The reward of holding a copy of your published work is indescribable. But it’s just one of the many exciting milestones in your journey to self-publishing success. One key objective in your publishing journey is selling your book successfully. Here are five tips we think may help improve your efforts to increase book sales.

Build up your image as an author and a brand

Book buyers and readers gravitate to books—and authors—that appeal to them. The more you project yourself in a way that holds their attention, the more you gain their trust. Highlight the fact that you are now a published author. Add that to your email and forum signature lines. Don’t forget to add your website or social media profiles to here, as well as to your press release boilerplates. These may be small things, but they’re the building blocks to a positive image.

A quality 3rd-party review is important to successful bookselling
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An honest and well-written 3rd-party review is invaluable. A positive review from a respected book reviewer will make your book stand out, improve its marketability and enhance your titles, as well as your, reputation. Don’t be afraid to invite readers and indie reviewers to evaluate your book. Published reviews on sites like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other bookstore bolsters the credibility of your book encouraging new readers to part with their money knowing that they will get a good read in return.

Librarians are your best customers—and allies

Librarians are savvy, well-informed book buyers. They are the favorites of the traditional publishing houses, small presses, and self-publishers. If librarians like your book and trust your brand, they will likely become some of your most effective bookselling allies. Their participation and support are valuable aids to your bookselling activities—sponsoring book signings, readings, meet-and-greet affairs, and Q&A activities at their libraries. So be sure to visit your local libraries and befriend your librarians.

Use your social media networks to connect and sell your book

While Purpose Publishing carries all the titles of its authors in its online bookstore and through its partnerships with Amazon and Barnes and Noble, one of the most effective ways to sell you book is through social media networking. Generate news, book-related updates, and positive reviews through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and to the other online communities you belong to. Social networks are also great places to meet fellow authors and find new opportunities for selling your book.

To Your Success,

MG

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People are highly visual creatures, and this holds true when we are reading. We don’t see the images in the book, we form them in our minds. Pack in brilliant verbal imagery and your readers will enjoy and remember your book.

Drawing powerful verbal imagery is a skill that defines natural-born writers, but it can also be learned. Here are five things to think about with respect to using the power of the pen to draw images.

1. Be aware of visual imagery
The first step is heightening your awareness of verbal imagery and how it works. When you read a new book, or write, take note.

We think of words as words – black ink on a white page. But they are more: they paint colorful pictures from the action, people, and settings of a story world. Check it out for yourself. Take a paragraph from any book you are reading and do an image “density test.” Count all the images that form in your mind as you read along. Is it a large and diverse number?

It depends on what you are reading, but in many books, it’ll be each sentence, or even each phrase — e.g. “Silent, he nodded and looked out the window at the windmill by the still lake.” That sentence evokes four images – a man nodding, a window, a windmill, and a lake scene.

2. Actively write in images
Many authors say they see events unfold in their own minds and then they write them down. This is a great way to get visual writing. You can heighten this by purposefully engineering memorable images into your work.

Whether or not you remember the details of any of the Godzilla movies, you know what Godzilla looks like. Often, it’s a useful technique to render an abstract idea into symbolic imagery to give it punch or make it easily understood and memorable. The scar on Harry Potter’s forehead is a brilliant example. It represents his past, his link with Voldemort, and his fate. Harry just has to show it or touch it in pain for readers to know something big is about to happen.

3. Keep the quality of your visual imagery in mind when you edit
If you can’t form an image about what is being described, likelihood is you probably don’t know exactly what is going on. So how would a reader know?

Have you ever tried editing expressly for visual content? Doing so can bring surprising rewards. You might find new ways to express abstract ideas. If you read a phrase or sentence and fail to clock an image, you might find that it wasn’t fully imagined. Editing to improve visual interest is often about making abstract things more concrete. This is ubiquitously thought of as a good thing in terms of writing advice. Why say “his car got keyed,” when you can say “his usually pristine black Porsche 911 had an ugly, uneven scar that stretched from the driver’s side mirror to the tail light.” The second one is not only a stronger image, you wince harder. Great writing is about giving a reader enough detail to let them see the world you are presenting – without overdoing it. At best, they need some wiggle room to see your story world as they want to.

4. Understand why key types of information work better as a picture
Some things just work better visually. This is because they depend on having all the knowledge at once, on some form of complex structure in space or time, or the linkages between entities. Such information clusters are hard to render in words – no matter how many you use or how artfully you arrange them on the page.

Think about a map or a family tree. These are common images printed in books – words just can’t do them justice – or fit into equal space. If you do need to describe difficult images, it’s about getting out the most important information first – the structure and the types of connection. Then come the relevant details, which a reader can now map onto a visual framework they are holding in their head.

