The Fast Path to Getting Published

The fast (& profitable)
path to publishing
Brian Schwartz • www.50interviews.com
brian@50interviews.com • 970-215-1078

Agenda short break from 7:15-7:20
Uncover your true unique niche
The movie exercise
Exercise : 4-UP
Still stuck? Try 8-UP!
Make it impersonal / A foundation of community
An Obligation
Your online identity / Your future self
From pixels-to-print / The fast path to publishing
Author workflow / The 4 phases of a writer
An author’s marketing mindset
Generating traffic

Converting Traffic to Leads
Offering relevant content
Titles & Taglines
Covers & Banners
eBook Distribution / Multiple routes to monetization
Fast path to e-publishing
Fast path to print publishing
Getting your blog on Kindle
Getting your book on Kindle
More channels to sell your eBook
From blogger to author (Emulate to Learn Segment):
Leo Babautu / ZenHabits blog

From blogger to author (Emulate to Learn Segment):
Josh Kaufman / Personal MBA.com
Scott Belsky / ActionMethod.com
Brian Halligan & Dharmesh Shah/ Hubspot.com & Onstartup.com
Laura Bradenburg /bridging-the-gap.com
Impact Lab / Impactlab.com
Twitter to best selling author
wine.about.com
Millionaire Mommy Next Door

New age journalists
Building it all on Google & doing it all for free!
Publishing 1 tweet-at-a-time
Publishing 1 tweet-at-a-time ( Justin Halpern Model )
Ideas to action
Exploring New Markets

“What looks complex is really just the accumulation of simple ideas added over time.”
-Gary Keller

Uncover your true unique niche
The more you share, the more powerful it becomes.
It’s worth more to you than a million bucks.
You’d be doing it whether or not you were getting paid to do it.
When you are doing it, you lose track of time.
It feels like an addiction (you truly miss it when it’s not there).
You wake up early to do it before anything else and it gives you energy, it doesn’t drain you.
You notice things in the world others don’t.

The movie exerciseYour unique view of the world
Your favorite movie, TV show, or play
Your favorite character
The challenges that character was facing or purpose of their role:
The characteristics, distinctions, and attributes that character exhibited, which you most admired?
Identify those you admire (& who probably share traits with the movie character).

Exercise : 4-UP
It gives you energy when you do it, and you could do it for hours on end.
When it’s not present, you miss it and it might even feel like it’s an addiction.

Still stuck? Try 8-UP

Make it impersonalA foundation of community
It’s not about you.
You are serving a purpose greater than yourself and others know it.
Teachers and pastors are great examples.
Others join you despite the money.
It gives you the strength to overcome adversity.
It’s more exciting to see the benefit to others (It’s all about the IMPACT you can have).

An Obligation
“There is vitality, life force, energy that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you, your expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost forever. It is not your business to determine how good or valuable it compares with other expressions, it is your business to keep the channel open.”
- Martha Graham

Your online identityYour future self
Make yourself easy to find and connect with
Facebook / Linked In / Twitter
Sharing your passion, showcasing your expertise, & inviting others to join you!
YouTube & Podcasting
Wordpress & a personal URL
Squidoo & Hub Pages
Examiner.com & About.com
Focus your touch points.

From pixels-to-printThe fast path to publishing
First create your content online. Blog, Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Second, create a manifesto or downloadable ebook (does anybody else care?)
*If nobody is willing to download your book for free, what makes you think you will be able to get them to pay for it?
Third, create your ebook for sale. The reasons to create an ebook instead of print have to do with freedom of endless revisions and ease of rapid distribution.

Author workflowThe 4 phases of a writer
Speaking / Teaching
Social Media
Traditional Media
Workshops
Webinars
Interviews
Reading
Classes / Workshops
Conferences
Internet (podcasts, etc.)
Blogging
Editorials
Guest articles
White papers / Manifestos
Commenting
Publishing
Revising
Presentations
Creating Class Materials
Reorganizing ideas

Constant & Never Ending Improvement
Find the Muse
Monitor
Analytics
Research
Write/Edit
Easy as P.I.E.
Implement
Evaluate
Plan

An author’s marketing mindset
Seek to build TRUST.
It can take up to 7 impressions to get noticed.

