Brendon Burchard: $10,000,000 Case Study in Writing

I am very pleased to say that I am posting this blog post with special permission from Brendon Burchard himself, author of "The Millionaire Messenger" "Life's Golden Ticket" and "The Charge."

I have been drawn to Brendon's work for a number of years now and was exceedingly pleased when I saw him write a case study specifically related to author's making money. Considering the fact that this guy has not only made #1 on the best-seller lists multiple times, but is in fact a multi-millionaire...he knows what he is talking about.

                                           

I messaged Brendon and told him of my blog and all you wonderful followers asking him if it would be ok to share his content here--and he graciously replied in the positive. So here is his case study:

http://thechargedlife.tumblr.com/post/33095358519/why-authors-dont-have-to-be-broke-a-10-000-000-case

Although his principles deal more with the how-to industry and writing than the fiction or poetry fields and writing I can tell you from experience (having used some of his business strategies from his books and read the same thing from authors such as Tim Ferriss and Chris Guillebeau) that many of the tactics he uses for product creation and sale are transferable

Be sure to take a look!

So Where Does The Money Come From?

It's very obvious that the biggest question on most writer's minds is how can they turn their writing into more money. But one thing I am constantly surprised at is how authors tend to not be aware of all the different ways that they can manipulate their writing to be able to monetize it. So many tend to rely heavily on one method--and if that method doesn't produce the results they like, they get discourage--or worse, give up.

There is of course, no reason to give up because the possibilities are literally endless. So, where does the money come from? I'll get right to the point. Quite simply put, here are 6 primary ways that authors of all kinds and all genres make money from their writing.

Sales:

Everyone knows this one. You put your writing into some kind of product--most famously a book, a booklet, a novella, a chapbook, or even audio files, CD's, comic books or more. But the idea is some physical medium (or even a digital equivalent) that can be actively sold.

Donations:

In some cases one of the best things an author can do is give away their writing for free. It's a lot harder to sell something people have no idea of than to get people to buy things that they are already familiar with. There are plenty of people out there who have quarterly e-mags, publications, serializations of novels and post writing on blogs and free websites. It's a good way to build up a large audience. However, some of these authors also put a paypal donation button the website--and people donate. They like the free material and want to support the authors who are generous enough to give their work away for free. They also feel less pressure.

Fundraisers:

Being creative can cost money. People know this--in fact it is common knowledge that creative types are always broke. But creative types still produce so much worthwhile material that people like. And sometimes, if you have a reputation for good work, people are willing to help you out with your expenses. Thanks to platforms like indiegogo, authors can entice money for projects by offering incentives in return.

Affiliate Marketing:

This is another way to make money while making all your content to your readers absolutely free. If web traffic is high enough, or your following is large--you can become an affiliate to product producers related to your topics. I have seen travel writers become affiliates with airlines selling tickets through their blog or website. They get a cut of all sales--the airlines are happy, the customers are happy and the author is happy. This also works for book reviewers, dvd and cd reviewers, and much, much more.

Events:

So many writers overlook the lucrative value of live events. Think of music concerts and how much they can pull in for bands. Authors of all kinds can set up events that result in monetary gain either from sales of books and products or ticket prices to hear readings--or both! (Especially if one offers food at the events!) There are ways to get spots for events for free or set up deals with local businesses who are aiming to fatten their clientele by bringing in interesting events. Coffee shops to local books stores, to restaurants to bars. (Ive even seen poetry readings at Tattoo Parlors!)

Advertising:

Like affiliate marketing this works well when your following is large. People pay you advertising money for you to talk bout their products or put banner ads on your website, in your book/magazine, etc etc. Instead of your share being based on sales like with affiliate marketing--this is based simply on the sale of advertising space to individuals or companies.

Not all of these methods will work well for every author type--as there are some such as affiliate marketing that work better for how-to authors and ticket sales tend to work better for entertainment authors/poets/songwriters/etc. But the best authors in the 21st century (by best I mean those who have the most business savvy, not necessarily the best in quality) tend to use a combination of these six methods to produce maximum value for their work. I have found in my experience that once authors tend to see these six ways clearly, their creative energies take a giant boost and they come up with all sorts of ideas never thought of before. Writers are typically creative, right? Well then take solace in the fact that making money in the 21st century with writing is all about being creative.

