First Word

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...

Are you afraid of failure? Most people fear falling down and having to get back up – again. Did you know that most successful people realize that failure is only a PART of the process of finding success. Successful people keep the right mindset about failure and don’t allow it to keep them down. If you think about it: success and the road toward it is paved really in trial and error. As you try new things you may do it right the first time, but most likely it could take two or three or four or five or even six times to get it right. As a business owner I’ve learned my greatest lessons through failure. As I’ve failed or made mistakes, I remember them. As you know the definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a new outcome. So, you have to think about your mistakes like a newly invested formula. As you make a mistake, remember it, but don’t repeat it. Take a different approach and do it differently. Your new approach works, great. It ...

Since Romance Novels are selling, check out my romance books, California Girl Chronicles by Michelle Gamble-Risley available on Amazon as eBook and print. I just read that came out of HARO/Vocus, which is a public relations database tool. Want to know the "anatomy of a best seller"? Guess what they said recent publishing studies revealed?   Romance is the no. #1 genre . I guess romance is back and hot again. For a while romance was dwindling. Usually when times are tough, romance novels become escapist entertainment. Maybe something is in the air right now that have readers turning more toward romantic adventures. Perhaps recent terror attacks and the like have made general readers not want to explore too much reality.   The most successful novels are 375 pages . Funny they revealed this number because just yesterday my mom, who is a voracious reader, told me she prefers books at least 350 pages. She said it made her feel like she got her money...

Creating a best-selling book is contingent upon three things: Great promotion + great story + market interest at the time + plain old luck Every author that comes for a consult with my company 3L Publishing (www.3LPublishing.com) generally hopes for a successful book. No one comes to me and says they want to fail. When I counsel people I always tell them that their mindset determines failure. If the one outcome is a national best seller and the dream of joining that 1% of elite authors who dominant the market then that's loftier than I can promise. Of course, as an author who doesn't aspire to be in that 1% dream slice of the pie? For the sake of not setting up false expectations, I always tell them that if the idea is for the very fact that they authored a book to create new opportunities then with all assurance I feel confident the book will absolutely reach that goal. In the meantime, authors can either hire a publicist to help them promote their books (and you can c...

Do you make goals? I am a "goals girl" for sure. I think goals are important to achieve success. Author Dr. Donna Galante whose book It's All About the Millimeters breaks down the idea of goals into "millimeter steps," which is much like eating the elephant one bite at a time. I like to set daily, weekly and monthly goals. I have a desk calendar in which I write down 5 positive marketing moves in a day. Another author Heidi BK Sloss whose book Fortune is in the Follow-Up evangelized the idea that money gets lost by not following up with prospects.   I've begun the daily practice of follow-up. Let's discuss how hard it can be to keep the follow-up engine going. Why don't you follow-up with people you've met who have prospective work on the table? Want to know my no. #1 reason (which I have gotten over)?    I felt like a pest.   Yes, I felt like I was pestering people by following up on a consistent basis. I had my imag...

I often respond to Help a Reporter Out (HARO) queries to promote and market 3L Publishing (www.3LPublishing.com). I read today a question: How has the digital age changed your PR strategies? Good question and relevant to the overall transition from print-based services going to e-services. Here is my hands-on experience with the digital evolution of public relations and marketing: Media kits don't necessarily have to be printed anymore . When I was a magazine editor, we received all press promotion in the form of paper media kits. The print costs for the folders and content could be enormously expensive. The cost was naturally transferred to the client. A national media campaign just for print costs alone cost thousands of dollars. Now my best estimate is that a small minority of media still want print media kits sent. I do run into those outlets that want sample copies of print books to be included, but even these outlets are starting to accept the eBook version and e-media...

Well, it’s true! I survived my 50 th birthday. Here is a tidbit of trivia for you. Did you know that 3L Publishing turned 10-years old at the same time I turned 50? Yes, I’ve now been in business 10 years. I’ve learned a lot about entrepreneurship in those years. I’ve enjoyed some great successes, some abysmal failures, and some important lessons. So in honor of what I’ve learned and to impart this “amazing” wisdom LOL, here is the “Top 10 Things I Learned in 10 Years”. 1.      Whether in business or your personal life, always trust your gut . It never fails you. Now if you ignore your gut then you have to take responsibility for it, too. I’ve ignored my gut a couple of times and regretted it later. 2.      Try and keep your cash flow in real-time . Once you get in the arrears on your cash flow it’s very, very difficult to bring it back current. So as money comes in try and keep your bills and payments current. 3. ...

