I need your help. Part of building your PLATFORM is recognizing you need others to help you along the way. That’s true for you. It’s true for me.

As we’re approaching the launch of my new book, I’ve decided to try something different. I am inviting 100 of my readers to join me in creating a special “Platform Launch Team.” It’s a peer group of people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and help get the word out about the book.

Team Member Benefits

As a Platform Launch Team member you will get:

1. A free, electronic review copy of the book in advance of the publication date (Kindle, Nook, iPad, or PDF).
2. The exclusive opportunity to interact with me around the content of the book using the new BookShout social reading platform (Just wait ’til you see this!)
3. Exclusive access to a Private Facebook Group
4. Periodic e-mails from our Platform Launch Team Lead with the best ideas to help you get the word out.
5. A special 30-minute group phone session with me prior to the launch of the book
6. The opportunity to network with the other Platform Launch Team members.
7. A special THANK YOU with link to your blog or website on my blog
8. A 25% off discount on my soon-to-be-released Get Published product. This 21-session audio program contains nearly everything I’ve learned about publishing in my thirty-year career.

Team Member Requirements

As a member of the Platform Launch Team you:

• Agree to help spread the word about the book in any way you can, to your existing platform and beyond, during the week of May 21st.
• Share ideas and brainstorm additional ways we might further expose the message to an even greater audience. All ideas are welcome.

That’s it!

Team Member Sign-Up

Thank you for your interest in the Platform Launch Team but the application process is now over. We picked 100 people out of the 764 who applied.

You can still help though! Here are a few ways:

1. During the week of May 22, order a copy (or copies) of Platform. I will give you eight FREE BONUSES worth $375.98 for doing so. You can signup here to be notified.
2. Encourage others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. to take advantage of the launch week offer.
3. Read the book and post a review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.
4. Build your platform!

The last one is most important to me. You have something to say or sell and my sincere desire is that you will use what I have shared to get your message noticed!

My new book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, has just started shipping to bookstores. The official publication date is Tuesday, May 22. In a moment, I’ll tell you why you should WAIT until then to buy it.

First, let me tell you a little about the book.

A Great Product Was No Longer Enough

As you may know, I have spent my entire career in the book publishing industry. I have sat on every side of the table—as a publisher, a literary agent, and an author.

Until a year ago, I was the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, one of the largest publishers in the world. I have pretty much seen and done it all.

About ten years ago, I noticed a disturbing trend in our business. We had begun turning away authors with great ideas, compelling proposals, and even well-written manuscripts.

Great content was no longer enough. To get published, you also had to have a platform. Content may have been King, but platform had become Queen.

Building a Platform Was Difficult

Perhaps you are thinking, What is a platform? Well, it’s that thing you stand on to get heard. In the old days, it was made of wood or bricks. It was a literal stage.

Ten years ago, a platform was a television program, a radio show, or a magazine or newspaper column. Or, it might have been the by-product of being a successful business person, an athlete, or a recording artist.

Regardless, a platform was something that was difficult to build. You either had it or you didn’t. It was largely dependent on whether some gate-keeper gave you access to their audience.

Social Media Changed Everything

But in 2006, with the advent of social media, everything changed. Suddenly, it became possible for mere mortals—people like you and me—to build our own platforms. And many did.

In fact, I even built one. But almost by accident. And while maintaining a very demanding “day job.”

I started blogging in 2004, not really knowing where it would lead. I wrote for four years before I was able to attract more than a thousand readers (unique visitors) a month.

But in 2008, I reached an “inflection point.” This is when I began to get involved with Twitter and then with Facebook. That year, my audience went from a thousand readers a month to 22,000 a month. It has grown dramatically every year since.

Today, my platform consists of:

• 302,000 blog visitors a month
• 120,632 followers on Twitter
• 92,000 podcast listeners a month
• 15,561 fans on Facebook
• 50 speaking engagements a year

Because of this, I was able to step out of my role as the CEO of Thomas Nelson to speak and write full-time—a dream I have had for years. My platform made this possible.

I Can Teach You How to Do It Too

I told someone the other day, “I wrote Platform in six months, but it took me eight years of trial and error to make it possible.”

Fortunately, I documented everything I did. I wrote it all down—the successes and the failures. Platform is the book I wished I could have given to all the authors we kept turning away.

But this book is not just for authors.

It is for anyone with something to say or to sell.

This includes authors, musicians, comedians, public speakers, small business owners, sales people, and even corporate marketing directors. In other words, you.

It’s designed to help you leverage the power of social media to get attention for your product, your service, your brand, or your cause. The principles I share apply to anyone who needs more visibility.

And it won’t take you eight years. If I had known then what I know today, I could have done it much faster—perhaps in a couple of years. Many people I have coached along the way are on that growth trajectory now.

That’s why twenty-seven different leaders have endorsed the book, including Seth Godin, Dave Ramsey, John Maxwell, Chris Brogan, Tim Sanders, Dan Miller, and more.

Practical, Step-by-Step Guidance

The Platform System™ that I outline in the book is made up up five directives:

1. Start with Wow
2. Prepare to Launch
3. Build Your Home Base
4. Expand Your Reach
5. Engage Your Tribe

Each of these directives consists of 10–12 short chapters. Each chapter provides step-by-step instructions for building that aspect of your platform.

Lots of people are talking about the importance of building a platform. But no one has exactly explained how to do it—until now. This book provides the practical guidance you need to make it happen.

Get Seven Free Bonuses Worth $375.98

So yes, I want you to buy the book! Can you tell I am excited?

BUT …

I want to ask you to wait until the week of May 21–25, which is the official “launch week.” The reason is that I want to register as many sales as possible during this period of time in an attempt to get the book on the New York Times best sellers list.

You are the key. And I need your help.

If you are willing to wait, I will reward you BIG TIME for doing so. Here’s the deal: if you buy the book during the week of May 21–25, I will send you SEVEN FREE BONUSES worth $375.98.

I will announce what these bonuses are on May 21st, here on my blog. They will include a new video training program, the digital editions of the book, and the unabridged audio edition of the book—and those are just three of the seven bonuses I am including.

Sign Up Now, So You Don’t Miss This Opportunity

Again, I’ll tell you in detail what you’ll get on May 21st and how you can get this special, limited time offer. What I am asking you to do now is sign up below to be notified.

I promise, I will not spam you or share your information with anyone else. This is strictly for the purpose of notifying you when it’s time to buy the book and get your free bonuses.

By the way, please tell your friends about this offer and ask then to come signup. Someone you know needs a platform of their own!

(If you can’t see this form in your RSS reader, click through to the post on my blog to sign up.)

Thomas Nelson just released the full version of The Voice Bible translation. It represents the combined work of more than 100 Bible scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, poets, and artists.

The goal of this new translation was to allow the one divine Voice speak through the unique and diverse human voices who wrote the books of the Bible without attempting to homogenize the final product. The Voice does a masterful job of capturing the passion, grit, humor, and beauty that is often lost in other translations.

In the video above, I interview Frank Couch, Vice President of Bible Translation at Thomas Nelson and David Capes, who is the Thomas Nelson Research Professor at Houston Baptist University. These men guided the translation process of this project.

In the video, I asked Frank and David the following questions:

• Why should people have to pay for a Bible translation? How can Bibles be copyrightable?
• How much does it cost to create a new Bible translation?
• Does the world really need another English Bible translation?
• How is The Voice different from other translations?
• How did the translation process unfold with the Voice?
• How are people responding to the Voice?
• What different kinds of formats is this Bible available in?
• What is your dream for this project?

The Voice is not designed to replace your favorite translation. Instead, it is designed to be read along side that translation to provide additional insights.

Launching anything new is tough. If you’re like me, you have more on your plate now than you can say grace over. How in the world could you make time for one more thing?

That’s what I thought back in December when I first started thinking about launching a new podcast. I had already been doing a podcast based on an adult Sunday school class I teach. But, after 83 episodes, I stopped in May of 2011.

My friend, Robert Smith, was the first to suggest I start a new podcast. Andy Andrews, his client and also a good friend of mine, had just launched a podcast called In the Loop with Andy Andrews. Robert introduced me to Andy Traub, the producer, who also encouraged me.

In early January, Brian Scheer, my manager, and I met with Dan Miller, author of 48 Days to the Work You Love. He is also host of the 48 Days podcast, one of the most popular business podcasts on iTunes. He told us that his podcast was the foundation of his entire business.

A few days later, I stumbled onto the website of Cliff Ravenscraft, also known as the Podcast Answer Man and host of the podcast by the same title. He was invaluable in shaping my vision for what my own podcast could be and providing the education and training I needed to get up and running.

I officially launched my podcast on Tuesday, exactly two months after Robert first gave me the idea. In the first 24 hours, I had more than 5,000 downloads and more than 700 subscriptions.

Though every project is unique, I have learned that every new initiative presents a predictable set of challenges. I don’t care if you are starting a business, writing a book, or launching a podcast, you have to take at least seven steps to succeed.

1. Write down a goal and a due date. Many people skip this step. Don’t. There is something that happens when you write down a goal. It’s a way of focusing your intention and clarifying what you want to accomplish. And be sure to attach a date—no goal is complete without it.

   For example, in the case of the podcast, I wrote this down as one of my ten goals for 2012:

   Launch a podcast by February 15, 2012 and acquire 50,000 subscribers by December 31, 2012.

   When I wanted to quit, that February 15th date pulled me forward. It kept me laser-focused. It motivated me!

2. Confront your biggest fears. If your goals don’t scare you, you aren’t thinking big enough. Most of the value in goal-setting is the growth that must take place in you to achieve them. Often, this is frightening.

   In the case of my podcast, I had to confront these fears:

   • I don’t have any real experience with audio technology. I am not sure I am smart enough to understand it.
   • I don’t really want to spend the money to get decent equipment, especially when I am not confident I will follow-through.
   • I am really not sure I can make the podcast interesting enough. Will anyone really want to listen?

   Those are just a few of the fears I faced. However, I have learned that courage isn’t the absence of fear. It is the willingness to take the next step in spite of the fear.

3. Get the necessary training. One thing I learned from my dad is that it’s possible to learn how to do almost anything if you are willing to read, take a class, or hire a coach. Not only has someone somewhere in the world figured out what you want to do, but someone has also mastered how to teach it.