Questions and Answers: With So Many Authors, Why Would Anyone Want To Read My Work?

I had the pleasure of skyping in to give a literary workshop at a wonderful convention in British Columbia this weekend. (Although I had to do it in the 2 hours between a wedding and a reception, which was also fun!)

All of the writers at this convention were productive authors who produced a good deal of content but were looking for some new ways to get the work out there. One question in particular stood out to me, because it is a question I hear a lot.

"With so many writers out there and so much writing, how can an author make his or her work stand out amongst the masses?"

I understand that there is a good deal that authors can and do get overwhelmed about when they start down this line of thought--with the millions and millions of authors out there why would anyone pay attention to my work?

So in these situations I like to turn around and ask another simple question.

Why with the 7 billion other people out there would anyone want to be your friend? Why would anyone want to be in a relationship with you? Why would anyone want to spend their time with you when they have 7 billion other people to do so?

This tends to make people think about it--we all have friends (or I at least hope we do!) some of us are fortunate enough to have quite a few. Most of us have relationships--or at least have had relationships if we aren't currently in one. And the average person has people who enjoy spending time in their company. There are far more other people out there than there are writers--but somehow we make this happen. And we don't tend to think (at least not most of us) "why oh why would anyone of my friends want to spend time with me when there are so many others to do that with?"

I would imagine that you gathered your friends in this fashion: you came into proximity with them, you had an exchange of some kind--they liked what you had to offer, so they kept coming back.

This simple concept also applies to how writers build up a relationship with their audience. The audience comes into proximity with them--they like what they see and they keep coming back.

And although I didn't hear this question at the workshop a question I hear after I give this answer I always give it something like this:

"But the readers who like my genre already follow so much good writing! Why would they look at mine?"

Do you have just one friend? Did you meet someone somewhere you really liked but decided "sorry, already have a friend, no room for this one!" and more to the point--do you see good books/comics/movies that you think you will like but then decide "sorry, already filled my quota of watching 2 movies, reading 2 books, looking at 2 comics this week?" Probably not. There is no limit to the number of different authors writers can enjoy! They just have to have the opportunity to come across it.

Now, not everyone can be everywhere. And admittedly there is more great writing out there than one could ever read. I'm sure there are amazing pieces of fiction that I would really really love to read in china right now that I may never get to in my lifetime. An author can't be everywhere at once--even with the internet. (Although the internet makes this far easier.)

So the important thing is just to make sure that when you come into proximity with people--or when potential fans come into proximity with your work the way that you might meet a new friend, that your work is likable. You can increase the number of people who come into proximity with your work through various marketing techniques. But before one can get to the practical positioning, one first has to rid themselves of the mindset that their work is valueless--that somehow writing is only the province of the super lucky and that one needs millions of dollars in marketing plans to see any success with it. All one needs is writing that is entertaining, or adds value--a place to put it, and a way to get fans to read it. The rest takes care of itself.

The $7500 Dollar-A-Month Poetry Blog

              You are probably wondering if you read this right. 7500 dollars in one month for poetry? Poetry? The art that no one pays for? Well, I've seen it happen personally. It's real, it works, it just takes a little bit of creativity. The prime example that comes to mind is someone we shall call Julie.

                Julie was a poet--she mostly wrote love poetry. True it might be sappy, love poetry certainly isn't original, and maybe people won't go out to the book store to buy volumes of it. But on the Internet? You wouldn't BELIEVE how many people search for them when they are in this mood or that mood--same reason why so many love songs on the radio become greatest hits. At first, Julie just started a simple free blog to post her poetry. She tagged it properly so it would show up in search engines and after only a month or two she had thousands of people viewing her work.

                That's not even remotely close to where it ends though. People started writing to her in response to her poetry--some people started showing her poetry of their own. So she decided to open submissions for some poetry that she would post on her blog--the submissions came pouring in. It was around this time that she signed up for google adsense--in case you haven't heard of it yet, it's a program that bloggers and website owners can use to place advertisements on the sidebars of their websites--for every click a reader gives on one of the ads, the owner of the blog/website makes a few cents. And google adsense is just one of many that can do this. For the first couple months, the adsense only came out to be a little bit--but it was still some extra money.

