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<channel>
	<title>The Book Sistah Blog</title>
	<link>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog</link>
	<description>A Place to Discuss Your Publishing Journey</description>
	<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:05:16 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>Why the Free Gift?</title>
		<link>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=125</link>
		<comments>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=125#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:05:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sophfronia Scott</dc:creator>
		
	<category>General</category>
		<guid>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=125</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	
	Yes, I&#8217;m a professional writer and yes, I did graduate
from Harvard and yes, I did take that course on the
classics and mythology. All of this means I am very
familiar with the story of the Trojan Horse and how
unwelcome things can happen when unexpected gifts
show up on your doorstep! (Well, I guess anyone who
saw the movie [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/images/giftbox.jpg" alt="Gift box" /></p>
	<p>Yes, I&#8217;m a <strong>professional writer</strong> and yes, I did graduate<br />
from <strong>Harvard</strong> and yes, I did take that course on the<br />
classics and mythology. All of this means I am very<br />
familiar with the story of the <strong>Trojan Horse</strong> and how<br />
unwelcome things can happen when unexpected gifts<br />
show up on your doorstep! (Well, I guess anyone who<br />
saw the movie &#8220;Troy&#8221; starring <strong>Brad Pitt</strong> could say the<br />
same thing, but that wouldn&#8217;t be as interesting would<br />
it?!) <img src='http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/wp-images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
	<p>But in my newsletter last week, I did make the offer<br />
of a free gift. And because I don&#8217;t want you looking<br />
over your shoulder for blonde guys in armor, let me<br />
explain why I&#8217;m making this offer (and it&#8217;s a big one<br />
at that, worth <strong>$424.91</strong>). </p>
	<p>You see, I get a lot of emails from aspiring authors<br />
like yourself and I&#8217;m starting to see a pattern emerge.<br />
I&#8217;m getting the message that a large number of you<br />
have a fierce, burning desire to write a book, but<br />
you can&#8217;t wrap your head around the idea. It&#8217;s too big.<br />
You don&#8217;t even know where to begin. And, to be honest<br />
with you, I really had no forum in which to answer<br />
all of the questions. It was becoming a Catch-22 kind<br />
of scenario: You can only get personal access to me by<br />
being in one of my programs, but since you&#8217;re just<br />
beginning to think about your book, you&#8217;re not ready to<br />
be in one of my programs. But you can&#8217;t get ready because<br />
you have no help to get ready. See the conundrum?!</p>
	<p>So that&#8217;s why I created this very generous free gift<br />
offer for you.  I think you&#8217;ll find it provides all the<br />
help you need at this point as you&#8217;re getting ready to<br />
write your book.</p>
	<p>To check it out, just </p>
	<p><a href="http://tinyurl.com/68l979">Click Here to Claim Your Free Gift!</a></p>
	<p>You can read all about it and see if it&#8217;s right for you.<br />
And I hope you&#8217;ll see this is one gift you definitely<br />
do not have to fear!</p>
	<p>Here&#8217;s to your publishing success,</p>
	<p>Sophfronia</p>
	<p>Sophfronia Scott<br />
Executive Editor</p>
	<p>PS: By the way, in my newsletter you&#8217;ll see that one of the<br />
many benefits of this gift is happening next week: An open<br />
Q&#038;A call on <strong>July 9</strong>. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/68l979">Claim your gift now by clicking here so you don&#8217;t miss out!</a></p>
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		<title>How to Get Ready to Write Your Book</title>
		<link>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=124</link>
		<comments>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=124#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:05:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sophfronia Scott</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Articles</category>
		<guid>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=124</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	By Sophfronia Scott
	Are you ready to get started on your book? Don&#8217;t be ashamed, it&#8217;s okay&#8211;I&#8217;m willing to bet your answer is &#8220;No&#8221;. How do I know that? Because the majority of people who make their first contact with me aren&#8217;t ready for a variety of reasons. Those reasons fall into the following areas:
	  [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p>By Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p>Are you ready to get started on your book? Don&#8217;t be ashamed, it&#8217;s okay&#8211;I&#8217;m willing to bet your answer is &#8220;No&#8221;. How do I know that? Because the majority of people who make their first contact with me aren&#8217;t ready for a variety of reasons. Those reasons fall into the following areas:</p>
	<p>    * Financial<br />
    * Family<br />
    * Business<br />
    * Time<br />
    * Content (The person is still developing it or doesn&#8217;t know what it is.)</p>
	<p>The real question these aspiring authors have for me&#8211;and I&#8217;m sure you have it too&#8211;is this: &#8220;What should I be doing to get ready?&#8221; Actually there&#8217;s a lot you can do right now. Here&#8217;s your check list. You could be:</p>
	<p><strong>Building your platform</strong><br />
You might not have a book yet, but you do have ideas and those ideas can be communicated now. The sooner you can build your audience, the better. A strong platform will help you get a book deal if your goal is to publish with one of the major publishing houses. Speaking, publishing articles and blogging can also help you build your platform.</p>
