Archive for November, 2008
Posted on November 11, 2008 - By Sharon Lindenburger
What is the core purpose of your book?
One of the challenges of creating great content is honing down the focus of the content. Getting an idea for a book can be an inspirational process, with your head full of marvellous ideas you would like to put into your book. And often all those ideas are great!
But if you try to include absolutely everything you’ve ever learned about a certain subject in one book, you’re going to end up with fuzzy content. You’ll have several different focuses (I don’t want to use the pedantic word “foci”), and as a result your book will come across as scattered.
When you have chosen a topic for your book, before you put pen to paper (or fingers to screen)–even before you do an outline or start free-writing–spend some quality introspective time with yourself. Ask yourself, “What is the purpose of my book?” Or more specifically, “What is the purpose of the content of my book?”
Don’t just answer “to promote my business” or “to make me a famous author”. Those are just surface answers. A book can definitely help promote your business, but if that’s the only reason you’re writing it, it’s likely that your book will lack energy or seem self-serving. Instead focus on what the purpose of the content will be for your readers. What will your readers glean from reading your book? What value will they see in absorbing the message of your book?”
Chances are you will come up with several great aspects of purpose, all of which will be valid for both you and your readers. Now here’s the hard part. Drill the question down to “What is the core purpose of my book?” “What is the single most compelling core value and message in this book that makes me truly want to write it and will make people want to read it?” “What is the center around which this book revolves?”
Identifying that central core purpose will tie all the threads in your book into a whole. It will help make your book not only a good read but an inspiration to your readers. And if you can inspire your readers, you’ll enjoy the wonderful side effect of seeing the book promote your business and your expertise on its own merit.
The most powerful aspect of all content is integrity. Identifying the book’s core purpose links to your integrity as an author, and your readers will pick up on that and be drawn to read your book.
Posted on November 11, 2008 - By Sharon Lindenburger
Is a recession a good time to write and publish a book? Yes!
I’ve been getting emails and phone calls from prospective authors wondering if this is a good time to write a book. They are worried about the economy being in a recession. They’re concerned that if they do publish, people will be less likely to buy books. They’re worried about not having the resources to market the book.
While it’s true that bookstores are likely to see some downturn in overall sales as anxious consumers look for ways to cut back, it’s still the case that bookstores continue to operate and people still do love to buy and read books. Reading is something that goes on no matter what the economy is doing.
It may be that publishers in a tight economy will be more wary about who they choose to publish and advances for new authors may be even more modest than they already are, but publishers are still going to be looking for good books.
If you decide not to pursue a trade publisher and instead choose one of the many ways of self-publishing your book, you may be concerned about expending the costs of that when times are tight. And yes, to do a quality book and to market it well will cost you several thousand dollars. But let’s put this into perspective. It can equally cost you thousands of dollars to run a full-page or half-page ad in a newspaper or magazine or to buy some radio spots.
Magazine ads and radio spots are short-lived. A magazine could give your ad a shelf life of a month or so, a couple of months at the most. The radio stations might give you a few plays over a couple of weeks. With a newspaper, it’s usually a one-shot thing on one specific day and that’s it (unless you pay even more to buy a series of ads.) But a book has a much longer shelf life. It can be the calling card for your business or your expertise for a lot longer time than any kind of advertising. So if your resources are tight and you’re wondering what strategy can help promote your expertise the best, consider sharing your words with the world in the form of a book, rather than spending your resources on a bunch of “sell copy”.
One of the things you need during a recession is staying power, the ability to hang in there in a tough economy. A book can help you do that. Not only does a book have a longer period of effectiveness, it also positions you as an expert/authority of your content. Authoring and publishing a book definitely gives you an edge over competitors who do not have books published.
Back