                It was around this time that Julie noticed Feb was only a short period away--we all know whats in Feb--Valentine's day--the time when love poetry is most desired. Julie went to a free printing service called lulu--put together a collection of her own poetry that she poised to set up for sale during valentines day. Beyond that--she set up a contest offering a modest prize in the form of a gift card to the winner for those who would send poems for her blog and she used a free polling service to post the finalist poems she selected and have her readers vote on it--the voting would only be open the week before valentines day and the winner would be announced on Feb 14th itself. She also assembled an anthology of love poetry based on the poetry she had published on her blog from other writers (with their permission of course) and posted dozens of her own poems and their poems on the blog as free samples.

                It gets even better. Flowers are very popular during valentines day--arrangements, stuffed bears, etc are all the rave and people want to send them to their loved ones. Julie found out that some websites that offer delivery service also offer affiliate marketing--that is, she signs up for their program and posts direct links to specific packages on her blog in the sidebars--and if anyone who orders the products through her site she gets a portion of the proceeds. Knowing just how many people would be coming to her blog, and knowing that the poetry would put people into lovey dovey moods, she set it up so that it would only take one or two clicks for them to purchase her book, the anthology and any of a number of arrangements.

                The bottom line? Her website had over 35,000 hits in the two weeks before Valentine's day and the combination of sales from the two books and the affiliate marketing from the flowering websites brought her in over 7500 dollars. Not bad for one month's work. Now I know one could argue that it took her at least 6 months to set up the blog in a position in which it could drive this home--but the key to remember here is that it was only the month leading up to Valentine's day that Julie even put all that much work into what she was doing. The rest of the time she was just doing what she always did best--writing her poetry and sharing it via a well positioned blog with the rest of the world.

                And here is the point to remember--lots and lots of people have similar set-ups like this. It's far more common than one would think. There’s no giant hidden mystery for the formula—in fact it’s very straight forward. I’m not going to say that anyone can do it—because we all have different levels of dedication, time, ability, etc etc. But anyone SHOULD be able to do it—if they are motivated enough, write enough and are dedicated enough to getting their work out there—then there are literally no walls up that should prevent them from doing so—and making a profit from it at the same time.

Make A Bundle With A Bundle

This practice admittedly works far better for authors who have produced quite a bit of writing, maybe a few products and have a decent fan base already built up. It won't work so well if you don't have much content. But if you have a good amount of content--even if you do not have a major fan base already built in, this can still earn you more than you would expect--and increase your fan base by making your old readers and a few (maybe more) new ones happy. 

Everyone loves a bargain--especially in these tough economic times. And you can score some serious points with existing and new fans by giving them what they want--a good deal. Say that you have a new book coming out for example (I use book because it is the most common form of product with writing but it could be a single story, a booklet, ebook, just about anything.) If you're been doing the right thing with it, you would have a blog or a website up where your fans would know well in advance of its near approach. Assuming you have any sort of already existing merchandise (and if you don't you can plan on this for the future) a good way to drive up some sales would be to throw a few books, ebooks, booklets, stories, audio books, etc together into a limited time bargain bundle. It works for Stephen King Novels online, it's worked in brick and mortar book stores (buy 2 get the 3rd free!) it can work for you as well. The advantage we all have today is that in the digital age--nothing spreads faster than the news of a bargain. 

There is also the possibility here of working with other authors in your field. There is a common saying that when it comes to partnerships, 1 plus 1 equals 3. The idea simply meaning that together you can be worth more than either of you can separately. If you have author friends in your field--(or even across field, genre, medium lines) what is to stop you from combining your books, audio books, comics, or whatever it is you have into bundles together? Especially digitally--you can reach both your audiences and sell maybe double what you would sell normally. But the greatest things about bundles is that word of them spread like wildfire--word of mouth, link sharing etc. This admittedly works better if both of you (or heck all of you--you could have a bundle of 5-10 authors--the sky is the limit) have your own audiences and therefore can spread it to more people inherently. But even if your audiences are only a few each--it's still extra exposure. And the few in your existing audiences are far more to spread word of mouth about a deal--especially a limited time deal . (I have found that bundles that last 2-3 weeks tend to work the best--remember, customers are lazy, there has to be a call to action without looking like you are overly trying to sell something. The most successful bundle producers I have seen are those who offer each specific bundle option only once for a period of 2 weeks--sure they will have other bundles in the future, but never exactly THIS bundle again--the urgency shakes the apathy out of most potential buyers.) 

