My book coaching clients always ask about the best resources to learn about marketing their books. Here are my top three recommendations.
Guerrilla Marketing for Writers by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, and Michael Larsen
Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers by Shel Horowitz
(Note: if you buy the book directly from Shel at the website below, you’ll get some great bonuses! Tell Shel I sent you.)
www.GrassrootsMarketingForAuthors.com
1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer
Be sure to check out John Kremer’s excellent site here:
Now get back to writing that book!
Mary Jo Tate
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On August 17th, Alex Mandossian--one of the best marketing trainers I've ever encountered--will reveal his closely-guarded "Virtual Book Tour System" he has tested for the past 3 years.
If you're in a hurry right now, listed below is your private registration link and VIP Code.
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Here's your private access link; click it now:
http://www.VirtualBookTourInfo.com
Your VIP Discount Code is: "VBT-3964"
(Saves you $79 from the normal $99 tuition)
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-->>> Authors, Info Marketers, Publishers <<<--
Because you're reading on, let me get more specific about WHO should attend this call.
If you're an author, info marketer or publisher and you're sick and tired of humiliating "book tour" appearances or marketing campaigns that are inadequate, then this training is for you.
Alex Mandossian has taken the old "book tour" concept to stratospheric new heights because his new and improved system lets you connect directly with your readers and audiences with nothing more than a telephone in your hand!
This means you can promote your books not just in a few cities, but internationally ...
... and all at once!!
-->>> What You'll Learn In Just 2 Hours <<<--
The "Virtual Book Tour System" is a revolutionary concept for selling more books (or info products) and the idea was born at a book signing featuring former Vice President Al Gore.
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Here's your private access link; click it now:
http://www.VirtualBookTourInfo.com
Your VIP Discount Code is: "VBT-3964"
(Saves you $79 from the normal $99 tuition)
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In just two hours, Alex promises to teach you:
* Why the traditional book marketing and promotion sales model is now obsolete...
* How to "repurpose" your content to rake in 50 times more profits with practically no work...
* How to "outsource" your busywork to reliable vendors to give you laser-like focus on selling...
* How to build your own online lists, even if you're just starting from scratch...
* The precise step-by-step blueprint for doing your own Virtual Book Tour - from the comfort of your own home or office...
* How to interview famous authors, and much more!!
-->>> Short-List Of Virtual Book Authors <<<--
During the past 3 years, Alex has conducted more Virtual Book Tours than anyone else on the planet.
Maybe you've participated in a few of these?
* Harvey Mackay (We Got Fired)
* Joe Vitale (The Attractor Factor)
* Gay/Katie Hendricks (Spirit-Centered Relationships)
* Mark V. Hansen/Bob Allen (Cracking The Millionaire Code)
...but wait, there's more...
* Michael Masterson (Automatic Wealth)
* Chris/Janet Attwood (The Passion Test)
* Mireille Guiliano (French Women Don't Get Fat)
* Bobbi DePorter (Quantum Success)
* Stephen Covey (The 8th Habit)
...and there are still others...
* Loral Langemier (The Millionaire Maker)
* David Allen (Getting Things Done)
* David Bach (Start Late, Finish Rich)
* Marc Allen (The Lazy Person's Guide To Success)
-->>> What If You Can't Attend? <<<--
I encourage you to register with your VIP Code, even if you can't attend this tele-training because you'll get access to the recordings by the following day. That means you can listen to the call over and over again so you don't miss a morsel of content!
Click the private registration link now and remember to type in your VIP Discount Code so you'll save $79 on your tuition cost.
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
Here's your private access link; click it now:
http://www.VirtualBookTourInfo.com
Your VIP Discount Code is: "VBT-3964"
(Saves you $79 from the normal $99 tuition)
>><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
Speak To You Soon,
Mary Jo Tate
http://www.VirtualBookTourInfo.com
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Do you have a passion for language—for words, sentences, paragraphs, and books?
