Friday, November 30, 2012

How to build a story you can self-publish successfully.


Building a story you can successfully self-publish

The story begins with your friends, family, and devoted readers - it's what resides in their heart, that you have to coax out, which will tell you the steps you need to take in order to succeed...

Writing and self-publishing a story isn't for the faint of heart, it has as much to do with persistence as it has to do with know-how and talent. In these days of plentiful Internet access, social media, and start-up's, being able to craft and then professionally publish is a skillset to acquire.


#typewriter & #lamp at the metropolis factory. Great party hosted by @fuzereps

Monday, April 6, 2009

A critique of $cn (controversial)

(photo credit: kylertconk)

This quote of Thoreau is interesting, juxtaposed with both the tools of his profession at the time (he wrote before even typewriters - and was also his day job) and the cause of his death from tuberculosis.


A Critique of $cientology
(note/disclaimer/whatever: Corporate $cn being highly litigious, I will mention that the trademarks and copyrights they have belong to them - if I happen to mention one of their products without the right squiggly-mark next to it, just be patient. I don't make a dime from talking about them or using their products as such. And so the use of $ in their title and the abbreviation $cn for their corporate organization.)

My background: I fit the average demographics for being part of that corporate cult. Got into it at age 20, spent my the next 20+ years on staff, left when I saw it was a dead-end. Meanwhile, I studied everything I could get my hands on, was trained formally or informally in all their techniques and teachings from the bottom to the very top (excepting some of their rarified personal processing levels - which was no loss.) Since then, I've been studying the rest of life and livingness, working to make sense of how I had spent my life and how life actually worked - supporting myself mostly as a freelance entrepreneur/publisher/writer/webdesigner/artist/philosopher/analyst.

Let's get this "cult" term out of the way. Nothing to do with religion. $cn's argument about religion is between them and the IRS. All life is spiritual, and legally then is not subject to any humankind law - as was true in the time of Jesus ("...render unto Caesar...") and is guaranteed in the US by the Bill of Rights - and is also hard-wired into our Constitution by the frequent use of "God" in these writings. $cn is a corporate cult as it is a closed subject. It has one self-declared source of it's writings and the punishment for going outside it's tight corporate world is shunning (and a lot more, such as personal harassment through private investigators and lawsuits, plus disconnection from any family members still inside it - there is plenty of eyewitness evidence we don't need to bring up here). Corporate $cn doesn't like the Internet as it allows people to get more data about how it operates and the fundamental data it's based on.

And the corporate part is where $cn fails.
  • Hubbard set up $cn as a money-making proposition. Nothing wrong with that.
  • He set it up as a church - again, nothing wrong with that, as the subject is spiritual in nature.
  • He set it up as a church to make money and get personally rich --- well, some take bones with that.
The broad strokes of this analysis point out one key shortfall: it's exclusionary base.

Where $cn continually fails to "clear the planet" is that you have to have money to join. Preferably U.S. dollars. While other time-validated religions spend a lot of time in and amongst the poor and in developing nations (like the Catholic church getting expansion in former Communist China) - $cn spends most of its efforts in persuading the average American to part with their money.

Now statistically, this is hard to prove. Mostly because their PR's have inflated their real numbers and as it's a private corporation, they don't release their actual records to anyone. So we are left with gleaning data from the Internet, where some analysis has been made based on their published graduates list.

Probably the best proof is that media reports that the Catholic Church is expanding in China, and not $cn. Most $cn media stories revolve around crazy-acting celebrities and the corporate attempt to remove videos and quash stories.

How $cn works.
It works, simply, within the tiny world it created. Broadly, it really has no effect outside of a handful of devotees who insist that it works. In short, it works - where it does - on faith. Not uncommon for any religion or spiritual activity.

Where you go far afield of this corporation, away from it's teachings, you'll see that the world runs along with its successes and largesses and travesties - normally, unaffected by anything $cn has to say, or anything it does. The people it affects are those who have faith in it and those who are committed to its destruction (or at least major revision).

And you'll also find that the people who are upset with $cn aren't particularly upset with the guy who started it ("Founder") or his writings. They are upset with the corporate policies he wrote and how they are being (mis)used.

