Posts Tagged ‘Credibility’

The way to achieve credibility is by writing a blog.

At least that’s what I heard, and you probably did too. Is it true? Will a blog give you a writing career boost? Yes and No. It’s like planting a garden, if you give it the attention it needs to thrive, you will have good results, but if you neglect it, it will wither and die.

Here are some things to know if you are beginning a blog

1.  There are “free” blog hosting services like blogspot, blogger, and wordpress who are happy to have you join their family of bloggers. It costs nothing and they provide templates and other assistance to get you started.

2. What do the templates do? The templates are available to help you create a theme, and set up your dashboard. The dashboard controls all of the content on the blog. The theme is a term used to describe the look of your page. You can choose to personalize your blog by selecting one of many pre-built themes. If you want a site that is totally unique, you may want to consider hiring a web designer.

2.  Is there a downside to free hosting? It depends. If you are planning to use your blog as a revenue generating source, i.e. selling services or products to your readers, you may not be allowed. Also, the way the free hosting services keep it free is they can add advertisements to your site. That may not be a problem unless the ad turns out to be a direct competitor of yours.

3.  Unless you are already an experienced blogger, you may not know what you intend for the blog. The way to avoid having conflicts with hosting services is to host your own. You will have to get a domain and probably need the services of a web savvy friend to help you get set up, and going.

4.  Blogging is dynamic. If you put up a page and fail to nurture it will die. A dead blog won’t help credibility, and could hurt.

5.  How do you nurture a blog? There are two things that must be done. You have to add regular original content — not necessarily daily — but a couple of times a week if you can. The second thing is marketing. Think of marketing as telling people where your blog is and why they should go to it. It’s like being a cyber-carny barker. Some 170 thousand blogs are started daily,  so to stand out from the crowd takes some pretty strong barking.

6.  Do you have to write all of the content yourself? No, but if the purpose of the blog is to establish your credibility, you had better write a good deal of it. There are sites like ezine that gather articles for your use either for free or at a nominal charge.

7.  How much time is required to nurture your blog? Well — that depends. Working a blog can take as much time as you can give it. It can become a black hole. Treat your blogging as a business and do what successful business people do, spend your time on the activities that promise the highest rewards.

The Red Hen Association is just a hatchling at this point. Whether it becomes the voice for independent, alternative, or self-publishers will depend on how we grow.  I’ve stated the goals of the association in the manifesto, but I think they bear further examination.

1. The association is intended to create common ground for all self-publishing authors to mingle, share their experiences, and assist one another. This is a place where the successful can pay it forward and the novice is assured of safe, reliable guidance.
2. The association intends to provide educational opportunities to help writers achieve their goals more surely and quickly. These educational opportunities will include:
   1. White Papers, Books, and Free Blogs.
   2. Seminars, Trade Shows, and Conventions.
   3. Self-study audio and video tapes.
   4. Publishing news and opportunities.
3. The association hopes to support authors in developing credibility in the marketplace, by:
   1. Developing standards and helping self-publishers abide by the standards to create increased pride and professionalism.
   2. Establishing a Red Hen trademark and allow self-publishers whose products meet tough standards to use the mark on their books and other marketing materials.
   3. Work toward equal access to booksellers shelves.
   4. Carry on the cause of self-publishing through speeches, blogs, and seminars.
   5. Create public relations and marketing opportunities for member authors such as: Creating a book review section on both blog and newsletter.
   6. Publishing co-op catalogs to send to libraries and book stores.
   7. Sponsoring events such as book fairs, to highlight Red Hen authors.
   8. Explore and advise writers on opportunities that may be available elsewhere.
4. Protect authors from the Wolves and Knaves that prey on new writers by:
   1. Developing standards for would be services such as printing, editing, graphic design and allowing the approved to carry The Red Hen Association trademark.
   2. Surveying members who use unapproved vendors to gather information that could be valuable to ranking them for service, quality, and costs.
   3. Keeping an eye on lawsuits, and court cases involving shady services to advise members to steer clear of them.

   Whew, this is a long ambitious list and not complete. There is much to do before this hatchling can fly. I won’t be able to accomplish these tasks alone, so if there are writers out there in cyberspace who can see a way to assist these efforts please let me know who you are and how you can help. Thank you.

If you have a book ready to market, are just finishing writing a book, or have plans, it isn’t too early to learn how to implement the practices you’ll need to make your book sell. Social networks are big and getting bigger. You can use them as a beginning point to developing international credibility. I learned a great deal from The Author Platform, check into it and see if they can help you on your way. Just click here for more information.