When you’re reading newspapers or magazines for pleasure, do you naturally spot errors in the text, even when you’re not consciously looking for them? (This is a surefire sign that you have the editorial instinct.)
Have you ever felt the uncontrollable urge to correct a mailbox labeled “The Smith’s”?
If you answered “Yes” to these questions, freelance editing may be the right business for you.
I've distilled my 20 years of experience into a four-week course on the most essential information you need to get started as an editor.
For all the details, go to: http://www.EditingBusiness.com
But don't delay! The class starts in only 3 days!
Blessings,
Mary Jo Tate
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As publishing options expand beyond books, magazines, and newspapers into e-zines, web copy, blogs, and e-books, more people have the opportunity to write and publish than ever before.
With all this writing and publishing going on, the need for skilled freelance editors is growing.
That's one reason why my editing business is booming.
I’ve been a freelance editor for 20 years. My clients range from university presses to self-publishers of homeschool curriculum like Jay Wile of Apologia Science to internet marketing gurus like copywriter David Garfinkel.
And as a single mom for nearly five years, I’ve learned a lot about balancing business with educating my four boys at home.
People frequently ask me two questions:
“How do you do it all by yourself?”
and
“How can I get started as an editor?”
My good friend Rhea Perry of Educating for Success has twisted my arm to share some of what I’ve learned.
I’ll be talking with Rhea on Tuesday night, March 28, at
Here are a few of the questions Rhea plans to throw at me:
How can you determine if you have a natural editorial instinct that makes learning everything else you need to know a piece of cake?
Which skills does an editor need?
Aren’t there different types of editing?
How do you juggle working at home and family responsibilities?
If you’d like to join us call, just register for the call by going here:
http://www.educatingforsuccess.com/Editing_call.htm
There’s no charge for this call other than your regular long-distance fees.
If you want to learn whether freelance editing may be the right business for you, then don’t miss this call.
And if you just wonder how to balance a home business with family responsibilities, I hope you’ll be encouraged. Plan to join us!
I'll talk to you soon!
Mary Jo Tate
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I'd like to tell you about a revolutionary, never-done-before, all-inclusive professional-grade business acceleration event specifically designed for authors, speakers, consultants, coaches, entrepreneurs, experts, and information marketers.
It's called The BookCamp(tm) and there are several remarkable factors that make it a one-of-a-kind event. But before I get to that, first let me tell you about the folks behind this event.
Between the two of them, BookCamp(tm) founders David Newman and Steven Rowell have written 9 books and produced over 500 events and seminars for their Fortune 500 corporate clients.
And for the past five years, they have been attending and studying all sorts of boot camps, conferences, seminars, and events geared toward people like us—authors, experts, and information marketers.
Over and over, they heard some consistent themes emerge from attendees:
* I came here for content and all I got was a series of 90-minute sales pitches
* Too much information — not enough implementation
* Limited access to experts — I'd love to spend some 1-on-1 time with the gurus on MY specific business issues
* Lots of success stories and strategies, but no templates and tools to go home with and use immediately
Steven and David came up with a surefire formula to address all these shortcomings. You won't believe how simple their "Aha!" moment was! What if they took all the elements that made their corporate training EFFECTIVE and LASTING and applied it to an information marketing and entrepreneurial publishing extravaganza? In other words, what if it included:
* Intense pre-work and preparation before you attend the event.
* Content-rich "Exactly-how-to" templates and tools that you use DURING the event.
* Extreme follow-up, implementation help, and advice AFTER the event.
* "Anti-pitchfest" model — you pay one price and you have EVERYTHING in EVERY expert's basic package the moment you arrive.
* Private 1-on-1 time with the experts of your choosing.
* "Do-Doing-Done" accountability, support, and coaching for 6 months after the event.
* Collaborative peer relationships (we call them joint ventures!) and onsite matchmaking to ensure equal access for EVERYone, not just the extroverted "salesy" people.
Check it out here:
http://www.AudioToBook.com/bookcamp
The website is loaded with information, plus you can download their free special report, "27 Ways NOT to Get BURNED Building Your Business Around Your Book."