That particular discussion is for other forums as well, not this post.

I bring it up as another example that the corporate cult which maintains $cn is the problem of that body of data, not the body of data itself (which I'll discuss below).

Where corporate $cn went off the rails.
  • 7 February 1965 - the issue of "Keeping Scientology Working". In this paper, Hubbard declared that all the research and key ideas for $cn were his and his alone. And that anyone who came up with any other ideas never amounted to anything, so don't listen to them. In fact, this policy laid out certain rules which would get you irrevocably shunned if you did. Various other policies then followed which built on this.
  • Creation of the Sea Organization - August 12, 1967. Shortly afterwards, Hubbard dissolved the existing corporate structure of $cn and turned all its financial management over to the "Sea Org" and officers who he personally ran - even though he stated he turned over the Executive Directorship many years prior. Technically, various legal organizations "ran" the set up, however they all got advise from him, and he continued to profit from their activities. This arrangement continued up to his death.
  • FLAG ORDER 2710 27 January 1971 - titled "Hard Working People - Ethics Protection", this issue by Hubbard was the turning point in the cult. Essentially, it said that you didn't have to follow policy in order to "make things go right", and that tirades and displays of temper were permissable. In this, he changed from an earlier policy stating that these "Flag Orders" were junior to both Policy Letters and Technical Bulletins.
You only have to study the comprehensive and well-referenced wikipedia article about Hubbard to see what ensued after that point.

The Truths of Scientology (corporate = $cn)
My description of this body of work is and remains this:
If you could get the idea of a huge gynasium, or an outdoor arena - the floor of which was filled completely with ice cream sundaes with the cherries removed from their tops. Those cherries are what Hubbard picked to build his Scientology from. The sundaes below are the really workable parts which he left behind. If you ate only the cherries, you'd be fine. But if you dived into those sundaes (if you could possibly eat that much before they melted) you'd really be satisfied.

As I've said, Scientology is workable in its own tiny world (as long as you divorce it completely from corporate $cn, its buildings and its PR and Legal attack machines). And there are many belief systems which only work according to their faith and dogged persistence of devoted followers. And people should be encouraged to find systems of religious and personal belief which improve their lives.

According to that old Japanese saying, "There are many paths up the mountain," and even older Polynesian/Huna teaching, "No one school has all the teachers."

That is the crux of this critique. By shutting down and closing Scientology into $cn, Hubbard and his management made a money-building empire which left Hubbard personally worth more than $200,000,000.00 on his death. But ensured that what he buillt would dwindle thereafter, since there was no one to carry on his research and develop new materials. All the "releases" after his death have mostly been in the form of re-releases of "improved" books and courses which devotees have to purchase and re-take or re-study - even personal (expensive) processing/auditing programs. Their top-level "OTVIII" was released and nothing since.

Another point is that by creating this corporate cult, Hubbard actually created problems for this "church". While other practicing systems (Christian Science and Silva as two contemporay examples) had no problems with the government and being able to claim they could heal people, $cn got into trouble and was raided, having to put a sticker on their "e-meters" saying they weren't a healing device. While any spiritual healing depends on the faith of the follower, $cn is one of the few organizations where they have been almost incessantly attacked for lack of results any time they claimed (as in Dianetics) they could heal.

Why? Essentially because they weren't inclusive. And Hubbard was exceedingly critical of nearly every other self-improvement or spiritually oriented organization out there - past and present. His lectures have disparaging remarks on nearly every agency that ever tried to help humankind lift itself up out of its problems. All roads lead to Hubbard as the salvation - everything else was a dead-end, booby-trapped. He had the only "road out".

Of course this is a scam.

The three major religions responsible for civilizing the bulk of this planet were Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity. If Scientology were a major force, the world should have been converted by now - since in these ages of instant access to material, and the supposed superiority of Scientology teachings, any sensible person should have been able to incorporate Scientology into their existing beliefs and turbo-charge them to incredible higher states.

Reasons Scientology never "cleared this planet":
  1. Corporate $cn bent mostly on making more money, keeping it a closed cult.
  2. Scientology is composed from only the cherries off that arena full of ice cream sundaes.
There is a lot - an almost inestimatedly huge amount of really workable data within Scientology. And those who who throw away the shoe because they stepped in a dung pile can walk barefoot from there on. (And see what they do with the next dung pile their bare foot steps in.)