Now before you start to worry that all this would be nearly impossible to set up--it is actually quite easy. Assuming you or any one of your partners in this bundle has a website that is up and running--you can easily put together a digital release using a quick, cheap and easy resource like e-junkie.com along with a shopping cart button from Paypal.com to receive payment. And the great advantage of a digital bundle is the fact that you can give serious discounts on your prices without feeling the burn yourself--other than paying transaction and hosting fees, the only thing a digital bundle costs you is the labor you put forth to create it. 

The bundle idea, like so many other options we can consider in the age we currently live is represents something more--both sides of the equation are winning. Equilibrium: the customer gets something of extended value and the author gets to sell more. And in the case of partnerships, more people benefit. This is just one example of the way in which the creative world of writing has changed quite a bit. One product one sale might not do nearly as well anymore--especially with the overwhelming amount of competition out there. But with the infinite amount of tools available to all of us today--there is no shortage of creative solutions to reaching more people, and creativity is something that authors, when they put their mind to it, do very, very well.

Websites: The 21st Century Author's Best Friend

This would seem like an obvious statement--that a website would be essential to an author's campaign to get their work noticed and ultimately purchased. But you would be surprised at the percent of authors who maintain almost no online presence at all. The truth of the matter is that in the 21st century--even brick and mortar retail businesses need to have a website in order to stay competitive. For entrepreneurs--which is essentially what start-up authors aiming to sell their writing are, websites are essential to their success.

The most common responses I get to this statement from authors who have yet to have a major web presence in the form of a website is something akin to this:

"Isn't it enough to have my book on the lulu marketplace store, or amazon.com?"

"I post about my writing on facebook, isn't that enough?"

"I'm active on a forum and have a link to buy my book in my signature when I post, wouldn't that work?"

While all of these practices might help to increase awareness, a blurb, mention or article promoting something--even something of extreme value and worth, is rarely enough to hold attention these days if there isn't somewhere else to refer the readers to. Part of the procedure of building up a relationship with the readers like I discussed in the previous post:


http://makemoneywriting21.blogspot.com/2012/10/why-some-authors-sell-2-copies-of-their.html

is to have enough content for your readers to get an idea of what your project, book, blog, newsletter, posts and writing in general is all about. A website of some kind is the best and most efficient way to do this for several reasons. First and foremost, when people consider the idea of making any kind of purchase--and we are assuming here that you are aiming to make a little money off of your writing, they often want to find out more about it and it is very hard to sell anything to anyone if they can't do further research about it online.

Something that keeps a lot of authors away from putting up websites is the illusion of the complexity required for web building. The truth of the matter is it is easier than ever to put up a a website. Blogs that function almost as well as websites are literally a dime a dozen and can usually be gotten for free. A fully functioning website can be put up for free as well--and going one step further to buy a domain name is very cheap. And with the ease of building that most of the leading websites now allow--you don't need to be fluent in any kind of coding or HTML for what you really need to put up the website. (If you need bits of HTML most things you need for widgets and buttons come pre-made and there are forums where you can post what you need in HTML and people online will provide it for you for free.)

Remember this simple motto for the 21st century: you can find a way to do ANYTHING on the internet. Don't let fear of the unknown hold you back from researching and pushing forward because a website is absolutley essential to author success in 99% of cases in the times we live in.

One you have a website up that has your writing on it, driving traffic to your writing becomes increasingly easy. The website serves as your online headquarters and you want to get as many people there as you possibly can. The more traffic you get, the more readers you aquire, the more readers you aquire, the better the chance of you selling your products, newsletters, subscriptions, and other products that have to do with your writing.

You can use the common approach of business cards to get people to your website as you meet them in person. (For a way to get your hands on some free business cards see my post on it here: http://makemoneywriting21.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-sneaky-way-to-sell-few-more-of-your.html ) And once the website is up, post it in your email signature, in your signature on forums you to go, on any social networks you are a part of and in your bios for any publications you achieve at magazines or anywhere with a readership. As long as your content is genuine, catchy and consistent, you should start to see the traffic flow, your readership growing and the beginnings of a steady place for you to begin to kick off your projects and products from.