Bite your Tongue.

Those who decide to self-publish can hold their heads high, because they are counted among some of greatest authors in history. Below is but a partial list of authors who have chosen to self-publish at sometime in their career.

• William Blake, Ken Blanchard, Robert Bly,Lord Byron, Willa Cather, Stephen Crane,
  
• e.e. cummings,  Alexander Dumas, T.S. Eliot,Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Benjamin Franklin,
  
• Zane Grey, Thomas Hardy, Nathaniel Hawthorne,Ernest Hemingway, Robinson Jeffers,
  
• Stephen King, Rudyard Kipling, Louis L’Amour, D.H. Lawrence, Anais Nin, Thomas Paine,
  
• Tom Peters, Edgar Allen Poe, Alexander Pope, Beatrix Potter, Ezra Pound, Marcel Proust,
  
• Carl Sandburg, Robert Service, George Bernard Shaw, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Upton Sinclair,
  
• Gertrude Stein, William Strunk, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Henry David Thoreau, Leo Tolstoi,
  
• Mark Twain, and Walt Whitman.

Note: The list was pulled from John Kremer’s Self-Publishing Hall of Fame

If you don’t find at least one of your heroes here I would be very surprised. Also you may have noticed that quite a few poets populate the list. Modern poets complain that publishers aren’t interested in their books. It’s said that poetry doesn’t sell. Compared to a fast paced pop-novel of sex, violence, and action they are probably right. I have to keep reminding myself that publishing isn’t primarily about getting the finest works into the public’s hands–it’s a profit generating business like a grocery store. If the stock isn’t turning it is costing money. I, like many others, tend to glamorize the traditional publishing houses and imbue them with a nobility they just don’t have. It’s a business. Poetry, on the other hand, is something else. Poetry is a work of passion, not business. Publishers probably weren’t any more anxious to publish poetry then than they are now and that is why so many poets had to resort to self-publishing.

The Old Man

One of my readers added this comment about self-publishers: “For me all I had to do was find out that Hemingway’s first book was “self-published,” to help me make my decision and after 32 years of “practice” I feel I did it just right. And then later this year when I found out about Mark Twain’s force of ten thousand book agents scattered across America selling his works and Ulysses S Grant’s Memoirs (also published by Twain’s company which was run by his young nephew Webster).” Miles Cobbett, Author the Alaskan book CHAMPION.

Miles followed up with this comment in another post: “One more tasty tidbit about Hemingway and his publisher, that I bet you already know is his lively discussions in letters between him and Charles Scribner about Royalty Payments. I was fascinated to read in copies of Hemingway’s “Letters” that CS only offered to pay Ernest Hemingway 10 % of the net. And Ernest wrote back in a lively letter that he wanted 15 % or a Minimum of 12.5 %…
This was fascinating to me, especially when I read in the other book I wrote to you about, (Birth of a Salesman), how Mark Twain offered and paid U. S. Grant and his widow, a whopping 70% of the profits from publishing Grant’s Memoirs.”

I have more sympathy for the traditional publishers than you might think from reading my posts. They have to have highly tuned crystal balls to foresee the future. If they choose to take a gamble on an author, and it tanks, what do they lose? Why the entire investment, of course. And what about credibility? What happens to the employee who stands behind a book bomb? Or two, or three? Can you say pink slip?

If you know your book will sell–you stand behind it. Raise the money to print and promote it. You might be like my friend Miles Corbbett whom I quoted above. His self-published book CHAMPION is selling well and he owes it all to word-of-mouth advertising. Miles has this to say about his success: “Getting the word out has been a fun & challenging journey, but it’s all been done so far without any help from a Madison Avenue super advertising blitz.”

If you are a self-publisher, considering self-publishing, or a supplier to self-publishers be sure to check out the manifesto for The Red Hen Association of Self-Publishing Authors, Inc. (click here).

Mark Twain had an army of ten-thousand salesmen peddling his books all over the country. He understood the principles of marketing as they applied to his time. Today’s marketing is different and requires an understanding of blogging, social networking, books on Amazon, etc. You can get that information from The Author Platform (TAP). It’s not free but almost click (here) for more information. If you can sell your book yourself you’ll earn 15 times more than if you traditionally publish.

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This article was republished with permission from the author’s blog Talking Through My Hat.