My point has always been to evolve Scientology beyond what it ended up as and to expand it to what it could become.

These past few years have been studying the philosophic and spiritual world outside of $cn/Scn. And if you check out my profile, you'll find the books I've written and those I've edited and re-published from other authors. Hubbard never held a monopoly on self-improvement, self-help, or personal development - or the mind. Never. That's $cn-talk.

There is a huge, vast world of living and life outside Scientology. And you can use everything you learned inside that structure to start explaining the real world.

But you are going to have to do two things:
Become truly open-minded to both new and old ideas - "effectiveness is the measure of truth."
Become inclusive - operate on the "big tent" priniciple of working to find the real underlying systems which influence our personal improvement and well-being.

Those two "whys" above explain any failure of $cn/Scn. But they boil down to one word:

Exclusionary.

Open up the real data of Scientology and let people discuss and mingle as they will. Then you'll start to find progress and world-wide enlightenment. Join with other spiritual-based organizations with real mutual respect and admiration and gratitude - and you'll then (and only then) see the world's problems start dissolving.

It will be at that point - and only at that point - where we can see "A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights..."

The steps to this are simple:
1. Shun the current corporate structure of $cn. Pay it no more dues, ignore its celebrities and shills who say it is the "only way out."
2. Listen to and promote those spiritual leaders, the books and materials you personally find workable and useful.
3. Seek to live at peace with all around you and give openhanded help to everyone you encounter - help others to live at peace with themselves and others around them. Live the Golden Rule.
4. Shun the media and extremist groups who actively work to separate people into groups so they will fight with each other. (Includes both greedy corporations and ideological fanatic envinronmentalists - like global warming preachers.)
5. Realise that there need not be shortages of food, clothing, shelter, or ideas on this planet. The only reason such situations exist is because organized sets of people (governments, mostly, as well as drug lords) are locally holding these areas down - suppressing them. (See the difference between North and South China as example.) There is plenty of charity to go around and lots of great ideas and investments ready to help people bootstrap their economy and their quality of living.
6. Elect and support leaders who are just like yourself. Don't support parties per se. These are, by their nature, divisive. Support people you believe in and encourage open forums where ideas can be exchanged between people and these electables. Investigate and post data about their past actions and papers. Be very curious when certain papers are hidden from public view.
7. Laugh and smile daily. Happiness is the best medicine for anything that ails you. Pass it around.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Monday, February 25, 2008

Prolific Self Help Author Releases Yet Another Free Download - "Finding Your Own Way to Happiness" book

Here's a new free download for you... A 170-some page book which lays out several dozen approaches to self help. The theme is that you alone can pick your own way to happiness. Just for you.

You're welcome.

Just go to the Way to Happiness book site and there's the address for your free download.

- - - -

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Farmer-Doctor Claims You Find Your Own Way to Happiness Book; Releases Free Online Download.

Mexico, Mo. Feb 25, 2008 - Prolific Midwestern author Dr. Robert C. Worstell released a free online download today, stating that that you alone can determine your own Way to Happiness - that no one can lay out your path for you.

Dr. Worstell compiled this series of articles from other research files from his online marketing studies.

"They represent a wide variety of approaches to self help and personal development," said Dr. Worstell, "which is exactly what the theme of this book says. The ancient Japanese had a saying, 'there are many paths up the mountain.' An even older tradition from Polynesia states, 'no one school has all the teachers.' It's up to the individual to pick his own path, to make his own trail."

And the approaches in this book reflect the diversity of possible choices. From healthy diets, and self esteem coaching, to "Life Mapping", goal-setting, relaxation, and management approaches - this book contains over 40 articles of entirely different views of self improvement.

"The really fascinating point is that they don't conflict." Dr. Worstell explains, "There are completely valid techniques in every article which can be combined with the rest to bring a new view and approach to age-old problems humankind has endured. What I was trying to do here is to show that there is no one belief-system, religion, or world-view which has all the answers to every problem one can run into."