   In the case of podcasting, that person is Cliff Ravenscraft. I listened to numerous episodes of his free podcast, The Podcast Answer Man. I also bought his super helpful courses, including:

   • Learn How to Podcast 101
   • GarageBand 101
   • Adobe Audition 101
   • Evaluating Your Podcast
   • Inside the Studio

   Though his courses aren’t cheap, they were way less expensive—and faster—than the cost of trying to learn on my own. (Actually Learn How to Podcast 101 is free.)

4. Get started on the work. Some things can only be learned by doing. Yes, you can read. Yes, you can listen to or watch online training. But at some point, you have to jump in the pool and get wet.

   In the case of podcasting, I jumped into recording my first podcast. I hated the way I sounded. My compulsive, perfectionist tendency kicked in, and I tried to edit out all the imperfections. It took forever. I almost quit.

   However, Brendon Burchard and Cliff Ravenscraft convinced me (via their training) that the imperfections actually create authenticity and build trust. As a result, I decided to do the podcast in one take and only edit out major gaffs (e.g., a sneezes, big coughs, etc.)

   The only way I figured this out was by creating the workflow, giving it a try, and then reengineering. I am sure I will get better with practice.

5. Trust the process. This is huge. Usually, when I take on something really big, I only have a foggy idea of how to get from point A to point B. I have enough light to take the next step, but that is usually enough. When I take that step, the next thing I need shows up. Not always, but usually.

   In the case of the podcast, I didn’t know what equipment to buy. I asked a few friends, ordered a microphone, shockmount, pop filter, and desk boom from Amazon. I tried it all out, didn’t like it, and ended up returning all of it.

   That was right before I discovered Cliff’s website. I visited his podcast equipment page and went into immediate sticker shock. But he convinced me that the investment would be worth it. I ordered his complete package and love it.

   Another example, I had to submit my finished podcast to iTunes. I didn’t know how to do this at the beginning of the process. I didn’t discover how until two days before I launched. Then I messed it up by submitting the wrong link! Regardless, I kept marching forward, not getting approval until hours before my podcast went live.

6. Go ahead and launch. At some point, you have to ship. So many people keep fiddling with it, hoping to get it perfect. General George Patton once said, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”

   I could have tweaked my podcast endlessly. Believe me, I was tempted to do so. But I had set a goal to launch by February 15th. I had shared this plan with my teammates. Therefore, I was committed to making it happen.

   It was scary. I had a thousand voices in my head suggesting I delay the launch for another week. They said,

   • C’mon, what’s a week? This will give you a chance to do it right.
   • You only have one chance to make a first impression.
   • What if no one listens? Are you sure this is a good idea?

   I knew it wasn’t perfect, but I pulled the trigger anyway.

7. Tweak as you go. The great thing about most projects today—especially web-related or new media ones—is that you can keep fiddling with your project after you ship it.

   In the case of my podcast, I discovered several items I wanted to change immediately. For example, I initially didn’t use a graphic image in the blog post (i.e., “show notes”). I thought the audio player was enough. I changed my mind and added a graphic image to make it more visually interesting.

   While launching your project is a one-time event, constant and never-ending improvement is ongoing. But you can never get to the second if you don’t do the first.

As I said at the beginning, launching any new project is tough. But if you understand the steps, it’s easier to overcome the Resistance and ship.

If you’re an aspiring author, have ever wondered what happens to your book proposal after it arrives at the publishing house? Sometimes, I’m afraid, the acquisition process appears to be a sort of “black box.” Proposals are inserted into the black box and then disappear—for weeks. At some point they pop out. Most are sent back to the author with a rejection letter. A precious few actually become a book.

But what happens while the proposal is inside the box?

In this post I want to describe the internal proposal review process. If you have ever wondered how in the world publishing houses decide what to publish, this post is for you.

First, you need to understand the entire proposal review process is designed to do one thing: kill all but the most worthy projects. This may be hard to accept, but you have to understand the supply of hopeful authors is infinite while the supply of publishing resources is finite. Publishers can only publish a fraction of the proposals they receive.

Therefore, every publisher employs a screening process of some sort. You might think of it as a series of hurdles a proposal must jump before it crosses the finish line and becomes a book. These hurdles may vary in number from publishing house to publishing house. But in most publishing houses there are five.

1. The Acquisitions Editor. Acquisitions editors are the people inside the publishing house specifically charged with finding and developing authors and books that are congruent with the publisher’s mission. Over time, they have developed “noses” for the right projects. They usually see hundreds of proposals every year. Good editors can review a proposal and decide in sixty seconds or less whether it merits further consideration. If it doesn’t, then it gets tossed into the rejection pile.

   Typically, an acquisitions editor has unlimited authority to say “no.” They can reject a proposal without approval from anyone. Conversely, they don’t usually have the absolute authority to approve a proposal for publication. The most they can do is shepherd the proposal through the next step in the process.

   This is why your first objective as an author is to sell the acquisitions editor. He’s the “gatekeeper” to the publishing house. If you can’t do that, you’re dead in the water. This is the one place where you have the most control. You must develop a compelling book proposal that gets the acquisitions editor’s attention. You must demonstrate the content is compelling and there is a viable market for it.

   I recommend you start with one of my ebooks, How to Write a Winning Book Proposal. I have a version for non-fiction proposals and one for fiction. Either of these will help you clear the first hurdle.

2. The Editorial Committee. Once you’ve convinced the acquisitions editor, he or she has to convince an Editorial Committee. This is generally the specific imprint’s in-house staff. It may consist of the publisher, other acquisitions editors, managing editors, marketing people, etc.

   This is a cynical group. They have long memories, especially about projects that didn’t work. They are a little bit like accountants. Show them the donut and the first thing they see is the hole. (I’m speaking as someone who sat on one of these committees for years.)

   The committee’s meetings are a sort of Darwinian process where only the strongest proposals survive. The participants are not looking for reasons to publish a project as much as they are looking for reasons not to publish a project.

   “It’s not very well written.” “The premise isn’t very clear.” “Books on this topic never do well.” “The author doesn’t have the necessary credentials.” And the list goes on. Believe me, there are hundreds of reasons not to publish a particular proposal.

   This is why, to the extent you can, you have to make your proposal “bullet-proof.” You must learn to anticipate the objections and make sure they are addressed in the proposal. The good news is once you have sold this group, you have a team working to clear the remaining hurdles. The goal is to get them on-board.

3. The Publishing Board. When I was at Thomas Nelson, this was a once-a-month meeting between the editorial or publishing leaders and the sales channel leaders. The goal is for acquisitions editors to present their projects to the sales staff, so that they can get an initial reaction. The acquisitions editors are recommending these proposals, so there is an implied endorsement.

   The acquisitions editors focus on all the reasons why the book should be published. They are selling. And they are selling the most important audience to the success of your book. If the sale professionals are sold, they can sell their customers. If they can’t be sold, the book will not succeed. Period.

   Like the Editorial Committee, the sales people are also cynical but usually less so. They’ve seen it all before. The nature of publishing is that more projects fail than work, so they have lots of ready examples of why your project will fail too. But they also must have new products to sell, so they are also looking for the next big idea. They want to believe; they just have to be convinced.

   The acquisitions editor usually gets five or six minutes to pitch your project to the Publishing Board. He may have contacted you for supporting material to help him do the best job possible. It’s not unusual for the acquisitions editor to play a short video clip, pass out a press kit, or show a Web site on the projector.

   Regardless, if you get asked for additional material do everything in your power to get the editor what he needs. He will be representing you, and he only gets one shot at it. You need to help him cast your proposal in the best possible light.

   The project will then be discussed for another few minutes. Then each sales channel leader “votes” on the project by writing down how many books he thinks he can “lay down” (the initial shipment) and then sell in the first six months to a year. (It depends on the type of product. Some have shorter expected life cycles than others.) This is important, because the higher the sales forecast, the higher the probability of your book being published.

   This is not a long process, as you can see. The whole presentation and discussion rarely takes more than ten minutes. Then the proposal moves to the next hurdle.

4. The Financial Pro Forma. Today, no successful publisher can afford to make a decision to publish a book without considering the financial impact. The investment is just too significant.

   The publisher has to consider how much he will have to offer as a royalty advance, how much he will have to pay the author in royalties, and what he will have to spend on marketing and inventory. In addition, he must look at the sales forecasts by channel, since each channel has it’s own discount structure, return rates, and overhead structure.

   All of these variables get plugged into a very sophisticated financial pro forma. It usually takes a few iterations to get it right, but the publisher will quickly assess the investment required, the break-even point, and the profit he will make, given specific variables. Based on this, the publisher will know whether or not the project is financially (or commercially) viable. Assuming it is, the project still must clear one final hurdle.

5. The Publisher’s Sign-Off. Just because the project has cleared the first four hurdles, does not guarantee the book will be published. The publisher has to make the final call. He considers other, more subjective issues: Do I like this project? Do I like the author? Do I like his or her agent? Am I willing to risk this much capital, given the other things we have already committed to? How will my other authors react to this title? Do I really need this title?

   In addition, if the project is big enough, it may require the publisher’s boss to sign-off on the project or perhaps even the CEO. Most publishing houses have various approval levels. If the project exceeds a certain person’s approval level, then it must go up the chain-of-command.

   Once the project has been approved by the publisher, the acquisitions editor will then have the authority to make a formal offer to the author or (more likely) the author’s agent.

Once you understand this process, you can see why the decision to approve a project for publication takes four to six weeks. Yes, it can be fast-tracked when necessary. This often happens with bigger projects where several publishing houses are competing for the same project. But, by and large, it works better if it is not compressed. This process—long as it may seem—is necessary to get the internal buy-in necessary for the entire publishing house to get behind the project.

I have not written this post to discourage you from traditional publishing. Instead, I have written it to empower you. Now that you know what goes on inside the black box called publishing, you can take four specific steps to ensure you clear all five hurdles:

1. Write a killer proposal. This is the foundation of every successful project. You will need this to enlist the support of an agent. Your agent will need it to attract interest from acquisitions editors. It will be used to clear each hurdle in the process.
2. Listen to your agent. Remember, your agent doesn’t get paid until your project is sold. If he has survived for more than a few years, it is because he knows how to get from point A to point B. Therefore, treat him like a trusted guide.
3. Cooperate with your editor. Do everything you can to comply with the acquisition editor’s requests. Once he agrees to present the project to the Editorial Committee, he has become your representative inside the publishing house. You have to equip him to succeed.
4. Be patient. The process takes a while. Hopefully, this post has helped you understand why. There is more happening inside the publishing house than you may have initially thought.

Whatever you do, don’t act entitled. You’re not. No publisher has an obligation to publish your work. In essence, you are the seller; publishers are the buyers. You’re job is to convince them that taking a chance on your book is in their best economic interest.

