You’re a businessperson. You may not think of yourself as a writer, but you know that writing well can boost your results and your career. Naturally, you want to do better. Here are some recent blog posts and articles that might help.
This week I’m pointing you to pieces on having a great book launch, new publishing strategies, co-authorship, and self-publishing.
From Matthew Turner: Making Your Launch Day Count
“I’m a marketer by trade so I understand the importance of aligning all of your stars. There’s no right or wrong way to approach a launch, as the personal touch you add is the most vital aspect of all. However, there are certain rules to abide by, and launching your book is no different. A poor launch day doesn’t mean you’re destined for failure. A good one does make life MUCH easier though!”
From Ron Miller: Seth Godin, Margaret Atwood reveal new publishing strategies
“Prominent authors Seth Godin and Margaret Atwood recently announced new creative publishing strategies designed to build audiences before a book gets published. The strategies reflect a changing marketplace where authors need to take control of building their audiences, rather than leaving it to the publisher as they have in the past.”
From Rajesh Setty: Dr. Liz Alexander on Co-Authorship
“What was also fascinating was that Liz co-authored this book with Craig Badings from another part of the world – Australia. Liz and Craig have not met before and the entire process of long-distance collaboration was awesome. In this interview, Liz shares her viewpoints on the book and more importantly co-authorship.”
Wally’s Comment: All my first books were done alone. Then I collaborated with Jeff Senne on Cyberpower for Business and discovered the joys of co-authorship. That discovery led directly to the work I do now as a ghostwriter and author coach.
From Dean Wesley Smith: Crossover Deals from Self-Publishing to Traditional
“As I have been saying for some time, the indie side of publishing will slowly become a major way into traditional publishing. And a way with power that allows a writer to negotiate a better contract. But up until this morning I didn’t have any real evidence on that other than a few news articles about the large or different books that started indie and went traditional and a few friends it had happened to.”
Sources I Check Regularly
I find the posts and articles that I share with you on The Writer’s Edge in many places. But there are a few that provide insightful pieces again and again. Here they are.
Great resources, Wally!
What I found so wonderful about collaborating with Craig on our book, apart from our complementary strengths, is something other authors–no matter how experienced–might consider in relation to book promotion.
If you think writing a book is hard work, wait until you have to market/promote it! This can be a very time-consuming task, especially if you’re just hitting the ground running with respect to connecting with key influencers AND trying run a business. Not only are we able to share the load because we both have a vested interest in ensuring our book (Thought Leadership Tweet: 140 Prompts for Designing and Executing and Effective Thought Leadership Campaign) is successful, we made sure to quote extensively from leading players in the thought leadership space.
Again, I think authors (especially new ones) overlook this vital asset: drawing on others’ expertise in your book gives them a stake in wanting the book to succeed; after all, they’re quoted in it. It’s much easier to ask key influencers to help promote your book if you’ve already invited them to contribute to the content!
As for myself, Wally, I’ve decided to “disrupt” the typical service offerings and aim for a middle ground between coaching and ghosting, which is why I call myself a consulting co-author (although this wasn’t the relationship I had with Craig). The more minds and hearts that are involved in writing a book these days, especially given all the “noise” out there, the greater the likelihood that your book with receive the attention it deserves and reaches the people you want to influence and help.
Thanks for those thoughtful comments, Liz. Separating the roles of ghostwriter and coach makes sense for me. I’m the kind of ghostwriter who is a writing partner, not a transcription machine, so the writing (which I love) gives me the opportunity to wrestle with ideas and concepts and turn them into helpful prose. In the coaching, I get to participate in the learning journey of different clients and that is a different kind of fulfilling experience.