Dr. Worstell adds to his library of works and expands the theme started with his "Go Thunk Yourself" book series. Here, he found first that all bestselling authors were in fact using the same self help approach. In the later books of this series, and as noted in his blogs, this expanded in scope to show that there was actually the apparency of a single system underlying all humankind operation on this planet.

He has recently expanded his prolific output into videos and podcasting in addition to his books and blogs. Such a recent video was an online world peace lecture, where he said that this system was capable of producing world peace through application of self help books. Another video montage lays out a challenge to use genius abilities he found everyone natively possesses. Worstell says there are no current plans for a video, however this could change - depending on inspiration.

Dr. Worstell attributes his rural background and daily farming chores with helping him to make these breakthroughs, "Often you'll be feeding cattle or spending hours in the tractor seat and inspiration will come to you - suddenly all these ideas will just coalesce and I can't wait to get back to my home-office to cross-check it online. But you have to finish feeding or your field-work first, so farming does tend to build your persistence and patience in research."

Dr. Worstell's "Go Thunk Yourself!" book series is published by online Print-On-Demand Publisher Lulu.com, with the title book also available on Amazon.com and other online booksellers. Dr. Worstell has written and published over three-dozen personal development books, as well as numerous articles, and whitepapers.

Contact:

Dr. Robert C. Worstell
Email: robertworstell@[removethis]robertworstell.com
Website: http://gothunkyourself.com/GTYseries/waytohappiness
http://gothunkyourself.com
http://stores.lulu.com/robertworstell
YouTube: http://youtube.com/joethunkyourself

# # # #

Sponsor:

Go Thunk Yourself!(TM)

What do
Napoleon Hill - author of Think and Grow Rich,
Norman Vincent Peale
- author of The Power of Positive Thinking,
Dale Carnegie
- author of How to Win Friends and Influence People, and
Stephen Covey - author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

all have in common?

They all THUNK the same way.

These and other authors discovered the same basic secrets behind wealth, success, and fame.

Each of these authors became wealthy, successful, and famous by applying these secrets.

You can too.

This book's simple 14-day program allows you to re-create your own life, just the way you want it to be! All you have to do is invest some time each day to read these simple chapters and do the exercises.

You can learn these secrets and start taking control over your own life, to start achieving the riches, fame and success you've always dreamed of.

Your Dreams CAN BECOME Reality!

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth” Book Review Online

Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth” Book Review Online

This online book review is in celebration of the upcoming success for Oprah and Eckhart Tolle as they present their online seminar...



A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle - Book Review

Spiritual teacher and author Eckhart Tolle ("The Power of Now") advocates present moment awareness and the dismantling of the ego as the path towards ...

contemporarylit.about.com






Amazon.com: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose: Eckhart ...

Amazon.com: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose: Eckhart Tolle: Books.

www.amazon.com


Amazon.com: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose: Books ...

Amazon.com: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose: Books: Eckhart Tolle by Eckhart Tolle.

www.amazon.com


YouTube - Get Ready to Be Awakened: A New Earth

A New Year, a New You, A New Earth! If you're ready to be awakened, go to www.oprah.com/anewearth for more information.Before posting a comment, ...

www.youtube.com


A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:33:00 -0800

I love Tolle's description of consumerism in Chapter Two... The people in the advertising industry know very well that in order to sell things that people don't really need, they must convince them that those things will add something ...

http://jasminepw.blogspot.com/







Sponsor:
Go Thunk Yourself!(TM)

What do
Napoleon Hill - author of Think and Grow Rich,
Norman Vincent Peale - author of The Power of Positive Thinking,
Dale Carnegie
- author of How to Win Friends and Influence People,
and
Stephen Covey - author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

all have in common?

They all THUNK the same way.

These and other authors discovered the same basic secrets behind wealth, success, and fame.

Each of these authors became wealthy, successful, and famous by applying these secrets.

You can too.

This book's simple 14-day program allows you to re-create your own life, just the way you want it to be!

All you have to do is invest some time each day to read these simple chapters and do the exercises.

You can learn these secrets and start taking control over your own life, to start achieving the riches, fame and success you've always dreamed of.

Your Dreams CAN BECOME Reality!













