I know most writers know this. They just don’t always get what it means to them and to their ability to succeed as authors. And if they get it, they don’t want to change with the changing times so they can, in fact, succeed. By success I mean becoming a published author with a book that sells well.

This year I finally landed a traditional publishing deal. I’ve self-published nine short books and workbooks, but my blog, How to Blog a Book will be released as How to Blog a Book: Write, Publish and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time in late April or early May by Writer’s Digest Books and is now available for presale on Amazon. I managed to land this contract in large part by embracing all the changes in the publishing world over the last 10 years or so—and by transforming myself into more than just a writer.

I can remember the first proposal I sent out. Despite the fact that I was a newbie to book publishing, it received high marks. Agents and publishers alike commended me on the actual proposal, idea, title, and writing. However, after all the positive feedback came the dreaded word: but. “But you don’t have a platform.”

In those days—about 10 years ago—platform was the new buzz word. I’d never heard it before. And it took me about two years before I really began to embrace it wholeheartedly, before I really began to do what it takes to build platform. I put on my speaker’s hat and began to speaking to groups.

As the Internet took hold, I had someone create a website for me. Later I became my own webmaster, and now many days I wear a webmaster’s hat. Then came Facebook followed closely by the other social networks. I put on a social networker’s and marketer’s hat, and I wear it much of every day. And blogging fell into step. I am a blogger writing, managing and publishing five blogs. That also makes me a self-publisher, and as self-publishing print books and ebooks become more popular, I became a publisher of these as well wearing my self-publisher’s hat for these roles and tasks. Then came YouTube, podcasts, ezine marketing, teleseminars, webinars…I wear some of the hats associated with these, too.

I admit I haven’t been able to keep pace with all the changes. I’m just learning how to post a podcast. My too-fancy video camera keeps me from posting video to YouTube, my lousy Internet connection precludes doing webinars, but I have done as much as I felt able—more than many writers.

I don’t say this with any sense of ego. I say this from experience. Because I meet these writers at conferences where I speak and at workshops I teach. They call me or email me every day. They tell me they haven’t put on these hats—nor do they want to in most cases.

Here’s the deal. A new publishing world requires a new type of writer—a writer who is more than just a writer. It takes more than just a good idea and good writing to get a book published today. You must also be a good business person and wear a business person’s hat. Along with that hat comes a promoter’s hat, and under that a social networker’s hat, a speaker’s hat, a press release writer’s hat, etc. You may also need to wear those other hat’s I mentioned, such as a blogger’s hat or a webmaster’s hat. Or else you will need to hire someone to do these things for you—but some of these hats you will simply need to wear. Period.

You must transform yourself to meet the demands of the publishing industry—if you want to succeed, if you want to land a traditional publishing deal or sell a lot of self-published books. That requires wearing more than a writer’s hat. That requires embracing all the jobs and all the technology of the new world in which publishing—and your potential readers—operate.

As agent Michael Larsen, author of How to Get an Agent, says, “Now is the best time to be a writer.” But for some writers it feels like the worst time. The constantly changing technology of this era offers numerous opportunities for aspiring (and published) authors—or obstacles depending upon your perspective. You must decide to be more than a writer or to achieve your goals of becoming not just an aspiring author but a published author. And you have to be more than an author to become a successful author—one that sells more than the average 300 books per year. (Yes, that’s the average number.)

Like me, you must embrace the changes in the publishing world and transform yourself into more than just a writer. Are you ready to do this? How badly do you want to succeed? Badly enough to do what it takes—no matter what? Ask yourself those questions. The answers are important.

Here are the five things I suggest you do if you want to transform yourself into a new writer for the new publishing age:

1. Be a good business partner. Remember that publishing is a business. Gone are the days when a publisher would take a chance on a new writer, offer a huge advance and put a ton of promotional time and money into making that first book a success. In addition to great ideas and great writing, publishers want great business partners—ones that can help sell books.
2. Get social. Despite the fact that many writers tend to be antisocial—or shy, reserved or introverted, to succeed you must be willing to get out and connect with other people—people who will one day buy your book. If you don’t like doing this in person, you are in luck. Today the Internet offers myriads of ways to connect with people by simply showing a picture of yourself and writing status updates, sharing links and your wisdom. You can write, write, write, which you know how to do, as a way to connect. And don’t balk at the people wanting to connect with you; that’s the point!
3. Embrace technology. Move through your fear. Instead of hiding behind the thought that you can’t understand or manage Facebook or a blog or your website, get help, take a tutorial, hire an expert, or simply dive in for a week. Before you know it, you’ll be a techie, too!
4. See every obstacle as an opportunity. It’s all about attitude. If you think it’s going to be hard, it will be. If you think you can’t do it, you won’t be able to. But if you see all the changes in the industry and the technological advances as opportunities to help you succeed, you’ll jump at them faster than a jack rabbit. And you’ll be a published author before you know it.
5. Make choices. The changing world and industry have created tons of choices. You don’t have to do everything or be everywhere. You’ll drive yourself crazy if you think you do. Pick and choose what works best for you and your work. Start small and build up to some of the other options. Add things into your tool box after you’ve mastered others. Take your time; don’t feel rushed.

If I hadn’t taken my own advice I wouldn’t be where I am today, I wouldn’t have my traditional publishing deal. Because I embraced technology—blogging, took the opportunity I saw in the blog-to-book trend and blogged a book about how to make the most of this trend, and used everything I had learned about promoting myself (building platform) and my work (my blogs) on the Internet using social networking, ezine marketing, on-line press releases, teleseminars, etc., I became a more than just a writer. I became a good business partner for a publisher. I became a new writer for a new age.

Today marks the final day of the 2011 Write Nonfiction in November (WNFIN) challenge and blog. As the final event I’ll be interviewing agent and author Michael Larsen today at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. PT on a topic related to this blog post: “Content, Character & Connection: Becoming a Successful Writer in a Bottom-Up World.”

If you want to learn how to transform yourself, if you want to find out what you need to know to take advantages of the opportunities the new age of publishing hold for you (and to not see them as obstacles to success), register for this FREE WNFIN finale teleseminar. You can do so here.

During the teleseminar we’ll be asking some important questions you need to consider as you think about your own transformation—and your path to success as a writer. Whether you register for the teleseminar or not, ask yourself:

• What perspective do you need on writing, agents, technology, promotion, and publishing to succeed?
• Do you need to change your perspective in order to succeed in today’s publishing world?
• Do you know how to build the platform and communities you must have to sell your work?
• Do you know where to get the best editor, publisher, and deal for your books?

Also, beyond putting the right words down on paper in the right order, do you have the character it takes to become a successful writer in the new age of publishing? According to Michael, “Character is the set of qualities you need to be effective as a writer.” To be effective you must not only write well, you must get your write read—published. Do you have these characteristics? Do you know what they are?