Generating traffic
YouTube
Facebook
LinkedIn
Squidoo/Hubpages
Commenting on others blogs
Wordpress.com community
Forums
Affiliates
Adwords / Facebook Ads

Converting Traffic to Leads
Free offer
Free subscription (value)
Free membership
Free trial
Low cost product
Reason to act now
Don’t make me think

Offering relevant content
Free offer / discount coupon
Free subscription (value)
Free membership
Free trial
Low cost product
Reason to act now
Don’t make me think

Titles & Taglines
Does the title offer a benefit to the reader?
If your book title was the title of a workshop, would it pull in attendees? Would they be willing to PAY?
It must benefit the reader. Consider we want to be:
Entertained
Educated
Offered more to buy

Titles & Taglines

Covers & Banners
Less words. More art.
Will it look good as a thumbnail?
3D or Shadow = Subtle but powerful

eBook DistributionMultiple routes to monetization
Amazon
Others
Other eReaders
(B&N / Borders)
Apple & Droid
*iPad/iTunes
Google Books (coming soon)
Nook
Kobo
Sony Reader
Print books
Kindle books
Kindle Blogs
Straight from your site! (Clickbank, PayDotCom, e-junkie)
Smashwords
Scribd
LuLu Marketplace (WeRead)
Feedbooks
Diesel eBooks (via Ingram)
Two paths:
Direct OR Indirect (aggregators )

Fast path to e-publishing

Fast path to print publishing

Getting your blog on Kindle
1
2
3
4
Polish the look & feel
Set your account Amazon & Publish!
Setup a wordpress blog & setup RSS feed
Write some great content!
Go back to your 4 up & 8 up worksheets.
1. Create Blog
2. Create Feedburner
Account
https://kindlepublishing.amazon.com
Get professional looking banner & cover

Getting your book on KindleThe largest ebook marketplace
1
2
3
4
Start with a well formatted Word Doc.
Create an account & upload
Promote your book!
Create a good cover. Polish the look & feel.
Go back to your 4 up & 8 up worksheets.
1. Create Blog
2. Create Feedburner
Account
Dtp.amazoncom
Confirm clean conversion with preview.
Consider hiring a professional if the formatting is wrong.
Drive traffic through
Social media & your blog.

More channels to sell your eBook
1
2
3
4
ClickBank
E-Junkie
Payloadz
Apple
iBookstore
PayDotCom
$49 setup fee.
Largest affiliate network.
Doesn’t offer a secure download page.
First product free.
$29 setup for more than 1 product.
Provides secure download page.
E-Junkie is only $5/mo.
Try bookbaby.com?
$49 setup fee.
Payloadz is free (up to $50/mo.) then $14.95/mo.
B&N and Google are both due to release a publishing platform this summer. Until then, you can get your content on the nook when you publish to smashwords.com

From blogger to author
Amazon Rankings:
#12,086
#36,421
#47,943
Began blogging in 2002.
Amazon Ranking:
Steffan #47,361
Creator #210,009
…From marketer to author:

Emulate to LearnLeo Babautu
ZenHabits blog (top 100 blogger)
Zen To Done $9.50 ebook sold through affiliates (e-Junkie)
Self-published via CreateSpace
Book deal with Hyperion (The Power of Less)
Keys to success:
Had a following (top 100 blogger)
Created great content.
Great cover art.
Great Endorsements (Seth Godin & Tim Ferriss)
Simple site.
Uses ‘Uncopyright’ for all posts & now applies to his book as well!
Great artwork for affiliates (widgets)
Easy transaction (e-junkie).
Leveraged affiliates

Emulate to LearnJosh Kaufman
Personal MBA.com
Started blog in Apr-2005
1st book (Portfolio) – Dec ’10
Keys to success:
Built loyal community on NING
Offers one-on-one coaching
Notice how the URL become the title of his book? Lesson: Pick you URL carefully!

