Self-publishers: If you’ve written a book, you may want to consider creating a CD or DVD with audio, video or e-media content to add value to your self-published book. Then you can leverage your content and double your price AND your profits on Amazon! First, you will need to open an Amazon Advantage account. This is a consignment program where Amazon requests copies of your product based on current and anticipated customer demand. It works like this: you mail copies of your product to Amazon; when a customer makes a purchase, Amazon’s fulfillment department ships it out directly to the…
Successful sought-after speakers usually have a book to back their brand, expertise and credibility in their chosen fields. A book provides an additional revenue stream, increased publicity, and can be used as a hook for invitations to media events and speaking gigs. In this day and age of Amazon and POD printing, most speakers will self-publish. But if you self-publish, it is crucial to produce a quality product from the inside out, because your image, brand and book sales depend on it. So, how do you design a book cover that sells? Savvy speakers will seek out experts to guide…
I recently received a query from a subscriber who asked me to weigh in on a contraction conundrum. This author wanted to know if it was acceptable to use contractions in a book manuscript. I asked my teammate and award-winning book editor Barbara McNichol for her take on this issue. Here’s the definition of a contraction: Two words that have been contracted (pulled together) into one word. E.g., let’s (let us), he’d (he had), we’re (we are), etc. This author wrote: My latest (4th) book is coming out in September. I just got the edits back from my publisher. I…
New speakers often ask me how to write a speaker one-sheet. This is a good question since the speaker one-sheet is an important component of a marketing toolkit. One of the most valuable members of my team is editor Barbara McNichol, who is a whiz at writing and editing speaker one-sheets. Long ago she shared with me the crucial questions you must answer before composing the content and headlines for your speaker one-sheet. Answers to the following questions will help you write a speaker one-sheet introductory paragraph and hook: What are the key problems you can solve? Exactly what do you do? (One sentence only – this is…
As a speaker you have an important message to deliver, and your goal is to reach as many people as possible. One way to do this is by leveraging your content into a self-published book. A book will give you credibility, open doors to new speaking opportunities, and provide another revenue stream—that is, if your book is every bit as professional as you are. As a busy speaker, I know you will appreciate these 10 self-publishing tips. After 25 years in the business of designing book covers and interiors and helping speakers publish their books, I know self-published books can outshine those…
In February Google announced that on April 21, 2015 Mobile-friendly Websites(also known as “responsive” websites) will get preference in Google’s search engine results. This means if your website has NOT been optimized for mobile devices you may see it fall in Google’s search rankings. Google states this change in their algorithm will have a significant impact on search results. Google is adding this criteria because they have determined that more and more people are using mobile devices to search the internet and these folks will return to mobile-friendly websites over sites that have not been optimized. Mobile-friendly Websites reconfigure graphics and content on mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones so…
I would like to show you an example of the book cover design process by revealing a series of cover comps (ideas) we did for one of our client’s books. Nature’s Wisdom in the Workplace: Managing Energy in Today’s Health Care Organizations was published by Synergy Press, and authored by Sharon Cox, Jo Manion and Diane Miller. The Design Brief First we spoke with the client to get a list of information regarding the target market and book specifications. The design brief outlines the parameters for the style, colors, imagery and typography our designer needed to incorporate into the book cover design process: 6″ x…
Most authors and entrepreneurs know they need some kind of a marketing plan but few actually create one! Perhaps it just sounds like a big, complicated project that they just don’t have time to do. Or, they really don’t know what a marketing plan looks like. Even though we’re a month in to 2015, it’s not too late to get your marketing plan together for this year. In the free video class “Creating Your Marketing Plan for 2015” social media guide Mary Walewski offers a simple 3 step process that you can use to create a simple marketing plan that…
Before you contract with someone to build your website, you need to make some important decisions about your website’s functionality and “behind the scenes” technical specifications. These decisions require unique, specific technical setups for SEO (search engine optimization), eCommerce, website security and automatic follow-up communication with your prospects. Build Your Website in WordPress Do you want to be able to update the website yourself, but you’re not well-versed in HTML coding? Then consider building your website in WordPress. A webmaster can build the navigation and main pages then teach you how to edit the text, add images and make minor changes to…
MacGraphics Services has grown and evolved over 25 years, and to better reflect who we are and what we do, I’ve re-branded my business as Karen Saunders & Associates. My award-winning team of professionals provide a wide range of services for speakers, authors and consultants. I’ve also changed the name of my blog/ezine to Eye-Popping Tips From Karen Saunders. I’ve spent the last 5 months building my new website with the help of my team. It was an exciting and rewarding experience for all of us. We strived to a create friendly, inviting, and informative website. If you take a look, I…