And, do you know how to connect with and relate to all of the people you need or want in your professional life? Today there are so many ways to connect—and to connect with people who heretofore where unreachable.

Michael has been many things to me: agent, mentor, colleague, and friend. I’m so excited to interview him today. Join us on the call and get the information you need to move forward and achieve your goals. Register here.

After today you can find the same great information you’ve receive during WNFIN at its sister blog, Write Nonfiction NOW! I hope you’ll visit it Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, when I post new content there. By continuing to read about how to write, publish and promote your nonfiction you can support your self in becoming the new writer for the new age and succeeding in reaching your writing goals.

I hope you met your November writing goals—and the challenge WNFIN offered you. I hope you learned something in these 30 days of blogs posts you can use to help you succeed as a writer. I also hope you were able to combine your passion and your purpose and get inspired to move on in December to edit your finished WNFIN project and get it published. Please let me know if you do.

Also, if you got something out of this month’s WNFIN blog posts, and if you are a Write Nonfiction NOW! reader, please take the time to vote for the blogs in two very important contests. Getting on either list would give my blogs much more recognition and exposure, which would help me get the information I offer on how to write, publish and promote nonfiction out to more people.

1.      The 6th Annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest

I’d love it if you would nominate my blog for the Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest, the blogosphere’s biggest contest for writing blogs.

To do so, click here for instructions. The blog url you will need to include is www.writenonfictionow.com (Write Nonfiction in NOW!), and mention Write Nonfiction in November, its sister blog. Write Nonfiction NOW! functions 11 months out of the year and then dovetails with Write Nonfiction in November during one month of the year–November–while the challenge takes place.

2.     Writer’s Digest‘s 101 Best Websites for Writers

I’d also be very appreciative if you would vote both www.writenonfictioninnovember.com (Write Nonfiction in November), and www.writenonfictionnow.com (Write Nonfiction NOW!) as one of Writer’s Digest‘s 101 Best Websites for Writers, which is one THE top list of on-line resources published each year by this writing magazine. Learn how to vote for the blogs here.

Thank you so much for participating in WNFIN 2011! May you Achieve More Inspired Results in the final month of 2011 and in the New Year!

 About the Author

Nina Amir, Your Inspiration-to-Creation Coach, inspires writers to create the results they desire—published products and careers as writers and authors. She the author of the forthcoming book, How to Blog a Book: Write, Publish and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time (Writer’s Digest Books, April 2012) and the popular workbook, How to Evaluate Your Book for Success. Additionally, she is a freelance editor, and writing, book, blogging, and author coach who blogs at Write Nonfiction NOW and How to Blog a Book and writes the National Jewish Issues and the National Self-Improvement columns for www.examiner.com. She is also the founder of Write Nonfiction in November, a challenge and blog, and the weekly writing and publishing expert on Michael Ray Dresser’s popular radio show Dresser After Dark. Find out more about her at ninaamir.com or at www.copywrightcommunications.com .

Why? Because these days readers spend most of their time in Cyberspace searching out information on their interests and seeking out the advice of experts and opinions of others. In the process, they may—or may not—discover you and your book.

My colleague Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, an ebook distributor, wrote this final guest blog post of the 2011 Write Nonfiction in November (WNFIN) challenge. In it he explains why authors might need to stop focusing so much attention on marketing and rely more on discovery—a new term for a new publishing age. He also explains why it can take longer for a book to get discovered than typically is given to a print book.

I see, however, how employing many of the tools we have learned in previous WNFIN guest posts about promotion on the Internet can actually make authors more discoverable. So, after you read this post, you might want to go back and reread some of the previous ones on websites for authors, blogging, social networking, etc.

And don’t forget to register for Wednesday’s WNFIN finale teleseminar with author and agent Michael Larsen on How to Become a Successful Writer in a Bottom-Up World at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. PT.

Rethinking Book Marketing: Why Discovery Matters More
By Mark Coker

Marketing isn’t as important as people think it is.  I know this statement might strike some as sacrilegious.

Here’s the problem:  Great marketing will raise awareness about your book and motivate readers to buy it.  But great marketing is expensive and extremely difficult to pull off.  We all know authors who invested thousands of dollars in marketing, never to earn the money back in book sales.

In the old days of print publishing, the author and publisher would launch their marketing campaigns to coincide with the book’s arrival at brick and mortar retailers.  Most conventional campaigns included advertising, radio interviews and book signings.  If things went well, the book would start jumping off shelves, stores would order more books, publishers would print more books, and everyone was happy.

Unfortunately, most books flopped, and stores would ship their unsold inventory back to the publisher for a full refund.  Many of these so-called flops were actually great books that simply weren’t given enough time to find their readers.

Marketing is merely a catalyst for sales.  Like any true catalyst, catalysts help start the fire but they can’t sustain it. The word-of-mouth spawned by passionate readers is what propels books to go on to become best-sellers.

With the rise of online retailers and their unlimited shelf pace, and the corresponding decline of brick and mortar retailers, the rules are changing.  With the advent of self-publishing and the democratized distribution to online bookstores enjoyed by self-published authors, books no longer need go out of print.  This means books have more time to build fans and readership.

In this new age of the immortal book, marketing will take a back seat to discovery.  What is discovery?  Discovery is the method by which readers discover your book.

A couple months ago, I ran a survey over at MobileRead, the popular online community of ebook readers.  I asked readers to name their single favorite method of discovering the ebooks they purchase.  I presented them with 12 options, one of which was “other,” and they were allowed to select one answer only.  The results were surprising, and the lessons gleaned from this survey paint an encouraging picture for authors, especially new, unknown authors.

I first published the findings along with a pie chart at the Smashwords Blog.  Here, I’ll summarize the key results:

1. Readers trust their online communities more than immediate friends and family – 28 percent of survey respondents said they prefer to discover books by listening to the recommendations of their fellow online readers in message boards and blogs.  This contrasts with only 7 percent who said they prefer to learn about new books from immediate friends and family.  Why the disparity?  In the online realm, it’s easy to find hyper-focused online communities that share your same passion for your favorite genre.
2. The author is the brand, and brand matters – The #2 method of discovery, cited by 18 percent of respondents, was readers searching for books from their favorite authors.  This speaks to the importance of author as brand.  Once you earn the trust of readers and they know you’ll honor their time with a great read, they will search out your other books.
3. Random browsing is big – The rest of the survey’s answers were distributed across the remaining answers, with none garnering more than 7 percent of the vote.  However, if you look carefully, taken in the aggregate, you learn that 27 percent of reader answers relate to random discovery.  Readers browse for books.  They’re looking for something to grab them.  The following are all random browsing methods: I browse book covers, and if it grabs me I investigate further (7 percent); I browse randomly then look at reviews (7 percent); I read free ebooks, and if I like the authors I buy their other titles (5 percent); I browse paper books at brick and mortar bookstores, then search for the ebook online (4 percent); I’ll sample anything, and if it grabs me I’ll download/buy it (4 percent). Most other answers involve some element of random browsing.