Hopefully, this knowledge will help you clear the hurdles and get your book into print.

I admit, when I hear someone suggest that you can take your blog posts and turn them into a book, I am skeptical. But when I really thought about it, for all my skepticism, and as much as it pains me to admit it, my first book, To Love Is Christ, came about just that way. Let me explain.

On August 1, 2002 I made a vow to God. He and I weren’t on the best of terms at the time, and when I finally got fed up hearing myself complain, or filling my journal with more whine, I decided to do something dramatic. My strategy was both simple and logical. That morning I decided since the Scripture tells me that God is love, I would write every day for one year on that one subject, love. That was it. That was my strategy.

Having a successful marriage (a ridiculously wonderful wife), I knew I was good for a few months of self-generated text, all my pent up wisdom, all the ooze and rhapsody of a well-tuned lyric. But beyond that, beyond those first few months, my thought was that God himself would have to supply the details.

Being 2002, I could hardly call it a blog at the time, but I did vow to post one entry on my web site every day and to do so by 12 noon. I obligated myself to a deadline and to an audience. It wasn’t long before I began to add a benediction to each post, such as “May your Christ be a warm one. May your Christianity be a door and not a wall.”

Fifteen months from that first day in August, I had a manuscript that was eight inches deep. Somewhere during that time, Benita and I moved to Franklin, Tennessee.

I had been introduced to Jack Countryman by Gloria Gaither. Jack published beautiful devotional books for Thomas Nelson at the time, often with a CD in the back. I gave Jack a proposal with a copy of my recording In The Mourning: For Those Who Grieve in the hope of getting a book deal (I had put a booklet together to go with the music). Jack and his crew ultimately turned down the project, but his editor gave me a wonderful review of my writing. Jack told me if I had anything else, please bring it to him.

It was a start.

Once this huge manuscript had grown under my hand, I took the benedictions (there were one thousand of them) and put together what I then called The May Book because each benediction began with the word “may” and the metaphor of the month itself is so powerful with its suggestion of new life, I couldn’t resist. Nelson liked it, and wanted to publish it, but thought it might work better as a devotional. That was fortunate, I told them, because I had eight inches of devotional.

They asked me to compress each entry to two hundred words or less. After moaning a bit, I worked with their editor, Alice Sullivan, for months to compress this tall, wordy, over-the-top mess to a trim, readable, accessible devotional. During the editorial process, some days were as long as sixteen to eighteen hours. I hardly noticed.

Two things came out of the experience. Okay, maybe three. I will list them.

1.  The regularity, the discipline, the day to day obligation made a writer out of me.
2. Forcing myself to condense each entry to 200 words or less taught me the art of compression, of discovering what was necessary, what was excess, and what was not (what Williams Tyndale and Shakespeare called “pith”). To discover where the true music lay. I developed a kind of editorial savagery. Being a songwriter, I suppose I had a head start on the process.
3. I got a book deal. The advance was not huge by any standard, but who cared? I WAS PUBLISHED. And the little event did wonderful things to my thought life, to my confidence, and to my renewed perception of God, and life.

I am forever grateful to Thomas Nelson, who worked with me in my nativity as an author to awaken my instincts, to season and sharpen them for good use. I’ve written many books since then, for Nelson and other publishers. I am grateful to God as well, who proved himself as good as his description, as John defined him, and for putting the dare in me in the first place.

God is love. Of that I am certain.

To Love Is Christ, as I titled it, will always be special to me. It is deliciously tweetable. Certainly, its voice is more lyrical than my other books, but it was the logical step in my evolution as a writer, in my transition from music to books.

So, I have put a muzzle on my skepticism. Your blog content can, indeed, become a book. That is, with a few necessary conditions. And as much as writers writing about writing on the internet borders on downright creepy at times, here are five conditions, five necessary obligations, that must be satisfied if your blog is to be publishable.

1. Hard work. There is no way to circumnavigate this one.
2. Obligating yourself to write every day. No exceptions.
3. Developing an editorial savagery, or even better, a great ear. I have become somewhat lactose intolerant, that is, I am (hopefully) able to detect cheese when I am guilty of manufacturing it, or when I hear it. Ernest Hemingway called it by another, more colorful name, but to be able to detect it is critical. The ear is the primary organ for the writer.
4. Learn and develop the art of restraint.
5. Love language. Love it. Never stop learning the craft.

That’s it. Happy blogmaking. Of the list above, I’m particularly fond of #5. Content is great. It’s critical. But it is execution alone that will set you apart.

I have now been using the Kindle Fire for about a month. I thought I’d weigh with my impressions thus far. This isn’t intended to be a thorough, technical review. It is simply my view as a publishing professional and e-reader enthusiast.

I have been a fan of the Kindle since Amazon introduced it in 2007. I have bought every iteration since then and have been pleased with the evolution of the device. The simplicity, battery life, and integrated buying experience have been delightful.

However, when I first saw the announcement about the Kindle Fire, Amazon’s Android-based tablet with a color touch screen, I decided to opt out. I already have an iPad 2, so I didn’t see what the Kindle Fire had to offer.

However, after reading Chris Brogan’s review, I decided to go for it. As someone with a professional interest in e-publishing, I thought I should try it for myself.

I am currently using the Fire for reading books and casual browsing. I have not watched a movie on it yet nor really listened to music (though I have uploaded my music library to the Amazon cloud). I have not used the email app. I have watched movie trailers, and the device seems to work as-advertised.

Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good

• The price point is terrific. At $199.00 it’s pretty easy to justify, especially compared to the iPad. It offers one of the best value propositions out there.
• The 7” display is beautiful. The size of the Fire is also nice. It feels more “bookish” than the iPad. However, it is heavier than I anticipated.
• Book pages look terrific. Because it uses a touch screen, it is much easier to access everything: highlighting, notes, definitions, bookmarks, etc. I don’t miss the joystick from the last version.
• Highlighting passages is easier and more intuitive than any e-reader I have used. (I am a highlighting junkie.) However, you still can’t highlight across pages.
• The battery is great. Amazon advertises at least eight hours of continuous reading. I have gotten at least that. It has been a non-issue for me.
• Purchasing is truly one-click. Some users have complained that this makes it too easy for children and thieves, but I like the convenience. (I also use the password lock feature.)
• Synching across all Kindle devices continues to work flawlessly, whether they are on your desktop, your iPad, or your iPhone. I can pick up any device and continue reading right where I was on the last one.
• The 8GB internal storage will accommodate about 6,000 books—less if you want to also store movies and apps. That’s half as much as the Nook, but still more than adequate for most needs.

The Bad

• The virtual bookshelf, which is the primary way you access your content works as expected. The shelves use a carousel to let you swipe through your content in the order it as last accessed. However, it feels clumsy and it’s easy to flip past the book or app you want.
• Twitter is no longer integrated as it was with the last generation. This is curious. I think “social reading” is still a huge opportunity for the e-reader space. So far, only Rethink Books seems to have the vision for this.
• There is currently no 3G version, so if you are not connected to a Wi-Fi, you cannot purchase new books. This makes it less attractive for frequent travelers.
• The touch screen is sometimes unpredictable. On numerous occasions, I have found myself having to touch the screen more than once to activate a control or feature. In addition, the keys are just too small to access comfortably.
• The OS transitions are not as smooth or as impressive as the iPad. This is not a big deal, but it makes the Fire feel less polished.

The Ugly

• The Power Switch is located on the bottom of the device rather than the top. As a result, I have unintentionally turned it off on numerous occasions. (Yes, you can rotate it 180°, but this isn’t the intended orientation.)
• I have crashed on more that one occasion, and I have even had the tablet spontaneously reboot on me. Amazon is promising an update to the OS within the next few weeks. Hopefully, that will help.

Overall, the Kindle Fire is no iPad killer. If you can afford the iPad, I’d buy that instead. It is just much more polished and, with so many available apps, can do so much more.

However, if your primary goal is media consumption at an outstanding price, you won’t go wrong with a Kindle Fire. With Amazon’s backing, it will only improve with time.

Last week, FrugalDad published an amazing graphic about Amazon. Since 1994, Jeff Bezos, the CEO, has steadily grown the company. I knew it was big, but I had no idea how big.

This infographic is worth studying in detail. No author, retailer, or publisher can afford to ignore this behemoth. (Don’t miss the question at the end. Please leave a comment! I’d like to know what you think.)

I have yet to meet an author who thought his/her publisher did enough marketing or who was satisfied with the royalties received. Most have the fantasy of writing the book, submitting the manuscript, and then sitting in a lawn chair next to the mailbox, waiting on those big checks to show up. The reality of publishing and the source of real income is a quite different picture.

Several years ago Mark Victor Hansen, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, told a small group of us author wannabes something that revolutionized my approach to writing. He said, “Everyone I meet wants to write a book. I tell them, ‘Write your book. Do a great job. Now you’re 10% finished. The remaining 90% consists of marketing, promoting, developing ancillary products, etc.’”

Jay Conrad Levinson is best known for popularizing the term “guerrilla marketing” in his many books. He comments, “Some people asked me how much I made from my first book. The answer I gave was $10 million. The book itself only paid $35,000 in royalties, but the speaking engagements, spin-off books, newsletters, columns, boot camps, consulting, and wide-open doors resulted in the remaining $9,965,000.”

How are you approaching your writing? Are you frustrated that in return for submitting a great article you are paid $70 and that the royalties from your book have covered the cost of your morning Starbucks but have done little to impact your mortgage?

Are you hoping for the unexpected success of The Shack or Heaven is for Real? What if you strategically developed products and services around your core concepts and saw the sales of your book as simply a promotional piece to draw people in to the more profitable part of your business?

The original movie Cars was released in 2006. Though it made a respectable $462 million in worldwide box office receipts, the real story is in ancillary sales. With the key demographic being boys from 2 to 8 years old, Pixar has had an estimated $8 billion in product sales and licensing and continues to haul in around $2 billion a year.

The first edition of my book 48 Days to the Work You Love was released in 2005. It continues to do very well and I am thankful for the royalty checks that come in. But as I have little control over those, I’ve never depended on that income for any real expenses, vacations, or retirement funds. My wife Joanne and I typically have fun guessing the amount before we open that twice-yearly envelope. And then we squeal with delight or groan in fake agony when the dollar amount appears.

