Book promotion has changed a lot over the years, as have the book promotion services companies offer. Part of the reason for that is due to the surge of books that we see every day in the marketplace. We know from experience that not only does it change how various programs work, but it can also impact strategies that we’ve come to trust, like Facebook ads which don’t have the same impact they did two years ago.

So what’s working in book promotion now? Surprisingly, it’s not at all what you would expect.
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The book promotion services that work these days are less about what you’re marketing in the moment, and more about the foundation you’re creating. Let’s have a look:

1.Email Newsletters: I know, it seems odd to start with something so basic, right? But here’s the thing about newsletters. They are a direct connection to your reader unlike social media, which, technically, is not as direct a link as we’d like it to be. An email newsletter may seem like a lot of work, but it’s really not as bad as say, managing a bunch of social media platforms (we’ll get to that one in a minute).
 
2.Your Reader Fan Bases: With book publishing growing, our window for using blogs for their book promotion services keeps shrinking. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t promote your book to the blogger market, but consider this: as the window for book promotion continues to change, one thing always remains steadfast, your readers. Building excited and engaged reader fan bases is a fantastic way to build momentum for your book and letting readers help you with your book promotion by posting reviews and sharing your book release on their social stream. The longer down this road of endless books being published (so far, around 4,500 a day) the more it becomes crucial to build supportive reader fan bases.

3.Going Local: A lot of authors want to hit the big time with big media and national exposure. And while all of that is great, local media and events are often overlooked. First off, local media loves their local authors. So whether it’s a story about you publishing your first (or fifth!) book, or promoting your local event, local book promotion is a great launching pad for long-term success. Part of the reason for this isn’t because you aren’t national media-worthy, but because national media is harder than ever to get (I’ll talk more about this in later blogs). Also, many bigger shows have scouts that research local stories that are gaining momentum. Back when Oprah had her show, her producers often worked with many scouts all across the country to find their stories. So including local promotion in your list of book marketing activities is a great way to add some momentum to your book promotion campaign. And in terms of local, you may also consider doing events, whether they are library, bookstore, or gift fairs. You could also consider doing events in other non-bookstore markets like gift stores, coffee shops, and other area stores that might be interested in your topic.
 
4.Add a Goodreads Presence: Goodreads has been around for a long time and with each month that passes, the site grows more robust. Now, more than ever, it’s important to get yourself set up on that site and start networking with genre-specific groups. This site, more than any other social networking site, is really geared to readers and caters to readers in a way that no other platform does. Start by being a reader, first and foremost. Yes, you have books that you want people to read, but being heavy on the networking/socializing and less on the pushy marketer, will garner you much more attention and, in the long run, sell you more books.

5.Amazon Book Page: This is another area that authors spend a shockingly small amount of time on. I think in general, we get really outwardly focused on our book promotion and forget the all-important landing page we are sending our readers to. Your book page on Amazon should have a clear description with white space and no paragraphs crammed on top of each other. I’d also recommend enhancing your book page using your Author Central Page. From there, you can access all kinds of stuff, like adding reviews to your page, including an author interview, or book experts. Your book page should be a sampling of your personality and information helpful to the reader – helping them make a decision to decide to buy your book is a terrific way to help drive more reader engagement on your page. I have a blog post linked in the resources if you’re ready to tackle this! Or, you should write us and ask about our Amazon-specific book promotion services and campaigns, designed to ensure you’re not leaving any opportunities on the table when it comes to converting Amazon shoppers into book buyers.

6.Keeping Your Social Footprint Small: While this may sound counter-intuitive, it’s my firm belief (and based on mountains of research) that we’ve become digital-weary. Users are leaving Facebook in large numbers, or not posting regularly, Twitter has become a bigger political platform than it ever was, and Instagram is staying delightfully middle of the road, the meaning of all of the social platforms, it has the most universal appeal.
 
The problem with trying to be *everywhere* meaning on all social media platforms is that it’s hard to be engaged on all the sites, all the time. And engagement does matter, in an age of fake followers and fake accounts, the user with the most engagement, even if their numbers are small, far outperforms accounts with millions of followers. But keep in mind that a smaller social media footprint doesn’t mean less work necessarily. You’ll be less scattered, for sure, but you will still need to put the effort into that site, whichever one you decide to be on. Engaging readers on one social media platform in a consistent and fun/informative/helpful way is a far better book promotion strategy than trying to be everywhere. As I always say: it’s not about being everywhere, but everywhere that matters.

To Your Success,

MG

The health and emotional benefits of reading are reason enough to read more, but there are plenty of others… so set a reading goal and get to it

Let me get this out of the way: you aren’t reading enough.
 
The global literacy rate has increased exponentially over the last 200 years, but in 2018, leisure reading was at an all-time low in the US. In 2016, 21 percent of Americans didn’t read a single book all year. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, time spent reading has declined on average among every major US demographic — including founders, entrepreneurs, and boardroom executives.

Anecdotally, I’m finding that people seem to be reading less — particularly material that requires deep thought or imagination and is unrelated to their work — and I suppose it’s understandable. Reading has been on the decline ever since the advent of TV, not to mention the Internet, and there’s more quality content than ever before. Of course, that doesn’t make it excusable: reading regularly is paramount to developing self-awareness, educating yourself, and just staying sharp.
 