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.

1. This is a great exercise (one of my favorites): sit down and just write a sentence or better yet take a sentence you already wrote somewhere else. Remove a word that probably isn't necessary. Now do this five more times. Compare the results. Read the first sentence out loud and then read the second sentence out loud. Which sentence is better written? 2. If you want to do a thorough edit, read your manuscript backwards. It can be tedious, but what you're really doing is looking at it word by word. 3. Another excellent technique to edit is to take a piece of paper and cover up the other words. Our eyes has a tendency to wander without us realizing it. Covering up the other words keep your focused. 4. Really great writers typically don't make this mistake, but it's my pet peeve: ending a sentence with a passive verb like is, are, was, would, etc. 5. The infamous passive voice. When you avoid writing in the passive voice your writing will improve. Active voice gi...

The book cover and the title are your first marketing messages to grab potential readers. A great book cover counts as much as the title. In the nonfiction area in particular, a subtitle holds equal weight. You can have a creative title, but your subtitle must spell out what your book is really about.  So here is a lesson most authors should embrace:   It's okay to have a unique title for your book as long as your subtitle says what the book is specifically about . You don't need to make the subtitle "sexy" either. If the book's main title is so eclectic that the reader won't honestly understand it right from the start, then the subtitle should spell out the rest. Our Foreign Rights Agent Nigel emphasized this tip. He said book buyers need to know in less than a second what your book is about or they'll pass it right by and move on to the next.  

When business starts to wane, jump in and use the adage "outflow gets inflow". Many motivational books suggest you focus on gaining business vs. losing business. Whenever I face the slippery slope of decreased sales, I do the following: 1. Promote to my existing mailing lists some kind of special deal. Run a special seasonal deal or sale of some kind and promote it to your lists. This often has the results of spurring people to remember to think about your business and gives you exposure. 2. Follow-up on existing opportunities . I want to comment on this action in particular. Business people tend to leave opportunities on the table due to lack of follow-up or any kind of follow-up program. My rule is simple: follow-up with a handful of people per day. Set a goal such as following up with 5 people per day. I know it can be uncomfortable if you've been persisting with the same 5 people. but what do you really have to lose? What do you have to gain? I like to follow-up ...

I always tell business people that writing a book and the value it brings your business isn't measured by individual book sales. It's measured by opportunities. Here are three "opportunities" having a professionally published book can do for your business. 1. Subject Matter Expert. Whether you feel like an expert or not is beside the point. A book in people's minds means you know enough about a particular subject to write about it. Subject Matter Experts get asked to do the following, which provide more opportunities ... 2. Speaking Engagements. Speaking to a group makes you the center of attention. The aforementioned expertise creates credibility. Credibility impresses people. And speaking to a room gives your company exposure to the audience members. And what does exposure do? 3. Attracts Business. Now you've gained credibility and had an "opportunity" to share your expertise and business acumen to a group (audience). Exposure to your busines...

The Daily Cup: Issue 6 ​ Q: Is social media replacing traditional networking to attract business? A: In some respects, yes. When it comes to social media vs. networking you almost have a chicken before the egg situation. You have to build following in social media to effectively market, and you can't build an adequate following without networking -- and round it goes. My advice is to start by doing traditional networking and have your fan pages set up ahead of time. Make sure you've got the requisite "find me" on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. on your marketing promo. As you're networking encourage people to follow you. Once you've got a big enough following then you can begin to enjoy the results on social media. Remember, though, to participate in your social media community. While in-person networking can be slowed down once your social media is established, you still have to be a "member" of that social media community. In...