However, since the original release I have:

• Developed the complete twelve-session 48 Days to the Work You Love seminar which is now being taught by facilitators around the world;
• Written multiple 48 Days to manifestos;
• Been deluged with career coaching requests;
• Licensed over 350 coaches to which we refer coaching requests;
• Conducted countless teleseminars on the concepts;
• Delivered speeches all over the country;
• Supplied related content for periodicals from Christianity Today to Success magazine; and
• Hosted Write to the Bank conferences three times a year for other writers.

Guess where I’ve made 95% of the money from the content in 48 Days to the Work You Love?

If you are writing a book—or thinking about it—you have no doubt considered self-publishing. Thanks to recent developments in technology, it has never been easier or less expensive.

A few years ago, we launched a self-publishing division at Thomas Nelson called WestBow Press. We did so in partnership with Author Solutions, the largest self-publishing company in the world. They have proven to be great partners.

A few weeks ago, I got to sit down with Kevin Weiss, President and CEO of Author Solutions. In this eight-minute video, I asked Kevin five questions about self-publishing:

1. What is self-publishing and how does it differ from vanity publishing?
2. What advantages does self-publishing have over traditional publishing?
3. What kind of authors can benefit the most from self-publishing?
4. Who are some examples of self-published authors who have succeeded?
5. What should an author expect to spend to self-publish a book?

While self-publishing might not be right for everyone, it is worth exploring. You can learn more on the WestBow Press website or read my previous post, “Should You Consider Self-Publishing?”

At the risk of wearing you out, I want to ask for your input on this cover one last time. More than 750 people voted on the four covers I posted earlier today. They left almost 300 comments. I read through every single one. They have helped me clarify my own thinking and will influence the outcome.

The top two choices were very close: The GPS Cover took 40 percent of the votes. The Sail Cover took 30 percent. I also polled people as to their gender and then cross-tabbed the results. The results were almost identical for the GPS Cover. Men and women voted the same. However, among women the Sail Cover and the Tree Cover tied for second place.

The biggest complaint with the Tree Cover was that the imagery is over-used. People pointed to The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren as an example. The Ruler Cover received very few votes. Several noted that it looked more like grammar school imagery than architectural.

Personally, I could go with either of the top two finalists. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. So, I thought I would get your input one last time before making my decision.

We have not changed the GPS Cover at all in this last round. However, we did use input from my readers to change the Sail Cover. Specifically:

1. We changed the saturation of the sky to make it lighter blue.
2. We changed the title font from serif to sans serif.
3. We added a longer version of the Maxwell quote.
4. We adjusted the vertical spacing.

I have also added an “age group” question to the survey. This will allow me to see which option is popular among specific age groups.

On Thursday, I posted the first round of new cover designs for Creating Your Personal Life Plan. Some 750 people took the survey. Even better, sixty people left detailed comments, telling me what they liked and disliked.

I have taken all that input into consideration, and would like to get your vote on this second round of book cover comps. If you want to get straight to the survey, just scroll down this page and take it. It will take you less than 60 seconds.

in case you are interested in the process, I thought I’d also provide a little bit of the background. I am changing the format of my ebooks from a horizontal orientation to a vertical one. The reason for this is two-fold:

1. The horizontal layout didn’t work well on e-readers. The best you could do was convert the PDF and that usually produced ugly results. In some cases the ebook was not readable.
2. The horizontal layout didn’t work well when printed. The background images on the pages consumed a lot of ink. The design got in the way of usability.

So I am now converting everything from the horizontal format to a vertical one. I plan to do Creating Your Personal Life Plan first, then my Writing a Winning Book Proposal ebooks next.

Okay, so now for some specific comments about this round of cover comps. Here is my rationale for the design of today’s covers:

• The tree cover received the most votes yesterday. However, several people pointed out that the image was just too close to the Site Organic ad in my sidebar. (Oops!) I agreed. So we picked a different image and then revised the cover to make it a little more modern.
• The sail cover received the second most votes yesterday. The only thing we changed in this round was the subtitle in order to tie it into the sailing metaphor a little more.
• The idea for the new GPS cover came from “Dave” in a comment yesterday. He said that the sextant cover was cool, but younger people may not know what the nautical instrument is or what it does. He suggested we use a GPS. We also changed the subtitle to tie into this metaphor.
• Finally, a few people said that original subtitle—“How to Design the Life You’ve Always Wanted”—reminded them of a construction project. As a result, we tried a few images of blueprints, but, frankly, they seemed too predictable. Instead, we chose some architectural drawing instruments and used them as a metaphor.

In the last decade, we have witnessed the “free revolution.” Marketers are giving away everything from books and software to vacations and even cars. This has shaped consumer behavior to the point that people often expect free and resent having to pay.

I see this every week in the publishing industry with ebooks. Many consumers expect them to be free or sold for a nominal amount, because they incorrectly believe that they don’t cost anything to produce.

Unfortunately, authors won’t write for free. Editors and packagers won’t work for free. Online retailers and distributors also want to get paid, as do the publishers who find the books, curate them, and market them.

So free is certainly not a viable business model. However, it can be a brilliant marketing strategy. Many individuals and companies are using this strategy very effectively to:

• Build mailing lists. I have been offering a free copy of a my 94-page ebook, Creating Your Personal Life Plan, to everyone who signs up to receive my blog updates via email. In the first six months, I have generated 23,326 subscriptions. In the next few weeks, I will offer a new ebook to take my subscriptions to 50,000 by the end of the calendar year.
• Generate customer reviews. A few years ago Thomas Nelson launched BookSneeze, a website designed to get its books into the hands of bloggers (sneezers) who could “infect” their readers. We let bloggers chose which books they wanted to review in exchange for an honest review on their blog. We now have over 20,000 bloggers participating in this program. We have generated thousands of reviews for our books.
• Provide product samples. Assuming you have a great product—and this is a prerequisite!—the best thing you can do is “seed the market” with free samples. For example, last week on my blog, I gave away 100 free copies of Marcus Buckingham’s new book, StandOut. I generated 1,353 comments, 567 retweets, and 340 Facebook shares. More importantly for the publisher, it helped drive the book to #4 on Amazon.com’s overall sales ranking.

So how does this apply to you? Simple. You should use free to drive your marketing strategy. This can help you build your platform and launch your products. Here are ten quick idea-starters to make free work for you.

1. Offer free samples of your product to potential customers. This could the first two chapters of your book, the first two songs from your album, or a recording of you performing live.
2. Offer an ebook or special report in exchange for newsletter subscriptions. Hubspot is a master at this.
3. Offer a free copy of your product to bloggers in exchange for an honest review on their blog. Start with the bloggers you know and follow.
4. Offer free copies of your product to bigger bloggers to do a giveaway on their blog. You can offer fewer copies for smaller blogs and more copies for larger ones.
5. Offer your time for free to people who buy various quantities of your products. Gary Vaynerchuk did this here. Phil Cooke did it here. They did it to drive the bestseller lists.
6. Offer a free copy of the product in another format to customers who buy in your main format. (For example, offer a free copy of the audio book to everyone who buys the print book.)
7. Offer a free ticket to anyone who gets two of their friends to buy a ticket. You will make it up in terms of merchandise sales and additional visibility.
8. Offer free bonuses (e.g. workbook, group discussion guide, video course, etc.) to anyone who buys your main product.
9. Offer a free membership in your paid forum or club to anyone who buys your main product.
10. Offer a free seminar or performance and then sell your products at the event.

There are literally hundreds of other ways you can use free to drive your marketing strategy and create visibility and excitement for your products.

While people shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, they do. This is why it is so critical that you spend the time and money to get the packaging on your product right. It doesn’t matter if it’s a book, a CD collection, or a record album. People will never get to experience your brilliance unless the packaging gets them to pick it up and explore it.

This is especially important in today’s world. You have never had more competition. The market is increasingly crowded—and noisy. You need every advantage you can muster. Packaging is a key component in the selling process. This is often where the war for the consumer’s mind is won or lost.

I am not a designer, but I have worked with hundreds of them over the span of my career. I have been responsible for hiring them, evaluating their work, and picking the designs I believe will work. I have had tremendous successes—and abysmal failures. Regardless, I have learned along the way.

With that perspective, I offer these ten tips for developing eye-popping packaging and thus increasing your chances of sales success:

1. Know your audience. A year ago, I had to speak to a group of college students. I hired a design firm to prepare my slides. When I got them back, I didn’t care for the design. However, I showed them to my two college-age daughters. They loved them. The slides were a big hit with my audience. The point is that it’s not about you. It’s about your audience. What would they find compelling?
2. Consider your brand. While the audience is important, so is your brand. You have to strike a balance between reaching your audience and representing who you are—or want to become. This means paying close attention to fonts, colors, and even textures and materials. All of them communicate subtle messages about your brand.
3. Review the bestseller lists. It is worth taking a look at the bestsellers in your product category. What current design trends do you see? What seems to be working? Review the top 100 products and take notes. For example, I am currently writing a marketing book on building your platform. I have reviewed the top business books and taken copious notes. This has expanded my design horizons and stimulated by thinking.
4. Make the investment necessary. You won’t get a second chance to make a first impression. If your packaging looks cheap, dated, or confusing, your prospective customers will assume that your actual product is cheap, dated, or confusing. Therefore, you need to invest in the best designer you can afford. Don’t try to do it yourself to save money (unless you are actually a designer). Remember: There is nothing more expensive than a cheap design that doesn’t work.
5. Don’t provide too much direction—at least initially. Don’t limit the imagination of your designers. If you do, you won’t get their best work. Instead, describe your product and the audience. (If you are publishing a book, give them a copy of your book proposal. This is a quick way to get them up-to-speed, since they likely won’t have time to read your manuscript.) Then, get out of the way and see what they come up with.
6. Insist on several comps. I tell designers up front that I want to see several comps (short for “comprehensive layouts”.) I want to be able to pick and choose from various alternatives. I often find that I like the type on one version, the illustration on another, and the color selection on yet another. If you and the designer limit yourself to one option, you will find that you often get stuck and have a tough time moving forward without friction.
7. Be careful with design metaphors. By this I mean the illustration or photo you use to represent your message or story. For example, sitting on my desk right now are books with illustrations of a chair, a chess game, a light bulb, a sunset, and an elephant trunk. Some of these are perfect. Others leave me scratching my head. If you use a design metaphor, make sure the connection to the title is obvious. Think about all the messages it communicates.
8. Don’t let the design get in the way. My favorite designs are those that are simple and elegant. They are kind of like the drum track on a great song. You’d miss it if it weren’t there, but you barely notice it when it is. Or to say it another way, the design doesn’t compete with the message for attention; instead, it facilitates it. Be especially wary of designs that require an explanation for you to “get it.” Your prospective customers won’t have the benefit of someone standing next to them in the store explaining what it means.
9. Evaluate the packaging in-context. Once you are close to a final design, you need to evaluate it in the various merchandising environments in which your product will appear. For example, will the cover “pop” on a shelf with similar titles. Is the type readable from five feet away? What about ten? What about the online context? If it’s a book, how will it look when it is reduced to 260 pixels high, as covers are in the Amazon store? Don’t get married to a design until you have seen the product in the appropriate environments.
10. Ask your fans. If you already have a blog, Twitter, or Facebook following, you can test various design options with your best prospects—the people who already want to hear what you have to say. You can use a service like SurveyMonkey to display cover options and then let your fans vote. It’s also helpful if they can comment, because they will offer other options or see things you may have missed. This is crowd-sourcing at its best!