Consider the reading habits of some of our greatest leaders and minds:

• Microsoft founder Bill Gates reads at least 50 books a year.
• Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban reads at least three hours a day.
• Billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett allocates 80 percent of his time to reading — and not just business publications. He loves fiction of all kinds.
• Former NBA coach Phil Jackson, who won multiple NBA championships, would handpick books for players he felt would be inspired by and identify with their content.
• Barack Obama is a voracious reader. Despite the near-constant demand of the office of the President, he always found time to read — and famously began sharing his favorites come the end of the year.

So, you know it’s important. Now the question becomes, how do you build reading into your routine so it becomes a bigger part of your life? Remember, audiobooks is a great way to do this.

Set a reading goal — then design your life around meeting it

Of course, designing your life to meet any goal is a bit more challenging than simply setting the goal itself. Here are a few tips to get started:

Join a reading group. One of my industry friends meets bi-monthly with a group to read classics in philosophy, fiction, history, and other areas. The group actively avoids books related to their industry. Don’t have many friends in your area? Don’t worry. Reading groups can be found on social platforms like MeetUp or Facebook.

Use books to supplement your work. Are you struggling with a vexing work issue? Crack open a psychology book and see if there are ways in which you can apply its lessons to your profession. Generally, looking to outside fields of inquiry and study for inspiration in your personal or professional life is a great habit to build.

Encourage others on your team to read with you. This, I suppose, is something like a book club, but it boils down to you and your colleagues holding each other accountable. If you talk more often about what you’re reading, you’ll get more enjoyment out of the experience and you’ll want to do it more.

The most important question to answer when aspiring to read more is, “Why?”

Why are you, as a rejuvenated reader, investing so much time in reading?

Rather than setting a goal of 20 books in 2020, perhaps your reading goal should address this question. Nothing will be more inspiring than identifying reasons to read that truly resonate with you and compel you to carve out time to hit your reading goals.

Here are the reasons I’ve built serious reading into my everyday routine:

• Reading opens new horizons. Maybe you’re stuck in a reading rut. I tend to overload on spy thrillers and murder mysteries, and while it’s perfectly fine to stick to topics and genres you are familiar with, exploring something completely new requires greater focus and dedication as you explore the uncharted literary territory.
• Reading is research. My daughter traveled to 7 countries in Europe last year — places to which I had not been. So I read books on Norway and Italy, and not just guidebooks, but stories that took place in those countries so I could pick up talking to her about society and culture when she returned. It proved to be a great idea because it enriched my understanding of the stories she shared when she got back.
• Reading improves your health. An active literary life can keep you more relaxed and improve your health, which is pretty high up on my “reasons for reading.” For high-strung executives, reading is a great way to relax — studies show that reading as few as six minutes a day can reduce stress by 68 percent. Other studies suggest reading may even fend off Alzheimer’s, extending the longevity of the mind.
• Reading hones your decision-making skills. A recent study by Anne Cunningham of UC Berkeley showed that people who read often were better at analyzing information than non-readers. That helps your decision-making, as you can identify the most logical or advantageous option and see opportunities where others can’t.
• Reading makes you a better leader. Reading regularly simply makes you a sharper, more curious, and more empathetic version of yourself — skills that translate directly to innovation and leadership. Ultimately, reading truly is like going to the gym for your brain, so it only makes sense that those who do it often will be in better mental shape than those who don’t.

The best reason to read? It’s fun!

Whether you’re the CEO of a growing startup or a grad student living on ramen noodles, the best reason to read is that it’s a rewarding way to spend time. If you need more inspiration to make a habit of picking up a book each day — beyond the variety of health, mental, and emotional benefits reading provides — no reason proves more influential than that reading is just plain fun.

At the end of the day, this is why you need to set a reading goal for 2020: Reading not only betters you as a person, it also provides a uniquely gratifying form of mental nourishment. So don’t wait. Set your reading goal and start reading!
 

I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but I’ve seriously fallen in love with Audiobooks. Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams, “I cannot live without books.” In a slight twist on those sentiments, I cannot live without audiobooks.

Well, it occurred to me a few years ago that I have more time to listen than I do to physically read books for personal purposes since I spend a great deal of time actually reading and reviewing manuscripts of new authors. So, to keep myself up on current business builder content and self-mastery disciplines, I invest in audiobooks. A subscription to Audible to be more specific. I’ve found that I have time in the tub, while I’m driving, or even when I have a free moment before bed- to listen. Hands-free + Mind alert + Satisfaction.

Enter: Audio Books.

I have a list of books that I intend to read each year that colleagues have shared with me, top reviewer’s picks and ones that support what my focus is for the year. I read roughly 26-40 titles each year easily and have been doing that for the past five years.

And driving.  Oh … I drive all the time. To my home, where I do my writing, and to the office, which I do in my other life as a community relations manager.

Before I discovered audiobooks, a three-hour drive to STL seemed a thousand miles away. Now, as a family, our trips to St. Louis to visit Grandnan and Pop-Pop includes a title for all of us to listen to, enjoy and later discuss. Believe it or not, if you put the right thing in you can actually get the Air Pods out of your kids’ ears for a little while.

All of which means that as a writer I am fortunate to have one of my books translated into a verbally-articulated medium that gives me great pride. You can get the audio motivation for 7 Keys of a Queen book, just ask.

And as a listener, I am an addict. I’ve been an avid reader since I was a kid. The bottom line, I am a busy publisher, a devoted fan, and a very happy reader.

