Personal Development;Life Enhancement;Achievement
Posts tagged self publishing
Why did I Choose Self-Publishing?
Jan 5th
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” ~Alexander Graham Bell
My first book will be out for sale, on my website and through my affiliated partners on Thursday, October 25th, 2012. I will be self-publishing this first book. I call it my first book because I have already begun writing the second and the third books. I think I have more than enough material based on more than 20 years of coaching to write at least 20 books – if I choose to do so. But why did I choose to self – publish?
Why did I Choose to Self-Publish?
It wasn’t because I couldn’t find a publisher. I was fortunate enough to have a couple of smaller publishers approach me after seeing me speak and ask if I wanted to work with them.
I decided to self-publish for 2 reasons:
1) I wanted to make more money than publishers could realistically offer a first time author like myself.
2) I thought I had a decent author platform already and that I knew enough that I would be able to build a great marketing channel for my first book and then use that channel for marketing other self-improvement products that I might create in the future.
Would I make the same choice again given what I know now? Yes I would, but after working on this first book for so long I have a tremendous appreciation for all the work that publishers do for authors – they do earn their money!
Till next time…Jack
Juice Fasting Update
This is the 8th day of my juice fast. In that time I have not eaten any solid food – I have only drank freshly extracted vegetable and fruit juices. I intend to continue this juice fast for a total of 67 days. In the first seven days I have lost twelve pounds of bodyweight, a decent start, and my energy has certainly increased. My only complaint so far is that I have lost so much weight in my face that my former double chin has now become a turkey waddle! Tighten skin – tighten!
“Note to self: finding a cool quote and writing it in your journal is not a substitute for Getting. It. Done.” ~Betsy Cañas Garmon
Writing is Not the Hardest Part
Jan 4th
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” ~Mary Anne Radmacher
Last time I was talking about the day that I decided that I was going to write a book. It was an important day for sure and it could, and perhaps should, have lead to a book being out in fairly quick order, but it didn’t. There are lots of reasons for this, most of which I understand now and over time I will share them here – at the very least I want to be an example of what not to do as a fledgling author!
Writing the Book is not the Hardest Part
For me, the hardest part of the process of bringing a book successfully to market was not the writing of the book – although this has certainly been challenging. The hardest part for me as a first time author was deciding to become my own publisher, at least for this first book, and then committing to doing what I needed to do in order to make the book a success. I am still learning what it takes to build a successful author platform and I work on the marketing channel for my book every single day. This building of the marketing channel has been the hardest part.
Next time I will talk about why I decided to go the self-publishing route and the consequences of that choice.
Bye for now…Jack
Juice Fasting Update
This is the seventh day of my juice fast and I am feeling pretty good. I didn’t lose any measureable weight since yesterday, but my gout has relented a bit more and my energy is still acceptable. I worked out this morning for twenty minutes, Tae-Bo kick boxing, and I think that is decent for early on in this fast. I expect that my energy will continue to rise as my body converts ever more into fat-burning mode.
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” ~Epictetus
$100,000 Mistakes in Book Writing
Aug 27th
“A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should.” ~Author Unknown
This article assumes that you have some interest in getting a non-fiction book published some day. You might find it interesting even if you don’t have any such desires!
Book Writing Mistakes Cost $100,000
Last time I talked about the mistakes that I made after I decided to write a book. I would guess that those mistakes cost me at least three years – three additional years where I did not have a book working for me to increase my income. Guessing what that has meant to me in lost income from additional speaking engagement fees, increased coaching income and direct book sales to my seminar participants, without out even calculating in any book sales thru Amazon or other sources, I am going estimate that not having a book for those three years cost me at least $100,000 in additional income. (Wow! It even hurts to type that out and read it!)
What will it cost you to add an additional three years onto the book writing/publication/marketing cycle? I don’t know, but I guarantee it will cost you at lot! Depending on your business, it could cost you much more than $100,000!
So what would I do differently if I was starting a book today and wanted to get it done and working for me as quickly and elegantly as possible?
11 Steps to Non-Fiction Publishing Success
- I would completely forget about getting my first book published traditionally and I would immediately start the process of becoming an expert on self-publishing. (I’ll talk about the why of this in future entries, and notice that I said first book.)
- I would find and join or create a non-fiction writer’s group that met weekly and made me read new, not revised, material each and every week. (I’ll talk more about this in future entries as well.)
- I would immediately start blogging, however short the entries, 5 times per week. (More to come here as well.)
- I would immediately hire an email newsletter service and start collecting names of people that like my material. (More coming)
- As quickly as possible, I would start to release a weekly newsletter to those collected names – however short the newsletter! (More coming)
- I would create a Mastermind group of like energy and achievement minded and completely different skills people and we would begin to meet weekly. (Much more about this process later – this is one of my strongest passions!)
