Tag: author

How to Know When to Go for a Big Publisher or Self-Publish

Last week I had an inquiry from a new client who currently has a self-published book and small product line. She feels like it’s time to re-publish her book and wanted to talk about whether she should continue with self-publishing or move to a bigger publisher.

Since it seems like more and more of my subscribers are either authors, in the process of writing a book or thinking about writing one, I thought this would be a good place to talk about this for everyone’s benefit.

Many of my clients fit in one of the categories above and they come to me to help them create a blueprint for their life (first of all so they know what they want their life to look like) and then design how they will incorporate some type of
information products into the mix to at least partially put their business on autopilot so they can enjoy their life and have the money to do so.

When we look at the role being an author plays in this mix it has many different possibilities.

  • First it could be that you are using your book as a lead generator for your current or future business activities.
  • It could be the launching platform for a new direction in your business.
  • Or you want to increase your visibility in your industry and achieve celebrity status.
  • Or you just want to get on Oprah!

Whatever it is there are times when self-publishing is perfectly fine. there are other situations where it makes sense to get a big publisher to take your book.

There is another option, entrepreneurial publishing, which combines the best of both worlds in the way that only entrepreneurs could structure a win/win publishing deal. This is not an article to promote you working with me as your publisher, so if you want more details on how this works, contact me.

There are several useful questions for you to consider when making this decision that I had never put in this form before until the subject came up with my client.

So here’s what I gave her to decide:

  • What did the self-publishing do for your business?
  • What was the purpose of writing the book?
  • Did your book deliver on that for you?
  • How did it grow you list, get you new clients?
  • Why are you deciding to re-publish now?
  • What do you want to do differently?
  • Why were you thinking that a big publisher might be a good thing to do now?
  • What are you looking to have happen that you think a big publisher could accomplish for you?

Whether you are a first time author or an author who has published many books both ways, I think these questions should be answered before you decide which way to go with an future books.

Once you know what your intended outcome is, it’s much easier for us to have a discussion on the benefits of one type of publishing or another in your particular situation.

If you read the Blueprints for Manifesting Your Life article series in September, you’ll remember that one recurring theme that showed up in every article was that there are no hard rules in your life or your business. Everything should always be looked at on a case by case basis and also in terms of you as an individual.

In other words, don’t just do what you see someone else doing and assume if it’s good enough for them it will work out well for you. Let’s figure out what works best for you together.

I’d be happy to answer any question you have on this topic on my blog rather than emailing me individually–and yes you can use a fake name on the blog and nobody sees your email address if you want to protect your privacy.

Until next week, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Just comment on this post on my blog. http://www.YourBreakthroughToSuccess.com/blog

If you would like personal coaching or mentoring, send me an email detailing what you would like help with. As your mentor I hold a bigger vision for you than you hold for yourself. When you have faith and a team that believes in you, it gives you courage. When you don’t have to do it all yourself, all things are possible for you. Commit today to go for your dream 100%.

Lynn Pierce, the Success Architect, is the author of “Breakthrough to Success; 19 Keys to Mastering Every Area of Your Life“. For over 25 years she has taught people how to combine business and personal development to reach the pinnacle of success and live the life of their dreams. In addition, she is also the founder of one of the most exciting annual events for women entrepreneurs, “Women’s Business Empowerment Summit“. Now she shares her keys to success and life mastery with you. You can get the first five lessons of “Change One Thing, Change Your Life: A Personal Transformation System” at http://www.yourbreakthroughtosuccess.com

http://www.YourBreakthroughToSuccess.com/blog

Why Is There So Much Confusion About Getting Your Message Out?

There’s been a recurring theme to conversations and emails I’ve received the last few days and it’s keeping me awake at night because I can’t stop thinking about it. The worst part is that it’s an old theme that just doesn’t go away.

It doesn’t matter if it’s an experienced speaker making the transition from fee based & keynote speaking to public speaking or if it’s someone just starting out who wants to be a speaker, author or Internet Marketer, they all seem to be struggling with the same key issues.

The worst part is, they’re the same issues I was hearing from my peers when I was just getting started in this business and after hearing them over and over again, I guess it’s just starting to make me a little angry that solutions aren’t easier to find.

So I figured I’d rant a little, get your opinion or give you a place to voice your frustrations and because I know there are thousands of other people who are in a similar situation. If I’ve had any of these conversations with you in the last week or you think I’m referring to you, rest assured I have had the exact same conversation many times over which is why I’ve decided to say something.