5. Use imagery to your best advantage
We all know the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” The trick of images is that they present all their information simultaneously. You might want to linger over The Mona Lisa to take in her finer details and soak in the mood, but it’s all there as you lay eyes on her.

Now imagine the many words it would take to describe The Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile to give detail equivalent to seeing her in person. It’s likely not possible, no matter how meticulously you picked your words, how artfully you ordered them, or how many you allowed yourself.

So, flip this and use the power of visual imagery to your advantage. Humans have a huge range of cultural images. Save 1,000 words every time you use an apt image. Purposefully pack your writing with attention-grabbing visuals and your writing will be memorable. There won’t be any incomplete ideas or passages full of filler. It will be more fully realized and accessible to the reader.
 
To Your Success,

MG
 
 

There are many parts to all of us - our skin color, our disposition and attitudes, our occupations, our families. Plus, the plethora of other things that we see and acknowledge about one another. Often, our stance or position around people separate us and we've found ourselves hurt and hurting.

Amidst everything we've been experiencing since the death of George Floyd and too many others who have lost their lives at the hands of law enforcement. I offer some words to all my friends, colleagues, brothers and sisters who have asked me "What can I do?" I read a blog from YouVersion that brought up a timeless story that many of us know.  The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Although at the time the two places these individuals were from did not get along or make nice with one another, ultimately the human race valued most important.


There is something we can do. Let's do it! Read the blog here and let me know what you think. Does it makes sense? Can you help? Although many of my Christian friends may not be protesters on the front lines all of us can DO something. What will you do? What will we all do? The best thing is to take action in ways you can to build up, promote and participate in sustainable change. It can start with a change in perspective. Enjoy the read. But when you finish, look for the something YOU can do.


Blessings

MG
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Source:
https://blog.youversion.com/2020/06/how-can-you-make-the-world-a-better-place/

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​For business leaders, writers, and everyone in between, allowing yourself to be human, and vulnerable, goes a long way toward establishing trust. That doesn’t make it easy.

You’ve been a business professional for quite a while now and have learned a lot in your time as a leader in various organizations. Your years of experience and education and your expertise and innovative ideas are what other impassioned leaders need to attain the success you’ve achieved. But do the people you serve know who you really are? They know you are a leader, but do they realize you’re human and no different from them when the veil is pulled back? Have you ever considered that the only way to establish a genuine connection with others is to be vulnerable?

Wearing my nonfiction book coach hat, I speak from experience. It wasn’t until I got real about my true self and who I really am that I began to attract a sustained influx of clients. Because I chose to be vulnerable, it encourages my clients to do the same and its one reason they want to work with me. It isn’t easy, but I propose it could be necessary to the success of your business — and your book.
 
As Brené Brown teaches in her TEDx talk (See the full TedX talk here), “The Power Of Vulnerability,” the gateway to intimacy is via being vulnerable about your imperfections. If you try to sugar coat your story, you miss out on the sense of connection with another human being that you can only attain when you’re letting someone see your warts and your big ugly tail. Every time you expose those imperfections — even because of those imperfections — you gain trust (or as Brown calls it, you “put marbles in the jar”). Over time, the intimacy you feel with other people depends on how many marbles are in your jar.
 
What business leader doesn’t want to establish trust amongst her staff and the customers her business serves? When trust is established with your subordinates and counterparts, success in all of your departments is guaranteed. People want to work with and for someone they trust and can relate to. The beauty of vulnerability is its ability to establish a connection with people from all different walks of life. People can connect with someone who knows how to get real.

David K. Williams, author of The 7 Non-Negotiables of Winning: Tying Soft Traits to Hard Results, describes vulnerability in business in this Forbes magazine article (see the full article here): “Vulnerability is a natural condition of the work that we do — it isn’t a choice but a consequence. To declare oneself ‘not vulnerable’ would be inauthentic and would leave a leader living in a perpetual state of denial and stress. So it’s better and more courageous for every leader to acknowledge the fact that vulnerability is there.”

As a business leader, you don’t need added stress to your life. Let go of your pride and expose your vulnerability.

Showcase your vulnerability through writing

You know deep down that you are a true leader. Writing a book not only helps to establish yourself as an expert, but it’s another way to expose your vulnerable side. Business leaders write books for a number of reasons:

• They have something to share that will benefit others.
• They want to leave a legacy that will impact the future.
• They see others struggle and have learned how to overcome obstacles.
• They want to showcase their businesses and their paths to success.
• They want to expose themselves as “real people” to their audiences.

 
In business and in life, trust is a must.
 
To Your Success,
MG

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Writing enough text to fill a book is one thing, but weaving it all together into a story with a strong arc, purpose, and impact is another. Here are some lessons that might help you in your writing process — whether your own book is an “accident” or not.