	<p><strong>Learning about self-publishing</strong><br />
There are many ways to self publish these days and the more you understand what&#8217;s available to you, the easier it will be for you to make the right choices for your book.</p>
	<p><strong>Learning about traditional publishing</strong><br />
If you want to publish with a major house and you don&#8217;t understand what those editors are looking for when they purchase books, you could get a nasty surprise when you start shopping your proposal or manuscript. The more you know about the process, the more you&#8217;ll increase your chances of success.</p>
	<p><strong>Working on your book proposal</strong><br />
As you begin to build your platform, you&#8217;ll meet more people. One of those people might be a literary agent or an editor. If you&#8217;re constantly working on your idea, you&#8217;ll have something to show the moment someone says, &#8220;Can you send me something?&#8221; You&#8217;ll also get clearer about your book&#8217;s strengths and weaknesses.</p>
	<p><strong>Determining what questions you have about the process</strong><br />
You&#8217;ll also what to make sure you find a reliable way to get those questions answered.</p>
	<p><strong>Following the book world</strong><br />
You&#8217;re about to join the book world. Shouldn&#8217;t you be a little familiar with it? Keep an eye out for what books in your genre are coming out. How are they being marketed and can you use those same strategies for your book?</p>
	<p><strong>Making strategic alliances</strong><br />
The connections you make today will help you to promote your book tomorrow.</p>
	<p><strong>Learning about marketing and public relations</strong><br />
Yes, you can hire people to do the marketing and pr for you, but these professionals can only work with what you give them. And at the end of the day, no one can know or promote your book better than you can.</p>
	<p>And that&#8217;s it! The great thing about this list is that you can do a little bit at a time and over time you&#8217;ll find your readiness will increase <strong>exponentially</strong>.</p>
	<p>You can accomplish all this <strong>easily</strong> and <strong>inexpensively</strong> by taking advantage of <a href="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/freegiftoffer.htm">my free gift offer</a> which includes a trial in the <a href="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/freegiftoffer.htm">Author&#8217;s Prep for Success Club</a>. It&#8217;s the simplest way to make all this a habit for you&#8211;and the best way to get ready for your book!</p>
	<p>© 2008 Sophfronia Scott</p>
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		<title>Reunion Weekend at Harvard</title>
		<link>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=123</link>
		<comments>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=123#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:56:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sophfronia Scott</dc:creator>
		
	<category>General</category>
		<guid>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=123</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	Hello! I&#8217;m back after a joyous weekend at my 20-year class reunion at Harvard. As I wrote in this space a few weeks ago, I love seeing my classmates and I felt there just wasn&#8217;t enough time to connect with all the people I wanted to see. From now on I&#8217;m just going to pick [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/images/johnharvardsoph.jpg" alt="Tain and Sophfronia at John Harvard Statue" />Hello! I&#8217;m back after a joyous weekend at my 20-year class reunion at <strong>Harvard</strong>. As I wrote in this space a few weeks ago, I love seeing my classmates and I felt there just wasn&#8217;t enough time to connect with all the people I wanted to see. From now on I&#8217;m just going to pick up the phone and not wait another five years for the next reunion! The weather was <strong>HOT HOT HOT</strong>, and most activities were outdoors, but we all survived. Here are a few photos, taken by my dear <strong>Darryl</strong> who lovingly manned the camera all weekend. That&#8217;s me and <strong>Tain</strong> on the right in Harvard Yard with my old pal <strong>John Harvard</strong>! Tain was very excited to see &#8220;Mama&#8217;s school&#8221; and to sit in the rooms where I went to lectures. He was particularly fascinated by the moving desk tops!</p>
	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/images/sophreunion.jpg" alt="Sophfronia, Fiona and Dina" />Here on the left is me with <strong>Fiona Anderson-Blair</strong> (center) and <strong>Dina Strachan</strong>. Both are fabulous doctors! Fiona is a pediatrician and Dina is a dermatologist. If you know my history, you know I was pre-med for about 60 seconds before a writing teacher told me, &#8220;You know, you&#8217;re good enough to get paid for this!&#8221; I switched majors and left the medicine to Fiona and Dina!</p>
	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/images/sophreunion2.jpg" alt="Sophfronia and Alec" />On the right is my pal <strong>Alec Beckett</strong>. We&#8217;re discussing entrepreneurship and our companies (Alec&#8217;s company is <strong>Nail Communications</strong> and it&#8217;s based in Providence, RI) and how we&#8217;ve found  that, for ourselves, entrepreneurship is a kind of service. We&#8217;re really psyched to be doing what we&#8217;re doing because we feel we&#8217;re creating and adding something to the world. The same goes for Fiona and Dina&#8211;they have their own <strong>successful medical practices</strong> (Fiona in Stone Mountain, GA and Dina in New York City) and know how important it is for them to step out in the world as businesswomen. Like I said before, my classmates are my <strong>inspiration</strong>. Very cool people!