- I would decide and commit that I was going to write every single day, no matter what, and I would slowly amp up the volume of that writing. (More coming)
- I would hire a book writing coach, if I could afford one, or join a monthly book writing coaching membership site if I could not afford a personal coach. (More about this to come as well)
- If I wasn’t already a public speaker, I would join Toastmasters and start the process of becoming one! (Yes – you guessed it…more coming)
- I would open a twitter account and start following people that interested me. (More to come!)
- I would start on account on LinkedIn and then dedicate just a bit of time each week here.
I wouldn’t expect to get all of these things done right away. But I would expect to have most of them in place within six weeks and all of them in place and working for me within six month. (In point of fact, I don’t quite have all of them in place myself yet, but I will within a couple of weeks!)
Did I mention yet that I have a non-fiction book coming out in September of 2011? I do! More about that next time as well.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.” ~John Wooden
I’m Back!
Aug 23rd
“Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.” ~Sofia Serrano speaking to David Aames in the movie “Vanilla Sky (2001)
I’m back!
I’m finally going to have the time to start updating this blog on a regular basis again. I’ve spent much of the past 4 months buried in writing the first draft of a book. What time I had left over from that adventure, I split between working with my coaching and consulting clients, working out 6 days per week with personal trainers and of course, my family time always comes first. Anyhow, enough excuses and as Paul Newman said so well in the movie The Color of Money “I’m back!”
What you can expect to find here
So, what can you expect to find here? Of the many blogs that you could decide to read, why add mine to that list?
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You’ll find useful pieces that you can use immediately to improve your life – these nuggets will initially be drawn from my upcoming book about goals and achievement. I’ll share everything I’ve learned about setting goals and the process of achieving them rapidly and pleasurably.
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You can watch and learn the entire process of getting a non- fiction book written and profitably (I intend!) self-published. You will also learn why I decided to self-publish even though I had offers to buy my book from traditional publishing houses.
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See me as I transform my 50+ plus year old body from a neglected, taken for granted shell to a fit, muscular and energetic living work of art! (Wow! That even motivates me!)
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Learn from all of the massive mistakes that I have made all along the way. That way you can either avoid them or at least have a heads up on what to expect if you go there yourself.
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Learn first-hand the tips, techniques and strategies that I have developed and used with my clients over the course of more than 20 years working as a coach and business consultant.
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Get my take on business books that you might want to read or maybe not read. I am an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction and I will be reviewing business books here on a very regular basis.
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And if I go or do something interesting, you can bet I’ll share that as well.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
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“Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.” ~Goethe
Self Publishing – My Final Analysis
Feb 8th
“And Winter slumbering in the open air, wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring”! ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge (and Bill Murray in Groundhog Day).
(As I write this entry, we are experiencing another blizzard here in Iowa. Another blizzard – no! I am more than ready for this winter to be over!)
Last time I wrote about some of the reasons why I was choosing to self-publish my first book.
Here is the rest of my reasoning.
My Reasons for Self-Publishing my First Book:
- Speed: I can get a book out much more quickly. I can get a book out in 6 months or so, including much of the pre-marketing, versus the 14 to 18 months for “traditional” publishing.
- Profit: I will make much more profit from each copy of my book that is sold – especially if I do a print run of 5,000 to 10,000 copies.
- Control: I will be able to control every aspect of my book’s creation and publication. It will truly reflect my vision.
- Learning: I will learn a great deal about the book publishing business and since I intend to publish more than one book, this knowledge will serve me well in the future.
- Better Future Deals: I know a little bit about book publishing and my likely sales results right now. After I get this first book out and have the results of my first marketing cycle, I will know much more and be in a better position to negotiate with agents and publishers for future book deals – should I decide to go the traditional path in the future.
Please notice that I did not mention anything about self-publishing so that I could get published. I think that any author, that has done their homework and has a book worth publishing, will eventually find both an agent and a publisher.
Should you self-publish? Maybe – maybe not. If you have an audience already and don’t want to invest the time in learning the book business – then find an agent, have them find you a publisher and let them handle it for you. You will still be doing much of the promotional work – I don’t think there is a way around that unless you are a really big “name” in your field. Otherwise, self-publishing is worth a ponder.
Next time I am going to talk about the actual content of my upcoming book and why I chose to write this one first.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome”. ~Anne Bradstreet
So What Do I Want and Why Should You Care?
Jun 5th
“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” ~Michelangelo
What do I want specifically? And why should you care? Well, you should care because I am going to show you a process of achieving more in less time and feeling great along the way. That should, and I mean should, interest you. So, what do I want specifically?
I want a book published by September 17th. I want it available in a least 2 formats: 1) A downloadable Ebook and 2) A printed version. I want all of the ground work done, the work behind the scenes, so that this book is a great seller for me. This is my Outcome – the O in my OPA project. I am as specific as I can be here so that I can focus my energy and my attention. In the next entry we will look at Purpose – the P in my OPA project and this is where things will start to really move!
Till next time…Jack
“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” ~A. A. Milne