Writing that much prose is one thing, but weaving it all together into a story with a strong arc, purpose, and impact is another entirely. Here are some lessons I’ve learned along the way that might help you in your writing process — whether your own writing is an “accident” or not.

Consolidate
First, copy and paste everything into a single word processor document, in the best narrative order you can determine at the time. Having everything in one place will feel like an important milestone — your work will seem more like a cohesive book-in-progress and less like a collection of fragments, scenes, and vignettes.

Edit at will
As with the initial drafting of any book use what minutes you can find in between other activities to clarify the language, put pieces together, or review something you wrote months or even years ago. Sometimes that means searching for a particular scene or experience that’s been caught in your memory and reexamining how it fits into the overall story. Other times, it will mean scrolling randomly through the document and working on whatever paragraph catches your eye and the mouse falls on. Focus your time on what I can do right now to get yourself closer to the finish line, knowing you’ll get to it all completed real soon.

Label and shuffle
With tens of thousands of words and dozens of narrative episodes, keeping track of everything can be a challenge. To help, start labeling significant portions of your story with unsexy and utilitarian titles like, “Argument about green vs. black tea” and “Weird surveillance grocery store encounter.”

Will the chunks I’m currently defining end up as chapter partitions in the final novel? Probably not. But for now, functional titles help you know, quickly and efficiently, what the landscape of my work-in-progress looks like.

Having well-labeled portions of text also helps you put things in the best order for any narrative. Does a certain scene play better in the second third of the book? Does a character’s backstory suddenly become more resonant when presented after a traumatic incident involving an ex-lover? Cut-and-paste is a wonderful thing, and you use it to experiment with all sorts of structures and event orders.

Save versions-in-progress
After significant editing sessions, you save a new version of my document with a title like “Draft_v2.0,” Draft _v2.1,” and so on. This way, you can always go back and see previous manifestations of my ideas, as well as what I originally wrote on my phone. Having copious backups makes you more comfortable experimenting — you always know you can revert to a previous version if a creative risk you take doesn’t work in the end.

Fill in the gaps
If you discover that additional text is needed to make the story flow (and this will happen quite often), it’s always fun to return to writing mode. Either on the spot with your laptop or on your phone the next time you have a free minute, add the words, sentences, or paragraphs the story needs to smoothly flow and then go right back to editing mode.

Be patient and stay focused
It can be overwhelming to look at a 60,000-plus-word document, completely unedited, and realize it’s up to you alone to get it all in order. Try to stay micro-focused as you work, polishing only whatever sections are in front of your eyes at the moment and losing yourself in the task at hand. Just as the crafting of the original text happened gradually and organically, so too will the acts of compiling, editing, and revising.

Keep the big picture in mind
At this point, YOU know where your characters begin, the struggles and triumphs they go through, and where they will end up physically, circumstantially, and emotionally when the story concludes. You’ll want to keep this whole arc in mind as you’re editing, compiling, and reordering. In subtle and not-so-subtle ways, the big picture influences everything from word choice to plot adjustments and acts like glue, helping to stick the entire story together as a cohesive narrative.
 
To Your Success,
MG

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Your author website is a reflection of you as a writer and of your book as a work of art. It pays to make sure it is as enticing as the story you’ve spent months (or years) laboring over. Here are three quick ways to improve your author website.

​Every author — independent, traditionally published, or otherwise — needs a website. A Facebook page doesn’t count, nor does a Twitter or LinkedIn profile. In today’s dynamic and competitive book market, you need a space that provides a complete picture of what you’re offering. That space needs to feature your writing, your various channels of engagement, and all the intangibles that set you apart. It’s a critical component of your brand. And while it’s necessary for all authors to have a website, it’s even more important for self-published authors.

Having a comprehensive website (and general web presence) is a way of leveling the playing field  and giving your book a chance to compete with the big-name authors and traditionally published books in the market.

But not every author website is created equal: I’ve even seen authors’ sites that have damaged their books’ market potential. Luckily, it’s not difficult to improve your author website to ensure it elevates your book’s potential instead of stifling it.

Tip #1: Identify the primary goal for your site
The first step in building a successful author website is establishing a mission for it. What are you hoping to accomplish? Are you trying to sell more books? Build an author platform? Start conversations with your readers? Whatever your primary goal is, define it, then use it to inform the focus of your site.
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If your goal is to sell books, make sure your book is the first thing readers see when they navigate to your site. If your goal is to build your platform, actively prompt readers to subscribe to your various social channels.

By focusing on one goal, you can ensure your site does at least one thing really well. This will give you the foundation needed to start building other features later on.

Tip #2: Collect email addressesLike all savvy marketers, successful independent authors understand that email is an invaluable channel when it comes to connecting with readers. Are you placing an emphasis on your email channel, or are you chasing Twitter followers and Facebook likes?