My survey is not without its flaws.  As mentioned above, I posed the question in an online community, so their answers aren’t necessarily reflective of all readers.  I limited the options to 12 answers, and I didn’t allow multiple choices.  I didn’t give respondents the option to specify if their answers would change based on whether they’re searching for fiction or non-fiction.

My survey flaws aside, I think the results provide important lessons for authors.  It’s clear, for example, that authors can utilize multiple touch points to reach readers.  The results also indicate that much of book discovery is about the readers finding you, not you finding the readers (thus my argument that marketing is not as important as some think).

How you can put these survey findings to use:

• Your book is your most effective marketing tool.  Write a book that touches the reader’s soul and the reader will market your book for you though online word-of-mouth and reviews
• Target the online communities.  A large portion of readers look to their online communities – whether it be MobileRead, Goodreads, LibraryThing, Facebook, or a specialty community – for book recommendations
• Distribution is important.  The majority of book discovery, for ebooks at least, is happening in the online stores.  If your book isn’t available in all the major online stores, then readers cannot stumble across it when they’re randomly browsing.
• Book covers matter.  Your cover image should be as good or better than the covers from large publishers.  The cover image should represent your book, and appeal to your target audience.
• Leverage free.  A small portion of readers read free books first, and if your book makes them happy, they will seek out your other titles to purchase.  If you only have one title, consider making it free for a limited time, like 30-60 days, so you can build readership and reviews.
• The survey reveals the many triggers that cause a reader to download and sample your book, such as the cover image, the book description, etc.  Think about how all these triggers work in unison.  Each factor is an opportunity to draw the reader in.  But also think about the opposite.  There’s a warning here.  In the comments over at MobileRead, readers made it clear that the same factors, poorly executed by you, can squander your potential success and cause the reader to click away.  For example, an unprofessional book cover image is an instant turn-off.  Typos in a book description are a turnoff.  Books that are not well edited and proofed, another turnoff.

Bottom line:  consider all the things you can do to make your book more available, more discoverable and more enticing to readers.

About the Author

Mark Coker is the founder of Smashwords, an ebook distributor serving the Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo and the Diesel eBook Store.  Mark is also the author of the Smashwords Style Guide (how to format and publish an ebook), the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide (how to market any book), The 10 Minute PR Checklist (PR strategy for entrepreneurs), and Boob Tube, a novel he co-wrote with his wife that explores the wild and wacky world of daytime television soap operas.

Like this blog? Vote it one of Writer’s Digest‘s 101 Best Websites for Writers. Learn how here.

With just three days left to Write Nonfiction in November (WNFIN), I’d like to focus on helping writers take advantage of the changing publishing environment. That’s why on the last day of the challenge, Nov. 30, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET, I’ll be interviewing agent and author Michael Larsen for the WNFIN finale teleseminar on How to Become a Successful Writer in a Bottom-Up World. Register for this teleseminar here.

With so many books being sold online, and ebooks sales continuing to rise, tomorrow Mark Coker, CEO and founder of Smashwords, an ebook publisher and distributor, will discuss the new ways in which readers are finding books online.

Today, however, we’re going to see how a savvy write can use social networking to help research, write and market a book. I’m so pleased to feature a guest post from my friend Philippa Gamse, whose book, 42 Rules for a Web Presence That Wins, was just released. Philippa has done something very unique: She used a social network—LinkedIn—-pre-publication to research and write her book. And now that her book has been released she is using that same network to market and promote it. Her expert guest post explains how she did this and offers nonfiction authors—in particular business authors who might  use LinkedIn to connect with other business prospects—insight into how to follow in her footsteps. As you read, consider how you might use Twitter, Facebook and Google+ as research sources and more direct marketing avenues as well, and which might serve your type of book or market.

LinkedIn: A Great Tool for Business Authors
By Philippa Gamse

There’s a lot of buzz about LinkedIn as a premier resource for recruiters and job-seekers.

But don’t overlook LinkedIn as an excellent tool for writing and promoting your business book. Here’s how LinkedIn helped me both pre- and post-publication of my recent book 42 Rules for a Web Presence That Wins: Essential Business Strategy for Website and Social Media Success.
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Research and expert interviews:  I follow several LinkedIn groups in my field of web strategy, including “Web Governance” and “Web Managers.”  These groups are full of high-quality discussions, and, therefore, attract high-caliber members.

While I was writing my book, I monitored topics of interest to me.  On several occasions I contacted the author of an especially pertinent post and requested further details for a quote, case study or full interview.  I was never turned down.

As a result, I have examples in my book from companies, associations or experts that I didn’t previously know.  I was able to expand my horizons and understanding, and, of course, these contributors are now in my network of connections.

Soliciting endorsements:  In my experience, email sent via LinkedIn almost always receives a response and is very unlikely to be classified as spam.  Since it’s a requirement of membership to provide a valid and working email address, using LinkedIn is a highly reliable method of contact.  I always use it when approaching someone for the first time or when my communication is important and unexpected.

I was honored to receive some phenomenal endorsements for my book, including several from prominent figures in my field that I approached through LinkedIn.  I used either InMail for an existing connection or sent an invitation to connect to someone new with a cover note explaining my purpose.  Once we were connected, I could correspond with them further and obtain their agreement to proceed.  (I’d never invite a new connection without a personal message).

Marketing and promotion:  Now that the book has been published, I’m busy promoting it through all of my connections.  This is where my strategy of not connecting with unknown people is paying off; I won’t accept an invitation from someone I’ve never heard of without a check-in. (“Thanks for contacting me.  I don’t think we’ve met. Can you tell me your interest in connecting?”)

Since I know something about all of my connections, I’ve been able to identify people who can help me to spread the word about the book.  In a number of cases, I’ve offered to send a complimentary copy in return for a review, blog posting, recommendations to clients and colleagues, etc.  The ability to see the connections of people in my network allows me to judge who has the influence and reach that I need and to prioritize my approaches accordingly.

All in all, I believe my LinkedIn contacts are so valuable that I’ve started to review my Twitter followers and to invite those who look interesting to connect on LinkedIn as well.  It takes a little time, but I think it’s worth it. I just landed an interview with a high-traffic Internet radio show after seeing the LinkedIn profile of a Twitter follower and making the connection.

If you’re working on a business book, make the most of all the opportunities that LinkedIn affords. It will pay off for you.