Don’t under-estimate the importance of great design. When it comes to selling your product, it can make you or break you.

From my previous reader surveys, I know that approximately 61.4 percent of my readers have either written a book or want to write a book. That number still astonishes me. No wonder there were over one million books published last year just in the U.S.

Yet most aspiring authors will not get published—at least, not by a traditional publisher. Why? Because they don’t know how to get the attention of an agent. And without an agent, they don’t have a chance of getting a publisher.

Most publishers simply don’t have the resources to evaluate unsolicited proposals and manuscripts. Instead, they depend on literary agents to do their filtering, believing this is the best way to discover the best new authors.

So, as a hopeful author, the questions is this: “How do you get the attention of an agent?”

The answer is simple to articulate but difficult to execute. You must write a killer book proposal. In addition, if you are writing a novel, you will likely have to submit a completed manuscript.

But it all starts with the book proposal. Why? There are three reasons:

1. Agents don’t have time to evaluate manuscripts. Think about it. How long does it take you to read a book? Ten, twenty, or thirty hours? This is an enormous investment. Agents often receive hundreds of proposals a month.
2. Agents have a finite list of questions. They don’t re-invent the wheel every time they evaluate a proposal. The questions are predictable. Basically, they boil down to these: What’s the book about? Why are you qualified to write it? What will you do to help market it?
3. Agents need to be equipped to sell. Whatever else a literary agent is—and I was one for six years—he or she is a salesperson. Their job is to sell you and your proposal to prospective publishers. The easier you can make it for them, the more likely they will succeed in getting you a book contract

In addition, a proposal provides a blueprint for the writing itself. This is why even published authors (at least the smart ones) start with a proposal. They want to know where the book is going before they invest too much time or energy in writing it.

I realized the strategic significance of having a good book proposal early in my career. That is why I have written two ebooks, one for non-fiction authors and one for novelists. I want to give authors the competitive advantage they need to succeed. As you will see from the endorsements I have received from agents and authors, these books do exactly that.

Whether you are thinking about writing your first book (and from my reader survey I know that is highly likely) or are an established author, I invite you to check out my two ebooks, Writing a Winning Non-Fiction Book Proposal and Writing a Winning Fiction Book Proposal. Both will give you the edge you need to secure a book publishing contract.

Endorsements are used extensively in all forms of marketing. And for good reason. They provide third-party validation and social authority. They make it easier for potential gate-keepers and customers to say “yes.”

For example, I never order a book without reading the endorsements and some of the reviews. Gail and I never go to a movie without checking out its score on Rotten Tomatoes. We rarely try a new restaurant without a recommendation or two from someone we trust.

This has become common-place in almost every area of life. Why? Because with so many options, few of us have time to do the evaluation ourselves. Instead, we rely on the opinions of people we trust. This reduces the risk and helps us make a decision faster.

This is why if you are going to succeed as a creative, you can’t afford to ignore endorsements. You must try to get them for every product you create. While the process is sometimes difficult and time-consuming, it is absolutely crucial to getting the visibility and credibility you need.

Endorsements fall into two types:

• Celebrity Endorsements—These don’t have to be movie or television personalities. They may simply be the well-known experts in a narrow field. For example, if I wanted to buy a new pair of running shoes, and saw an endorsement from Christopher McDougall, that would mean something to me. Why? Because he is a leading authority on barefoot running.
• User Reviews—These are important, too. I want to know what kind of experience mere mortals have had with the product or service. The celebrity endorser may have all kinds of motives for endorsing a product or service, but individuals are more likely to be candid.

By the way, some negative reviews from ordinary users can be helpful. If all the user reviews are positive, I get suspicious. When a few are negative, I assume they are all honest and put greater stock in the positive ones.

So how do you get endorsements? Here are the fives steps I recommend:

1. Create a great product. This is essential. People who matter are not going to endorse a mediocre product. They can’t afford to. Why? Because their brand will be hurt by the negative association. So you must be committed to excellence. (Note: I did not say perfection. You do the best you can, then launch.)
2. Make a prospect list. In an ideal world, who would you like as endorsers? Think big. (When I wrote my e-book, Creating Your Personal Life Plan, I started with a list of forty people. I ended up getting twenty-five.) Ask yourself, “Who are the recognized authorities in my field?” Don’t be too quick to rule out someone because you don’t think you have access. You may not know the prospective endorser, but you may know someone who does.
3. Leverage one endorsement for more. It’s always difficult to go first. Sometimes prospective endorsers need an endorsement themselves in order to get comfortable with your product. With my e-book, I looked over the list and said, “Who is the most likely to say, “yes,” because of my relationship with them?” I then asked this person for an endorsement. Sure enough, he gave it to me. I then included his endorsement in all my other requests. (It also gave me the courage to ask the others.) This made it easier for everyone else, because someone else had already gone first.
4. Ask for the endorsement. Don’t beat around the bush. Busy people—like the ones you want endorsements from—don’t have time to read long emails. Get to the point. Also, try to ask them when they most be the most receptive. For example, I always ask for speaking endorsements (and I always ask for them) right after the engagement, while it is fresh on their mind and before they get too distracted with everything else.
5. Provide guidance, samples, and a deadline. Include a brief description of your product and perhaps a sample. Then offer to send them the entire product. Tell them the kind of endorsement you are looking for. The more specific the better. I always tell them that I am just looking for 2–3 sentences. They might write more, but this sounds doable. I then provide a real endorsement or two and a deadline. I ask for it within a week. In my experience you are more likely to get an endorsement with a short deadline rather than a longer one.

When you get the endorsement, thank the endorser and then display the endorsements prominently on your product and in your marketing. (Here’s an example.) I have also started distilling the endorsements into soundbites, similar to what studios do with movies. Seth Godin did this on the back of his book, Poke the Box (see an example here).

For example, after I spoke at The Gathering, Ted Dekker, bestselling author and sponsor of the event said,

Younger crowds in their twenties and thirties are inundated with messages and entertainment, making them a hard crowd to please. Michael’s keynote at the 2009 Gathering cut through the clutter and beautifully illustrated the power of a superb storyteller. It was the kind of speech audiences hope for but rarely get.”

I included the full quote in the sidebar of my Speaking page. However, I used an excerpt in the body copy itself: “The kind of speech audiences hope for but rarely get.” If you string several of these together, you create the same effect movie studio create in their marketing. (See here for an example.)

Bottom line: endorsements can make a huge difference in whether or not your product gets noticed by the gate-keepers, trend-setters, and your target market. Take the time to get them. It is worth it.

As a creative—author, speaker, recording artist—you need a team. You can’t go it alone. The job is just too big. You may have to start small, but you have to enroll others to help you get to your destination.

Several years ago, my friend Robert Smith, Andy Andrews’ manager, shared with me his concept of “The Train.” This represents all the people on your team who are helping you get your career down the track faster than you could do on your own.

For example, here are some of the teammates you may need to recruit as you build your platform.

Administration

Administrative help frees you to focus on what you do best: create. At some point, you may need to hire one or more of the following:

• Assistant—Is it really a good use of your time to process email, make travel arrangements, and respond to meeting requests? This doesn’t have to be a full-time position. I hired a virtual assistant through Miles Advisory Group for 15 hours per week. I couldn’t be happier with my decision.
• Bookkeeper—Just because you can keep your own books doesn’t mean you should. Again, this is time away from creating. Also, like a virtual assistant, you can hire someone part-time. I have someone who does this a few hours a month. Like an assistant, it frees me up to do what only I can do.
• Attorney—The more successful you become, the more you will need a good, reliable attorney. However, not all attorneys are created equal. You need one that specializes in intellectual property. You don’t want the burden of paying a real estate attorney, for example, to get an education in publishing or entertainment law.

Management

“Management” is the term used to refer to the person or company who manages your overall career and helps develop your platform. There are basically two options:

• Self Management—This is what almost all creatives do. They are, in essence, their own “general contractor.” They hire the subs and manage them. At some point, this starts diffusing your focus and eating into your creative time. But in the meantime, you must take responsibility for this. This is not the role of your literary agent, booking agent, or some other professional.
• Personal Management—The most successful creatives hire a personal manager to oversee their career. The good news is that you typically pay a percentage of your income (or, better for you, gross profit), so the manager only makes more money if you make more money. The bad news is that it is difficult to find someone who has the necessary experience and is also competent and trustworthy.

Representation

Agents represent you to potential customers for your work. They are the linkage connecting you to the people you need to get the word out. In hiring an agent you need someone who will represent you well, since others will form their opinion of you based on their interactions with your agent(s).

• Literary Agent–This is a must-have for authors. You generally can’t get in the publishing door without one. Why? Because traditional publishers use agents as filters to separate “the wheat from the chaff.” It also provides the clout you need in the contract negotiation process. Publishers aren’t “out to get you,” but they are naturally focused on their own interests. (I have a list of agents here.)
• Booking Agent—This is also a must-have for speakers or other entertainers. A good booking agent can give you access to event planners that you wouldn’t have otherwise. He can generally get you a higher fee than you would on your own. (Most people aren’t good at negotiating for themselves.) He can also make sure your intellectual property rights are protected and that you have the production quality you need (e.g., sound, lights, etc.) to do your best.
• Publicity Agent—regardless of whether you are an author, comedian, speaker, or some other kind of creative, you will likely need a publicist at some point. This is especially true when you are launching a new product. Unlike literary agents and booking agents, most publicists work on a fee basis rather than on a commission. However, you can usually hire them on a per-project basis.