Don’t delay! Check out The Book Camp today and be sure to join tonight’s complimentary teleconference on “5 Ways to Guarantee You Will Get the Most Out of Any Event.” Call details available through the site:
http://www.AudioToBook.com/bookcamp
To your success!
Mary Jo Tate
who will be speaking at Book Camp!
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Nine years elapsed between the publication of The Great Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fourth novel, Tender Is the Night, which went through 3 plots and 17 separate drafts before publication.
When Fitzgerald was nearly finished writing Tender Is the Night, he wrote to Maxwell Perkins, his editor at Charles Scribner’s Sons, that he would deliver the manuscript in a month:
I will appear in person carrying the manuscript and wearing a spiked helmet. . . . You can imagine the pride with which I will enter your office a month from now. Please do not have a band as I do not care for music. (
I am delighted to announce that I am wearing my own spiked helmet tonight.
Just moments ago I sent the final portions of the revision and expansion of my 1998 reference book, F. Scott Fitzgerald A to Z, to my publisher, Facts on File. The new volume, Critical Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald, will be published in late 2006 or early 2007.
As one of my writing coaching clients recently told me, “Writing is fun, but to have written is satisfaction.”
I couldn’t agree more.
And I love music, so feel free to strike up the band!
Mary Jo Tate
Learn how to build a successful business around your book:
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?af=335858
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I need your help. In April I'll be speaking at a writers' conference, and I'd like to get some ideas for how I can be most helpful to the writers attending.
What's your biggest challenge as a writer?
Please leave a comment or e-mail me through the link at the left.
To express my thanks, I'll send you a copy of a special report about common writing mistakes and how to avoid them. Be sure to supply your e-mail address if you'd like to receive this.
Thanks for your help!
Mary Jo Tate
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“Nobody ever became a writer just by wanting to be one. If you have anything to say, anything you feel nobody has ever said before, you have got to feel it so desperately that you will find some way to say it that nobody has ever found before, so that the thing you have to say and the way of saying it blend as one matter—as indissolubly as if they were conceived together. Let me preach again for a moment: I mean that what you have felt and thought will by itself invent a new style, so that when people talk about style they are always a little astonished at the newness of it, because they think that it is only style that they are talking about, when what they are talking about is the attempt to express a new idea with such force that it will have the originality of the thought” (20 October 1936; Life in Letters, pp. 313-314).
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Have you read Marvin Olasky's column, "DQ Country," in the January 14 issue of World magazine?
http://www.worldmag.com/displayarticle.cfm?id=11433
It's about the importance of determination in writing, and he includes painfully convicting quotes such as this one from E.B. White:
"A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word to paper."
Ouch!
Much of the article focuses on the importance of revising your writing . . . through multiple drafts. This really can't be emphasized enough.
I've been editing professionally for nearly two decades now, and I can usually tell which of my clients have carefully revised their writing and which haven't. I've edited more than a few articles that surely must have been unrevised first drafts . . . at least I hope they were. I guess it would be even worse if they had actually been revised and still were so poorly written!
Many writers find that it works best to revise as a separate step, so that they can stay focused in creative, writing mode, then shift into self-editing mode later. I tend to revise a bit as I go along, then go back and revise the entire article or chapter several times after I have completed a first draft.
Sloppy writing sends a message that you don't really care about your readers, about making it easy for them to follow your reasoning, or about making reading your work a pleasant experience for them.
If you're writing for publication, take the time to revise and polish your work. Your readers will thank you!
Mary Jo Tate
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A couple of years ago I copyedited and indexed a wonderful book that gives an intimate look at the "good old days" of publishing: The Sons of Maxwell Perkins
These letters reveal the intensely interactive process these literary geniuses went through with their brilliant editor—including his specific suggestions for many of their masterpieces, as well as their responses.
Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Wolfe were three of the giants of early twentieth-century American literature. Their styles and subject matter were wildly different, and their fierce competitiveness affected their relationships with one another. Reading their comments about their own writing, as well as Perkins's suggestions, provides insight into some of the great literary minds of modern times.