About the Author

A Web strategy pioneer, Philippa Gamse has been working with Internet applications since 1991. Originally from the UK, she formed her US-based consulting and speaking practice in 1995. Philippa drills deep into the visitor experience and creates actionable and specific recommendations for your Web presence. Clients report significant improvement in quality Web traffic, visitor engagement, costumer loyalty, and qualified sales leads within 30 days of implementing her recommendations. She was the sole featured expert for the cover story on effective Web strategies for UPS Compass Magazine Fall 2009, distributed to more than one million businesses. Philippa is a Certified Management Consultant—an ISO-accredited designation recognized in over 60 countries. Her book, 42 Rules for a Web Presence That Wins,was released in October 2011.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/philippagamse

Yet, social networking offers much benefit for all writers—at least those wanting to build platform, brand themselves and sell books. And it can be done quickly, efficiently and pleasantly if you know how. In fact, it can be fun and life changing. Like today’s guest blogger, once I embraced social networking, I found I enjoyed it and it enhanced my life on a personal and a professional level.

Author Joanna Penn joins us today to offer her advice on how writers can use social networks correctly. I recommend Joanna’s newest product, “Social Networking for Authors & Writers,” for all those aspiring authors and published authors who don’t want to become social networkers. Learn from a fellow author how to use the social networks with this product that includes an ebook, an audio interview with social media expert Alexis Grant and personal videos on how to use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as the reader-specific social networks like Goodreads and Shelfari.

For those of you already wearing your social hats, take note of the mistakes Joanna mentions in this post. And for those of you getting started, book mark it; you’ll want to put her advice to use immediately after setting up your accounts on all the social networks.

5 Social Networking Mistakes To Avoid
By Joanna Penn

Everyone says you must use social networking as part of your author platform.

Publishers, agents, self-publishing marketing people, other authors. It now seems part of the non-negotiable author platform for indie authors as well as those wanting a traditional deal.

I started blogging, tweeting and Facebooking over two and a half years ago and consider it a life-changing experience. I have made some fantastic online friends, connected with peers in the industry, gained an online platform that now reaches thousands of people and my novel, Pentecost, is still in the Amazon bestseller rankings after seven months based on a launch fueled by social media. Twitter in particular is an important part of my social life as well as my work, and I am a passionate evangelist for the platform.

It doesn’t matter what social network you want to jump into, there are principles that apply to all and some basic mistakes that you can avoid that will make it a much more effective place for you to be.

Here are the top five mistakes authors and writers make in social networking.

1. Not being useful/interesting/entertaining.

If you want to stand out in a crowded market online you have to offer something to people. Remember the phrase “what’s in it for me?” Everyone wants to know things that will help them, or interest them or make them laugh. If you’re not offering that, then you won’t get attention. If you don’t have attention, it won’t lead to interest in you or action in terms of buying your book. So focus on being one of these things as the main pillar of your social networking. For example, I tweet useful links to blog posts on writing, publishing and marketing @thecreativepenn.

2. Not being personal enough.

Yes, you have to be useful, but you also have to be a real person. Don’t just tweet information all the time. Intersperse some updates about your life, your writing, maybe your pets or interests, even some photos. People connect with people, not info-streams. Use pictures and also link to multi-media that you create or participate in. Remember that people buy from those they know, like and trust, so you have to earn that. I also recommend using a picture of your face throughout your networking. It’s much more personal to connect with someone specific rather than an avatar or random picture. Using the same picture all over the web is a good idea and will help people recognize you across the networks.

3. Being too personal or too marketing focused.

Of course, personal does need balance. You can’t just have personal updates as no one is interested in that. Also, do not just tweet about your new book. The fastest way to get blocked by people is if you are just interested in selling your stuff. There’s a time for that but it’s AFTER you’ve built up some social karma and goodwill with the online audience. Also, if you want to get retweeted, or Liked so your post is shared across other people’s networks, it needs to resonate. That generally means it should have a good headline. I frequently rewrite headlines from blogs in order to get more retweets. Basic copywriting skills will serve you well here. I recommend Copyblogger as the best place to learn about this and much more on internet marketing.

4. Not understanding generosity and social karma.

There is an understanding online that we are not competitors, that this isn’t a zero sum game, that the pie just gets bigger. In fact, those of us in the same niche post on each others blogs, share posts that aren’t our own and promote other people’s products, even if they overlap with ours. The blogging and social media world is all about being generous with links, with information, with help. It makes the community a very positive place to be, and we all benefit. It’s important to do this for its own sake, but it also generates social karma, as in you will receive back in the measure you give. I don’t mean this in any spiritual manner, just that “what goes around, comes around’ as in any community.

5. Expecting short term gain.

Social networking is basically hand-selling to people around the world. You have to connect with people over a longer period of time, before you try to sell them your book. Many authors dive into social networking just before their book launch and then try to sell immediately, or try desperately to grow their following at the last minute. But it doesn’t work like that. You need to work on it consistently, putting in the effort to create relationships over time. This is a long game. Luckily, authors are used to long term projects!

So, those are the top mistakes I see people making on the social networks. If you have any more lessons to share, please add them in the comments below.

Do you need some more in-depth help with social networking?

Many people want to be successful at social networking but they are afraid of wasting time and not being effective, as well as the concerns of privacy and just not knowing where to start. So I have launched a multi-media mini-course that will help with this.

It has a 59 page ebook, plus audios and four behind the scenes videos on all the major social networks. I share all my top tips and strategies for building your social network and using your time most effectively. I help you through the process saving you time and effort in jump-starting your social networking platform.

About the Author

Joanna Penn is the author of thriller novel, Pentecost, described as “Dan Brown meets Lara Croft.” Her blog www.TheCreativePenn.com helps people write, publish and market their books. Connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn.

Don’t miss the final telesminar of this year’s WNFIN event on November 30th, “Content, Character & Connection: Becoming a Successful Writer in a Bottom-Up World,” with Michael Larsen.  To be register, click here.

Like this blog? Vote it one of Writer’s Digest‘s 101 Best Websites for Writers. Learn how here.

Not long ago, though, Google released a new “update,” and began penalizing websites for duplicate content—the same content in more than one place. But what did this mean for me? Did it mean that I had to create all new content in all these cases? Yikes! This brought many of my submissions to a halt.  I wondered if this was the case for other writers as well.

Since I advocate repurposing your content, and we’ve just heard about some great ways to market and promote your work using blogs, ezine articles and blog tours—all of which can be done more quickly and effectively when you do, indeed, repurpose some content, I decided to ask the one person I knew could address the issue of duplicate content thoroughly to provide Write Nonfiction in November with a post on the topic. V. Michael Santoro is an award winning author and managing partner for Globe On Demand, LLC, a content marketing firm, and he understands more about these sorts of things than anyone else I know. Thus, I wasn’t surprised to receive a blog post from him that was jam-packed to overflowing not only with the explanation I had asked for but with resources galore to help you repurpose your content to your hearts content and to avoid duplicate content penalties at the same time. The tips and tools he provides in this post will keep you busy repurposing your content for a long, long time! As for me, thanks to Vito, I’m back in business!