To Your Success,

​MG

February being the month of love, I thought I’d share with you about the genre of love in books. You can write a love story outside the romance genre. Romance is a staple of all types of literature. So when is it a “romance” and when is it just a book with a love story? Usually, it’s obvious.

Romance is in the air. So much so, the romance genre dominates the book industry. Following a big bang in the 1980s, romance publishers and sub-genres exploded. Today, love stories enjoy the lion’s share of the market: this infographic shows a full 40% of Amazon’s eBook sales are in the romance genre.

If you thrive on tales of love, writing them can bring big rewards. As an author, you call the shots. Conjure the heroine and her hero. Crush their love with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Mold the perfect HEA, or “Happily Ever After.” You might also draw a paycheck.

For love affair connoisseurs, you’ll know the style of romance book you like to read. Maybe you see a gap in the market and you’d like to try to fill it by bringing a new voice to the fray.

Maybe you’ve watched the documentary Love Between the Covers. The makers of this film rounded up romance authors and devotees to discuss their close-knit community and found that many of the best romance writers joined “the movement” to put stories they wanted to read on the shelf for the first time. Someone had to write the first paranormal romance.

Romancers are quick to point out that this genre foots the bills in the fiction industry. To keep up with demand, leading romance authors leapfrogged from penning one book every two years to producing two to three titles a year. The industry is innovative: embracing eBooks early on, for example, to help sate the voracious appetites of audiences.

Perhaps you’ve been to a Romance Writers of America convention, or a similar event. These are the meet-and-greets of the industry, and you can pick up tips on everything – from editing to cinching up corsets.
 
Given the regularized patterns of commercial romance novels, you’ll want to figure out where you fit in. Romance has clear and demanding genre expectations. Readers reward creativity, but key rules are etched in stone. You must concoct a great hero and heroine, confound them with obstacles, and make sure love conquers all. No deviations allowed. You must have an HEA.
 
In the end, romance is still the same old “boy-meets-girl” story. Actually, it’s better described as “girl-meets-boy” as the majority of romance book writers and readers are female. And it’s girl-meets-boy with a big twist: the romance genre is defined by hindrances. Sacrifice – personal, financial, professional, or otherwise – is essential, and don’t think to let it fall on the shoulders of the woman alone. Partners must equally bear the cost of overcoming.

While not overly realistic, seemingly impossible challenges make for compelling fiction. It’s like the whodunit puzzle in a murder mystery. How can you fall in love with the man who bought your family farm and turned it into a shopping mall? How do you fall in love with the son of your family’s sworn enemy – or a soldier from the enemy army? Seeing the road love travels to conquer all is why they’ll pay the price of admission. Everyone knows the ending, which makes the journey the thing that really matters.

The battle for love can be played out in any background: past, present, or future; reality-based or fantasy. You can have any type of couple from any walk of life, just make sure you fit into a sub-genre or risk trying to become the exception and create your own.

You’ll want to check the requirements for any publishers you are interested in approaching. For example, by convention, romances are written in the third person, past tense.

Ask the question, Is it a love story?

Of course, you can still write a love story outside the romance genre. Romance is a staple of all types of literature. So when is it a “romance” and when is it just a book with a love story? Usually, it’s obvious.

Twilight is an epic love story but not a romance. Why? Bella and Edward face the obstacle of his past: he’s a 117-year-old vampire who finds her smell intoxicating. They overcome this relatively quickly, and there is so much more to the story, along with werewolves and marauding vampires, for it to count as “only” romance. This blockbuster is a fantasy with a very memorable love story inside it.

Fifty Shades of Grey is equally focused on a couple but exceeds the boundaries of “romance” because it strays too far from the formula. It puts Christian and Anastasia together at the get-go.

It is also a deal-breaker to kill off the hero – or the heroine. With death, you’re back to love story. The need for an HEA is inscrutable.

So, given that you know the story you’re panting to tell, get on with it: Fill the world with love.

Looking at the data, we see 40% of Amazon’s eBook market share belongs to romances, and the genre grosses a whopping $1.14 billion a year. A quarter of bestsellers are romances, and romance novels are the type of book most likely to be read to completion.

We know the length of your book should be 375 pages. On average, each sentence will contain 9.3 words. In 1811, when Jane Austen wrote Sense and Sensibility, the average was 23.7, but times have changed.

For profession, lawyers and detectives rank top for protagonists. So, our couple can be a lawyer-detective duo. The numbers dictate the protagonist be female and America the setting.

But, what if you are a thriller writer? Then you should write a thriller, of course. Just know you’ll potentially meet the tastes of a smaller section of the reading populace. Unless you write a romance thriller that crosses over and grabs romance readers as well…

But of course, this is all academic, and mostly just for fun. In the end, the answer is to write what you are best suited to write, bearing in mind the facts about what this might mean for sales and the size of your readership. The world of traditional publishing is propped up by a huge infrastructure built over decades: going “insider,” when it works in your favor, means traveling on a freeway. Landing on a niche, however small, might mean less competition and a rabid readership.

Though you’ll have difficulty finding a more rabid fan base than in the romance genre. Those folks love a good love story.

To Your Success,

​MG

A new thing I'm adding this year and this month of Vision is sharing some good books and authors I've encountered. This first one is Ray Dalio and his book Principles. It was voted Business Book of the Year. You'll have to get it to fund out why. But enjoy this blog that encapsulates a bit of what Ray Dalio shares with people all the time. It was good for me. I think itll be good for you.

