An Author’s Perspective

BY BETH RUSSELL

Why do you feel you needed to write a book?

There were really two reasons I wanted to write my book, the first being that I had an incredible and unexpected experience that I wanted to share with others; the second being that I wanted to bring awareness to the plight of orphaned children in China and elsewhere. The story I had to tell was essentially about opening your heart, and I feel in these times, that is the most important kind of story to tell.

How has your book helped you be more credible or competitive?

Being the author of a book has given me a platform from which to launch into many other areas. Speaking about issues related to my book, beginning a company to develop product lines inspired by our story, starting a charitable foundation, and giving me a chance to have subsequent work published have all sprung from completing and publishing my book.

How has your book enhanced your career or life in general?

Being the author of a book has connected me to thousands of people whom I would otherwise have had no contact with. It has enriched my life to hear feedback from readers who share their own stories and appreciation for the experience I recount in my book. Someone once said to me that my book will still be on shelves when my grandchildren have children … and realizing the truth of that has given me a sense of continuity.

How do you use your book as a calling card?

I send copies of my book to those who I would like to share information about our work with our foundation and our company. The book gives an added credibility to those endeavors. I also send books to people I meet who are interested in the story; people never forget you when you send them a book that you yourself wrote. The book has solidified many otherwise passing acquaintances into real connections.

How has your book enhanced your reputation?

I think others realize how hard it must be to write a book, and even if they don’t enjoy the subject matter, they respect the fact that you had the ability to see it through. People admire the accomplishment of that. And also, the power of the written word cannot be underestimated … others know that one who has sufficient command of words that they can write and publish a book has some measure of power at their disposal.

What advice can you give to someone who wants to write and publish a book?

"Just Do It." One page at a time … one step at a time; keep at it until it is done.

Beth Russell is author of Offspring of a Deathless Soul. She can be reached at ERuss62859@aol.com

Reasons Why Marketing Fails For Authors

BY JEFF LIBICH

If you are thinking about promoting your own book, or yourself, you need to think about how ineffective marketing can be if not done properly. There are many resources available that will tell you the right things to do, but there are only a few that tell you what not to do. Before you begin launching your strategy, take a quick moment to read up on what can potentially hinder your success.

Not Knowing Your Audience & Your Budget

Marketing your book and yourself isn’t as simple as sending out an email and waiting for the phone to ring. You need to have an understanding of your target market and what type of budget you have to reach them. If you don’t determine where your audience is, it will be difficult to know how to allocate dollars and create a spend forecast with enough longevity to make an impact with them.

Lack of Ambition & Commitment

You must be prepared to work hard at marketing yourself and your book. Many authors and speakers fail to get noticed because they aren’t stepping up and building relationships, setting up meetings, scheduling events and initiating the activity necessary to generate interest and awareness about their product.

Inability to Understand the Process

Despite having immediate access to the Internet and countless free tools, many authors still struggle with how to utilize them properly. It’s one thing to create a page on Facebook for you or your book, but it’s quite another to know how to work the page to your advantage. There are many different communication tactics and applications that need to be executed with thought and purpose. In doing this, you’ll reap bigger and better rewards by connecting with your audience.

Not everyone has the time or the skills required to build a strategy and maintain it on a consistent basis. It can be an overwhelming process for anyone who is new to the game. Fortunately, resources do exist that can help alleviate the burden and provide you with outstanding results. You just need to research and find what works best for you.

Jeff is the sales & production coordinator for IBJ Book Publishing. He can be reached at jlibich@ibj.com

Simplify The Process

BY ALI MAHJOUB

Well, how can I say it in a few words?

First of all, one has to have a firm belief and knowledge in something and develop a passion for it. It is something that doesn't show up overnight, but something that developed over years of experience and conformations that solidified views related to the subject matter.

As for writing my first book, Honor Thy God, I didn't take a special course on how to write a book. I simply looked into a few books and observed how they were charted. Almost every book begins with an introduction, content organized into chapters, then a conclusion. This is how I wrote my book.