Dealing with Google’s Duplicate Content Penalties without Doubling your Workload
By V. Michael Santoro

Google’s Panda update was crushing to sites that contained duplicate content or that were considered “thin” sites. A thin site is one with little, if any, quality unique content or one that contains only duplicate content. For example, many people only use published articles from article directories, such as EzineArticles.com, to build their site. It has become difficult to rank in the search engines with this approach.

Why Duplicate Content is a Problem

Google wants to provide excellent results for people using their search engine. If they return the same content for the top ten or more search returns, they will lose those surfers to competitors. Google penalizes duplicate content with bad rankings and reward quality original content with good rankings. It’s that simple!

What is Quality Content?

Quality content is not determined by how well it is editorially written, but rather Google views how “expertly” it is written. It reviews your web pages and online marketing material and looks for the “theme based” words that are included. For example, if a doctor was to write an article on heart trouble, he/she would include certain terminology, such as cardiovascular and cardiomyopathy. Google compares the content to a database of associate theme keywords and phrases. The more theme words that are contained in well-written content, the higher the quality score and page ranking will be.

NOTE:  Your site will be penalized by the search engines if you just list the keywords that you want to rank for instead of using them in naturally written content. This is referred to as keyword stuffing. The keywords need to be used in sentences that read well for the visitor. For example, if you were trying to rank for the keyword phrase, “lower back pain relief,” you would use it in a sentence such as, “For lower back pain relief we recommend the xyz belt.”

Determining Your Content

The free information that you offer on your website and online marketing material needs to be based upon your niche keyword phrases. Additionally, it must provide good information about your topic. Do not recycle general or basic common sense material. Your free content needs to address topics and information not easily found on the web. It needs to brand you as an authority.

For example, which paragraph appears to be written by an expert?

Sentence 1:

If you are experiencing lower back pain, you are not alone. Nearly everyone at some point in their life has back pain that interferes with work, routine daily activities, or recreation.

Sentence 2:

“The spaces between your vertebrae are maintained by round, spongy pads of cartilage called intervertebral discs that allow for flexibility in the lower back and act much like shock absorbers throughout the spinal column to cushion the bones as the body moves.”

Which sentence do you think was written by someone with a good knowledge of the spine? Obviously, Sentence 2 has a better chance of ranking in the search engines even though both sentences read editorially correct.

Duplicate Content Penalties

We cannot emphasize this enough:  Using the same content on multiple pages within your website should be avoided. This includes your website’s Meta tags. This can trigger a duplicate content penalty which means your web pages will not rank highly in the search engines. Make sure that you rewrite your content so that it reads differently even though it has a similar meaning.

For example:

For more information about how we can help you, visit our services description page.

Rewrite on another page:

“If you desire more information about how Acme can assist you, please review our services description web page.”

Also, ensure that each page is 800 to 1,200 words in length. Using video to connect with your visitors is also valuable.

As an author, you want to publish your content online using keyword phrases as anchor text (clickable links) back to your website. This material needs to be original. If you distribute the same content one article will rank, for example, and the others may not.

Tips to Lighten Your Content Writing Workload and Maximize Your Return

The following is a technique to maximize the return on your content writing efforts. You can re-purpose your content into various formats and use tools to assist you.

TIP:  Name your files using your keyword phrases. Then when uploading the files, ensure that the required Title, Description and Keyword tags incorporate the specific keyword phrase.

You can perform your keyword research using the free Google keyword research tool. Go to:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Now, follow this process to turn one article into an online marketing machine:

Step 1

Write your core article (800 to 1,200 words) using one of your keyword phrases. Then submit it to http://www.ezinearticles.com. Once it’s approved, it will be published with a link back to your website. In the resource box, use the keyword phase as anchor text.

Step 2 – Audio files

Next, download Audacity, the free sound recording software. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

Audacity Tutorial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrPGMjZORCM

Read your article into the Audacity audio recording software and export it as an mp3 file using your keyword phrase as the file name.

Upload it to your website and submit it to one of the podcast directories.

The following link is a list of podcast directories:

http://www.podcast411.com/page2.html

Step 3 – PDF Format

Convert your written article to the PDF format. In MSWord, you can use the “Save As” command and save your file as a PDF document. Once you do, upload the file to http://www.scribd.com/

Step 4 – PPT Submission Sites

Layout your article as a PowerPoint presentation and then upload it to http://www.slideshare.net/

Step 5 – Video Presentations

Jing is a free screen recording program which allows you to make a video with a voiceover. The free version limits you to recording a five minute video and there is an inexpensive paid version that allows you to record longer videos. Download it from the following link: http://www.techsmith.com/jing/

Jing Tutorial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1jw8O0z4S0

Create a PowerPoint slide with a list of talking points about your article and make a Jing recording discussing these points. Upload the video to your YouTube channel.

Microsoft Movie Maker

Make a movie about your topic with Microsoft Movie Maker. Download it here for free:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/movie-maker

Microsoft Movie Maker Tutorial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9C-D30_P8Q

Export your PowerPoint presentation as jpegs and import them into Microsoft Movie Maker. Add a music background. Upload it to your YouTube channel.

NOTE: Since both videos are different, they will be not viewed as duplicate content.

TIP: Use the keyword phrase in the YouTube tags as described above. However, in the keyword tag, put the keyword phrase in quotes, “keyword phrase” – this will help with SEO.

Following this technique provides six links back to your website and generates traffic from the directories as well – all from ONE article.

Step 6 – Guest Blogging

Another way to have original content published is to become a guest blogger. By offering free quality content, you can generate additional back links to your website, while promoting your book.

Type the following into Google “write for us” + KEYWORD and replace the word KEYWORD with your actual keyword phrase or topic. This will return a list of associated blogs looking for your type of content.

Next Steps

You then rewrite your article and “rinse and repeat” the process to other directories.

Automation

If you are serious about this technique, then you may want to consider automating the process of rewriting your articles. The process is called “spinning.” Essentially, you copy your article into a software program which adds code to the content and automatically generates new versions of the article. A simple example of the spin syntax is: The {brown|black|white} {dog|puppy} {walked|ran} down the {road|driveway|street}. The spinning software mixes and matches the words within the brackets to create different versions of the article while retaining the meaning. You create the initial spun version and the software will generate hundreds of unique copies. Check out The Best Spinner demo video here. http://tinyurl.com/Spinner-Example  

Instant Article Wizard

This program helps you to research and generate articles in about 15 minutes. Check out the video demo here: http://tinyurl.com/IAW-Video

Once you rewrite or spin your article, repeat the above technique and submit to the following directories:

Article Directories

http://www.vretoolbar.com/articles/directories.php

PDF Directories

http://www.4shared.com

http://www.slideshare.net/

http://www.docstoc.com/

http://www.yudu.com/

http://issuu.com/

http://en.calameo.com/

http://www.docshare.com/

http://www.edocr.com

https://www.box.net

PPT Submission Sites

http://www.mypick.com

http://www.slideboom.com

http://www.slideserve.com

http://www.280slides.com

http://www.docs.google.com

http://www.show.zoho.com

http://www.powershow.com

http://www.authorstream.com

http://www.sliderocket.com

http://www.my.brainshark.com

http://www.slidesix.com

http://www.slidelive.com

Conclusion

It is becoming increasingly difficult to rank organically in the search engines. Writing quality content based upon targeted keyword phrases and distributing the files across a diversity of online directories will not only help to brand you as an authority, it will also help your website to rank in the search engines.

