10 SECRETS TO A BESTSELLER: AN AUTHOR’S GUIDE TO SELF-PUBLISHING

Written by Tim McConnehey

McConnehey provides all the essentials for the budding author. He writes in an easy-to-follow style that is more readable than most how-to books.

The author states exactly what he will be covering at the beginning of the book.

Can you turn your great idea into a book?   
What are the steps you need to take, and in what order?
How do you complete your book?    
What resources do you need: a cover designer? Editor? Fact checker?    
How do you distribute your book, and how do you make sure people know it’s out there?
How much should you sell it for?

He also suggests using his company, Izzard Ink, as a hybrid publisher for those who find the process too arduous a task to tackle alone.

I would have found this book extremely useful at the outset of my writing journey and would recommend it as a good tool for the new writer.

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5 Things Every Author Needs to Know

Written by Geoff Affleck

A nice primer for first-time and newbie authors. Every author needs to decide not only who they are writing for but what problem they are solving for that reader. Before putting pen to paper, the new author must have an overall plan. That includes a marketing plan that focuses on the needs of the audience. She should prepare them with blog articles, videos, and free resources or tools. How will the author sell the book once published?

The book itself needs a great cover, title, book description, categories, and keywords that will gain online traffic and eye appeal when placed in a bookstore. An author needs credibility with reviews and, if possible, testimonials. Ask for reviews inside the book. Give readers a call to action. If possible, place links to additional resources inside the book. Give more than you get.

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Looking for more resources? You’ll find them on my website http://www.LittleMissHISTORY.com

Delish Kids (Super-Awesome, Crazy-Fun, Best-Ever) Cookbook Free 12-Recipe Sampler 

Created by Joanna Salz

This book is a sampler of the full recipe book. It contains twelve recipes of the types of food kids absolutely love. These recipes include a unique spin on favorites like tacos, grilled cheese, and hot dogs.

Children will want to try grilled cheese on a waffle iron, taco mac and cheese, and unique recipes for chicken nuggets and Big Macs. Perhaps you can entice them to stir up the mix and match healthy grain bowls.

These are perfect for late elementary grade and middle-grade students. A nice way to set up a family cooking project teaching session. The authors have come up with a clever marketing technique. Many purchasers will want to buy the entire cookbook with 100 recipes.

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Check out a zillion learning opportunities for the family at http://www.LittleMissHISTORY.com

10 Step Plan to Promote Your Book Online: Online Book Marketing on Any Budget

Written by Scott Hughes

Before I begin this review, readers should be aware that the author is the webmaster for Online Book Club, and he does promote and encourage readers to utilize his business. That certainly does not mean that the book is a shameless promotion of his business. The advice he gives is sound and helpful for the self-published authors. I have used the strategies he presents and can verify they do work. The amount of time to achieve success largely depends on your budget and how much work you are willing to put into writing and marketing.

Steps 1 and 2 are the most difficult. Writers need to produce a really good product to compete in today’s market and they must take the time to proofread, correct typos, spelling and content many, many times. Only after then, can the writer send the book out for professional editing.

The rest of the steps involve becoming involved with all platforms on social media, blogging, reading other authors in your genre, interviewing, starting and participating in book clubs. All these things take time to create and build. Writers need to reach out and develop a network of trusted colleagues and friends. I agree with Hughes that twitter is very effective, and that Facebook has steadily become less reliable for marketing. Of course, the value of social media is largely determined by other factors such as personality and genre.

To sum up, the author has presented a concise program of steps to guide a writer through the competitive world of self-publishing if the reader commits the time, dedication and resources to his project.

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Teamed up with Christine Calabrese to discuss

how to make your dream really happen.

If you enjoyed this post, please check out my other videos on youtube. You can find my book series at http://www.LittleMissHISTORY.com or on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or independent bookstores.

Here’s to your success!

#Interview #Publishing #Marketing #Teachers

Christine Calabrese, author of The Little Pencil book series, and I put our heads together to discuss how teachers who are interested in writing for children can gather ideas on how to organize, write, publish and market.

Christine Calabrese was raised on the North Shore of Long Island by a Polish father and Sicilian Italian mother. Her father, who was a great storyteller, captivated his daughters each night with delightful bedtime tales. Her mother enjoyed nurturing and helping other children along with her own. As a child, Christine enjoyed running and playing more than sitting and reading. Her father sent her to a lovely summer camp in New Hampshire where she enjoyed horseback riding, tennis, archery, drama, swimming, sailing, singing, and friendship.

The first story she wrote in elementary school was about a little raindrop. Her favorite pastime was making inanimate objects come to life as a tease to her younger sister. Goodness! 🙂

Christine loves teaching and working with little ones! She still likes to make up stories about inanimate objects, presently, however, the objects often teach useful skills.

Barbara Ann Mojica is a historian and retired educator. She writes historical articles for the Columbia Insider under the banner “Passages.” Using the whimsical Little Miss History character, Barbara hopes to inspire children to learn about historical people and places. Little Miss History’s antics make reading nonfiction a fun-filled adventure for all ages.

The series has garnered more than a dozen awards including Eric Hoffer, B.R.A.G. Medallions, Book Excellence Award, Reader’s Favorite and Independent Author Network Awards.

We hope that teachers will find the video informative and useful.

Teach and Grow Rich: How to Share Your Knowledge for Global Impact

Written by Danny Iny

An interesting approach for those who would use the internet to find a topic which they could use to create an educational course. Iny states the only necessity is to have knowledge or skills that are valuable for others to learn. In the beginning the entrepreneur needs only to learn what the market wants, is willing to pay for, and what will be most rewarding to himself. The next step is to find a life experience valuable to others and to map out a one page pilot course. If one can convince a small group to be willing students to test it out with the teacher and reach out to social media to ask their peers, the details can later be mapped out after the author delivers his 6029 message. The students will evaluate the course in terms of the rewards they accrued and the experience they gained, while the author can assess success in terms of the course content and the amount of financial gain or lack of it. In the end the course creator may have to modify content or go back to the drawing board. Following completion of the curriculum, the author will have to market the product to a wider audience. Here is where the author comes in for the hard sell to purchase marketing products.

The end of the book consists of appendices of case histories and the opportunity to purchase marketing advice. I believe the value of this book is in providing a general framework of how to approach setting up an educational online course. The reader will get strategy and theory but not the detailed “how to.”

If you are looking for a step by step guide, this book is not for you. It is an interesting read, but in the final analysis, it will involve lots of effort on the reader’s part to fill in the gaps.

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