Wouldn’t you love to be able to achieve greatness without embarrassment, failure and fear? It would be wonderful to be able to tell you that you can achieve your dreams without suffering a little bit.

Unfortunately, that’s not how things work. Everyone needs to go on their hero’s journey, and that means, at some point, encountering an extreme low.
 
It would be lovely, of course, if we could just learn everything we need to know from other people’s experiences. And you can try to do that. In fact, we shouldreally try to do that way!

Here’s the thing though. The information you need is out there. The books are there for you to read, and the podcasts are there for you to listen to. And if you go out and consume all that information, you will learn. You’ll learn a lot.

You’ll even take some of the advice. Maybe you’ll take most of it.

But you won’t take all of it. And the only thing that’s going to show you how you’re wrong, how your worldview is limited, is your own failure. When you try to reach your dreams, fail, feel the pain, and decide to get back up and try again.

However, even that process won’t be enough without reflection.

You’ve really got to sit down and admit, “here’s where I screwed up. Here’s where I could have done better. Here’s where I went wrong.” And then figure out how you’re going to do things differently next time.

Ray Dalio’s famous math equation is right on the money:

Pain + Reflection = Progress.

The truth is that the drive to achieve something extraordinary is often rooted in harsh experiences. And the more crushing the extreme low you’ve reached, the more drive you will have to reach extraordinary heights.

So there is, of course, some good news here. Those of you who have hit rock bottom, who suffer greatly, or who have had those crushing failures can look forward to an incredible future. As long as you always take responsibility for your own errors.

Through reflection, your failures become the fuel that sustains you when times get rough, and when you want to wimp out. They will propel you when you want to quit out of boredom or jealousy.

So that means that pain is never wasted. Pain + Reflection = Progress. There is always something to be learned.

Aren't familiar with Ray Dalio? Look him up. This year from time to time I will share with you some really good books I've read and recommend by some amazing authors. Even outside of my own publishing house, there's great material out there.

To Your Success

MG

Eating healthier, working out, making more time for friends… these are, even for us indie writers, common New Year’s resolutions. Which is to say, the resolutions that will soon go by the wayside.

But for writers, there’s one resolution of the utmost importance to us: finally finishing and publishing your book. This year — with the right preparation and planning — you can follow through on this goal.

I place emphasis here on “finishing and publishing” because if you’re just now typing “Chapter One,” it’s going to be hard for you to both finish and publish that book before the year’s over.

So, let’s assume you’ve already put in a lot of work — say, you’re halfway to your target length of 60,000 words. If you’ve made it that far, you can and will publish your book in 2019… IF you follow this checklist.

June: Finish and edit your first draft

The first step here is to finish writing your book. This will likely require some sacrifice. Cancel that Netflix subscription. Put a lock on your home office. Stay loyal to a writing schedule in which you write and make progress every single day.

Within a few months, you should be done with your first draft. But, that doesn’t mean you’re done writing. Next comes the rewriting. This is when you kill your darlings and shave down the story and the prose so only that which is essential and moves the story forward remains.

With focused effort, you can have this done in the next few months. The goal is to have a tight version of your manuscript which can serve as the foundation for what comes next.

July: Hand your manuscript to a professional editor

Are you done after you’ve finished your self-edit? Nope. Next, you should find a professional editor to edit your manuscript. Yes, this can be expensive. But it’s necessary and worth it to invest in a professional to take a second or third look at your every sentence, word, and syllable. At Purpose Publishing, my team and I tell all our writers the same thing: edit or regret it.

That’s one reason why we offer all our writers editing services. But keep in mind, a professional editor will need 2–3 weeks to do a thorough job, so make sure you’ve found an editor closer to the beginning of the month than later.

August: Editing is complete

Your next step is to read the edited manuscript to make sure you agree with the changes your editor has made. This is important, so take your time. Some authors accept all the changes and rush through this process blindly. Don’t do that! This is your book, and you get the final say on how it reads.

September: Prepare for publication

By September, you should have an edited manuscript ready to go. Next, you’ll need to take steps to make your book look and feel professional.

The best way to do that, outside of partnering with a traditional publisher — which for most people doesn’t make monetary or logical sense and isn’t really feasible to begin with — is to partner with a full-service self-publishing company (I recommend Purpose Publishing!). Your next steps include:

Cover design. The cover of your book is of the utmost importance. It will be the first thing new readers see when they come across your book. It must be both arresting and professional. It pays, then, to hire a professional cover designer. Your sister-in-law who knows a bit of graphic design won’t cut it. You want your book to look like the real deal.

Promotion plan. Next, you’ll need to start thinking about how you’re going to inform the world about the existence of your book. Savvy authors know that such promotion must start early — long before your book enters the marketplace. Will you hire a publicist? Solicit book reviews? Try social media ads? September is the month to make all these strategy decisions so when it comes time to implement them, you know exactly what to do.

Publishing plan. This is also the time to decide how, exactly, you’re going to deliver your book to the world. Are you going to use Print-On-Demand services? Will you create eBooks? There are many distribution options for eBooks, including Amazon. Another option is to partner with aggregators (Purpose Publishing provides such services) who can handle distribution for you.

October: Pre-sale

Once you hit October, it’s time to put things into motion. The first step? Pre-sale.

