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Q & A Monday: What is a good length for my book?

Toni V. Martin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:00:08 +0000

As long as it takes to get your point across and not a page more or less. There are no hard-and-fast book length rules. You can have a micro-book the size of “The One Minute Manager” or an epic the size of “War and Peace.” The key factors are to look at the standard for your genre–do the books tend to run shorter or longer? And do you want to conform or buck the trend? Take a look at some of the bestsellers and the superstars of your subject for direction.

You can also conduct your own informal survey, where you ask a few friends and colleagues what they prefer. But don’t feel pressured to conform to a number of arbitrary page or word counts.

Q & A Monday: What advice do you have for an everyday person with a story to share?

Toni V. Martin — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:00:41 +0000

So you’re not necessarily trying to make money off your book. If you take all of my resources and advice and substitute “money” with “message exposure,” it might help you. The same tactics used to gain visibility for your book to make money from it are the same things you’ll do to make sure tons of people know about your message.

In fact, I just discovered a great resource for the everyday person (or expert) who has a message they want to share to help the world. It’s going to be required reading for all of my clients! The Millionaire Messenger by Brian Burchard details how it’s your DUTY to get your story out and the methods he’s used to share his own life-changing insights. He includes exercises to help you mine your life for lesson’s you’ve learned and arms you with the confidence to help others through your book. Money or message, it’s all about service!

Q & A Monday: What do you tell authors time and time again?

Toni V. Martin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:00:01 +0000

This week on the interviews I did, the question came up: ”What do I find myself telling authors time and time again?” Listen to my interview with Deb Bailey to find out my tried-and-true advice!

Q & A Monday: How can writing a book help me and my not-for-profit cause?

Toni V. Martin — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:00:36 +0000

A cause focused book is not just a way to position your nonprofit at the forefront of the issue you’re passionate about, but it can be a lucrative fundraiser. Nonprofits can successfully craft a book to highlight their founder, bring in-depth attention to the needs they address and then sell their book as a fundraiser. Consider crowdsourcing the cost of the production and offering donors their own acknowledgement page. You can offer the book to entice high-end donors and pitch to the media to increase awareness around your cause. Opportunities are limitless for how you can use a book to support your nonprofit’s mission.

Q & A Monday: What are the best, new tools to promote my book?

Toni V. Martin — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:00:27 +0000

I refuse to answer that question. Call me ornery, but I am leading the charge to return to retro, old-school, tried-and-true promotion techniques. Before you look for ways to connect with new people, you’ve got to make sure to take care of the people you already know. When I launched Prepping For Prosperity, I conducted an elaborate pre-launch promotional sequence. I neglected to tell my friends and family my book was for sale! If you have a community of people already attuned to your message, be sure to let them know what you’re up to before promoting to the masses.

Q & A Monday: What if my ghost-written book doesn’t sound like me?

Toni V. Martin — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:00:50 +0000

We’ve all read books “by” celebrities that sounded nothing like the star when they appeared in interviews. The hand of the ghostwriter is so evident, cleaning up all of the colloquialisms and expressions that would go a long way in humanizing the author.

If you don’t have a Ph. D in English Linguistics, why should your book sound like you do? The way I ensure my authors’ authentic voices come through when I do a full ghostwriting project is to record a series of interviews that we will use for the basis of the book. I weave your turns of phrase, favorite sayings and speech patterns into the manscript. So it sounds exactly like you–at your best!

Q & A Monday: Would you be able to help me write a novel or screenplay?

Toni V. Martin — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:00:40 +0000

I work best with entrepreneurs, speakers, and consultants who have a message to share and want to write a book to build their business, secure major media attention and get higher-end clientele. My process for helping to write non-fiction business, self-help, and how-to books enables me to take the body of knowledge these experts have and quickly transform that into a book or info process.

Creative writing such as fiction, screenplays, and theatrical plays and some memoir require special knowledge of each genre. The literary techniques and wealth of creativity needed to work in these forms take time to develop and to do well. If these are your preferred genres, you’ll want to look to WritersDigest.com and local writing groups and workshops for more hands-on assistance with perfecting and polishing your creative works.

Q & A Monday: Looking for suggestions on which topic to write?

Toni V. Martin — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:00:11 +0000

In any situation–marketing or life–the first thing to ask is what is your objective? If your aim is to penetrate a new market clientele or gain higher-end clientele, it’s imperative that your book speak directly to them. It’s tempting to want to write a book that explains everything you know about your passion. But you need to hone in on what problem you can solve for the people you’re trying to work with. Answering this question should spark ideas for the content of your book.

Q & A Monday: What are some easy, inexpensive ways to promote my book?

Toni V. Martin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:00:29 +0000

In any promotion, you want to consider your audience and the action you want them to take. Books are usually not a necessity, so don’t expect every conversation to lead to a sale.

What’s more important is building a relationship with your potential reader. One huge mistake I see authors make is not having book business cards, flyers and bookmarks and free chapter downloads. These inexpensive materials go a long way in keeping your book top of mind with your reader–especially when they’re not quite ready to buy.

Q & A Monday: How does the closing of Borders affect authors?

Toni V. Martin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:00:46 +0000

I’m so sad about the closings. I never thought of Borders as a “chain,” mostly because I went to school in their headquarters of Ann Arbor, MI.

As much as I love Borders, their bankruptcy is a wake-up call to the publishing industry and authors. No different from the closing of Blockbusters and Tower Records, the day of the one-media-only big box store is ending. Diversification and embracing new technology is key for both publishers and authors who want to thrive in this new landscape.

Authors can no longer rely on the standard “book-signing” as a promotion tool. It’s time to go indie by developing book launch events and partnering with independent book stores to support those who still provide outlets for the sale of the written word.