The Daily Cup: Issue 4 ​   Q: What is your "boiler plate"? A: A boiler plate is a brief description of your company, product or service. It is typically about 30 to 50 words in length. A boiler plate can also be the About section of a brochure, paper, website, one-sheet or any marketing collateral. ​The boiler plate is written to let the audience know what is your company ... your product ... your service ... your program. It should cover "who, what, where, when, and why." In fact, when you write your boiler plate, use that protocol and answer each of those questions one at a time. Build on top of it with each answer. Smooth out your wording. Cut unnecessary words or adjectives, but also keep some excitement, too. If you find you've gone past 50 words, cut some more. Figure out what isn't necessary to say. Your boiler plate can also be used as your "elevator pitch" when you're out networking, too. Every time you send someo...

The Daily Cup: Issue 3 ​ Q: What's the worst mistake people make on their websites? A: They either forget to include contact information or they put the information somewhere difficult to find. Many of you might be surprised by that answer. It's true. Businesses and individuals commonly forget to include contact information or a way to contact them. Your contact information should be easy to find, easy to understand, and easy to use. Do not make the mistake of not putting it right on your menu of information. I do not recommend burying it at the bottom of your website either. Many people put a contact link in small font at the bottom of the homepage. Avoid that method. Put it right on the end of the your menu bar items. Always include a phone number and email address. You might also include a submission form. However, do not only provide a submission form. If you have someone's attention you want to capture it. It's only a matter of second before their...

I'm starting a daily blog written exclusively to help business leaders and owners learn more about marketing and public relations tips to grow business. Q: Do you know what your media kit should contain? A: A press release That sound basic enough. Yet many professionals don't know what should be in a media kit. A press release is the most obvious answer, but not everyone knows what a media kit is or what it's for much less what it should contain. A press release is written to give your service, product or business exposure to the media. What does the media want to see? Most media is for entertainment or news. Whether it's broadcast, print or online, every press release should have a "news hook" and the news hook should relate to the headlines of the day or be relevant to something going on in the world. For more information, contact us at 916-300-8012 or send email to info@3LPublishing.com.

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...

eBooks are definitely taking over . Don't ignore the eBook revolution -- it's happening. While print is currently dominating, don't expect that to last past the next two to three years. The industry will continue to shift much like the cell phone put the land line into check. Yes, there are still land lines, but I don't even use one in my business. Watch that trend to continue with eBooks until print is strictly "novelty" vs. norm. Authors who fail to support their books will not win the game . Let me give you an example. Josh Mathe, author of In the Footsteps of Greatness, recently embarked on a book tour at the regional REI stores. He sold books directly to readers, but also his eBook and print sales reflected his activities. Other authors who either get tired, bored, frustrated or give up will see sales reflect their own attitudes about their books. Everyone can publish via publishing services, the market is glutted, and you better know how to make your...

When I open my presentations, I ask two questions: “How many of you throw away books in the trashcan?” I follow up that question with the next one, “How many of you throw away brochures in the nearest garbage can?” The second question provides the audience’s a-ha moment. Most people feel value when they buy or are given a book. A book has weight. It has pages. It has merit. It conveys the perception of knowledge and expertise and time and money to publish. A feeling of guilt or at least a sense of environmental responsibility overcomes the desire to toss all that time, money, expertise, and most importantly “paper” into the garbage can. On the other hand, how many flyers, tri-fold brochures or one-sheets create such a moral or ethical dilemma that you actually feel guilty to throw it away? I’ll be honest. I’ve thrown away countless brochures. I even curse when someone shoves a flyer under my car windshield wiper because now I have to find a garbage can so I’m ...

What is a hybrid publisher? Our company 3L Publishing (www.3LPublishing.com) is a hybrid publisher. Hybrid (means combines both) publishing takes traditional publishing and crosses it with self-publishing. What does this mean? You get everything a traditional publisher provides (editorial, graphics, and book distribution, which many of those services are not available to individuals ... for example, our printer who provides competitive pricing does not work with individuals) at higher royalties. Royalties range from 35 percent to 100 percent (you sell it yourself). Now compare that to a traditional publisher that provides 8 to 10 percent. Why are the royalties higher? Because the author (much like a self-publisher) pays to have the book created. The payment is a one-time fee. Higher royalties enable the author to enjoy return on investment at a faster rate and become profitable AND be the one who enjoys the profit if the book becomes a best-seller. What is the average cost to pub...