Content Creation

• Coaches—Wherever it is you want to go, someone has likely been there before. Some of these people have become skilled coaches as well. I have used them to help me get better in specific areas. For example, you might consider higher a writing coach, speech coach, or a voice coach. It doesn’t have to be expensive, and it can be temporary. You might just need someone to get you to the next level.
• Collaborators—these are people who help you get your content into marketable shape. This could be as simple as an editor but might include a ghost writer—or something in between. If you are producing audio or video, it might be a producer or video editor. The options are limitless. The point is that you don’t have to do it all yourself.

Publishers

These are the individual or companies who help you get your product to market. The word publish means “to make known.” It might be a book publisher, a video distributor, or an online retailer. You might even do it yourself (e.g., self-publishing). Regardless, you have to consider publishers as part of your team.

To summarize, if you are serious about getting your work out, you need to begin building a support team. Why? Because a support team provides three benefits.

1. It provides access to contacts you don’t have.
2. It gives you leverage that maximizes your impact.
3. It allows you to focus on what you do best.

You may have to start small (everyone does), but hopefully this will give you the big picture so you can build the team you need now to accomplish the results you want.

I have worked with authors for more than three decades. I have also worked with speakers, recording artists, and other creatives. I have had the privilege of working with the best—and the challenge of enduring the worst. Ninety percent fall somewhere in the middle.

What separates them is not talent. Surely, this plays a role. But it doesn’t fully explain why some creatives with marginal talent become successful and others with extraordinary talent never really make it. (I could name names, but I would get myself in trouble on both counts!)

Instead, I think the determining factor is to be found in how they think. Successful creatives think differently than unsuccessful ones. This is evident in seven ways.

1. Successful creatives think big. The best creatives think, “Go big or go home.” If they are going to go to the trouble of writing a book, preparing a speech, or recording an album, they might as well make the biggest impact they can. They aren’t naive about the amount of work it will take, but they still dream big. They are always asking, “What could we do that would exceed everyone’s expectations?”
2. Successful creatives take responsibility. The best creatives take responsibility for the outcome. They don’t expect someone else to make them famous or successful, though they realize they can’t succeed without others. They own their work and accept responsibility for how it is received by the market.
3. Successful creatives listen well. The best creatives are not know-it-alls. They understand that being good at one thing (e.g., writing, speaking, or singing) doesn’t mean they are good at everything (e.g., packaging or marketing). As a result, they listen to those who have more experience. Ultimately, this raises their probability for success.
4. Successful creatives seek help. While the best creatives accept ultimate responsibility for the outcome, they enroll everyone they can to help them succeed. They understand they can’t do it alone. As a result, they build a world-class team around them. They are constantly asking, “Who else can I enroll to help get me where I want to go.”
5. Successful creatives work hard. The best creatives are not lazy. They don’t assume that their work is done once the book is written, the speech prepared, or the album recorded. In a real sense, their work has only just begun. They don’t display a spirit of entitlement. Instead, they roll up their sleeves and do the work that lesser creatives are unwilling to do.
6. Successful creatives remain humble. The best creatives know that success is illusive and fragile. They know that they didn’t attain it on their own, nor will they preserve it on their own. This makes them grateful and humble. Though they face the same temptations to become arrogant, they understand the dangers and comport themselves accordingly.
7. Successful creatives give praise. The best creatives take all the responsibility and little of the credit. They are quick to give that away to the numerous people who helped them get where they are. These creatives are especially good at praising in public and shining the spotlight on others.

The bottom line is that you have more control over your success than you may think. However, you must develop a winning mindset and cultivate the habits of successful thinking. This is what separates the best creatives from all others.

In this brief, 12-minute video, I interview Jane Friedman, professor of e-media and writing at the University of Cincinnati. She also serves as a contributing editor at Writer’s Digest, where she once served as publisher and strategic leader. She is the author of The Future of Publishing: Enigma Variations, as well as the Beginning Writer’s Answer Book.

I first discovered Jane via her blog at Writer’s Digest, “There Are No Rules.” (Her main publishing and writing blog is now at JaneFriedman.com.) I immediately fell in love with her no-nonsense advice, practical wisdom, and insight into contemporary writing and publishing. If you are an author—or aspire to be—her blog is a must-read. You can also follow her on Twitter.

In this video, I asked Jane the following questions:

• Do you see the demand for books going up or down in the future?
• How important is an author’s “platform” to their success in the publishing world?
• Do you think there is still a role for traditional publishers in the future?
• What are the best practices of really successful writers?
• What is the role of consistency in writing and publishing?
• What was the inflection point for you as a blogger?
• What do writers sometimes do to sabotage their careers?
• What parting words of wisdom would you give to authors?

Again, if you want to get more of Jane’s wisdom, subscribe to her blog. Her content is always fresh, relevant, and useful.

Fiction marketing in the current publishing environment is an evolving art. Some have described it as the “Wild West,” where anyone can win big. Others have hailed it as the “end of publishing” as we know it.

But for those willing to take a chance—and responsibility—it’s an environment that is full of opportunity. The question for authors is this: How can you best leverage your stories and your brand for the long haul in a quickly evolving market?

If you are a novelist (or want to be), you need to consider three critical areas:

1. Identity: Definition, Message, and Consistency. Think you know who you are? Try defining it in a sentence or two. Okay, maybe give it a paragraph. It’s not easy, and it’s not a trite exercise. If you don’t do it, someone must do it for you. While you and your stories may be complicated, marketing requires a message—preferably a simple, concise one.

   Most novelists aspire to develop several series or stand-alone novels. As a result, it’s important to identify a central focus with your brand so you can determine what to write next for your growing fan base. You may evolve and branch out from that, but typically that is a privilege to be earned through consistency.

   Recently, we asked one of our authors to list all the words that she would like to be associated with her work. We then narrowed it down to five and defined them more. It insured that the marketing team, editorial staff, and the author were all on the same page. By her own account, this exercise made her next book much easier to write.

2. Assets: Access, Connection, and Baselines. Online assets are what give your fans access to you—and you, connection with them. These assets could include Twitter followers, Facebook fans, or a well-read blog or newsletter. You might engage in all of the above or just focus on one to start if it seems overwhelming to do more. Regardless, it’s important for fans to have a place to make a connection with you—and to feel a sense of “insider status” for doing so.

   As a novelist, you’re an expert at creating worlds within your books. So apply that to your online presence. What should it feel like for your readers to live in the world you create there? The more you draw people in for the long haul, the more you will grow your brand and sell your books.

3. Community: Engagement, Development, and Consistency. Perhaps you are thinking, Wait a minute. Isn’t this the same as assets? No. Assets are simply that, assets. Community is what you do with them.

   In other words, you can keep the treasure safe by burying it and then running from your responsibility to your readers. Or you can leverage the treasure for an even greater return by being involved and responsive to your online audience.

   The key is authenticity. This comes from committing to a brand definition and message you believe in. Michael Hyatt gives provides several strategies for balancing of personal, professional, and promotional messages in social media interactions in his post about 12 Reasons to Start Twittering.

Your goal should be to develop a long-term, consistent brand and marketing strategy. By consistently meeting—and exceeding—your followers expectations, you develop trust. This includes trust in who you are, the community you are inviting them into, and your long-term commitment to create the best experience for everyone involved. Because fiction readers have so many options, keeping your fans depends heavily on delivering what you promise.

We have engaged fans with something as simple as voting on covers to something as complex as geo-caching games. More recently, we identified a rabid group of fans, sent them the first thirty pages of a new manuscript, and with minimal instructions asked them to see if they could figure out who the author was and then mobilize.

We thought it would take weeks to build momentum. Instead, fans communicated with each other, set up a Flickr page on their own, hounded those who hadn’t posted to their Facebook pages, and had it done in less than a week! The feedback was that they loved it.

As I said, in this environment, novelists have more opportunity than ever. The question is, how will you leverage your identity, your assets, and your community for the maximum impact and results?

If you are serious about book publishing, you have no doubt found Rachelle Gardner’s blog. That’s how I first discovered her. I immediately subscribed and have been reading her posts ever since. I also follow her on Twitter.

Rachelle is a literary agent. She is part of the WordServe Literary Group based in Denver, Colorado. Prior to becoming an agent, she served in a variety of publishing roles.

She has been an editor and ghost writer with eight published books to her credit. She has also worked in licensing, international sales, and marketing.

In this fourteen-minute interview, we discussed:

1. The advice she would give to new authors who are looking for an agent
2. The most common mistakes new authors make in approaching agents
3. Why it is important for authors to go through the process of preparing a formal book proposal
4. Whether or not building a platform is critical for fiction authors
5. Why authors should still consider publishing with a traditional publisher when so many self-publishing options are available

We only scratched the surface. If you are an author—or would like to be one—her blog is must-reading. She daily discusses publishing topics from the author’s perspective.

In this brief, seven-minute video, I interview Allen Arnold, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Thomas Nelson’s fiction division. I have known Allen for almost 20 years. When I first met him, he was in marketing at Word, Inc., a company that Thomas Nelson eventually acquired.

Allen is one of the most creative people I know. He is truly a great publisher. He has that rare combination of being unwavering in his core values along with the ability to spot projects that have commercial potential. In his eight-year tenure as Nelson’s fiction publisher, he has built one of the company’s fastest-growing divisions and become an industry thought-leader at the same time.

In this video, Allen talks about:

• Why fiction is so important and the role stories have played in his life
• How he came to be the publisher of Thomas Nelson’s fiction division (the untold story)
• What makes fiction “Christian” and the role of the storyteller
• How an unpublished novelist can get published
• Why agents are so important in the publishing process (and how to find one)
• How much of your novel must be finished before you begin shopping
• What you should do if your proposal or manuscript is initially rejected
• Why he has now started blogging and what he plans to write about

I loved talking to Allen, but I’m afraid I only scratched the surface. There is much more to explore.

I hear the following from authors all the time, “All I want to do is write. I hate promoting myself. I’m no good at it.” The result is they don’t work on their platform, hoping somehow that the whole notion will somehow just go away.

Putting your head in the sand is not the answer. It’s no longer a question of if an author needs a program, it’s now part of the writing business and can mean the difference between success and failure.

But fear not, I’m here to tell you that it’s not only easier than you think, but you should know that someone with your attitude is actually well-equipped to do well.

I’m going to let you in on the most important, and most often overlooked aspect of social networking: It’s not about selling. It’s about participation. It’s about being a member of a community. It’s about connecting with people who share your interests.

Those that use social networking merely as a venue for saying, “Buy my book, buy my book,” are missing out. Nobody likes to be sold to. What people gravitate to is those who give of themselves.

Here’s what you need to know about getting started in social media.