NEW EARTH: AWAKENING TO YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:26:58 -0800

Book Cover Title: NEW EARTH: AWAKENING TO YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE Author: TOLLE, ECKHART ISBN: 9780452289963 Price (new): $15.50.

http://www.concordia.ca/Bookstore/


A New Earth

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:37:00 -0800

I have spent a lifetime reading books such as this, and now today I am reading A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle. It is the Oprah book club book (I believe) and I find it amazing that so many people are embracing this way of thinking. ...

http://parfumemoderne.blogspot.com/


A New Earth

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:10:45 -0800

I’m in love with this book. I want to devour it, but reading it is like a meditation. Love. A New Earth. See more progress on: To live instead of exist.

http://opiumden.wordpress.com


Oprah's Book Club: A New Earth

Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle lead a 10-week online seminar on Tolle's book, A New Earth.

www.oprah.com/obc_classic/webevent_registration.jsp


Amazon.com: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose: Books ...

Amazon.com: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose: Books: Eckhart Tolle by Eckhart Tolle.

www.amazon.com/New-Earth-Awakening-Lifes-Purpose/dp/0525948023


Eckhart Tolle - A New Earth

Building on the astonishing success of The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle presents readers with an honest look at the current state of humanity.

www.eckharttolle.com/a_new_earth


A New Earth
Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth may help remove the wool from your eyes. I will probably post more about the book once the free online class begins at




Get Ready to Be Awakened: A New Earth
A New Year, a New You, A New Earth! If you're ready to be awakened, go to www.oprah.com/anewearth for more information.





Friday, February 22, 2008

Free Federal Government Closing News, Jokes, Comments


Why is the Federal Government Closing late, closing early, taking vacations in the middle of everyone else working?



This transcript provides some of the reasons:

Federal Diary Live - washingtonpost.com:
"What are the procedures used for closing and reopening the government because of bad weather, such as snowstorms and ice storms? How do officials at the Office of Personnel Management make the decision?"





And then there's this video:





Jokes about the government:
Government Office Rules
  1. If it rings, put it on hold.
  2. If it clanks, call the repairman.
  3. If it whistles, ignore it.
  4. If it's a friend, take a break.
  5. If it's the boss, look busy.
  6. If it talks, take notes.
  7. If it's handwritten, type it.
  8. If it's typed, copy it.
  9. If it's copied, file it.
  10. If it's Friday, forget it.
- - - -
YouKnow You Work for the Government If...
  • When someone asks about what you do for a living, you lie.
  • You get really excited about a 2% pay raise.
  • Your biggest loss from a system crash is you lose your best jokes.
  • Your supervisor doesn't have the ability to do your job.
  • You sit in a cubicle smaller than your bedroom closet.
  • Computer specialists know less about computers than your teenager.
  • Lunch is like another scheduled meeting, only shorter.
  • You see a good looking person and know they are a visitor.
  • Management thinks a business trip with uncompensated mandatory weekend travel is perk.
  • Although you have a telephone, pager, E-mail, FAX, company distribution, Fed-X, US mail and coworkers sitting right on the other side of the partition ... communication is a continuing problem.
  • You know, and everyone that works with you knows, your performance is superior, but "satisfactory" is the highest level on the documented performance rating.
  • You work 200 hours for the $100 bonus check and jubilantly say "Oh wow, thanks!"





Sponsor:
Go Thunk Yourself!(TM)

What do
Napoleon Hill - author of Think and Grow Rich,
Norman Vincent Peale - author of The Power of Positive Thinking,
Dale Carnegie
- author of How to Win Friends and Influence People,
and
Stephen Covey - author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

all have in common?

They all THUNK the same way.

These and other authors discovered the same basic secrets behind wealth, success, and fame.

Each of these authors became wealthy, successful, and famous by applying these secrets.

You can too.

This book's simple 14-day program allows you to re-create your own life, just the way you want it to be!

All you have to do is invest some time each day to read these simple chapters and do the exercises.

You can learn these secrets and start taking control over your own life, to start achieving the riches, fame and success you've always dreamed of.

Your Dreams CAN BECOME Reality!