</p>
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		<title>How to Develop Book Content That Sells</title>
		<link>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=122</link>
		<comments>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=122#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 May 2008 15:49:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sophfronia Scott</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Articles</category>
		<guid>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=122</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	
by Sophfronia Scott
	You may not be fortunate enough to have, as a Dr. Phil or an Oprah does, a rabid audience constantly communicating their desires to you. But that’s okay. You can still find out what people&#8211;more importantly, what YOUR people&#8211;want in a book. In one way or another you’re probably already receiving this information [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/images/moneyinhand.jpg" alt="money in hand" /><br />
by Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p>You may not be fortunate enough to have, as a Dr. Phil or an Oprah does, a rabid audience constantly communicating their desires to you. But that’s okay. You can still find out what people&#8211;more importantly, what YOUR people&#8211;want in a book. In one way or another you’re probably already receiving this information everyday. The trick is to find it and to translate what people are saying&#8211;and not saying&#8211;to you. Remember, the more you can find out about what your readership wants, the easier it will be for you to decide how to write it for them.</p>
	<p><strong>Product Sales</strong><br />
You can start with product sales. What people are buying from you says a lot. What they aren’t buying can say even more. Analyze your current product sales and examine your strongest and weakest sellers.</p>
	<p><strong>Your Client Hall of Fame</strong><br />
Do you have clients or customers who are, hands down, the best ever? They are your ideal clients. You enjoy working with them, selling to them, hearing from them. They “get” you and your products because they know what you have is perfect for them. Many clients like this get short shrift or taken for granted because most entrepreneurs think they’ve already sold to this person and can’t do so again. They feel there’s more to be gained from the new customer. But nothing could be farther from the truth! Think about the <strong>“80-20 Principle”</strong>, which says that 80 percent of anything comes from the 20 percent. For instance, 80 percent of your sales probably comes from just 20 percent of your clients.</p>
	<p>If that’s your situation&#8211;and most likely it is!&#8211;then the book you’re preparing to write is going to be written with your ideal client in mind&#8211;even if you think they already know or no longer need what you plan to write about. That’s why their input may be the most valuable you find anywhere. You can capture that input by inviting a handful of these ideal clients/customers to join your “research &#038; development team”. You’ll take them out for lunch, or maybe offer up a juicy freebie on the internet, if they agree to give you some time to pick their brains about what they’re working on, what they want help with, what challenges they’re facing. You can even ask the question directly: what kind of book would they most like to read from you?</p>
	<p><strong>Surveying the Field</strong><br />
A survey is a great tool to use to find out what your customer base wants, but if you don’t stay focused in putting it together it can get out of hand pretty quickly. Establish a few clear goals for your survey. It would be easy to start using your the to ask your customers anything under the sun, but save that for future surveys. This one is just for deciding what your book will be about. You’ll want to get very clear on what specifically you want to learn from your survey base. Do you want to know their problems? Do you want to know what kind of help they want? Do you want to know how they respond to certain words you’re thinking of using in the title?</p>
	<p>You want to be as clear as possible on what you’re looking for. Why? Because if your goals are muddy, your <strong>results</strong> will be muddy. Think back to your main goals for writing a book. If you want to establish your expertise, then perhaps your book might showcase your knowledge on a particular area in your business. But is that an area where your client/customer base lacks and wants information? Ask! If the main goal for your book is to be a lead generator, then you’ll be seeking to bring in as many people as possible who want help with a big, nagging issue&#8211;your book will help them with that issue. But what is that issue? Ask! You&#8217;ll soon have all the <strong>answers</strong> you need.</p>
	<p>© 2008 Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p>Sophfronia Scott is Executive Editor of The Done For You Writing &#038; Publishing Company. Get your FREE audio CD, &#8220;How to Succeed in Business By Becoming a Bestselling Author&#8221; and your FREE online writing and book publishing tips at <a href="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com">www.DoneForYouWriting.com</a>.</p>
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		<title>How to Pick a Self-Publishing Company</title>
		<link>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=121</link>
		<comments>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=121#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:06:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sophfronia Scott</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Articles</category>
		<guid>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=121</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	by Sophfronia Scott
	It happens all the time. An aspiring author will send me an email asking &#8220;What do you think of this self-publishing company?&#8221; or &#8220;What have you heard about that one?&#8221; I will respond if I do know the company in question, but there&#8217;s no way I can have had experience with all self-publishing [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p>by Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p>It happens all the time. An aspiring author will send me an email asking &#8220;What do you think of this self-publishing company?&#8221; or &#8220;What have you heard about that one?&#8221; I will respond if I do know the company in question, but there&#8217;s no way I can have had experience with all self-publishing companies. Of course there&#8217;s no replacing you doing your own research on the company, but what questions should you ask?</p>