You might not think a collection of letters could be so powerful, but I found them very inspiring, and so moving that I actually cried over the manuscript a couple of times!
I highly recommend this book to writers, editors, and publishers.
(Yes, all of these writers had incredibly messed-up personal lives, but they were brilliant nonetheless and have a lot to teach us about writing.)
Mary Jo Tate
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Do you need to know . . .
· What information to include on your copyright page and how to format it
· How to number the pages of your book
· Rules for hyphenating compound words
· Whether or not to italicize the name of a ship or train
· How to express percentages in nonscientific text
· Detailed rules for proper use of the semicolon
· How to place and number illustrations in your book
· How to abbreviate geographical and technological terms
· How to cite sources for quotations
These and other mysteries of the publishing universe are explained in excruciating detail in The Chicago Manual of Style
Chicago, as it's affectionately known in the business, is my indispensible reference whether I'm writing my own work or editing other people's writing.
Editing clients (perhaps growing weary of repeated references to "Chicago 11.55") occasionally ask me whether I keep it right next to my computer. You'd better believe I do! I refer to it far too often to have to walk across the room to consult it.
If you're serious about the business of writing, Chicago is a must for your reference shelf.
Mary Jo Tate
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A couple of years ago one of my Mastermind teammates challenged me to answer these three questions:
* What would I be doing if nothing stood in my way?
* What stands in my way?
* What do I need to do to achieve my goals?
I resisted it, put it off, said I didn't have time to think about it . . . but finally I thought about these questions and wrote down my answers. I named the computer file "Big Dream."
As we approach the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006, I'd like to challenge you to do the same. You'll be amazed how powerful this process is.
Around the same time, I began writing down lifetime, yearly, and weekly goals in three categories: personal, family (including homeschooling), and business.
During this final week of 2005, I'm evaluating the year—how I did on meeting the goals I set for the year, what I accomplished, and areas that need more work. Then, I'll write down specific goals for 2006. This process works so much better than the typical "New Year's Resolutions" that nobody ever keeps!
The keys to setting goals are making them specific and measurable: not "make more money in 2006" but "double my income in 2006"; not "read more" but "read x number of pages, chapters, books, or hours each week."
One more key to effective goals: you have to review them from time to time! As I've begun evaluating 2005, I've found that I've accomplished quite a lot and have done well on my weekly goals but seemed to lose sight of some of my yearly goals along the way. I need to build in a regular time (probably monthly) to review those yearly goals and lifetime goals to make sure my weekly goals support them. Otherwise, it's too easy to get caught up in the daily grind and the tyranny of the urgent and lose sight of my long-term strategy.
If you'd like to share your own Big Dream and goals, feel free to leave a comment.
Mary Jo Tate
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Whether I'm writing or editing, the dictionary I turn to is
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. The latest edition (the 11th) includes a CD-ROM and one-year subscription to the text of the dictionary online as well as other resources.
Even the best writers usually need a little help with spelling. Here's my simple rule: when in doubt, look it up.
Mary Jo Tate
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How do I become an official freelance writer? What do I do to get paying jobs? How do I promote myself? How do I know what to charge or what to expect to get paid?
A friend who needs to learn how to use her writing skills to earn a living from home recently asked me these questions, and it occurred to me that there are lots of other folks who would be interested in the answers as well.
When you’re just getting started, the most important thing is to get published whether you get paid or not. This helps you gain experience and get some clips of your published writing, which will help you land other more profitable assignments.
I've recently begun reading The ASJA Guide to Freelance Writing
I highly recommend Writer’s Digest magazine. I’ve been a subscriber for years, and I learn something new and useful from every issue. It routinely addresses all of the questions listed above. Their website is currently offering two free issues. Visit http://www.WritersDigest.com for details. You can probably find recent back issues at your local library.