Federal Government quotes (and "regular" government, too):

The way people in democracies think of the government as something different from themselves is a real handicap. And, of course, sometimes the government confirms their opinion. ~Lewis Mumford, in Anne Chisholm, Philosophers of the Earth: Conversations with Ecologists, 1972

It might be more worthwhile if we stopped wringing our hands and started ringing our congressmen. ~Author Unknown The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. ~Winston Churchill

If people behaved like governments, you'd call the cops. ~Kelvin Throop

We are imperfect. We cannot expect perfect government. ~William Howard Taft

Democracy gives every man the right to be his own oppressor. ~James Russell Lowell

Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few. ~George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, "Maxims: Education," 1905

In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery? ~St. Augustine

Democracy: The state of affairs in which you consent to having your pocket picked, and elect the best man to do it. ~Benjamin Lichtenberg

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. ~P.J. O'Rourke

No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. ~Abraham Lincoln

Under capitalism man exploits man; under socialism the reverse is true. ~Polish Proverb

The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them. ~Karl Marx

Governments should not possess instruments of coercion and violence denied to their citizens. ~Edgar A. Suter

Our government... teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. ~Louis Brandeis

A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away. ~Barry Goldwater

Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to
time. ~Winston Churchill

Democracy is a government where you can say what you think even if you
don't think. ~Author Unknown

The cure for capitalism's failing would require that a government would have to rise above the interests of one class alone. ~Robert L. Heilbroner

Majority rule only works if you're also considering individual rights. Because you can't have five wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for supper. ~Larry Flynt

Christmas is the time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell government what they want and their kids pay for it. ~Richard Lamm

Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what's going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate? ~Will Rogers

Ohio claims they are due a president as they haven't had one since Taft. Look at the United States, they have not had one since Lincoln. ~Will Rogers

If you want to understand your government, don't begin by reading the Constitution. (It conveys precious little of the flavor of today's statecraft.) Instead, read selected portions of the Washington telephone directory containing listings for all the organizations with titles beginning with the word National. ~George Will

This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer. ~Will Rogers

Congress is so strange. A man gets up to speak and says nothing. Nobody listens - and then everybody disagrees. ~Boris Marshalov

Our political institutions work remarkably well. They are designed to clang against each other. The noise is democracy at work. ~Michael Novak

I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it. ~Alexander Woollcott

The worst thing in this world, next to anarchy, is government. ~Henry Ward Beecher, Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit, 1887

People come to Washington believing it's the center of power. I know I did. It was only much later that I learned that Washington is a steering wheel that's not connected to the engine. ~Richard Goodwin

Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be. ~Sydney J. Harris

A civil servant is sometimes like a broken cannon - it won't work and you can't fire it. ~George S. Patton

Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt. ~Herbert Hoover, attributed

It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting. ~Tom Stoppard, Jumpers

Talk is cheap - except when Congress does it. ~Cullen Hightower




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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Book Marketing Tips from TV Producer, Radio Talk Show Host and Book Publicist - Write and Publish Your Book

Doing some more research into getting books promoted. What a book author needs is lots of interviews with local stations to promote their books. It's a fair exchange - stations need content, authors need "exposure". Radio provides the match. (See Radio-Locator for demographics...)

This particular link has a great deal of detail - it's a whole chapter on the subject. But here is why you have to continue your niche marketing efforts...

Book Marketing Tips from TV Producer, Radio Talk Show Host and Book Publicist - Write and Publish Your Book:

"...the successful author will carefully analyze what radio or TV shows to book. In book marketing, a book cannot be promoted without first identifying who the readers are in advance of a single sale. Find the reasons why that reader will read that book and then craft a message to be conveyed to information sources that reader relies upon.


Don't bombard the market with propaganda but send out promotional information to selected streams that reach specific persons. That approach has always worked and always will. Salesmen know that you can't sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo because he has no need of one, but you'd have a shot at selling him thermal underwear. So follow Walker's advice -- know your niche and then select the TV or Radio Show that your niche audience listens to or watches.

To successfully market a book, determine who will read it and then target that media directly. By way of example, one of my clients has published a book of poetry. Now the average person won't buy a collection of poetry. However, certain people love poetry, so we aim our book marketing efforts for this client to poetry magazines, poetry web sites and poetry societies."