If you’re distributing your book online, that means you need to set up a pre-sale period for your book with the various online marketplaces and retail stores you’re utilizing. This is, arguably, the most important part of your book launch.

Mid-November: Time to hit the marketplace!

If you’ve followed all the steps above, your book should be available for pre-sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, etc. in time for the holiday and the end of the year.

If all this sounds like a lot of work — you’re right. It is. To get there will require discipline, patience, and grit. Here are some general rules to follow to help keep you on track.

Plan for good and bad days. You can expect to have some good days — when creativity flows and the words spill out without effort — and bad days. Life is full of distractions, after all. The important thing is to plan accordingly so you can get even a little bit of work done every day.

Turn off the TV. Television (and YouTube) is the biggest book killer known to man. So turn it off. There’ll be plenty of time for binge-watching this fall after the hard work is done.

Ask for help. Turn to your friends and family and tell them you’re living out the dream of writing your book. Ask for their forgiveness — and space — while you complete this mission.

Deadlines aren’t everything. Don’t beat yourself up if your manuscript isn’t done by June. A rushed book is never a good book. Publishing a book of quality takes time, just commit to the process and work until you’re done.

I look forward to reading your book this time next year!

To Your Success,

​MG

What You Can Do With A $100 Marketing Budget
 
Your book is an investment. It’s normal to put money into something you care about and invest in something that helps pay the bills. So, just as we put money into our publishing and content, we should also set aside money for marketing our work.
 
Naturally, this seems like a daunting task, as no one wants to take a gamble on marketing if the outcome is unsure, especially when labels and wealthier artists dump thousands upon thousands into their marketing. But it’s actually easier than you think. Even better, it can also be cheaper than you think.
 
Let’s say you only have $100 a month to spend on marketing your music. If you have no idea where to start or how you can get the most bang for your buck, here’s how you might want to split up that cash.
 
Facebook advertising: $25 to $50
Yep, this could eat up half of your monthly budget, but it’s an important facet of marketing. The wayFacebook’s current algorithm works is that posts that aren’t engaged with won’t appear on your fans’ timelines. Even if you have 15,000 fans, if your post gets zero interactions, most of those fans won’t even see it. Is this Facebook’s way of nearly forcing brands to pay up for reach? A little bit. But fortunately, even $5 or $10 could get you significant reach on Facebook.

There are a few ways of going about advertising on Facebook. One way is to promote your whole page for $5 to $10 a day for five days. Ensure you’re drilling down your audience, too. You can target people by interest, so make sure you include your genre, similar artists, and any other important details in your page information.
 
Another route would be promoting a YouTube clip that’s posted on your Facebook page. This way, you can also rack up on YouTube views. For $10 a day for five days, your post could easily reach a minimum of 2,000 to 5,200 people each day. Will this necessarily lead to a corresponding number of likes, views, and listens? Potentially! If your content is written well, it’ll certainly get some love. And if you can’t manage $10 a day, even $5 a day isn’t a bad deal, since it’ll get you a reach of about 980 to 2,600 people daily.
 
Google AdWords for video: $25 to $50
Obviously, you’ll have to adjust your spend here depending on how much you put towards your Facebook campaign. However, Google AdWords is a great way to invest a chunk of your marketing budget – namely in YouTube’s TrueView, which is AdWords for video. This creates sponsored video ads on YouTube which can lead people to your video, channel, or website.

There’s also a very easy and efficient walkthrough when creating an ad, which makes this very easy to use and customize. I’d recommend a total of $5 to $10 for five days. Since its PPC (pay-per-click), you’ll only be charged each time your ad is clicked – plus, you get to choose the cap on the amount you spend (i.e., your $5). With this budget of $5 to $10 a day, you can easily achieve up to 1,000 impressions daily.
 
Website, social media, or EPK cleanup: remaining budget
Let’s say you spent $25 between the Facebook ads and Google AdWords, or decided to forgo YouTube TrueView as you don’t have a video to push. Now, you have $25 or $50 left over. Think about spending that on a nice graphic set for an upcoming show, or even hiring a strategist to rework some of your bio or copy on your website. Now, I’m sure any designers reading this are cringing at the thought of only working for $25 on design, but for one or two simple social media graphics, or a new cover photo, that’s surely reasonable.

A final word of warning: when you start marketing your work, people are going to see it – lots of them – so make sure whatever you’re putting out there is clean and fresh. The last thing you want is money spent on promoting a post or video with poor wording or quality. So be prepared!
 
To Your Success,

MG

YOU can do it! It’s YOUTube

Social media is a fantastic tool for engaging with your customers and providing value where they’re already spending so much of their time – in their Facebook news feeds, Twitter streams, and elsewhere online.

As you’re creating your video content, be sure to focus on presenting yourself authentically and personably. If you can come across as someone your audience will connect with, you’ve already won their attention.

With that in mind, you want to do everything you can to resist the temptation of “SELL! SELL! SELL!” messaging. Don’t forget that people connect with people, not brands or companies.

Check out and try these strategies used by the experts to engage with customers and build meaningful relationships on YouTube.

1. Be Personal

People love to connect, have something in common, and acknowledge similarities with others. Don’t afraid to talk about your past mistakes and tell exciting stories.