	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/images/fineprint.jpg" alt="Book Cover image" />Fortunately, <strong>Mark Levine</strong> did all the research for us. He&#8217;s the author of <em>The Fine Print of Self-Publishing</em> in which he presents the results of his research on the top 39 self-publishing companies. I had the opportunity to hear Mr. Levine speak at the <strong>Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop</strong> recently. What follows are his tips on what makes a good self-publishing company. By the way, I highly recommend you order the latest version of Mr. Levine&#8217;s book. In this update he includes an analysis of the actual profits made by each self-publishing company in printing markups and royalties. You can order it by going to <a href="http://www.BestSelfPublishingCompanies.com">www.BestSelfPublishingCompanies.com</a>.</p>
	<p><strong>A Good Reputation Among Writers</strong></p>
	<p>Of course, the best way to do this is by speaking to other authors who have published with the company. You can find these authors on the company&#8217;s website, but you should also do a search for the company on Amazon.com and try to contact authors who are NOT mentioned on the company website. After all, a disgruntled author would not be featured as a glowing testimonial! You can also check out the company&#8217;s reputation by consulting the Better Business Bureau and self-publishing sites such as &#8220;Preditors &#038; Editors&#8221; at <a href="http://anotherealm.com/prededitors">http://anotherealm.com/prededitors</a>.</p>
	<p><strong>Fair Publishing Fees</strong></p>
	<p>Mr. Levine says the following: &#8220;Fees [for self-publishing] can range from $299 to $30,000. It&#8217;s impossible to get a custom designed cover and professional layout plus the other basics you need for less than $1,000. If you can&#8217;t afford to pay at least that, wait until you can.&#8221; I agree. Unfortunately in self-publishing, the phrase &#8220;you get what you pay for&#8221; is highly accurate. Furthermore, you should acquire samples of the company&#8217;s past work to ensure their product is up to your standards.</p>
	<p><strong>Low Printing Markups</strong></p>
	<p>Of course, you should expect some markup in what the self-publishing company pays for printing the book, but the markup should be within reason. &#8220;A 15%-20% markup is acceptable,&#8221; Mr. Levine noted in his presentation. &#8220;Inflated printing mark ups result in an artificially high retail price being set which can hurt sales.&#8221;</p>
	<p><strong>Generous Royalties Without Any Fuzzy Math</strong></p>
	<p>Royalties should be at least 30% of the retail price of the book less actual print costs. You can consult Mr. Levine&#8217;s book for sample calculations on this, but the idea is that your royalty set up should not have the publisher &#8220;double-dipping&#8221; and making money on both ends of each book you sell.</p>
	<p><strong>Favorable Contract Terms</strong></p>
	<p>Before you sign any publishing contract, Mr. Levine says, you need to make sure the contract contains: 1.) a way for you to terminate the contract within 30-90 days without any penalty, 2.) a clause that states that you own all the rights to your work and any derivatives of your work, and&#8230;</p>
	<p><strong>A Fair Policy Regarding the Return of Original Production Files</strong></p>
	<p>This means your contract contains a clause that requires the publisher, upon termination of the contract, to provide you with all original production files that contain the cover art, formatted version of your book, and any other material you paid to have created. Mr. Levine notes, &#8220;You want these files so you can publish the book on your own or with another company and not have the entire book formatted again. You can just swap out the copyright page, bar code, old publisher&#8217;s ISBN and such.&#8221; This is only right. After all, you&#8217;ve already paid for this work, it should be yours.</p>
	<p><strong>One Last Note</strong></p>
	<p>The best way for you to choose the right company is to start by knowing exactly what you want out of the publishing process. Write it all out if necessary and use it as a checklist when researching self-publishing companies. You can have all the facts and figures in the world, but no one can give you what you want if you don&#8217;t know what you want. Good luck, and good publishing!</p>
	<p>© 2008 Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p>Sophfronia Scott is Executive Editor of The Done For You Writing &#038; Publishing Company. Get your FREE audio CD, &#8220;How to Succeed in Business By Becoming a Bestselling Author&#8221; and your FREE online writing and book publishing tips at www.DoneForYouWriting.com. <img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/SBSAuthor_cd_4.jpg" alt="cd image" /></p>
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		<title>Book Marketing Lessons from John Kremer</title>
		<link>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=120</link>
		<comments>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=120#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:57:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sophfronia Scott</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Articles</category>
		<guid>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=120</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	
	by Sophfronia Scott
	Book marketing dynamo John Kremer had many tongues awagging at the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop after his presentations on the Amazon.com book launching strategy. The author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Book discussed the tactic of enrolling joint venture partners to help catapult your book, if only temporarily, onto a bestseller list. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/images/johnkremersoph.jpg" alt="photo of Sophfronia Scott and John Kremer" /></p>
	<p>by Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p>Book marketing dynamo <strong>John Kremer</strong> had many tongues awagging at the <strong>Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop</strong> after his presentations on the Amazon.com book launching strategy. The author of <em>1001 Ways to Market Your Book</em> discussed the tactic of enrolling joint venture partners to help catapult your book, if only temporarily, onto a bestseller list. He also did a special session on using viral video and attracting mega-traffic to a website. Many of the attendees were incredulous and didn&#8217;t see how the ideas could apply to their books. That&#8217;s because, I think, they were getting too caught up&#8211;perhaps even overwhelmed&#8211;by the details and missing out on the big picture. Here&#8217;s a way to look at John&#8217;s lessons&#8211;and your book project&#8211;in a whole new light.</p>