 About the Author

V. Michael Santoro is an award winning author and Managing Partner for Globe On Demand, LLC – a Content Marketing firm.

http://www.globeondemand.com

Don’t miss the final telesminar of this year’s WNFIN event on November 30th, “Content, Character & Connection: Becoming a Successful Writer in a Bottom-Up World,” with Michael Larsen.  To be register, click here.

Like this blog? Vote it one of Writer’s Digest‘s 101 Best Websites for Writers. Learn how here.

These days, however, the Internet is the golden ticket to books sales. More opportunities exist there than have yet been mined, I’m sure. However, my colleague, Stephanie Chandler, author of The Author’s Guide to Building an Online Platform: Leveraging the Internet to Sell More Books, has found and used many of them not only to sell books to readers but to build author platform so she could sell her books to traditional publishers. She’s been an inspiration to me, and I hope she will be to you as well.

Today she provides Write Nonfiction in November with a guest blog post filled with even more online writer and book marketing and promoting opportunities (and only one overlap with John Kremer’s post).  I’ve tried all these resources, and they all do, indeed, work. They’ve helped me build my own author platform, and I’m currently using them to build sales for my books.

Easy Internet Marketing Opportunities for Non-fiction Authors
By Stephanie Chandler

When I began promoting my first book back in 2005, I quickly realized that my best opportunities for exposure were online. At the time I owned a bookstore in Sacramento. We held author book signing events every weekend, but even big name authors who received a lot of press only sold only a small number of books. I wanted to make better use of my time so I looked for ways that I could promote books using the internet.

Following is a list of some of my favorite online promotion strategies for authors.

Blogging

A blog can be a creative outlet for a writer, not to mention a powerful promotion tool. Update it frequently (at least three times per week) and over time your traffic is bound to increase. To start yours, check out www.Typepad.com or www.WordPress.org.

Social Media

Sites like LinkedIn.com, Facebook.com and Twitter.com are ripe for finding and building an audience. Create an interesting profile and get active in social networking communities. Invest a little time each day, be engaging, share great content, and watch your fan base grow!

Internet Radio

Unlike traditional radio where you might be interviewed for 10 minutes, online radio shows, podcasts and teleseminars typically have guests on for up to an hour. An added bonus: listeners are often at their computers ready to buy! To find relevant shows, search Google for keywords and investigate shows archived on iTunes. Also check out sites like www.blogtalkradio.com, www.alltalkradio.net, www.wsradio.com, and www.womensradio.com.

Ebooks

Kindle books are currently outselling all books on Amazon. Ebooks are also being read on Barnes and Noble’s Nook, the iPhone, the iPad, home PCs, and many other devices. Now is the time to embrace this excellent opportunity for authors to get exposure and earn higher royalties. Set up an account with http://dtp.amazon.com and http://smashwords.com.

Conduct a Virtual Book Tour

Contact bloggers, teleseminar hosts, and internet radio shows and let them know that you are available for interviews. Book tours are typically conducted over a period of time (two to four weeks). Cross-promote the event by posting announcements through your social media channels and blog.

Article Marketing

For years I have used article marketing as one of my top strategies. Here’s how it works: write a brief article (700 to 1,000 words) and make that article available to others to reprint on their websites and in their blogs. In exchange, users must publish your brief bio—a single paragraph about you, your book, and your website. You can distribute your articles through content directories such as http://ezinearticles.com, http://ideamarketers.com and http://goarticles.com. Also offer your articles for reprint to websites that reach your target audience!

 About the Author

Stephanie Chandler is an author of several business and marketing books including The Author’s Guide to Building an Online Platform: Leverage the Internet to Sell More Books, From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks and Information Products, and Booked Up! How to Write, Publish, and Promote a Book to Grow Your Business.

www.AuthorityPublishing.com – Custom publishing for nonfiction books

www.StephanieChandler.com – Author/speaker details

www.BusinessInfoGuide.com – Resources for entrepreneurs

www.NonfictionWritersConference.com – The traditional writers’ conference goes virtual!

@bizauthor on Twitter

Don’t miss the final telesminar of this year’s WNFIN event on November 30th, “Content, Character & Connection: Becoming a Successful Writer in a Bottom-Up World,” with Michael Larsen.  To be register, click here.

Like this blog? Vote it one of Writer’s Digest‘s 101 Best Websites for Writers. Learn how here.

As authors, we want our book to rise to the top and be easily found. How do we make that happen?

I asked book marketing coach Dana Lynn Smith to provide a second guest post for Write Nonfiction in November, this time on the topic of how to get a book noticed on Amazon. The author of the Savvy Book Marketer series, which includes How to Get Your Book Reviewed: Sell More Books with Reviews, Testimonials and Endorsements—a must have for all authors, Dana provided great information on how authors can focus on search terms and popularity to help their books rise up the rankings at Amazon.

Easy Ways to Get Your Nonfiction Book Noticed on Amazon
By Dana Lynn Smith

With millions of books available in the world’s largest bookstore, it can be a real challenge to get your book noticed on Amazon.com.

One of the best ways to sell more books on Amazon is to increase your book’s visibility in the Amazon search results.

Amazon customers typically search for nonfiction books by title, keyword or author name. Like search engines, Amazon uses several criteria to determine which books to display on the search results page and in what order to display them.

The exact algorithm used to determine the search results is not known, but the major factors are how well books fit the search terms and the popularity of the books. Let’s look at these two factors and how you can capitalize on them:

Search Terms

When a customer enters a title or keyword, Amazon searches book titles, subtitles, keyword tags, and even the interior text of books for the best matches.

If you haven’t yet published your nonfiction book, try to use important keywords in the title and/or subtitle. I recommend that all nonfiction books have a keyword-rich subtitle to support the title, help potential customers see the benefit of the book, and increase the odds of the book showing up in keyword searches on Amazon.

Even if there is no subtitle printed on the cover of your book, you can still add a descriptive subtitle on Amazon and in your marketing materials.

Tags are keywords that customers associate with products on Amazon to help shoppers find items related to that keyword. To add tags for your book, scroll down your book page on Amazon to find the “Tags Customers Associate with this Product” section.

If you’re publishing in Kindle format, there’s a spot on the Kindle publishing dashboard to enter important keywords and select appropriate book categories as you are publishing the ebook.