Some resources below for websites or blogs:


www.weebly.com


www.wordpress.com


www.godaddy.com


www.inmotionhosting.com


www.blogger.com

Why Some Authors Sell 2 Copies of Their Book and Others Sell 2 Million.

Have you ever wondered why so many authors who dare to put out their books for sale to the public tap out at 2 sales (the average number for a self-published title) and others can sell 2 million or more? Ok--stupid question. Of course you've wondered that. Is it just fancy promotional material or a good sales campaign? To some degree--but the marketing is really just a means to an end.

The truth of the matter is--knowing what sells and what doesn't sell is as simple as knowing the hidden truth about the human condition. Alright--on the surface that sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is. But the truth of the matter is when we think for a few minutes it becomes very obvious what the base human condition is in relevance to this: humans like what is familiar to them. Humans NEED what is familiar to them. Humans seek out the familiar even if the familiar is harmful to them. Think about all the people who end up in toxic relationships over and over again--thin kabout all the people who buy the brand name loaf of bread or cereal even if the store bought brand is exactly the same thing and three dollars cheaper. Humans have a weakness for the familiar--and the same thing applies in marketing.

The reason that marketing campaigns spend so much money on blasting their names on the radio, on television commercials on busses, at football stadiums and in papers is to get you to be FAMILIAR with their product or brand. For example--when sitting at a football game--you might have no need to look at the plastic surgery sign on the wall there. But two weeks later after a car accident--and plastic surgery seems ideal...the one you will seek out first most likely will be the one advertised at the stadium--why? Because the name was stuck in your head and it was FAMILIAR to you.

Now, anyone with enough money can get the blast attention of all these people through advertising however--we are going to assume here that the writers reading this do not have bucket loads of money to burn through on an advertising campaign. And that's perfectly alright--because familiarity more than any singular method has to do with forming a RELATIONSHIP between you and your readers. Think about it--the teenager who throws their novel together in two weeks and self-publishes it quickly with no previous writing experience and no existing fan base might still sell a handful of copies to their family and friends. And by the same token--the best-selling novelist could presell 100,000 copies of their book thanks to an email before it is even finished yet. The only difference between these two people--or at least the only difference that ultimately matters when it comes to sales--is that the group with which each author has a RELATIONSHIP with is vastly different in size. The best-selling author might not be family or personal friends with the 100,000 people who pre-ordered their book. But they already have an existing relationship with them thanks to interviews, previous publications, mailing lists and book tours. The first author simply doesn't have a RELATIONSHIP with a large enough group of people to sell their work widely.

Now here is the good news. Thanks to the age we live in ANYONE can developed a RELATIONSHIP with thousands or even millions of people via the internet. We might not all go viral and get millions of readers--but it is definitely possible to get a few thousand people to follow whatever you are doing if you are consistent enough. The key is to position your writing in a way so that it develops a relationship with people that will eventually lead to them being interested enough to go through with a sale.

The best way to get people FAMILIAR with your work to the extent they develop a RELATIONSHIP with you and your writing is to put as much of it out there as you can. If you are a fiction writer or a poet--a blog that you frequently post on would be a good idea. Eventually a website where you post free content for people to read. Consistent content is the key thing to remember because it is through this method that readers will keep on coming back. Plus, the way online marketing works, the more your blog or website has, the easier it is to pick up in search engines and to generate traffic. As people become familiar with your work, you might start to consider having them join an email newsletter or subscription service--they give you their email in exchange for free content. If they trust you enough to give you their email--they must like your content. You can use the newsletter to send the some more free work and then eventually offer products for sale--a self-published book, an audio book, a paid subscription to a section of your website that offers exclusive material to do with a favorite character, or an e-version of a story or poetry collection.

The trick here is that whatever it is you are offering for sale--by the time you offer it, your readers have already developed familiarity with what it is you are writing and a relationship with you--the author. Having both of these things formed--and having enjoyed the free content you have provided for the period up until this, they might just be willing to part with a few dollars to see more.