	<p><strong>Big Picture=Your Vision For Your Book</strong></p>
	<p>Before you look at the lessons you must have a clear vision for what you want from the promotion of your book. Do you want more speaking engagements? Have you self published and you want to attract an agent or traditional publisher? Do you want to attract more clients? If you don&#8217;t know what you want it will be harder for you to choose which tactics will be right for you or even know how to gauge their success.  Once you understand your vision, it will be easier for you to see that&#8230;</p>
	<p><strong>Each Tactic is a Part of a Bigger Process</strong></p>
	<p>This means that each tactic you employ will not end when the tactic is done. Ideally it should lead to something else. Let&#8217;s take the Amazon.com launch strategy as an example. I overheard many writers in the room asking each other, &#8220;What good is it to have my book be #1 on Amazon.com for only an hour?&#8221; Well, if your marketing of your book goes no farther than making this one thing happen, it won&#8217;t do you any good. But if you take that ranking, write a press release about it and send it out to the media, then highlight it on your website and even perhaps on subsequent covers of your book, then you&#8217;re parlaying that #1 ranking into further promotion and more attention. Throughout this process you will also be&#8230;</p>
	<p><strong>Developing Relationships</strong></p>
	<p>John Kremer insisted that this was the real key in executing your marketing strategies. If you do it well you&#8217;ll be making connections with many partners who own their own lists and have similar interests to yours. If you hire someone to execute an Amazon.com launch for you, Mr. Kremer pointed out, you miss out because you won&#8217;t get to develop these relationships. If you nurture and maintain a connection with the partners who launch your book, you&#8217;ll be able to work with them again in the future to launch other books, products, workshops or even your services. Again, it&#8217;s about the big picture. Too many writers might do a launch and never contact their partners again. That would be such a waste.</p>
	<p><strong>Think Creatively</strong></p>
	<p>You would think as writers we wouldn&#8217;t have to be reminded to think creatively, but from what I overheard at the conference it seems a necessity. Mr. Kremer showed us many instances of how video is used to promote on the internet. Again, I heard writers say &#8220;I don&#8217;t see how that would work for me.&#8221; Understand that when you think that way, you&#8217;re closing yourself off to possibilities. Sometimes all it takes is a little imagination to take an idea and stretch it to fit your situation.</p>
	<p>Try this. Sit down with a sheet of paper and answer this question: if someone were to hand you $1,000,000 to write out a 5 minute concept for a YouTube video for your book, and you could make it as silly as you wanted, what would the concept be? Don&#8217;t think too much, just write the most ridiculous thing to come into your head. Play with the ideas. Once you have something written, see if you could (with a few tweaks perhaps) execute it in real life. If you don&#8217;t like it, scrap it and try another. See? You&#8217;re already on your way to trying something completely different in your book marketing!</p>
	<p>Of course not every marketing tactic will be right for you, but it&#8217;s up to you to think outside of the box and see the possibilities. And who knows? Maybe your book will stay on the bestseller lists a lot longer than you planned!</p>
	<p>© 2008 Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/SBSAuthor_cd_4.jpg" alt="CD Image" /><br />
Sophfronia Scott is Executive Editor of The Done For You Writing &#038; Publishing Company. Get your FREE audio CD, &#8220;How to Succeed in Business By Becoming a Bestselling Author&#8221; and your FREE online writing and book publishing tips at www.DoneForYouWriting.com.</p>
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		<title>The Money&#8217;s in the Message</title>
		<link>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=119</link>
		<comments>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=119#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:29:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sophfronia Scott</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Articles</category>
		<guid>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=119</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	
By Sophfronia Scott
	What&#8217;s your book about? You might answer &#8220;Marketing&#8221; or &#8220;Families&#8221; or &#8220;Cooking&#8221; or &#8220;Personal Development&#8221;, but I challenge you to go further and think about your book in terms of your message. What&#8217;s the overall message you&#8217;re delivering in your book? People will be drawn to your overall message and how it makes [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/images/moneyinhand.jpg" alt="photo of money in hand" /><br />
By Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p>What&#8217;s your book about? You might answer &#8220;Marketing&#8221; or &#8220;Families&#8221; or &#8220;Cooking&#8221; or &#8220;Personal Development&#8221;, but I challenge you to go further and think about your book in terms of your <strong>message</strong>. What&#8217;s the overall message you&#8217;re delivering in your book? People will be drawn to your overall message and how it makes them feel. Your message makes you attractive, like a super magnet. When you have something to say and the confidence and fortitude to say it, that sets you apart from everyone else. Ideally your personal presence will deliver this message in a powerful way, so much so that people will want line up to learn from you, be around you, work with you. In short&#8211;they’ll want to give you money.</p>
	<p>Let’s use <strong>Dr. Phil</strong> and his work as an example here because he has created so many bestselling books, all with very different subject matter. However, all of his books have the same basic message. Dr. Phil’s message is intended to make you take charge and “get excited about your life”. Taking this kind of personal responsibility is what’s going to help you solve all of those pesky life problems. It’s going to help you lose weight, strengthen your family, meet the right mate or salvage your marriage. Note that the message is simple, clear and not about Dr. Phil.</p>
	<p><strong>HOWEVER&#8230;</strong><br />