1. Observe. Start out by joining and watching. Pick a venue to get yourself started. It could be twitter, an online forum, or a site dedicated to books like GoodReads, Shelfari, or LibraryThing. You don’t have to do anything at this point other than watch and learn. Be a sponge and absorb what is going on around you. Get a feel for the place. Wait until you are comfortable.
2. Participate. When someone makes a comment that you agree with, support their position. Expand on it. Give an example from your own life that illustrates the point. If you disagree, do so respectfully, offer supporting information for your opinion.
3. Contribute. Once you are comfortable talking with others, it’s time to go to the next level. Start contributing. If you read an article that people in your group might find helpful, post a link to it. If you read a book by someone in the group and liked it, tell others. Be supportive. Be helpful.
4. Form Relationships. This is what social networking is all about. Make this your “end game.” You’re not participating to sell your books. You’re here to make connections. If a fan writes a nice review, thank them. Most don’t expect to hear from authors. But after hearing from you, they’ll remember you even more. They might even share with their friends “how nice you are.”
5. Provide Information. Let the people in your group know about what’s going on in your life. Do you have a signing coming up? Is a new book being released? Have you posted a sample chapter for free? Did a magazine publish one of your short stories? This isn’t selling; it is informing. You aren’t telling them to buy; you are letting them know what you have and leaving the decision to them.

Notice that I never once asked you to sell. That’s what’s so great about social media, you don’t have to. Become a person that others like, be one that is helpful, let others know that you have products (books) and the sales will come.

Now I know what you’re likely to say next, “But Robin, that’s a LOT of work. I don’t have time for all this. I want to write.” I understand, but is writing ALL you do? Of course not. What if you cut out some TV? Is having your dream of being a writer worth your spouse helping a bit more? Can they do the grocery shopping or get the kids bathed and ready for bed?

By trading off on non-writing tasks you can make time to devote to this. The only thing that will hold you back is your belief that it will be a chore. If approached differently, this would be so, but if you follow my steps you’ll find you actually look forward to your time online.

When you receive a great review, tell your network, and they’ll celebrate with you. If you are struggling with a chapter, talk about it and you’ll get words of encouragement. You may just find the opposite is true, that spending time online can be very addictive. Does that sound like such so terrible?

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of interviewing my dear friend and neighbor, Ian Cron, about his new book Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts (Thomas Nelson). He is one of the best writers I know. I savored every word in the book.

Ian’s new book is about “the unfinished business of grace.” He had a very troubled relationship with his extremely talented but very disturbed father, who was an alcoholic and CIA operative. The book is beautifully written—poignant, sad, and funny. It touched me deeply.

Ian and I hooked up at the Thomas Nelson sales conference for this interview. During our time together, I asked him:

• What is your new book about?
• How did your relationship with your father affect your own parenting?
• How important is it to ask forgiveness of our children?
• What does your writing schedule look like?
• When you sit down to write, are you usually inspired?
• How do you balance writing vs. editing?
• What are your favorite books on writing?
• What is the single most important thing you can do to be a successful writer?

You might also want to subscribe to Ian’s blog and follow him on Twitter.

A few weeks ago, an author friend of mine was preparing a proposal for his new book. He called to ask me what social media stats he should include. In other words, what would be meaningful to prospective publishers? This is a great question.

Agents and publishers are looking for authors with meaningful platforms. Most look at specific social media stats as a proxy for this. These stats include those specifically related to blogging, Facebook, and Twitter.

In order to get accurate blog stats, you should sign up for a free Google Analytics account. This is the “gold standard” when it comes to reporting web stats. You will need to refer to your blog’s documentation to figure out how to install it. It is relatively easy but different depending on the blogging system you are using and your configuration.

Here are six stats that most agents and publishers deem relevant.

1. Unique visitors per month. This is the number of unique individuals who have visited your blog in the last 30 days. For example, one individual may visit your blog three times in one week. However, this would only count as one unique visitor. Note: RSS and email subscribers do not count toward your total. For a true count, you must add the number of subscribers you have to this monthly total.
2. Page views per month. This is the number of pages your visitors have viewed in the last month. If you divide this number by your total unique visitors, you will get the average number of pages viewed by each visitor. While this number is important to publishers, you will find it is even more important to prospective advertisers on your blog. Why? Because they are basically buying the specific number of impressions their ad will get on your site.
3. Percent change in the last 12 months. This is the rate of growth in the last 12 months. Publishers want to know if your audience is growing and at what rate. (It should be important to you, too.) Here’s the formula: unique visitors in the last 30 days, minus your unique visitors for the same period 12 months ago, divided by your unique visitors for the same period 12 months ago. multiplied by 100. For me, that would be 166,103 (unique visitors in May 2011), minus 54,326 (unique visitors in May 2010). divided by 54,326, multiplied by 100, equals 205.8% growth.
4. Average number of comments per post. This is a little trickier, because not all commenting systems keep track of this stat. Disqus, the system I use (and highly recommend) provides an “analytics snapshot” that tells me how many comments I received today, last month, and all time. For example, last month I had 4,608 comments. If I divide that by 20 posts, that is an average of 230 comments per post. What this demonstrates is how engaged your audience is with your content. If you want, you can also include the average number of Tweets or Facebook Shares or Likes per post.
5. Total number of blog subscribers. The people who subscribe via email or RSS represent your most loyal readers or “super-fans.” They have made the effort to sign-up to receive your content. More importantly, they have given you permission to push content to them. This permission-based asset is arguably the most important asset you have as an author. This is also why I have been on a campaign in the last three months to grow my subscriber list by giving away a free e-book.
6. Total number of Twitter followers or Facebook fans. These are the two primary vehicles I use to drive get the word out about my new blogs posts. It is another permission-based asset that you bring to the publishing partnership. While the total number of followers can be important, I think it is more important to show how engaged they are. How many times have you been re-tweeted in the last 30 days? How many Facebook “likes” or “shares” have you had? If you really want to get fancy, track your Klout score. This is a measure of your influence with your audience.

Notice that I don’t mention “hits.” Expunge this word from your social media vocabulary. The term “hits” refers to the total number of requests your blog or website makes to the server. For example, if you have a page with numerous images on it, some javascript programs, and excerpts from a dozen posts, you might have 20–50 “hits” per page load. This number is irrelevant—at least as far as traffic goes. If you cite it, it will only mark you out as a newbie.

There are numerous other stats that might be important to some publishers, but if you include the ones above in your proposal, it will put you ahead of 90% of the competition. Also, if you start tracking these stats, I can almost guarantee you that you will start seeing growth. What gets measured, usually starts improving.

Several years ago, I had lunch with a prominent, formerly best-selling author. He was angry that his sales had been in steady decline for several years. Unwilling to accept any responsibility, he poked his finger in my chest and hissed, “My job is to write the books; your job is to market them.”

In the old world, he was right. Authors created the product and relied on their publishing company to market it. But that world is dead. That doesn’t mean that publishing companies expect you to do everything. But it does mean that they are more effective if you have a platform already in place. It provides something for them to leverage.

If this is true for authors who publish with traditional publishers, it is even more true of self-published authors. Yes, it is easier than ever to get a book into print, but it is more difficult than ever to sell it.

As a result, marketing is not something you can afford to leave to others. You must take responsibility for it yourself. This isn’t just true for authors. It applies to almost every other field as well.

There are at least four reasons why this is necessary:

1. No one knows your product better than you. I hear authors complain all the time, “My marketing director hasn’t even read my book.” I’m sorry but that’s the norm. Get over it. Post-recession, the typical marketing director is responsible for 50-plus books per year. Even if they did have time to read your book (which they almost certainly don’t), they will never know it the way you know it.
2. No one is more passionate about your product than you. Do you really think anyone could care about your book more than you? I doubt it. You took months—perhaps years—to write it. You kept going when that little voice in your head told you that you were crazy. You endured a string of rejections from agents and editors. But you kept going. Why? Love. You were passionate about your message or story. You just had to share it with the world.
3. No one has more skin in the game than you. If your book fails, the marketing director at the publishing house will go on to the next project. It is not that he or she doesn’t care; it’s just that the publisher’s bets are spread across a portfolio of projects. Not so with you. Your publishing fortunes rise or fall on the success of your current project. If it succeeds, you reap the lion’s share of the rewards. If it fails, you suffer the consequences. Your career is on the line.
4. No one is likely to do it if you don’t. I wish this weren’t the case, but for 95 percent of all authors it is. Sure, a traditional publisher will deploy a standard set of marketing activities. But these are generally not enough to get your book noticed—especially in a world where more than one million new book titles are published every year. Marketing directors and publicists generally don’t have the time and resources necessary to make your book a success.

This is why you must take matters into your own hands. Let me suggest that you take a long look in the mirror. The person you are looking at is your new Chief Marketing Officer. Stop complaining about the fact that your book is not getting the marketing effort it deserves. Instead, take responsibility for your own publishing success and invite others, including the publisher, to join you in the endeavor.

If you are a published author—or plan to be one—you will inevitably be asked to appear on a radio, television, or Internet show to talk about your book. It’s critical that you learn to do this well. Assuming you have written a good book, nothing drives sales of it more than publicity.

I was personally thrown into the deep end of the pool with my first book. In the course of eighteen months, I did over 1,200 interviews. I appeared on all three major television networks plus CNN, as well as national and local radio and television. During that time, I went through three rounds of professional media training. It was total immersion. Baptism by fire.

More recently, I have sat on the other side of the table, interviewing authors. I have hosted the Chick-fil-A Leadership Backstage program for the last two years where I have had the privilege of interviewing the speakers after they spoke. In addition, I routinely interview authors for my own blog. Sadly, while most authors spend a lot of time honing their writing skills, very few hone their interviewing skills. As a result, their books do not sell as well as they should.