Emulate to LearnScott Belsky
ActionMethod.com
1st book (Portfolio/Penguin Group) – 2010
Built upon a methodology & online tool.

Emulate to LearnBrian Halligan & Dharmesh Shah
Hubspot.com & Onstartup.com launched June-2006
1st book (Wiley) – Oct ‘09
Amazon Ranking: 1,212

Emulate to LearnLaura Bradenburg
bridging-the-gap.com
Averaging 5 sales/week (eBook: How to Start a BA Career)
Keys to success:
Relevant blog posts
eMail marketing
Builds brand through volunteering for a professional organization

Emulate to LearnImpact Lab
Impactlab.com
Generates $2,000/mo.
Launched in 2001
Keys to success:
23,000 posts
600,000 page views/mo.
10,000 subscribers
Tom & Deb

Emulate to Learn ?? Twitter to best selling author
shitmydadsays.com
#9 top paid kindle book (as of 7/21/10)
#11 hardcover (as of 7/21/10)
http://twitter.com/shitmydadsays - nearly 1.5 millilon followers on twitter!
First tweet – 8/3/09
Mentioned on the daily show within 1 month
Mentioned on Laughing Squid
#followfriday (started by Boulderite Micah Baldwin) got him his first wave of followers.
Published by HarperCollins – 5/4/10

Emulate to Learnwine.about.com
Started writing for wine.about.com in Jan ’05
805,000 - 1mil page views/mo.
$800-$2,000/mo. ($250-$650 base)
Payouts based on YTY growth
Tight alignment with the Food Channel
Killer perks!!
Keys to success
Writing about something she enjoys
Ongoing back link building
*About.com has 853 subdomains (as of July-2010)

Emulate to LearnMillionaire Mommy Next Door
Started on blogger.com
Site Hacked
Google shut it down
Moved to Wordpress
Day she posted my video was one of the my highest traffic days…
Keys to success
Writing about something she’s passionate about (it’s not about the $)
…And still my highest traffic videos to date!

New age journalists
Traditional media is motivated to find ‘in house’ experts first (case in point, this morning on the Today show, an iVillage blogger was the expert featured.
iVillage is owned by NBC
About.com is owned by the NY Times
Examiner (A Denver based company) is owned by The Anschutz Co.

Source: Compete.com

Building it all on Google& doing it all for free!
CREATE:
Upload your book to Google Books
Create site on blogger.com
Setup Google analytics
SELL
Use Google Checkout to sell your print books or use Google Editions to sell your eBooks!
PROMOTE
Run Adwords campaigns
Create a opt-in newsletter with Feedburner.
Use Google Calendar for event marketing
Create videos on Youtube to drive taffic
Use Google Groups to create readers groups

Publishing 1 tweet-at-a-time
Create a twitter account for your book title
(ie. twitter.com/50entrepreneurs)
Add twitter widget (from within twitter) to your blogspot or wordpress page
You can either select ‘profile widget’ to include all your posts or just ‘Favs’ to list specific tweets (that you ‘star’) – can also be tweets from other twitter users.
Recommended: Install ‘Twitter Tools by Alex King ’ plug in to automatically generate a tweet for each post.

Publishing 1 tweet-at-a-timeJustin Halpern Model
Create an account on status.net
Create a twitter account for your book title
(ie. twitter.com/50entrepreneurs)
Link the two. Your posts from Status.net go to your twitter page.

Ideas to action
An idea without a deadline is just a dream.
Tools
The Merlin Principle
The Pomodoro Technique
Mission Control
ActionMethod.com
30boxes.com
List of resources mentioned at
www.kindleexpert.com
(click on resources)
Do just 1 thing each day.

Exploring New Markets
Daisy.org
Other ideas?

http://mj89sp3sau2k7lj1eg3k40hkeppguj6j-a-sites-opensocial.googleusercontent.com	19
http://www.davinciinstitute.com	7
http://www.wisemediagroup.com	2

The Fast Path to Getting Published

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