One of the best places to find paying markets for your work is to consult the latest edition of Writer's Market
This should help you get started. I’d love to hear about other writers’ favorite resources as well, so please leave comments!
Mary Jo Tate
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Have you written a book? Don't miss this opportunity to learn publishing industry secrets from an insider. To your success! Mary Jo Tate http://www.FamilyBusinessConference.net
Have you ever thought about writing a book?
Then TONIGHT'S Family E-Biz Expo Preview Call will be right up your alley!
Tonight,
Hear Entrepreneurial Publishing Expert David Hancock
How would you like to have a book selling in Barnes and Noble? What would that do for your credibility in your field?
Well, that is not just a pipe dream anymore. David Hancock knows the "ins and outs" of getting published and selling your book in the mainstream bookstores.
Many of you many will be surprised at the secrets David reveals about the publishing industry.
David Hancock knows what its like to compete against established authors for a high-profile publisher's time. He's also familiar with the stigma attached to self-publishing. That's why he created his own publishing company for authors and entrepreneurs like you!
He created his own publishing company designed to cater to authors and entrepreneurs, published and unpublished. What's more, he would give them FREE what other agencies would charge thousands of dollars to provide.
The information which David will reveal in Thursday’s call will help you market your product in a new & effective way.
Register NOW for the call:
Click Here: http://www.FamilyBusinessConference.net
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Head over to PRMama for a reminder about the importance of planning for your business: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/PRMama/392255/
This is an especially important point she made:
"Becoming a successful writer is NOT just about doing the "creative stuff". It is about creating a career by building a business...the business of marketing YOU and your work."
Amen! Too many writers think their work is done when the manuscript is finished. Nope! Only about half of it.
Too many writers whine, "I don't want to have to think about marketing. I just want to write."
If that describes you, I have some pretty straightforward advice. Get over it. Fast.
Writing for publication is a business. The sooner you accept and even embrace that, the faster your writing career will progress.
Unless you're writing for your own eyes only (that's called a diary), an essential part of the business of writing is getting your work in front of your audience (aka readers).
I'll be sharing resources for marketing your business from time to time.
Here's the first one:
Join me in Los Angeles on Thursday (Nov. 3) for an interactive workshop on Creating a Bestseller. Click here for details:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Entrepreneurs/37771/
Hope to see you there!
Mary Jo Tate
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Visit Classical Michele's blog for William Safire's funny-but-true list of rules for writing.
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ClassicalMichele/35036/
Mary Jo Tate
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Maribel asked for tips on developing a good writing style. Thanks for stopping by, Maribel!
The first thing that comes to mind is not to try to sound too "writerly."
Except for very formal, academic writing, a conversational style is usually best.
I just saw a great example of this with one of my editing clients. He's an expert in his field, but when he writes about his topic, it comes across very stiff. So I interviewed him on the phone, had the recording transcribed, and then edited the transcript. Much more natural flow of words and sentences. The difference was amazing. Of course, I had to make quite a few changes, because most people tend to speak in incomplete sentences, with abrupt parenthetic digressions, and so on, but the finished product was far superior to what he had originally written.
That approach may be a little drastic for most writers, but you can apply the principle by reading your writing aloud.
Of course, there's much more than this to developing a good style. I'll be adding more tips, but meanwhile, I recommend that you read, study, and apply the principles in Strunk and White's classic book, The Elements of Style
Hope this helps!
Mary Jo Tate
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Thought some of you might be interested in my other blogs:
http://www.HomeschoolBlogger.com/EclecticBibliophile - A haven for booklovers, bibliophiles, bookjunkies, and bibliomaniacs.
http://www.HomeschoolBlogger.com/Entrepreneurs - Ideas, inspiration, and resources for entrepreneurs. My business ventures and adventures, including tales of my sons' entrepreneurial education.
http://www.HomeschoolBlogger.com/SingleParentsAtHome - Encouragement and resources for single parents who are at home with their children, especially homeschoolers.
Please be sure to leave a comment when you visit any of my blogs. I'd love to hear what you think!
Mary Jo Tate
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