 

 

Of course, these methods work quite a bit better if the writing you are posting is quality--adds value to their lives through entertainment, information or emotion. And it helps when you post your writing consistently and are generous with the readers--in which case not only will traffic flow to your site through search-engines, but also through word of mouth. In which case you can expect the number of readers with which you have a relationship to continue to grow--and grow steadily.

Raising Money For Your Writing Before You Write It.

One of the perceived down-sides of being a writer during the 20th century has been the fact that in the overwhelming majority of cases the author has to spend a long period of time working on the craft of their writing without seeing any money for their work. And then after they are done with the writing they had to go through a long period of finding a place to sell it--sometimes the second task taking even longer than the first. For hundreds of years there have been a select group of writers who were fortunate enough to get commissions to write, have contracts--get paid in advance before they even finished their work. However, in the 21st century--the playing field has leveled. Now, thanks to convenient places on the Internet ANYONE can get funded before they even finish their project.

Now when I say anyone, I don't literally mean ANYYONE. As in, a high school kid who never wrote before can't just go online and get thousands of dollars funding for his highly speculative project. But those who are serious and preferably have even the slightest reputation for working in the field they are in--poets, bloggers, essayists, fantasy authors, don't have to seek permission to get advanced funding--they can get it directly from people interested in their work!

Take the fiction writer who is working on a novel. Say this fiction writer has already been writing for a couple of years--has a website dedicated to his own work or at least a blog. Maybe he's published a few short stories in various places so he has a little bit of a fan base already built up. Say that a few short stories he had been writing deal with a character that people tend to like--and he wanted to write a novel about this character, maybe explaining more of the back story. So say this author decides to put up a fundraising campaign for this project on indiegogo to cover his printing costs.

He sets the amounts for donation to the funding campaign at 25 dollars, 50 dollars and 100 dollars. For the 25 dollar doners he offers them a free autographed copy plus their name listed as a patron in the back of the book. For 50 dollars, a free signed copy of the book, their name listed plus a painting of the character portrait of the main character, autographed by his artist friend who designed him. For 100 dollars, say he offered a free limited edition hard cover copy of the book upon completion. The author is happy because he is raising money for his project and the fans are happy because they are not only contributing to the development of a project they are eager to see--they get cool rewards relevant to the project as well!

If the author can manage to convince a few dozen or a few hundred people to contribute to this campaign--he can raise quite a bit of money to start the print run--which gives the entire book tour an edge with the added satisfaction of already selling copies to fans before the writing is even done!

Now of course this strategy won't work if the author happens to be flaky and if they never deliver what is promised--they can end up in legal troubles, and at the very least, earn a horrible reputation that keeps them from ever doing something of this nature again. But if they take their writing seriously, people trust them, like the work and are dedicated--this is a valid option to give many authors who are stuck in that limbo stage between above amateur, but not quite professional, the kick they need to give their projects life.

www.indiegogo.com


www.kickstarter.com


www.gofundme.com

are just three examples of websites that offer this type of service (for a small fee out of what you collect from the fundraiser.) Thousands of creative projects have already gotten funding through this method (me and my co-editor for Perspectives, Poetry Concerning Autism and Other disabilities used this tool to raise our printing goal and not only met our goal, but we exceeded it once word got around!) If you are an author who takes writing seriously, but is looking for that extra push for a project you have in mind, this method might just work for you.

Mousetrapped: The Story of A Successful Self-Published Book

I keep on saying that one of the greatest things about the internet age is the fact that no one needs a publisher--or at least a big publisher that is impossible to get to notice you, anymore. If one has a good idea--the boundaries to putting out there have been stripped down and replaced with opportunities. The bad part about this--is literally everyone thinks they have a good idea and everyone who has a good idea thinks they know how to market it. This has led to an oversaturation of new self-published books and most of them sell an average of 2--you heard right, 2-10 copies.

Of course, the dream is still possible and even probable when certain measures are taken. Take a look at the story of mousetrapped--a successful self published travel book.

http://mousetrappedbook.com/

And in her own words:

http://selfpublishingteam.com/guest-post-why-i-self-published-my-novel-after-saying-i-never-would/

The success of Mousetrapped is a typical rags to riches story thanks to the success of the popularity of her topic. She also made her writing available in multiple online outlets and had a physical book tour to accompany it--the combination cannot be beat. Too many authors focus on one or the other but not enough of the other. Her online base made it easy for people to locate and to buy.