Ali Mahjoub manages a restaurant and is a hospitality advisor of a restaurant chain in Indianapolis. His first book, Honor Thy God, was published by IBJ Book Publishing.

My Suggestions, Your Decision

BY PETRA RITCHIE

No matter how many times you re-read something you’ve written, your mind’s eye will “see” what you meant to write, not what was actually written. That’s why I call my editing/proofreading service “Fresh Eyes.”

During my initial contact with an author, I want to know who the target audience will be. I also make it clear that this is his/her manuscript. If the author does not agree with my opinion, he/she is free to not accept it, but I do ask that the author read each correction before and after in order to determine why the correction was made and which version makes more sense.

I use a red pen and at first glance there may seem to be many, many corrections, however, a lot of them are repeat corrections for the same error.

I need the manuscript printed out, double-spaced, on one side of the paper. This will allow room for the corrections between the lines.

As I read the manuscript, I write what I call “Side Lines” on a separate sheet of paper. These are comments that are too lengthy to write on the manuscript itself.

When completed, the author can look it over and we’ll have what I call a “sit down” during which we will discuss the “Side Lines” and I will answer any questions the author may have.

Petra Ritchie is a freelance editor for IBJ Book Publishing. Email her at petraritchie@msn.com.

One Book

BY ERIN ALBERT

As a writer/editor of 6 books, one of the most frequently asked questions I receive as a writer is: “Where do you get the ideas to write your books?” For me, a couple of answers come to mind. First, the old adage really is true—everyone has at least one book in him or her—at least in this humble author’s opinion. Second, you just have to pick up the phone when the Universe calls.

Here’s more detail:

First, everyone has at least one awesome story within their lives and their experiences, and probably more than one. A lot of people I run into have this “idea” that they want to turn in to a book. Awesome! Great! Fantastic! Trouble is, where people often disconnect is not necessarily from the idea or concept of the book, but actually sitting down and pounding the book out. And ladies and gentlemen, there really isn’t any sexy, fast or easy answer when it comes to writing the manuscript—you just have to sit down and do it. Talking about an idea helps, but implementing it by writing separates the writers from those who only think about writing.

A lot of people who want to write, or even write, also worry about finding the right agent or publisher. I ask, why? If your book is really meant to be out in the public domain, you’ll truly find a way to publish it. Self publishing, or even a lot of small publishers, will still consider books. With digital media, it is now more easy than ever to ePublish your own book. Implementation of creativity and idea development are always in demand. I say, don’t worry about the publishing end, just worry about getting the writing down right. The rest will take care of itself.

Second, the other place where I get my ideas for books simply comes from being a careful observer of the Universe around me. The space we exist in really does give us signals on what we should be doing—in terms of our work and writing. For example, if an idea pops into my head after the muse strikes me and I do an Amazon.com search to read about a book or idea and I can’t find it, guess what, that is the phone call from the universe that the book needs to be written. My most recent book, Single. Women. Entrepreneurs., came to me in part from wanting to read about other single women entrepreneurs, but never really finding a book dedicated especially to their challenges, frustrations and definitions of success.

When the universe phones, take the call! Toni Morrison, a much more successful writer than me, also says this: If you want to read a book and can’t find it, you need to write it yourself!

There really isn’t a lot of magic or mystery to writing books. Everyone has at least one book in them. Ideas are usually pretty easy to come by as well. The hard part is picking up the call from the Universe, writing down the idea, and relentlessly chasing it until it becomes reality. Thoughts do really become things, books included!

Erin Albert is an author/asst. professor/pharmacist/entrepreneur and law student. Her most recent publication, Single. Women. Entrepreneurs., was published by IBJ Book Publishing. For more on her writing, visit www.erinalbert.com.

If The Components Are There, Let Your Mind Do The Rest

BY JOHN GUY

The desire to write arises from some strange brain cell that carries two elements. The first is an idea or experience that leaps forward not unlike the impulse to learn how to skydive, and then to do it. The second is the rather absurd belief that this idea or experience should be shared with other people, whether other people want it, or not.

