Publishing Has Its Perks
Posted On: Saturday, November 3, 2012
Deb is the first of my original five students to get to the publishing step. She has been on a journey with this book. Although she stands at the top of the precipice with her hang-gliding wings in the ready, her flight time has not arrived. Somewhere in the control tower of life, someone has the red light button depressed, and Deb hangs perilously ready for that moment when she has gotten all the questions, all the formatting, all the proofs approved, and the books ordered and received. Soon, she will have that book in her hands, but until then, she is still standing on that cliff ready to soar.
It has taken eleven months of gestation for Deb to get her book finished to the degree that it is now, and still this baby refuses to be delivered until the right moment, when all is as perfect as any piece of art can be. Deb’s book is chocked full of poetry and stories and information about Alzheimer’s. I know it will meet her book writing expectations!
Deb Strafuss is publishing a book, On Angels Wings: A Journey through Alzheimer’s with My Mother. She will be our November 15 Framingham luncheon speaker. Make sure to sign up! While her book can transform those who are laboring to understand how to live with their relative’s Alzheimer’s, Deb has also been transformed through her writing. Her talk on the 15th will undoubtedly cover all the wonderful things that have happened to her since she began writing On Angels Wings.
I think the hardest part of the writing and publishing process is that time between when you have finished writing your book and when you have received your first shipment of books. It always takes a lot longer than what you think or what you hope for or even what patience you have.
While I know my students have learned a lot about the process of writing a book, I also have learned. I think in the process of teaching, you become the student. While I’m fairly versed in the writing arena, I have learned to appreciate all my students and their unique styles of writing. I am even humbled by their beautiful ways of putting certain words together like an intricate tapestry. I now have three groups of students and will be starting another group in January, which will meet on the second Thursday of every month from 1-3 p.m. at Jenny Campbell’s space at 13 Water St., Second Floor.
Why would you want to sign up for a 12-session Book Writing and Publishing Workshop? Most of you are women entrepreneurs of small businesses. You want to grow your business, get more clients, increase your market share and generate more revenue. But, with so much competition out there, and everyone vying for more and more online recognition, it’s really hard for you to get noticed. For small to medium size businesses, it’s a real struggle to get your name in the spotlight and make your business “stand out” in the vast and growing sea of new start-ups and well established companies.
It’s a fact that authors are seen as “Authority Figures” no matter what the industry. In other words, because they wrote a book, people automatically “see them” as the expert. In addition, people seek authors out to help them solve their problems; often times with a willingness to pay a premium price for their knowledge and skill set. It’s no secret that being an author can almost magically transform your business into a profitable entity for years to come.
To sign up, contact me at 508-446-1711. To check out my website: http://www.publishwithconnie.com.
Need a little more prodding? That’s what I do! I keep you accountable to reach your writing goals, and along the way, I give you tools to use in writing your book.
Here are three such tools that address marketing your book:
- Get on local TV, Cable, and radio talk shows, as well as, set up speaking to organizations, businesses or groups related to the subject of your book.
- Depending on your book topic, set up library speaking engagement to read some excerpts of your book. If the library isn’t appropriate, find another venue.
- For online markets, you naturally have to include all the social media options and a Website just for your book. Adding video and audio interviews on your site can also help boost interest. Basically, what you do for your business, in general, is what you do for each of the books you publish. Starting with a marketing plan and ending with the execution of each part of that plan works for everyone with a book to sell.