Don’t you get the sense that Dr. Phil probably lives this message, that this is exactly the way he lives his life? It would be very hard to believe that this tall, powerful, well-spoken, straight-talking man would turn around and blame someone else for something falling apart in his life. His message “fits” him because this is the way he is. You get the sense that he would be saying the same things regardless of whether he’s at a cocktail party or on national television. It is who he is and yet it’s a message that connects with a wider audience because Dr. Phil has directed it towards helping people solve a problem. You can do this too!</p>
	<p><strong>Your Belief Systems</strong><br />
Okay, right now I’m going to ask you to do something that might sound like I’m saying, “Don’t think about the huge purple-spotted elephant standing in the room” when that’s all you can do! I’m sure your brain is already spinning and crafting your message for your book or your business. STOP! Don’t do it just yet. If you create a message right now, whipped out of thin air, it will dissipate for you just as quickly. You won’t connect to it and it won’t work.</p>
	<p>A strong message has to be <strong>anchored</strong> in something&#8211;in the core of who you are. That’s the only way you can craft a message that fits you&#8211;one that is attractive, credible and one that others will immediately relate to.</p>
	<p>So how do you do that? Your message must naturally grow from your <strong>personal belief systems.</strong> Your belief systems are the glasses through which you see the world. It’s how you live&#8211;who you are. You may not even have words for your beliefs right now because you’ve never thought to give them words before. Too few of us stop to think about what we really, truly believe. We just act and move through life without thinking about the thoughts running through our brains or why we make the choices we make.<br />
But that’s also why it’s so easy for you to stand out when you do get clear on your beliefs. With just that one step you’ve already done what many haven’t!</p>
	<p>This doesn’t have to be a complicated process. You can start out just by writing out two words:<br />
<strong>I BELIEVE&#8230;</strong><br />
If the word “believe” doesn’t work for you, then think in terms of “What I know for certain&#8230;” or “This is what I know to be true for me&#8230;”</p>
	<p>Next, write down a series of sentences to complete these phrases. They can be about life in general, or about work, family, love, money, society, history. If you have trouble with this, you can do a couple of things. If you already write, such as a regular newsletter or journaling, review your past writings and see if there are patterns to what you say or think about. Do you give the same advice to people over and over again? Do you have a “thing”&#8211; something that really bothers you every time you see the subject or situation come up? What inspires you?</p>
	<p>For instance, I believe:<br />
&#8211;if anyone wants to bring something creative into the world, they should be able to do it<br />
&#8211;love is a powerful force, especially within families<br />
&#8211;spirituality is important<br />
&#8211;it’s important to be in charge of one’s own creative process and decision-making<br />
&#8211;anyone can accomplish great things when they put their mind to it</p>
	<p>Once you understand your belief systems you can translate them into your message. Basically what you’re going to do is take your beliefs and apply them to your topic at hand. Once you do, you&#8217;ll find your writing, your speaking and even your marketing will be so much easier because it will come from the heart.</p>
	<p>If you find all this overwhelming, it might help to have another head working through your message with you. I recommend you consider my <strong>&#8220;Authors of Achievement: The Finish and Publish Your Book&#8221;</strong> program because this is exactly the focus of the program: creating a book&#8211;and message that fits perfectly into your business plan! You can check it out at <a href="http://www.authorsofachievement.com">www.AuthorsofAchievement.com</a>.</p>
	<p>© 2008 Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p>Sophfronia Scott is Executive Editor of The Done For You Writing &#038; Publishing Company. Get your FREE audio CD, &#8220;How to Succeed in Business By Becoming a Bestselling Author&#8221; and your FREE online writing and book publishing tips at <a href="http://www.DoneForYouWriting.com">www.DoneForYouWriting.com</a>.</p>
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		<title>It&#8217;s Never &#8220;Just&#8221; a Book&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=118</link>
		<comments>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=118#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:00:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sophfronia Scott</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Articles</category>
		<guid>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=118</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	
By Sophfronia Scott
	&#8220;And then what?&#8221; I find myself asking that question a lot lately as entrepreneurs and speakers approach me about getting a book done. We usually get to a point in the conversation where I ask the person what they want to happen after they get published. They&#8217;ll often say something like, &#8220;I really [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/images/lightbulb.jpg" alt="photo of light bulb" /><br />
By Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p>&#8220;And then what?&#8221; I find myself asking that question a lot lately as entrepreneurs and speakers approach me about getting a book done. We usually get to a point in the conversation where I ask the person what they want to happen after they get published. They&#8217;ll often say something like, &#8220;I really just want to get the book out there.&#8221; Okay, we can do that, I say. &#8220;And then what?&#8221;</p>
	<p>I ask the question because these days, especially where a business is concerned, you&#8217;re leaving a lot of opportunity&#8211;and money&#8211;on the table when you think of your book as just a book. If you take some time to think it through, you&#8217;ll see that your book can actually become your business. <strong>Jack Canfield</strong> has done really well at doing this. His latest book on the <strong>Law of Attraction</strong>  just came out, but if you&#8217;re paying close attention to everything he&#8217;s doing, you&#8217;ll see the book is really an introduction to his new line of <strong>&#8220;Dream Big&#8221; products</strong>.</p>
	<p>You can do this too. You take the content or system you’ve created in your book and expand on it in a way that’s almost like the relationship between a movie and its merchandising. As the Mel Brooks character says in the film, <em>Spaceballs</em>, “Merchandising! That’s where the real money from the movie is made!”</p>