While building Twitter and Facebook followings are important, they’re not nearly as influential as your email list. My rule of thumb: one email subscriber is equal to 25 likes on social media. Why? Because people are simply more careful about subscribing to something via email than they are about following someone on Twitter. Then, once you have someone’s email contact, you can build a more genuine and direct relationship with them than you can through social media. With a well-crafted email newsletter, you can build fans for life.

Tip #3: Offer enticing incentives
A great way to attract readers’ attention — and entice them to provide you their personal email addresses — is to offer them with something of value. In publishing, the most common lead magnet is some kind of free content: usually chapters from your book, or perhaps even an entire eBook. This is especially common for authors who have written a series. Hook readers by giving them book one, and then contact them by email and get them to buy book two (and three, and four). Giving away content like this helps you engage with readers. It also makes readers more likely to “repay the favor” of receiving free content by buying your book.

Need a website? Contact us we can help. www.PurposePublishing.com

The Audiobook Market is Growing and Shaking Things Up
Audiobooks is the fastest growing segment in the publishing industry right now. For traditional publisher’s audiobook sales mitigated declines in e-book sales, and trade publishers are bullish on audiobooks going into 2020. Audible (owned by Amazon) still has the lion’s share of the audiobook marketing but others are trying to make inroads. 2020 may well be the year when we see new and existing players disrupt the established order.
 
Audiobooks.com was acquired by a media group in 2017, Apple’s exclusivity agreement with Audible ended last year and more players are getting into the mix with Kobo launching their own audiobook subscription service in late 2017. This gives indie authors more control and more opportunity to launch into the audiobook industry.  Digital audiobooks will remain the fastest growth area in publishing with sales increasing 30% to 40% or more. The dynamics—ease of access for consumers, lifestyle habits, increased market competition, new selling models—have all synced up to create significant staying power. It should surprise nobody when the market size of audiobooks surpasses eBooks in a few years.
 
In 2020, we expect to see independent authors empowered to capitalize on this explosive growth. Indies will take advantage of wide distribution (domestic, international, and public library), realize the advantages at key retailers of setting prices to meet consumer demand, and benefit from more discovery tools created to connect authors with their audiences outside traditional audiobook credit models.”
 
What this means for you: Producing an audiobook runs into the thousands of dollars or requires giving up significant royalties and is still a significant investment for authors. New authors who find the price tag too steep are best off focusing on building their catalog of e-books first. Authors who are looking to invest in their publishing business should definitely have audiobook expansion on their list for 2020. All authors should keep an eye on the market and look to support audiobook retailers and production companies that are author friendly.
 
Do you have a book already? Have sales slowed? Consider breathing new life into it with an Audiobook format. It’s easy and affordable! We can help. www.PurposePublishing.com
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Purpose Publishing supports and promotes authors and literature throughout the year. With that in mind, we wanted to offer some suggestions on how authors can support one another during this challenging time.

1.       Organize a free conference call or Zoom session with a few of your author friends to exchange ideas and plan for the future. Sharing your love of literature with others will be uplifting. Plus, you can share coping tips and encourage one another.  Watch for my upcoming video sessions with authors from around the city and around the nation. The sessions are called Let’s Connect! About YOU, Your Book & Your Way of Managing through COVID-19

Would you like to connect and be interviewed, click the link here to get it set up. https://purposepublishing.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php Choose the Let’s Connect session and choose a date, easy peasy.

2.       Drop a link about another author’s book (not your own) on your social media platform. Encourage your network to support this author.

3.       Download an ebook or purchase the book of an author you have never supported before.

4.       Join an author-related Facebook group, if you haven’t done so already. Do NOT use it only as an opportunity to promote your book(s) but rather as a genuine opportunity to demonstrate solidarity with your peers. Don’t forget to go in and upload your book and information in the Purpose Publishing author shared Facebook Community – Purpose Promote. This is a place for authors to share their work, their upcoming events and activities directly from our Facebook Page.

5.       Post a book review online for a book you’ve read recently and enjoyed. Book reviews are important when readers are considering book purchases and downloads. Reviews help authors sell books.  

6.       Visit an author’s website and purchase a book directly from them if they are self-published. Self-published authors make more money on sales when readers order directly from them rather than through a third party (like Amazon).

 7.      Send a brief email, direct message, or text to your favorite authors letting them know how much you appreciate their work.

 8.      Participate in a virtual author book signing, meet and greet, or another virtual author event.

 9.      After the coronavirus crisis has passed, attend an author’s book signing or event in your area and purchase his/her book.

As a result of the stay-at-home edicts across America, many of the existing small and local bookstores may not survive this crisis. But remember that we are stronger TOGETHER. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. After this crisis is finally over, literature will continue to play an important role in chronicling our words and our world for the generations that come behind us. Stay safe and healthy!
 
To Your Success,
MG

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