2. Be Vulnerable

Even though it can be difficult, sharing your weaknesses and asking for feedback from your customers gets them engaged on a much deeper level. People love helping others, and most will jump at the opportunity to provide constructive feedback when they feel they’ve already gotten value from your content.
​
3. Be Responsive

Everyone seeks human connection. Make the extra effort to respond to a comment, mention someone directly in your videos, and shout out those who’ve given you feedback or content suggestions. Chances are, you’ll make someone’s day and they’ll be that much more likely to organically share your content with others.

4. Be Entertaining

Be goofy. Do something crazy. Share your outtakes. Kick back, laugh, and show your customers that you’re human too!

A high level of customer engagement will come as a reward for being yourself, showing you’re human, and delivering content to your audience in an exciting manner.
 
To you the YOUtuber in Training,


MG

Here are a dozen ways to come up with Book Ideas From Your Experiences

Coming up with the right book idea can be a serious challenge regardless of how experienced you are as a writer.

Whether you’re a brand new writer or a seasoned author ready for a new writing project, it can be incredibly difficult to find the inspiration you need, in order to commit to an endeavor as arduous as writing a book. I’m a firm believer that the best book ideas must come from within.

However, the ways in which you find and cultivate the story ideas that have the potential to turn into a book idea (or best seller) you’re passionate about writing, are plentiful.

As a writer myself, I’ve gone through a lot of creative ups and downs. For this exhaustive list of potential book ideas, I’m pulling straight from my personal list of ways to find inspiration for my own writing process, when I’m lacking motivation.

Over the years, this list has grown with ideas and inspiration I’ve gleaned from a handful of my favorite experimental storytellers like Tim Ferriss, Dan Carlin, Alex Blumberg and others who’ve created some of my favorite dynamic podcasts.

These techniques to finding inspiration as a writer, come from pushing myself outside of my comfort zone with trying new experiences, conducting massive amounts of research on topics I’m interested in, running massive lifestyle experiments, taking a deeper dive into my thoughts and dreams, and so much more. Let’s dive in.

Here are my a dozen ways to come up with the best book ideas that’ll help you hit the ground running as a new writer.

1. Write About What Bothers You Off Most.

I could write endlessly about the mistakes entrepreneurs tend to make with their first businesses. It doesn’t quite piss me off, but I care so much about this topic and want to help others avoid the most painful mistakes I’ve made myself, that it fuels my ability to write ad nauseam on the complexities of how to start a business. What gets you most heated?

Take that topic and write about it without any creative restraints whatsoever. Let the words meet the page, don’t judge your ideas, and then structure the content later. This approach has fueled many of my best blog posts that could easily turn into book ideas in the future.

2. Do Something Remarkable, Then Write About It.

Imagine the story you could tell if you made a trip like Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman did on their 20,000 mile bike crossing 12 counties and 19 time zones in 2004. Of course, these were celebrities taking time off to raise money for charity. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably not in a position to travel unpaid for 115 days. However, there are still many smaller-scale remarkable endeavors that you could do, that’d be worth writing about.

3. Start a Blog and Write Chapters One Post at a Time.

This works particularly well for niche topics. Gain a loyal following writing a series of blog posts on something you’re interested in. Once you have built up a quality library of posts, you can repackage them into a book.

4. Create a Podcast and Write a Book Based on What You’ve Learned from Guests.

Did you know that one in four Americans ages 12-54 listened to a podcast last month? In fact, according to Jay Baer of Convince and Convert with an assist from Edison Research, the same number of Americans listen to podcasts each month, as use Twitter. One of the most popular podcast formats is to invite an interesting guest onto your show and interview them for your audience. Entrepreneur and CreativeLive instructor, Lewis Howestook this exact approach when he wrote his New York Times best-selling book, The School of Greatness, which shares everything he’s learned from interviewing hundreds of the world’s top creatives.

5. Write a Book and Publish One Chapter at a Time with Amazon Kindle Singles.

If the thought of writing a full-length novel is too intimidating, then one very real option is to break your book into smaller chunks that you publish one at a time. You would be in good company if you did, Charles Dickens wrote The Pickwick Papers, his very first novel, as a series of short stories in the 19th century. With easy-to-use blogging platforms, the Internet now makes this a very easy task. As an added benefit beyond publishing all of the stories at once, you’ll have the opportunity to adjust your writing style for the later chapters in response to feedback you get early on.

6. Ask Your Friends What They Like Reading Most, Write Something for Them.

Your friends are already a captive audience. Ask them what they like reading about, chances are there are more people out there who have similar tastes. Write your book imagining that your friends are your target readers. Of course, your friends are unlikely to be fierce critics if the first draft of your book isn’t up to snuff, so make sure you elicit honest (sometimes brutal) feedback on the first versions of your book, in order to avoid them just telling you what they think you want to hear.

7. Write About What Makes You Laugh Hardest.

This could easily tie in with the activity above, but I’ve found that it’s often more fun to expand upon just one instance when you laughed hysterically in the past. To me, laughter is a sign of a truly great story, and it’s usually highly contagious. Of course, you might be embarrassed about what makes you laugh most, and it may not be politically correct. However, the more outlandish or embarrassing the story, the more likely you are to attract an engaged audience for your book idea.

8. Write About the Most Upsetting Experience You’ve Ever Had.

One of the stranger quirks of the human state I’ve come to observe, is that we’re drawn in to read, watch and consume traumatic stories that highlight the difficulties others have triumphed over in life. While you may struggle to tell the world about your most upsetting experiences, it’s likely that people would benefit tremendously from hearing how you’ve gone through unfortunate circumstances or failures, and what you’ve learned on the other side.