	<p>At a very basic level, you can take the system you teach in the book and turn it into high-fee workshops or keynote speeches. It can become a series of products—or even a series of books when you apply the same system to different situations. Take <em>The E-Myth</em> by <strong>Michael Gerber</strong>, for instance: not only is the E-Myth a whole coaching program, it’s also a line of books for managers, medical professionals, different types of companies. If you look at the material closely, it’s not all that different. It’s just been repackaged.</p>
	<p><strong>Why You Can Re-Purpose Your Material Again and Again</strong></p>
	<p>Some people might be concerned that if the material is in the book, why would they come to a workshop or pay to come see you speak. When people connect to the material, they usually want more, even if it’s just to see you in person. Don’t be afraid to re-purpose your material over and over again. If you need confidence, just look at how the big guys have been doing this for ages! Here are a few formats to consider. All or none may suit your purposes, but you get the idea&#8211;your book can be so much more:</p>
	<p><strong>Workshops/Boot Camps</strong><br />
If you’ve done a good job of developing your material, there’s no reason it can’t translate really well into a 2 or 3 day workshop or boot camp. A workshop or boot camp can be a great moneymaker since you can charge as much as $5,000 for each attendee.</p>
	<p><strong>Audio Programs</strong><br />
A benefit of CDs is that it helps people relate to you as a real person. They get to hear your voice and connect to you. They also hear your authority and your command of your material.</p>
	<p><strong>Videos/DVDs</strong><br />
DVDs have a higher perceived value than CDs or books&#8211;you’re moving right up the media ladder! They also boosts your credibility because your customers will get to see the faces of the people you’re helping. Many speakers even record video testimonials from the attendees and include them in the product.</p>
	<p><strong>Workbooks</strong><br />
Your first question might be “How is a workbook different from the book I’ve already written/or am writing?” Never underestimate how much people want more. Many authors follow up popular how-to books with workbooks that allow readers to apply the method to their particular project. <em>Writing the Breakout Novel</em> was followed by the <em>Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook</em>. Likewise <em>The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing</em> was followed by <em>The Marshall Plan Workbook</em>.</p>
	<p><strong>How Will You Broaden Your Business?</strong></p>
	<p>Choose the ways you would like to re-purpose your book material and how you plan to produce it or make it happen. Remember, be imaginative. You know your business better than anyone else. But I encourage you to think big and make the commitment to follow through and implement your ideas. You’re really stepping out in a major way here&#8211;make every moment and every idea count!</p>
	<p>If you find all this overwhelming, it might help to have another head working through your strategy with you. I recommend you consider my<strong> &#8220;Authors of Achievement: The Finish and Publish Your Book&#8221;</strong> program because this is exactly the focus of the program: creating a book that fits perfectly into your business plan! You can check it out at <a href="http://www.authorsofachievement.com">www.AuthorsofAchievement.com</a>.</p>
	<p>© 2008 Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p>Sophfronia Scott is Executive Editor of The Done For You Writing &#038; Publishing Company. Get your FREE audio CD, &#8220;How to Succeed in Business By Becoming a Bestselling Author&#8221; and your FREE online writing and book publishing tips at <a href="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com">www.DoneForYouWriting.com</a>.
</p>
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		<title>Can Eliot Spitzer Help Market Your Book?</title>
		<link>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=117</link>
		<comments>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=117#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:08:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sophfronia Scott</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Articles</category>
		<guid>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=117</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	
By Sophfronia Scott
	I just got an email from Arielle Ford, the noted publicist who helped put Deepak Chopra on the public radar. In her email she was promoting her sister Debbie Ford&#8217;s new book, Why Good People Do Bad Things: How to Stop Being Your Own Worst Enemy. Since Arielle Ford is no slouch, it&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/spitzer.jpg" alt="photo of Eliot Spitzer" /><br />
By Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p>I just got an email from <strong>Arielle Ford</strong>, the noted publicist who helped put <strong>Deepak Chopra</strong> on the public radar. In her email she was promoting her sister Debbie Ford&#8217;s new book, Why Good People Do Bad Things: How to Stop Being Your Own Worst Enemy. Since Arielle Ford is no slouch, it&#8217;s important to look at what she did with this email and how you can apply her tactics to your book marketing campaign.</p>
	<p>First of all, the subject of the email was &#8220;Maybe Eliot Spitzer should read my sister&#8217;s new book&#8221;. For those of you who don&#8217;t know, Eliot Spitzer is the newly resigned governor of New York who was brought down by his alleged patronage of a prostitution ring. In her email, Ms. Ford goes on to say that her sister&#8217;s book is out and that Debbie has already been on television discussion Mr. Spitzer and his legal challenges. The rest of the email is all about the book and how to purchase it.</p>
	<p>So what exactly was Arielle Ford doing? She was pitching to the news. Obviously the plight of the just-resigned governor is at the top of the news food chain right now. By connecting the book to the story, she&#8217;s setting her sister up for potential interviews on the many follow-up stories sure to come in the next few days, or even weeks.</p>
	<p>There&#8217;s absolutely no reason why you can&#8217;t do the same thing. While this particular story may not be suited to your book, there are many more stories in the news every day that may be just the right fit. These chances crop up every time a big story hits the news. It’s important you know this because the news always opens a brief window of opportunity for a writer to either pitch a book or get some television or radio time based on their expertise. But you have to be ready. Here’s what you do:</p>