Since the success of her first book, the author has gone on to have several more succesful titles--even offering some packaged deals. And the funny part is--if she had gone with a traditional publisher, she wouldn't have made nearly as much profit as she did.

A Sneaky Way To Sell A Few More Of Your Books And Get The Word Out For Free

Vistaprint.com has taken over the universe as far as business cards go. But they also print just about everything, including post-cards. They are by no means the only printer available for such things, but one thing that vistaprint (and a few others) do that is very enticing and rewarding is offer you deals where you can aquire 250 free business cards or 100 free postcards, and you just pay shipping. The offers vary from time to time but it is definitly worth looking into if you are an author with a product.

Say for example, you have a self-published or a small press book. It could be anything, fiction, a memoir, poetry--it doesn't even have to be a book for that matter, but let's just use book as a prime example. Assuming you have a link online where the book can be found and/or purchased (and if you don't--there is a serious problem!) then taking advantage of these free offers can do you absolutly no harm at all!

I find postcards tend to work the best because you can fit more on there than just the name, a line or two and the website. Assuming your book aquired any kind of favorable blurbs or testimonials either before or after publication (and if it hasn't yet, start working on that because blurbs are a very good marketing tool!) you can take a picture of your book's cover and put it on the postcard, along with a good blurb or two about the quality of the book. Couple that with the web address where one can aquire the book, maybe an email address for those interested who want to know more and a breif description of what the book is about and bingo--you have a perfectly sound marketing tool available to you for nothing more than a few minutes of time and the shipping costs required to send them to you.

You can hand these postcards or business cards out everywhere. Not only does this send a message that you are a published author--but a serious one, but it gets people interested because word of mouth is one thing--seeing the picture of the book and what people say about it is something else entirely. You can bet that a decent number of people who recieve the post cards will at least visit the website.

Like I said, vistaprint is the first one that comes to mind for this type of free offer but there are plenty more out there. Don't hesitate to look around and take advantage of all these offers where you see them. Even if the end result only yields one or two additional sales of your product--it was well worth it.

How The Publishing World Has Changed (For The Better?)

It certainly can't be denied that the publishing world has changed in the last 15 years. The internet brought with it instant communication on a level we never could have dreamed of just a few years earlier. As with all new technologies, traditions that existed before them changed. The publishing world is no different—everywhere you look you see reports of failing book store chains, struggling authors, and even the largest publishing companies are feeling the financial squeeze. Does this mean the publishing world is in trouble? Of course not.

Popular belief would love to say that the world of books and the world of writing is in trouble thanks to the major changes—but since when is popular belief right? Mark Twain once famously said “Any time I find myself agreeing with the public, it is time for me to reevaluate my position.” And he had a very good point. People love doomsday theories, and people have been predicting the end of many forms of popular entertainment and technology for a long, long time. The radio was supposed to go out when television came about, television was supposed to go out when the internet came around. Theater, poetry, radio, television, the internet and even (to a lesser extent) old fashioned records are all still out there. Some of these things aren't as popular as they used to be—but there is still a place for them. And writing? Writing is something that is never going to go away so long as people keep on reading. And studies show that people read far MORE today than they did 15 years ago. The difference is only in the mediums.

Not to mention, the doomsday publishing theorists overlook the fact that any time a traditional system is in upheaval it's only because the playing field had changed. As a result—they don't look at the major changes that have occurred right before our eyes and they blind themselves to the numerous new opportunities that have presented themselves. Despite what some will say, this revolution is actually a good thing for writers—in fact it's a GREAT thing.

Are publishers going through a rough time? Sure they are—at least the ones who aren't being smart and savvy about the changes in the field. But for individual authors—the time to be born couldn't be better—for one major reason. Authors are no longer dependent on anyone to put their writing out there. The options they now have are literally unlimited. They can still choose to go with a traditional publisher if they are more comfortable—but for the overly ambitious poet/fiction writer/essayist, the world is theirs for the taking. Self publishing, or small press work has never been easier. And more importantly, marketing for the individual author or small press has never been easier either. It is true that more than a few of the great books were originally self published. (Leaves of Grass and Ulysses to name a couple.) But for a long time, especially with the development of giant publishing companies, the way to success for authors was almost monopolized. They required permission from editors or owners before they could get their work to the general public. It was harder for the average person to have access to printers, artists, promotion, radio interviews, and do all the things that authors took quite a big fat royalty out of the author's pay for many years for. Now, all those barriers haven't only been lowered—they have been OBLITERATED.