Enrolling your book in Amazon’s Search Inside program allows Amazon to search the interior of the book for keywords during searches, and also lets customers view the table of contents and selected pages from the book.

Popularity

Popularity is a function of how many copies of a particular title have already been sold, how recently they have sold, how many reviews the book has received, and the star rating of the reviews.

The more books you sell on Amazon, the more books you are likely to sell in the future, because your book will appear higher in the search results. In addition, many customers assume that the best-selling book must be the best one on the topic.

One way to increase your book’s popularity, and therefore its search results placement, is to direct all of your online book orders to Amazon.com rather than offering links to several online bookstores or selling directly to consumers.

Another way to increase your popularity on Amazon is to do a virtual book tour or an “Amazon bestseller campaign” designed to push up your Amazon sales rank by generating a large number of orders on a single day or in a short period of time.

Having a lot of good reviews can also boost your book’s popularity and visibility in search results, as well as influencing the purchasing decisions of customers who click through to your book’s page on Amazon. Reviews are especially important for nonfiction books, where customers are often comparing several books on the same topic to decide which is the best fit for them.

To boost your book sales on Amazon, take steps to get your book found in customer searches!

About the Author

Excerpted from How to Sell More Books on Amazon by book marketing coach Dana Lynn Smith. Learn more about getting reviews on Amazon in How to Get Your Book Reviewed. For more book marketing tips, follow @BookMarketer on Twitter and get Dana’s free Top Book Marketing Tips ebook at www.TheSavvyBookMarketer.com

Don’t miss the final telesminar of this year’s WNFIN event on November 30th, “Content, Character & Connection: Becoming a Successful Writer in a Bottom-Up World,” with Michael Larsen.  To be register, click here.

Like this blog? Vote it one of Writer’s Digest‘s 101 Best Websites for Writers. Learn how here.

It’s possible to actually solicit good reviews for your book, thereby increasing the number of on-line sales you make. Book marketing coach Dana Lynn Smith knows all about this. The author of How to Get Your Book Reviewed: Sell More Books with Reviews, Testimonials and Endorsements—a must have for all authors today and a great addition to Dana’s Savvy Book Marketer series, today she offers a guest blog post full of a variety of practical tips on how to get reviews posted to online bookstore—tips any writer can put to use, no matter how little marketing or promoting experience they have (or how little effort they want to make promoting their book).

The Secret to Getting Reviews in Online Bookstores
By Dana Lynn Smith

Book reviews and recommendations in online bookstores like Amazon.com can have a powerful influence on book sales. Many shoppers read book reviews before making a purchase, especially for nonfiction books, where they tend to compare several books on a topic before making a decision.

Some customer reviews on Amazon discuss the content of the book, while others are simply recommendations, but both of these forms of customer feedback are valuable in helping shoppers decide if a book is a good fit for them. Even when people visit an online bookstore looking for a specific book, they often read the reviews to validate that they are making a good selection.

In addition to influencing book buyers, reviews can influence how many customers see your book when searching by keyword or title in online bookstores. The number and star ratings of a book’s reviews are one factor used in ranking books on the search results page.

Actively Solicit Reviews

So, what’s the secret to getting reviews in online bookstores (besides writing a great book)? ASK people to post reviews and make it EASY for them by providing a link to your book page or directly to the review screen.

Here are some ideas for inviting people to post reviews in online bookstores:

• When you send out review copies to colleagues and influencers seeking endorsements, ask them if they will also post the testimonial or a brief review on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. If you have sent manuscripts before the book was published, follow up after publication asking if they will post their comments on one of these stores.
• Any time someone writes a positive review of your book elsewhere, ask them to post it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
• Make an occasional post on your social networks, blog or newsletter, asking people to post a review on Amazon or BN.com if they enjoyed your book. Be sure to include a link to your book review page on one or both sites.
• When you receive an email or other correspondence praising your book, reply with a thank you note and a request to post a book review on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. If someone has taken the time to write to you about your book, they are obviously a fan and will probably be happy to post a book review for you.

You can create a link directly to the book review form by clicking on the “create your own review” button and then using a URL shortening service to create a short link to the form. To save time, save your review request email in a Word document and copy and paste it as needed.

Reviews in online bookstores can be a powerful sales tool; be sure to be proactive in seeking reviews for your book.

About the Author

Excerpted from How to Get Your Book Reviewed by book marketing coach Dana Lynn Smith. For more book marketing tips, follow @BookMarketer on Twitter and get Dana’s free Top Book Marketing Tips ebook at www.TheSavvyBookMarketer.com

Don’t miss the final telesminar of this year’s WNFIN event on November 30th, “Content, Character & Connection: Becoming a Successful Writer in a Bottom-Up World,” with Michael Larsen.  To be register, click here.

Like this blog? Vote it one of Writer’s Digest‘s 101 Best Websites for Writers. Learn how here.

If you want to know how to market your book, you might follow in the footsteps of successful authors, like Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, authors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. What did they do? They took the advice John Kremer laid out in his book, 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. However, we writers know “the times they are changing,” as Bob Dylan wrote—and quickly. While all the advice in John’s book still holds true, new ways to market books exist as well. That’s why today John offers us a no-nonsense, get-right-to-the-point guest blog post featuring four of his current top book marketing tactics. Some of them are oldies but goodies, and some of them are newbies that have appeared on the book marketing seen in recent years.

You can be sure I’ll be trying to put all four of these tactics to use for my book. I hope you’ll do the same as you finish up your Write Nonfiction in November project, get it published and market and promote it.

The Top 4 Book Marketing Tactics in Today’s World
By John Kremer

1. Speak.

Speaking builds a word-of-mouth army better than anything else. Speak locally—at garden clubs, libraries, bookstores, Rotary clubs, JCs, poetry nights, story swaps, book club meetings, etc. Then expand out to a wider area, to nearby cities, to nearby states. Eventually, expand out to an even wider audience.

When someone hears you speak, they become a bigger fan than if they had just read your book. If they like you when they hear you speak, they will tell ten times more people than by just reading your book.

2. Book yourself on national TV.

TV is still the largest mass market media. It still reaches more people than any other media –and with more impact. It’s worth spending the time contacting the ten or twenty news and talk shows that reach your audience. For most national TV shows, you can get the contact information in one of two ways: 1. from their websites, and 2. via your network of friends and fellow authors.

Your appearance on one major TV show will not only expose you to millions of viewers, but it also opens the door to dozens and sometimes hundreds of other media: newspapers, magazines, radio, more TV shows, etc.

3. Create relationships with high-traffic websites.

How many major high-traffic websites that attract your target reader have you created relationships with? Are these real relationships where you contribute content to them on a regular basis? In today’s world, Internet relationships are the key to marketing success.