So, if you have spent a lifetime in the securities business, something must have happened worth telling. The Scottish Veterinarian found it in the business of treating animals—and their owners. The English jockey found all kinds of stories in the competitive, ego-filled, ripe-for-cheating-and-stealing environment of tracks, jockeys, horses, stewards, owners, reporters, spectators and gamblers who populate tracks and barns.

A securities industry arbitration should be interesting, right? The comings and goings of client/investors must produce unique and compelling stories, right? Once in a while, people cheat to make money, right? The components are there. They merely had to come together in some kind of logical framework. Perhaps the day-to-day stuff is not logical, but it can be made logical in fiction, right?

And so emerges a middle man, a person, not unlike a sports official, who is in the middle, looking out at both sides, and giving both sides a fair and independent evaluation. The unfortunate reality, however, is that no one is perfectly in the middle, perfectly able to evaluate events without the mindset given to him by parents, friends, clients and experience. He can try to escape these influences, and many times he does. But, not every time. And one of those times leads to tragedy.

John Guy, CFP, is president of Wealth Planning & Management, LLC, a financial planning and investment advisory firm. His book, Middle Man: A Broker’s Tale, was published by IBJ Book Publishing.

Learning About the Book Design Process

BY SCOTT SWAIN

Studies show that consumers spend an average of 8 seconds or less considering a book before moving on to the next one on the bookstore shelf—in other words, people really do judge a book by its cover. And your book is no exception.

Without professional editing and an eye-catching cover design, your book risks being lost among the hundreds of thousands of other titles competing for attention from the media and the buying public. Producing a quality book takes time, effort, creativity and knowledge of the industry.

Here at IBJ Book Publishing, we supply the design services and expertise necessary to put a professional face on the book you’ve worked so hard to create.

How does this process work? Let’s take a look.

The type of book you’ve written determines the amount of design required. For standard fiction titles, design is usually limited to typography and cover design.

For books containing illustrations or images, design takes on a much larger role in laying out how the page looks, how chapters begin and end, colors, typography, cover design and ancillary materials such as posters, order forms and other sales/marketing materials.

Non-fiction illustrated titles are the most design intensive books, requiring extensive use of images and illustrations, captions, typography and a deep involvement and consideration of the reader experience.

The design phase may also include photography from a professional photographer. This service, in limited capacity, may be available to you as part of your contract.

After meeting with our design staff for an initial consultation and establishing a production schedule, a sample layout will be designed and given to you for approval, which enables you to review the layout, to fit copy, to gauge the appropriateness of art-to-text—and to make changes, as necessary.

Once the design style is established, our design team will prepare a first-draft layout proof. At the same time, you may choose to have your book reviewed by an editor or a proofreader. Typos are then corrected and minor changes made. There also may be additional back-and-forth and fine-tuning to the layout and design at this time.

If, however, you wish to make extensive content corrections requiring layout changes, additional fees may apply. Additionally, you are permitted three rounds of draft layout corrections before additional costs are incurred.

During the final stages of production, an index is created, typeset and proofread.

After you have completed editing and proofing the draft layouts, you will sign-off on a final layout and the files are prepared electronically for the production of your book.

The files are then reviewed by our design staff and the selected printing company for any issues and prepped for manufacturing.

In some cases, copies of the final, clean files (including artwork) are simultaneously prepared for e-book conversion.

When the book has been printed, a small number of advanced copies are delivered to us and the rest of the finished books are distributed to you.

Next is selling and distributing your book. Successful distribution is not as simple as getting your book onto the shelves of Barnes & Noble or other book stores and watching it sell. The best success comes with marketing your book to an already existing network of followers you may have. Utilize the resources have readily available, and keep your eye out for new business opportunities.

Most of all, stay positive and patient. The road to becoming published may be bumpy at times, but with perseverance and a great book publishing team, you will produce tremendous results!

Scott Swain is the lead graphic designer for IBJ Book Publishing. You can reach him at sswain@ibj.com.