strongly advise you to consider the PR and marketing with equal weight to the publishing. I can point to book after book in my catalog where the PR investment wasn’t made and the sales never took off. Authors often mistakenly believe that once the book is released, it will generate sales on its own. They hope for strong word of mouth, and yes, wor...

Let's discuss an important topic when it comes to publishing a book - building your following . Many of my authors aspire to either traditionally publish their next books or attract the attention of our foreign rights agents (we have two of them). Key to both opportunities is a strong following to justify the acquisition or overseas sale of the book. So what tips and tricks can you apply to your marketing and promotion to build aforementioned following?   The easiest way to build a following is social media . Social media has different affects: it can justify the case to the agents or traditional publishers. What if your sales aren't commensurate with your following, though? Well, if you have book fan page with thousands of fans, then you can show the potential of followers interested in what you're doing. Every little bit helps. And remember this one important factor: PUBLISHERS ARE A BUSINESS! A SURE THING IS THE ONE THING THEY WANT TO INVEST IN . Pleas...

1. Stay focused on your objectives. 2. Study the current marketplace, identify the trends, figure out what people are buying and the consumer tastes. 3. If bills are piling and checks not coming, do not get caught up in the bills. It's a negative distraction and will not solve your financial crisis. 4. Look for as many new opportunities as you can to build business. 5. Consider reaching out and doing more networking. 6. Do more public speaking. Speaking gigs attract business because you are the center of attention. 7. Use speaking to do back-of-the-room sales and promotions.

I think sales can be one of the most difficult parts of any company. I have recently received a spat of what I'm going to call "the-put-you-down" method to help "fix you". Any business owner who has been solicited with unwanted "put-downs" to get his/her business can relate to this story. I once dated a very successful businessman. He was a nice looking older gentlemen. Now when I say "dated" it was only one date for breakfast. I'll now explain why it never got to lunch. This gentlemen proceeded to tell me sales techniques and how colors affect people's impressions of others. He talked about cool and warm colors. Without getting too much further into this story, he told me my blond tresses needed to be lighter (a cooler color would be best). I want to remind you this was a "first" date and I barely knew this man. Later on he went onto my website and provided a critique of our shopping cart methodology. He called me (natu...

I was asked to teach a writing class via a note sent to me from one of my newsletter readers. After teaching the class and being complimented on my speaking abilities, I was given three leads on three book projects. Now some often suggest that a weekly newsletter unless it produces direct sales has no value. My three prospects later suggest the opposite. One of my biggest challenges with business owners and authors is getting them to understand it's long-term opportunities you hope to attract from marketing activities. I've done the newsletter for eight years now. I write it weekly. Have I ever had someone say, "Hey! I read your newsletter let's do business." No. It doesn't work like a cash register - ka-ching sales! Marketing and keeping your brand in front of prospective business is about long-term exposure and visibility. It's about creating brand familiarity and recognition. It's also about building long-term relationships with prospects. My ne...

I recently hit a lag in projects and work. I believe that when faced with business decline you don't spend any time focused on the "deficit" but on the "reboot". Business works that way -- it ebbs and flows. You have flush times and then you have dry times. The overall goal is to get it evened out, but it never seems to work quite that smoothly. When I worked in corporate one of the ideas I was taught is "outflow gets inflow" -- and I have found that to be true. If you're not marketing (outflow) and reaching out toward new projects you're not going to attract what you need to grow your business. Tip 1: change your business strategies . Reinvent or think outside of the proverbial box and be open to stretch into new areas. We tend to fall into routines or ways we attract business. That channel is likely to dry up over time, and that is natural. If a channel dries up then you have to look to new revenue streams and that may require some crea...

I'll never forger this: I was at a networking function and this woman was discussing her blog. She said she had 5,000 page views a month (heck I struggle to get 2,000). She was an average business person. Here is what surprised me: her blog was about knitting . Realizing that I my blog was well under her page views, I suddenly had blog-envy. How does a blog about knitting get 5,000 page views per month? I randomly ask myself that question all of the time. Actually the question I really ask is: how do I increase my blog readership? Hmm ... My blog is about publishing, business and marketing (and I occasionally sprinkle in humor) -- check. I write about broad interest and general topics, too -- check. I include pictures when I have them to post -- check. I think over my "labels" very carefully -- check. I "think" my writing is good LOL (insecure writer syndrome) -- check. So, what's the deal? How can I increase my blog readership? Why does knitting get...

Growing your business can be a challenge. You have to manage growth effectively or all the work it took to build business in the first place will crash and burn. I was thinking about this concept at the new Farrell's on Watt Avenue in Sacramento. Yesterday we celebrated my daughter's 10th birthday. Every time we visit Farrell's while we enjoy the top-notch ice cream the service always fails. I immediately noticed that once again it took forever to be seated and once at the table I had to ask for water three times. And like so many other times, the wait staff bumbled and failed. One time I ordered a full platter of chicken fingers, and I ended up with a child's plate, which for my small appetite worked great but it doesn't change I didn't order that plate. We've waited sometimes hours for ice cream. What is the problem? A young wait staff. A new restaurant ill equipped to handle the crowds. And probably an ill-managed service desk. Since I'm not an expe...

You want to hear the no. #1 complaint made by authors after working with my company 3L Publishing ? Authors have a seamless experience working with my team, and then when the book comes off press and it gets posted to Amazon and starts selling, the upset starts. So I thought I would take a moment to blog about the perils and realities of Amazon. Lesson no. #1: I don't own Amazon . Yes, tis true. If I owned Amazon I promise this blog post wouldn't be written. Amazon does what Amazon does. They are an enormous corporation. Think of me like an ant compared to a redwood tree. Ants have very little power or influence over the tree. They can walk along the bark and up the tree, but they can't make a dent in the wood. Lesson no. #2: If it's "Out of Stock" it's not 3L's fault . Amazon orders in metrics based on demand so that they don't keep a large on-hand inventory. This means they order "as necessary" with a few extra copies. Books that be...

Over the years, I've seen some pretty funny stuff. I am a road-preneur and travel quite a bit. I recently saw a company name that reminded me of all of the other funny businesses I've seen. I thought I would take this opportunity to make you laugh about them. Here we go ... Areola's -- Yes, while driving home from a business meeting I drove behind a truck that had a big sign that read: Areola's ... huh? Is that spelled right , I thought. Upon a closer inspection, yep! Spelled perfectly and rightly. With the realization that this person named their company after a private area on the body, I burst out laughing. How does one position that tagline? Right on target ... see the target ... it's under the bra? LOL ... and then I wondered, What does Areola's sell ? No idea. My guess was Areola covers ... you know for those cold days. The Infamous Burrito Truck -- I once drove behind a beat-up old Toyota pick-up that had a bed cover made of slat board. On the back ...

I am constantly telling writers one key phrase: Nothing sells a book better than the author . So when author Scott D. Roberts, whose forthcoming book Vengeance is Now, suggested we do a sea-level dog and pony show to promote his book, I considered it for all of five minutes and said yes. Why did I say yes? Because of the following points (an authors take note): Before we arrive at each new destination, we will be able to promote the book to the regional media that will be far more inclined to cover a book written by an author who is in town. This direct outreach will give the book more exposure in local media that would have otherwise ignored the author and book, because it lacked a local angle.  We will be able to stop at regional writer's groups to give talks; we will be able to stop at book clubs and promote the book to their members; we will be able to stop at local book stores to promote and leave samples to prompt purchase from our national distributor Baker and Taylor....