9. Write About the Person who’s Had the Most Impact on Your Life.

Have you had a mentor that’s left a lasting impression in your personal life or within your career? Maybe it was your best school teacher, youth leader, business advisor, or simply an older friend or family member. Think about how they’ve impacted your life, pull out specific lessons they imprinted on you and dedicate the book to them as the ultimate thank you. Gratitude is contagious, and this format makes for an incredibly empowering book idea.

10. Take Inspiration From Your Favorite Songs and Musicians.

You could choose to write about your favorite musician from a fan’s perspective. Perhaps you’ve been to one their concerts and could write about the experience. If you have a good music collection, perhaps you could choose to write about the songs they have released, possibly looking at the messages behind them. Alternatively, you could examine some song lyrics, and see if these can inspire you to tell a tale. Here’s an example: a few years ago we took a girls trip to Vegas for my sister’s 40th birthday and went to the Michael Jackson show. After the show, I tasked each lady (there were four of us) to write a short story using the title to one of Michael Jackson’s hits and I’d publish it in a collective book about what Michael Jackson songs meant to each of us in our life. Uncovering a correlation between positive social changes in that time period and the positive music that rose in popularity would undoubtedly stir up a readership. Needless to say, we didn’t do it but it was still a good idea and one you could use when thinking about writing your book.

11. Write About Your Career Experience Within Your Industry.

Most of us have built up a wealth of life experiences. Many books have been written by people telling tales from within the industry in which they work. Have you been working in a job long enough to build up a series of anecdotes that might interest or amuse potential readers? How about teaching them something that’ll accelerate their path to becoming an expert within your space? I’ve done exactly this by chronicling my own personal journey of becoming a subject matter expert within the content marketing world, and have written a series of posts about how to start a freelance business, that have attracted a large readership.

12. Write About the Biggest Problem Facing Your Industry (and Potential Solutions).

Discuss any major problems or issues that you can identify within your industry and thoughtfully propose new solutions. If you’ve tested these solutions yourself, even better! This will be particularly useful if you can come up with practical and cost-effective solutions to the challenges other businesses in your space are facing, and will help you position yourself as an expert, one of the major reasons people decide to write a book in the first place.
 
Try at least one,
​
MG

THE REAL REASON PEOPLE DON’T WRITE THE BOOK INSIDE OF THEM

I’ve had people tell me they wrote a book in less than 24 hours, although of course I wouldn’t recommend that. I am also aware of a realistic approach to balancing the time it takes, but Carl Boyd worked with me and finished his book within 60 days.

And then, I’d say factoring in trying to schedule in writing time if you have a full-time job or family to take care of.

I could give you examples that show, no matter how you do it, you DO have time to write a book. Sometime between now and 365 days from now.

The reason you haven’t written a book, clearly has nothing to do with time. There is all the time in the world to write this book.

So what’s the real reason?

You are afraid to write the book.

WRITING A BOOK IS ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING
It’s true, writing a novel is scary. And the reason you are experiencing writer’s block or writing avoidance is because YOU ARE AFRAID TO WRITE THE BOOK.

Fear is a very strong motivator. It also is very good at wearing disguises.

You might read this and shake your head and say, no, no, I’m not afraid to write the book. It’s just I have to take care of my family/walk the dog/go to work/pay the bills/insert-any-reason-or-excuse-here.

The subject of fear is perhaps not the book itself, but you DO have fear in some other place.

Fear most often disguises itself as guilt. If you take 3 hours a week to write the book instead of spending time with the family, you might feel guilty.

The fear in that case is fearing that you aren’t a good spouse/parent/child/sibling/friend.

Maybe you are afraid that no one will read the book when you finish it. Maybe you’re like me and are actually afraid people will read the book once it’s done. After all, we can’t have critics if we don’t have an audience.

If you aren’t writing, but you want to be, it’s a good idea to think about your fears. We’ve just proven there IS time to write that book – and you can do it, once it becomes something you are not afraid to prioritize.

Writing a book also does not have to be any sort of crazy all-for-nothing-all-at-once dash. Balance is key, and as we all know from reading Aesop fables, slow and steady wins the race.

Don’t be scared, write!

​
MG
 

6. WRITE FIRST, EDIT LATER
 
One of the biggest mistakes new writers make is to edit while writing. Don’t worry about making your first draft perfect – this can be done in the revision stage AFTER the first draft is complete.
Try to avoid reading what you just wrote and just keep moving forward. You can always edit sentences and cut out scenes or add scenes later.


7. WRITE FAST

If you’ve set a deadline, writing fast will help you reach your goals. It also helps you stop second-guessing your work while you are in the process of writing.

Write from a stream of consciousness where you just write whatever comes to mind about your story. Don’t worry so much about it making sense. The important thing is to get words down.


8. CONNECT WITH OTHERS

Writing can be lonely. Joining a writing group can give you a lot of support! Your group can be the place to ask questions, stay accountable, and share tips and resources with others to keep you motivated and encouraged.


9. TAKE CREATIVE BREAKS

Writing is a creative process and sitting in one spot all the time staring at a screen does not do much for exercising the creative muscles.

Try drawing, painting, sketching or go for a walk or take your notebook to a coffee shop or park. Getting out and doing something will help you greatly in re-energizing you to keep writing.