	<p>1.) Keep Up On Current Events</p>
	<p>TV and radio producers need new material and must put stories together quickly. That means you have to be right on top of the news and able to send a pitch in the moment you see a significant story developing. This doesn’t mean you have to be glued to CNN daily or subscribe to an Associated Press news ticker, but you do have to be aware of what’s going on. Speed is of the essence.</p>
	<p>2.) Know How to Write a Quick Press Release</p>
	<p>With that in mind, you’ll have to be able to craft a good press release at a moment’s notice. There are all sorts of technical aspects to putting together a press release, but basically you want it to have a strong headline, a quick and dirty description of your story and what you have to offer and contact information so producers will know how to find you. Make sure you make the connection that you are a no-brainer to be interviewed. </p>
	<p>3.) Know How to Write a Quick Book Proposal</p>
	<p>You’ll want to be able to do the same with a book proposal. Here the most important part will be promoting your expertise and a great table of contents. The point is to catch an agent or editor’s eye so they can start moving on the idea. You might have to flesh the proposal out after that, but for now you just want them to know you have the idea, expertise, connections and ability to follow through with the book.</p>
	<p>4.) Use a Few Well-Chosen Email Addresses</p>
	<p>Sure, you could mass email a press release, but for your book proposal (and for certain media contacts), you’ll want to make direct contact with a few, well-chosen people who you know will give your missive more than just a passing glance. This could be an agent you met in person at a conference, an editor who once rejected (with a nice note) one of your submissions or a producer whose email you received from a friend or colleague. Mark the email “urgent” if you must because they understand when timing is important. Just don’t do it everyday! Ideally you want a person who can tell you pretty quickly if a project is viable, whether others want to do the same or if there’s no interest period. Always be on the lookout to add such contacts to your list.</p>
	<p>5.) Go!</p>
	<p>You might have to do this again and again before hooking an agent, editor or producer with your idea. Don’t hesitate and don’t think “Well, I didn’t hear from this person before, they won’t be interested this time.” You never know! Be confident in what you have to say–just make sure you do have something to say! There’s no bigger turn-off for a producer or editor than to constantly receive disorganized, irrelevant information again and again from the same writer. Make sure yours is the pitch they pay attention to when it comes in.</p>
	<p>© 2008 Sophfronia Scott</p>
	<p>Sophfronia Scott is Executive Editor of The Done For You Writing &#038; Publishing Company. Get your <strong>FREE audio CD</strong>, &#8220;How to Succeed in Business By Becoming a Bestselling Author&#8221; and your FREE online writing and book publishing tips at <a href="http://doneforyouwriting.com">www.DoneForYouWriting.com.</p>
	<p></a>
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		<title>New Ezine Launch!</title>
		<link>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=116</link>
		<comments>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=116#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:12:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sophfronia Scott</dc:creator>
		
	<category>General</category>
		<guid>http://www.thebooksistah.com/blog/?p=116</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	
It&#8217;s finally done! Here you see my new ezine, Business By the Book, which replaces Ask the Book Sistah. I know you&#8217;re probably wondering about what all this means. Basically I&#8217;m transitioning my business to focus solely on non-fiction books. While I will continue to write my own fiction, I&#8217;ve learned that in terms of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/images/BizBytheBook_eZn2_2.jpg" alt="ezine cover" /><br />
It&#8217;s finally done! Here you see my new ezine, <strong>Business By the Book</strong>, which replaces <em>Ask the Book Sistah</em>. I know you&#8217;re probably wondering about what all this means. Basically I&#8217;m transitioning my business to focus <strong>solely on non-fiction books</strong>. While I will continue to write my own fiction, I&#8217;ve learned that in terms of marketing and product creation, it&#8217;s easier for me to focus on one instead of the two types of writing. But if this is what you&#8217;re interested in, great! Here&#8217;s what you have to look forward to:</p>
	<p>    * This newsletter coming out each week on <strong>Thursdays</strong>.<br />
    * More awesome <strong>teleseminars</strong> (see schedule in each week&#8217;s issue).<br />
    * New programs designed to get <strong>your book finished</strong> and YOU published!</p>
	<p>To learn more, just check out my new website at <a href="http://doneforyouwriting.com">www.DoneForYouWriting.com</a> and while you&#8217;re there you can order your <strong>F.R.E.E.</strong> audio CD, <strong>&#8220;How to Succeed in Business By Becoming a Bestselling Author&#8221;</strong>. <img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/SBSAuthor_cd_4.jpg" alt="audio CD" /> I&#8217;m so excited about this growing phase of my business and I&#8217;m happy to have you here on the journey.</p>
	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/MondayMasterMind_2_26_08.jpg" alt="Sophfronia, Beth &#038; Fabienne photo" />By the way, I&#8217;d like to thank my rockin&#8217; friends, <a href="http://www.thehandanalyst.com">Beth Davis (The Hand Analyst)</a> and <a href="http://www.profcs.com/app/?af=664319">Fabienne Fredrickson (Client Attraction.com)</a> for being my extra eyes, ears and minds as all this came together. Here we are last month at our <strong>Glazer-Kennedy Peak Performers</strong> meeting in Baltimore. It was amazing how many great ideas we got and how much we grew in just two days! But that&#8217;s what happens when you put yourself in a room of successful go-getters. The good energy is bound to rub off!</p>
	<p>So onward and upward! I hope you enjoy the new ezine. Let me know what you think.</p>
	<p>Best wishes for your publishing success,</p>
	<p><img src="http://www.doneforyouwriting.com/images/signature.gif" alt="Sophfronia Signature" /></p>
	<p><strong>Sophfronia Scott</strong><br />
Executive Editor
</p>
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