Authors are freer than ever to put their work in books and have them printed ON DEMMAND with no extra copies stored and no major financial hole they have to go into to take a risk on it. Blogs can promote poetry to thousands of people around the world—and the poets can take a nice chunk of advertising money from adsense and other programs in the process. These authors can put up their own websites—hand out business cards with the web address to attract people and use videos on Youtube to show interviews and back story extras. And the best part about it? They don't have to share their profits with anyone.

On top of that, a new wave of small presses have come about who share most of the burdens of production with the author while taking much less of a chunk of the royalties from them. Some traditional publishing houses would give the author royalties as little as 8% of the profits from a book. These new small presses go somewhere closer to 70/30, 60/40 and sometimes (although rarer) even 50/50. More importantly, there is no limit of the mainstream markets as thanks to the internet there is now a niche market for literally ANYTHING one can think of. Mixed media outlets allow authors to reach more people than ever before. Books on tape? A simple as the audio recording program on their computer. The options are literally endless for those who are willing to go out there and take them. So stop listening to the gloom and doom theories—start to believe the (true) fact that in the world of new and thriving technologies comes new and thriving ways for authors to make a living. And that's what we are going to explore together.

The Writer's Cardinal Rule

The Writer’s Cardinal Rule

 

This is something that so many authors do backwards in the beginning. I have seen countless blogs out there and countless twitter accounts by writers, artists, poets, novelists and more. Some these blogs look good (and some don’t.) They have quite a lot of content, and they update them consistently. But there is a major problem that too many writers make, and it’s one that can keep a career from ever getting started. This because they do not follow the cardinal rule all writers of the 21^st century need to follow if they are going to build a fan base.

Lead with the content first.

Apple Jack’s Poetry Vlog!

Big Mamma’s Novel Corner

Joe Nobodies Twitter Account.

 

See the problem with all of these? (Other than the obvious.) That’s right—you don’t know who the heck they are. More importantly you don’t have any idea what it is they are writing about. Now on the one hand you can’t blame people for being confused about how this works. After all, everyone has seen pop stars crammed down their throats, books on the shelves of stores with the author name in bold and the title in small font on the bottom, radios chanting the same name after name after name. The difference is—these advertising companies have all the time in the world and all the means in the world to repeat the names day after day week after week and play their songs on the radio, put their books in your face and generally get them familiar enough in your mindset where they feel like old friends by the time they render your credit card 40 bucks lighter. The problem with us smaller time folk is that we don’t have that luxury.

“But then how are rags to riches stories made?”

They are made by a different formula. And usually by following the cardinal rule of writing in the 21^st century: lead with your content, not your name.

Apple Jack’s Poetry Vlog as a title probably won’t pick up many new listeners on the fly—but “Sweet Love Poems” might. “My Job Sucks Poetry Corner” might. “Funny Quotes” twitter feed could.

No matter what genre you write in—fiction, non fiction, poetry, plays, movie scripts, the material is about SOMETHING. How specific the something is determines where your fans come from—finding the niche community that would find what you are writing about appealing is a major, major factor.

For example, a book of poetry from a first time poet with no overall theme would have a hard time getting picked up by a publisher—if a poet chose to put it out themselves odds are a few friends and family members might buy it, but that’s it. Take this same poet, organize the first book around a specific theme, and then market the book to those people who are interested in the theme and odds are the sales will do MUCH better. That same poet’s first book that could have been a flop could turn into a regional best seller when coupled with a theme like “poetry of breakup.” Not to mention that when you get to the online component of search engines—no one will be searching for an author’s name unless they already know the author. Subject matter on the other hand is a different story.

So when thinking about what to put out next—poetry, fiction, non-fiction or whatever—figure out what the themes are—and push those themes. If done well enough—eventually people will start to associate a name with the theme—and that’s when the fans start to trickle in rapidly.