10. DON’T GIVE UP!

You’ll feel like quitting many, many times. But persistence and diligence is key in finishing. Stick to your deadline and writing goals and keep at it. You CAN do it!

Now get going.

To Your Success,
​
MG

We know writing a novel can seem like a daunting task at first. Just starting can seem intimidating!

​Fortunately, there are many ways you can simplify writing a novel to make it easier. This list of 10 novel writing tips will help you stay focused, motivated, and organized throughout the writing process.


1. CHOOSE YOUR DEADLINE AND WRITING GOAL
When there’s no deadline or goal to finish, it can be very hard to complete your project.

This is why this is the #1 rule on the list: Set a measurable deadline and writing goal.

Most novels are between 50,000 and 100,000 words. Because it’s easier to add words than cut them out, it’s often better to set your word count goal lower than 75,000 words for your first draft.

To determine the best writing goals and deadline for you, think about how many words you can write in a day. I can generally easily write between 2,500 and 4,000 words a day, so setting a goal of 75,000 words in 30 days is reasonable for me.

A deadline will push you to your limits and write even when you’re not motivated to write.


2. PREPARE BEFORE YOU WRITE
While some writers just sit down at the keyboard to write with no plan or idea, it can be difficult to keep a story going or you may hit writer’s block. By preparing a basic synopsis, mind map, or outline for your ideas, you’ll have something to reference to anytime you come across a roadblock while writing.

There’s many different ways to prepare for writing a novel.

Here’s two examples for ways you can prepare:

• Write a 1-2 page synopsis of the novel
• Create an outline for your novel
  
  

A little prep work can go a long way in helping you stay focused and on task while writing. Having all your research and ideas in one place can also be very beneficial for keeping thoughts and ideas organized.


3. KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS

The better you know your characters, the easier the writing will unfold. Get to know your characters as well as you would know a close friend.

You don’t have to write every little detail about your character in the story – but the more you know about your character the more you will be able to imagine new scenes and develop the story.

Need help creating strong characters? See our list of Character Development Questions and How to Develop Strong Characters in Your Novel.


4. USE THE RIGHT TOOLS WHILE WRITING YOUR NOVEL
 
If you’re using Microsoft Office or Open Office to write your novel, you’re likely going to get frustrated during the process. While these programs are great for some writing projects, most professional writers use software specifically made for writers.

There are a lot of great programs and tools that can help you easily write your book. The key is to make sure that whatever you use is productive, reliable, and efficient.

Beyond just software and hardware, there are a lot of other important things – like being comfortable while you work! Never underestimate the importance of a good Ergonomic Office Chair!


5. SCHEDULE TIME TO WRITE – AND ACTUALLY WRITE!
There will never be a perfect time to write. Waiting for when you have more time is a surefire way to never start writing your book. Finding motivation to write may not be easy, but sometimes scheduling time is just as hard!

Schedule a time during the day when you can write with minimal distractions and sit down. Try to disconnect from the internet if you can and force yourself to write. Do it one word at a time. Making time for writing will help you complete your novel.

To your novel success,
​
MG

​

​Today, I have something interesting for you.

Did you know that the early morning hours are the most important hours in your day?

They affect your mindset and your productivity for the rest of the day.

So, how can you start each day off on the right foot?

Plan your day the night before
By thinking about what you want to accomplish the next day, you are essentially visualizing what you are going to get done successfully, instead of wasting time worrying about where to start and what to do when you wake up. This puts you in the right mindset for success and keeps you calmer and more efficient.

Set goals for the day every morning
When you wake up and get ready to act on the plans you made the night before, stop and take a second to remind yourself of what your goals are. This will refocus your energy into only what you want to complete and will promote more productivity throughout the day.

Avoid checking your phone
By making sure you have a morning routine that allows you to wake up, shower, get ready, and prepare a good breakfast, you are ensuring that you are more likely to feel accomplished and stay focused all day.

Checking your phone for emails, new social media notifications, or missed calls can cause you the anxiety that goes along with feeling like you have to have to start jumping in and handling everything immediately. Give yourself a break for some focus and you’ll thank yourself later.
Remember, it’s okay to take a few minutes for yourself.
 
To Your Success,
​
MG

People doubt all the time.

They doubt themselves, they doubt positive outcomes, and they doubt they will achieve the success they’re so desperately working toward.

Why?
Because the voice inside your mind takes everything you’ve ever heard or seen throughout your life and throws it back at you exactly when you don’t need it. Worries, bad dreams, and memories of people telling you that you can’t… all things that are completely unhelpful in most situations.

A lot of writers, even very accomplished authors, have doubt. They don’t feel like their writing is good enough.

That’s a dangerous game to play. If you convince yourself you’re  not doing well, then it becomes easier to give up -- and that is the opposite of what we want to achieve here.

To overcome your doubts and any fears you may have of writing a book, there are 15 practices you can use to help.

Write often, even when you don’t want to
One of the best ways to overcome your fears of writing is to write 1,000 words a day. The key to writing a book is to just write. Like most things, you can’t get worse at writing by doing it.

Stop thinking about what other people will think
Don’t worry about what others are going to think of your writing or of your book -- that’s what reviewing and editing are for. Right now, just focus on getting your message out of your head!

Say affirmations that rid your mind of the fear of failure
Rather than focusing on the fear of why you think you can’t write a book, focus on the future and how you’ll feel when it’s done.
 
Start today,

​MG