It’s not your fault. You may think you are doing everything right, but if you don’t have the correct system to follow, you will never end up where you want to go.

One thing is that the new people just getting into this industry of information marketing are spending thousands of dollars learning how to build a list or how to blog & podcast or they’ve gone to speaker training, or learn how to do teleseminars or how to drive traffic and they still don’t know what their topic is. I was right there with you. I bought courses 7 years ago that I may or may not ever have needed. I was just starting out and it sounded good and yet I didn’t even know what I was going to do except having a vague concept of writing a book for women.

So looking back I can tell you that you will have an opportunity to use all those things you’ve bought at some point, once you know the right order to use them in, but wouldn’t you get a lot further faster if you knew what the focus of your list was going to be or what the topic of your blog or podcasts was or what kind of traffic you need to attract?

There are people that started in the same mentoring group that I did in 2001 that still are going to seminars and buying products and joining expensive mentoring groups, only to do nothing with the information because they aren’t clear on their topic. And they can’t blame their mentors.

You know they don’t want to just pick a hot keyword (good for them!); they want to build a long term business, but they haven’t discovered their passion and they don’t know how to do it. I was in this same place and it is possible to make it out the other side.

Another way this shows up is the keynote speaker who sees all the money being made by public speakers selling product at big events and they want to make the transition. Well, sadly it’s not as easy as turning your keynote into a product. Not all topics can simply be moved into home study courses, coaching programs or live events. You need someone who knows how to structure a product, and more importantly for longevity, a product line that fits the kind of business you want to create.

On the other side, there are some keynote speakers I’ve spoken to about Women’s Business Empowerment Summit and they love what I’ve created, this is their target market, and they’d be happy to get a whole lot less money for a speaking fee than what they could make selling product because they don’t know how to make the shift or they can’t picture how they would do it in their mind. I’m talking about some huge people that I would love to have at the event, but not to just give a keynote and tell stories. I demand content and also a way for women to get more training from them if that’s what they choose. So, you miss the big picture of how they can help more people and make more money.

And then there is the third group of people that are just getting started and don’t want to spend ten’s or hundred’s of thousand of dollars and years of their time going around in circles trying to pick the right information in the right order from the right teachers to put them on the path to success, they just want to get it done-NOW!.

I feel for you because I know it’s not easy without the right person showing you the way. If you’ve been to the website for the summit, you’ve read my story. I spent 2 years, full time and over $100,000 figuring this stuff out and still had to fill in the gaps myself. And with new technology coming out every minute it seems like, who’s going to tell you what’s the real deal and who’s just trying to make a quick buck? I’m happy to be on the inside now so I know who the real players are that are really making things happen.

When it comes to discovering your passion, there are books and courses and workshops and I even met a guy that has a very expensive process people go through that sounded interesting. So I’ll admit, I’m certainly not the only person that can help you to discover your passion, but I have yet to work with one person that we couldn’t distill exactly what their passion was in a matter of a couple hours. I know shrinks, I’m sorry, therapists that work with patients for years and don’t get there. I know this because they’ve asked me how I do it.

And even more importantly if you want to be an author, speaker or Internet Marketer, is that you find a way to turn that passion into a marketable skill-something you can write about, talk about or teach in classes to other people, that they’re willing to pay money for!

Another thing that’s been driving me crazy lately is all the websites I go to for potential speakers who have been referred to me, who from reading their web copy, all look like they do the same thing, and yet when I have a conversation with them they actually do something quite different. How is anyone going to know they want to do business with you if they can’t figure out what you do? Before you start throwing rocks at me-I will confess, I’m in the process of redoing my site because I hadn’t been paying attention to this detail myself. Hey, I never said I was perfect.

So, if you…

  • are experiencing the frustration of not being able to figure out what you’re passion is that’s also profitable
  • want to make big bucks in the back of the room but haven’t had any success reconfiguring your keynote to a profitable product, or you’re not even sure you can
  • are tired of being lumped in the same category as 10 other people when you know what you do is unique
  • spent a lot of money and a lot of time on tools you frankly weren’t ready for yet and you still need to build your core product

Let’s have a conversation here. I’m here to help, so let me know what you want to talk about. We can keep this conversation going over the next couple weeks as I get ready for my move to Maui. I’m living the life of my dreams and I want to help you do the same.

P.S. If you’re reading this anywhere besides my actual blog, please go to http://YourBreakthroughToSuccess.com/blog to post your comments so everyone can benefit from your thoughts.