Uncover five to ten top websites that already reach the audience you want to reach. Look over their sites until you find a way to contact someone behind the site—a webmaster, an editor, the founder. Then email them with an offer of free content for their readers: an interview with you, a review copy of your book, a free article (that is really good), some tips for their readers, a Q&A column on your specialty, etc. Their obligation, in return, is to link to your website or sales page.

4. Do a Superstar Blog Tour.

Or a Mega Blog Tour. Or a Blogpalooza. I’m not talking about the old-style humdrum virtual book tour of 15 or 20 blogs. I’m talking about an event blog tour that creates Internet buzz on a major scale. Event blog tours can build brands, create incredible website traffic, and sell tons of books.

The neat thing is that effective event blog tours take less time to carry out than the traditional Amazon Bestseller Campaign—and are almost always more effective in selling books, building a brand, and driving traffic.

If you want to know more about event blog tours, check out this recording of me speaking about the value and method of carrying out an effective impact blog tour: http://www.bookmarket.com/event-blog-tour-teleseminar.htm.

These four book marketing techniques work for almost any kind of book: fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, children’s books, how-to, spiritual, business, even cookbooks. You don’t have to do all four. Start with one and work it hard—you’ll get better results than doing Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, EzineArticles, or other Internet marketing flavors of the week.

About the Author

John Kremer is the author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. If you want to launch a SuperStar Blog Tour™, Mega Blog Tour™, or Blogpalooza™, check out http://www.bookmarket.com/event-blog-tour-teleseminar.htm.

http://www.bookmarket.com

I know that’s not something writers like to do, but it’s a necessary part of become a successful writer—a published writer who sells books or any type of nonfiction work, such as articles or essays. It’s even necessary if you want to blog a book or monetize a blog. So, put on that business hat and make sure you don’t suffer from what Ted Koppel calls the MEGO factor (My Eyes Glaze Over).  This is important stuff.

First, Susan Harrow, media coach and marketing strategist extraordinaire, and author of Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul, tells us about sound bites, small messages we offer to the media as well as to potential readers (buyers), agents, acquisitions editors—anyone we meet—about ourselves and our work. When we can create a pitch, an elevator speech, or sound bites, we can effectively communicate our most important messages, and we can brand ourselves. Most writers don’t ever try to brand themselves, and if they do they do so too late.

So, read Susan’s guest blog post carefully and take her expert advice to heart. I’ve been a student in her classes and know her lessons work. Learn how to use sound bites and then go out and use them.

Sound Bites for Authors
By Susan Harrow

If you think sound bites are just for the sleazy and slick, you’re missing out.

In today’s world, where people’s attention spans are the size of a tweet, sound bites can make or break a deal, a sale, or even a casual encounter. Authors need to be at the sound bite ready in every situation—because you can make a connection anywhere with anyone at any time that could result in a life-changing shift.

I was reminded of the importance of sound bites on a recent call with an author who became a client. She nattered on and on in her emails writing me several detailed pages before we even set up an appointment to see if we were a match. Not a good strategy. I took her on because she really has something to say to the world—she just takes way too long to say it. That’s why she hired me.

On our initial call I had to corral her over and over again in order to discover what her book was about. It wasn’t easy or fun. This is something that I should have been able to discover in 20 seconds. She was about to embark on a book tour so we had much work to be done before her book published.

Your audience wants to have a good time with you. It’s your job to deliver only the information they need to know at that instant—and deliver it in a concise, entertaining and elegant way.

Being able to get to the essentials of who you are, why you do what you do, and what your book is about, is critical. To whittle your words into sound bites takes practice. Lots of it. But once you master this kind of messaging you can use it across all mediums from your social networks, to a media interview, to a chat in line to get the latest iPhone.

The problem isn’t that authors don’t have plenty to say—it’s that they have too much—and they have no idea how to organize their thoughts or content into tightly crafted meaningful messages that leaves their audiences begging for more. It’s like taking Tolstoy’s War and Peace and turning it into Haiku. It’s a huge task and one that is best done with a sound bite buddy or media coach.

To get into the habit of speaking in sound bites before your book tour—or before you talk to a literary agent about taking you on as a client, I suggest that you create at least six sound bites using the following formulas (each of which is accompanied by an example).

Story of Origin: Kristen Scheurlein left a multi-million-dollar business as a graphic designer to become what she calls The Blanket Lady.

“I didn’t want to become an entrepreneur, but it’s in my blood. My grandfather was a shoemaker. In the Depression, he saw that many people couldn’t afford shoes. He traded chickens for shoes to make sure that none of the children in the village went shoeless. I didn’t realize that I was following in his footsteps when I began my business, which will become a complete non-profit in five years, but I am. We give away blankets to churches, charities, homeless. In essence, I’m trading chickens for shoes.”

Statistics Connected to Your Book or What You Do: Self-employed people, whose numbers continue to grow, have almost doubled since 1980 to over 17 million. One of the biggest challenges of the self-employed is the lack of structure and accountability to follow through on important tasks. Many complain that they feel like they are “all alone” in their business lives. Extreme Success gives self-employed people ways to develop the support they need and proven strategies to stay focused and effective on their most important goals.

Fact: 100 percent of the shots you don’t take don’t go in.~Wayne Gretzky

Vignette: Baby shoes for sale. Never been worn. ~Ernest Hemingway

Anecdote: I am walking down the street in Manhattan, Fifth Avenue in the lower sixties, women with shopping bags on all sides. I realize with some horror that for the last fifteen blocks I have been counting how many women have better and how many women have worse figures than I do. Did I say fifteen blocks? I meant fifteen years.~Pam Houston

Analogy: Driving down Hollywood Boulevard is like riding through a sewer in a glass-bottom boat. ~Author unknown

Aphorism: A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses. ~Chinese Proverb.

Acronym: F.A.S.T. Fix American Schools Today.

Through training and practice you move these key phrases into the conversations you have at networking events, with potential clients, buyers of your book, the media, and anyone who you want to give an experience of who you are and what your book is about. It’s important to be prepared for any personal and professional opportunity that comes your way, which can happen at any time.

While one of the participants in my sound bites course was waiting in line to buy an iPad 2 she sold over 250 books from the trunk of her car and closed a speaking engagement worth thousands of dollars. How? By speaking in sound bites in casual conversation.

You too can master speaking in sound bites to engage your ideal audience to buy your book, build your business, and create a lasting connection.

About the Author

Susan Harrow is an influential media coach, marketing strategist and author of Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul (HarperCollins). You can learn to speak in sound bites to get what you want in business and in life from her self-paced online course here: http://prsecrets.com/soundbites_course.html

Don’t miss the final telesminar of this year’s WNFIN event on November 30th, “Content, Character & Connection: Becoming a Successful Writer in a Bottom-Up World,” with Michael Larsen.  To be register, click here.

Like this blog? Vote it one of Writer’s Digest‘s 101 Best Websites for Writers. Learn how here.