8 Must-Do Steps To Get Your Book Out In-Time

I’m preparing a seminar to present at the District 15 Toastmasters conference mid-November. The title is Why Every Speaker Needs a Book. It’s a good subject perfectly designed for the needs of my audience. The problem? My book I am writing for public speakers is far from ready. I have been working on it regularly but it isn’t complete enough to add the final touches, get it to an editor, and print it.

Some of the points I intend to hammer home have to do with speakers using their books as a way to gain credibility, and to generate income through back of the room sales. I wanted to have my book there to demonstrate how it is done. Instead, I’m feeling somewhat hypocritical. Does this hypocrisy diminish the value of the information? I hope not. We’ll see.

Even a Professional Can Fool Himself

In fairness when I announced my intention to have a book ready for the Fall Conference, my wife said that I didn’t have enough time. “I can do it!” I said in the most convincing cartoon super-hero voice I could muster.

Most of us need deadlines or we will procrastinate forever. Setting an unrealistic deadline really doesn’t help, it hurts. Now my dream of walking in with a box of freshly printed books and smiling as the attendees lined up to have me sign their books and tell me how much they enjoyed the seminar has gone poof.

Start Backwards to Go Forward

What is my point? Book production takes time and before you set an unrealistic deadline work backwards on a time line starting with the last step which is shipping. Ha, you thought I was going to say printing, didn’t you? No, in your planning you have to figure in the time to get the books to you. For example, if you are using a local printer same day is realistic. If you are printing overseas, plan on at least three weeks by boat and another week to get through customs. Then no matter what your realistic time line is, add more buffer to each and every step. In book production things rarely go as planned. Below are some points you need to consider to build a realistic time frame:

1. Shipping. allow one day to four weeks or more.
2. Printing. Expect two to five weeks. A soft cover book takes less time than a hard cover. Discuss time frame with the printer.
3. Typesetting and Layout. Should take two to four weeks for this stage. Expect to be actively involved during this step. Authors and editors must check, and recheck to make sure everything is right before going to press. It is cheaper to fix problems during this phase than it is at press. Scrutinize everything.
4. Proof Reading. Some consider proofreading to be part of the editor’s job and it is, but in my experience, you can’t have too many eyes on it. I once read that a new edition of Webster’s Dictionary goes through 132 proofing steps and they still find errors. Find a good proofreader you won’t regret it, but if you go to press with typo’s I guarantee that they will become glaringly obvious the second you crack open the book. Then the mistakes will haunt you. The only thing you will be able think about are the errors. Cut yourself a little slack. We’ve all been there. Remember that you didn’t see the problems after reading, re-reading, and reading your manuscript time and time again, so it is likely that most of your readers won’t see them either.
5. Editing. Check with your editor to determine the amount of time they will need. The type of book and size will make a lot of difference to the time frame. A fictional book will go faster than a technical treatise. With fiction, grammar, sentence structure, and spelling corrections will pretty much do it, but with non-fiction a re-check of the facts and understanding the technical terms takes time. My best guess is that an editor could do the job in three to eight weeks.
6. Cover Design. Here’s a piece of good news. Cover design can begin at the same time your editor starts and probably won’t add more time, with one caveat; you will want the editor to check the copy. Your cover, despite the old saw that says, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is your first impression. If the cover doesn’t draw the reader, it doesn’t matter how good the text is. Time spent on cover design is worth it.
7. Marketing. It isn’t too soon to consult with book marketing professionals. You may hire them to give you general advice or have them work closely with the editor and artists. I recommend them, but you have to consider the price tag. Hourly rates, just like hiring an attorney, can quickly spin out of control. It doesn’t take long to rack up thousands of dollars.
8. Writing and Research. I’ve seen Internet ads saying that a book can be written in 14 days or less and I’m sure that some people could do it, but most can’t. Some manuscripts take six to eight months others can take years. Whatever the amount of time you need to take for writing and research is the time you need. Period. Again, add extra buffer because we all tend to underestimate what we can achieve and when.

I’m not saying that a book couldn’t be done much faster than the time frames I’ve outlined, but in preparing a good book, a book that will make you proud takes time. If you want a book to hit the marketplace in one year from now, it isn’t too early to get started. That’s what I’m saying. Get going, author, get going.

You may not believe this but after you have birthed a book, and getting a book out has much in common with birthing babies, the hard work begins. Finding readers is a difficult task indeed. Check out The Author’s Platform it’s a low cost, easy to use, step-by-step program to teach you everything you need to know about Internet marketing. I personally recommend it.

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