Therefore, based on my experience as both an interviewee and an interviewer, I would like to offer ten suggestions for improving your interview skills:

1. Prepare thoroughly for the interview. Before the publication of each book, I have identified all the questions I might be asked. I have then written 3–4 talking points in response to each question. I don’t write out the answer verbatim; that would sound too canned. I then prepare a “Briefing Book,” using a three-ring binder with one tab per chapter. Behind each chapter, I put the relevant talking points, statistics, and illustrations. I ad lib from that.
2. Remember that the show is not about you. This is a big mistake many rookie authors make. You are not the star of the show. The host is—or perhaps more accurately—the audience is. You are there to help them get what they want. Your job is to keep them interested in the topic, so they don’t change the dial. This is key to the producer keeping his or her advertisers happy.
3. Understand the audience. You can’t help the audience get what they want unless you understand them. Television shows, radio shows, and Internet shows are used to providing demographic and psychographic information to their advertisers. You can cut right to the chase by asking the producer or the booker for this information. In addition, before interview begins, it is a good idea to ask the producer if there is anything in particular you should know about the audience.
4. Don’t expect the interviewer to have read your book. Many first-time authors complain that the interviewer didn’t read their book. Trust me: this is the norm. Assume that the interviewer hasn’t read your book, and you won’t be disappointed. And whatever you do, don’t embarrass them on-air by asking! Instead, make the host look smart by providing the producer with a list of questions to ask. Nine times out of ten, they will ask you these exact same questions.
5. Be able to explain what your book is about in a few sentences. Many authors cannot do this. They have never crafted an “elevator pitch.” Here’s the concept: You get on the elevator of the NBC building in New York City. You suddenly discover that the producer for The Today Show is standing next to you. Being polite, she asks what your book is about. You have 10 floors to tell her—about three sentences. You need to write this out and memorize it. It should be no more than 2–3 sentences.
6. Listen carefully to the questions. It is easy for authors to become anxious and interrupt the host. This is never a good thing. Plus, you might find yourself answering the wrong question. Make sure that you let the interviewer finish. Then affirm the question. Even if it is combative, you can say something like, “I totally understand where you are coming from. In fact, I had that same concern when I first started researching this book.” Then answer the question—don’t dodge it.
7. Keep your answers brief and to-the-point. There is nothing worse than a rambling author who is missing the interviewer’s cues. The host keeps trying to interject a point or “bring the plane in for a landing.” Perhaps the producer has already queued the music, but the author keeps right on talking. This is not good. A good interview is like a ping pong match: the interviewer hits the ball over the net. The author then gets in position and hits it back, starting the cycle all over again. In addition, you need to speak in sounds bites.
8. Be energetic and authentic. From the interviewer’s perspective, there is nothing worse than a low energy, superficial interview. Instead, you must be energetic. If you are not excited about your book, how do you expect anyone else to be? If you are doing a phone-in radio interview, stand up. Walk around. Smile. Even though your audience won’t see any of this, they will hear it in your voice. Believe me, it makes a difference.
9. Don’t become defensive. Don’t expect the interviewer just to throw you softballs. His job is to keep it interesting for his audience. Nothing is more interesting than conflict. You should expect tough questions and a little drama. This can actually help you win over the audience—if you have done your homework, and if you remain calm under fire. Resist the urge to become defensive. It only makes you look weak. Instead, agree where you can agree. Follow the feel-felt-found formula: “I know how you feel. I felt the same way. But here’s something I found in my research.”
10. Refer listeners back to your book. This is the art of the soft-sell. Publicity doesn’t do you any good if you don’t point people back to your book. If you’re too aggressive, it will turn potential readers—and the host—off. If you are too laid back, the publicity won’t result in sales. Instead, mention the title, offer a few nuggets or “free samples,” and then refer people to the book for more information. For example, “In my book, The Dance, I provide seven tips for resolving marital conflict. We don’t have time to get into all of those right now, but let me give you the first two.”

Writing a great book is half the job. The other half is embracing your role as the book’s chief spokesperson. If you do this well, you have a chance of creating a long and successful writing career.

Today at Thomas Nelson we promoted Mark Schoenwald, our President and Chief Operating Officer, to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer. Effective immediately, I am stepping out of active management of the company, and turning over the reins to Mark. However, I will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board.

I hired Mark in 2005 to be our Chief Sales Officer. I promoted him to President and Chief Operating Officer in 2009. I have watched him grow and develop over the years. He is an outstanding executive in every way, yet humble and committed to our company’s Christian mission. He was my first choice as a successor, and I know he will do a terrific job.

The reason for this transition is that I want to spend more time externally focused: writing, speaking, and pursuing other business interests. This is not a big surprise to my family or closest friends—perhaps not even to you. I love the creative life, and I was finding it increasingly difficult to give expression to my gifts while running a company the size of Thomas Nelson.

I feel that this is the perfect time to make this transition. We finished our fiscal year on March 31st with very strong momentum. We currently have several books on the bestseller lists, including Heaven Is for Real, which has been #1 on the New York Times list for 10 straight weeks. The company is healthy, vibrant, and poised for growth. We have a talented and proven successor in Mark, who can lead the company forward.

It is hard for me to believe that I have been the company’s CEO for nearly six years. The time has flown by. One of my closest friends asked, “What do you think were your biggest accomplishments during this time?” I have been thinking about that now for a few weeks. I would point to five:

1. Taking the company private and getting a great price for our shareholders.
2. Creating a mission-focused, values-driven culture.
3. Steering the company successfully through the Great Recession.
4. Maintaining the company’s market share in a very turbulent industry.
5. Launching the company into the world of e-books and social media.

I certainly didn’t do these things alone. It took my executive leadership team, including Mark; Stuart Bitting, my chief financial officer; Mary Graham, my chief live events officer; Lindsey Nobles, my director of corporate communications; and Vicki Parr, my executive assistant. In fact, it took every employee at Thomas Nelson.

In my new role, I will still be very connected to the company, remaining on the board and presiding at our meetings. I will also serve as an advisor to Mark and his team. I will represent the company at the various conferences I attend and will continue to scout for new authors and speakers. I will be involved in a handful of key author relationships, as Mark deems appropriate.

One change I am really excited about is officing out of my home. This has been a dream of mine for years. (Did I mention that I love hanging out with my wife, Gail?) I also think it is important that the former CEO get out of the new CEO’s way, so that there is no confusion about who is in charge.

If life is a story (and it is), then I have just finished an important chapter in my life. But the book is not over. There are more adventures in the pages ahead. I can’t wait to see where the story goes next!

Note: here is some additional news coverage that came out since I first posted this:

• Thomas Nelson Newsroom: “Thomas Nelson Promotes Mark Schoenwald to CEO”
• Publishers Weekly: “Schoenwald Succeeds Hyatt at Nelson”
• The Tennessean: “Michael Hyatt Steps Down as Thomas Nelson CEO, Remains Chairman”
• Christianity Today: “Michael Hyatt Steps Down as Thomas Nelson CEO”
• Christian Retailing: “Thomas Nelson Promotes Schoenwald to CEO”
• Nashville Post: “Thomas Nelson CEO Turns Over Reins to Lieutenant”

In my previous post on this topic, I told the story of publishing my first book. I shared the significant amount of work it required and a number of setbacks that I had to overcome. I used this story as an introduction to the talk I gave on the Re:create Cruise on “The Role of Work in Creativity.”

In this post, I want to share the essence of my talk, including the common myths that aspiring writers and other creatives have about the creative life. It is what I refer to as “The Romantic View of Creativity.” It includes four assumptions:

1. The creative life is easy and effortless.
2. People will beat a path to your door.
3. People will love you for your art.
4. You might just get rich—or at least able to make a living.

However, unlike this romantic notion of creativity:

1. Real creativity involves significant work. In his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the “10,000-Hour Rule.” The basic idea is that success in any field is, to a large extent, the result of practicing a specific task for 10,000 hours—or more. It also applies to creativity.

   Whether you want to be a great author, musician, painter, or comedian, it takes lots of practice. You don’t just suddenly show up and demand to be acknowledged because you think you have talent. It’s not that easy. You must do the hard work of practicing and investing in your craft.

   With respect to writing books—the field I know best—doing the work requires you to:

   • Come up with a great idea
   • Develop a proposal
   • Find an agent
   • Shop the proposal
   • Secure a publishing contract
   • Write the book
   • Process the edits
   • Rewrite the book

   It’s not easy. This all requires significant effort. Contrary to the common myth, great artists, including writers, are incredibly disciplined.

2. Real creativity requires significant promotion. A few years ago, a famous author told me, “Look, my job is to write the books. Your job is to promote them.” Sadly, this hasn’t been true for at least twenty years. This author was simply out of touch with reality.

   Successful publishing requires that the author both write the book and assist in its promotion. It’s no wonder that the author I referenced is a shadow of his former self. He has almost completely lost his audience. As a publisher, we simply can’t make it work without his cooperation.

   I understand why many authors are uncomfortable promoting their own work. But I think this inclination is misguided. If you have invested the hours creating the work and really believe in it, then wouldn’t you want to get the work out to as many people as possible?

   Today, it is more important than ever to have a “platform.” A few authors can succeed without one, but it is rare. And the time to build a platform is before you need it. The first question we ask at Thomas Nelson is about the book’s content. The second question s about the author’s platform. It’s rare for us to offer a contract to a new author that doesn’t have both.

3. Real creativity invokes criticism. From a distance, fame looks very attractive. You think the famous among us are endlessly praised and adored. Not so. Anytime your head rises above the crowd, someone is going to take a shot at you.

   As a result, it’s easy to lose perspective. I know. It often happens to me. (Ask my wife.) I can receive one hundred positive blog comments, yet one negative one will throw me into a tizzy. I suddenly think that everyone hates me, and I am ready to quit. (Most authors I know express the same sentiment.)

   You have to distinguish between friends, critics and trolls:

   • Friends love you and are willing to share with you the truth, even if it hurts a little bit.
   • Critics don’t have anything personal against you; they simply disagree with you.
   • Trolls are spoiling for a fight. They attack you because something is wrong with their heart. My best advice is to ignore them. If you engage them, it only strengthens their resolve.
4. Real creativity can be monetized, but it requires deliberate action. Whenever someone tells me, “It’s not about the money,” I know one thing for sure: it’s all about the money. For some reason, Christians often have an uneasy relationship with money.

   However, the Bible has a lot to say about money. One important verse for creatives is this: “A laborer is worthy of his hire” (1 Timothy 5:18). We should not feel guilty about charging for our work—and even maximizing our earnings. This is simply good stewardship (assuming it is not motivated by greed).

   When you put a price on something, you create value. Art that is offered freely without charge is often disregarded. In other words, if you, as the artist, don’t think it is worth anything, why should I? This is why I don’t think giving your work away for free is good for you or for recipient. If you believe in your work, charge for it.

If you are a true creative, the work won’t scare you. Embrace it. There really aren’t any shortcuts, despite what you may hear. The only thing standing between you and your dream is hard work and persistence.

I just returned from the Re:create Cruise 2011. We had a magnificent time aboard the Celebrity Century. The theme of the conference was “The Creative Life.” I was one of four speakers, including Pete Wilson, Ken Davis, and our host, Randy Elrod.

I spoke on “The Role of Work in Creativity.” I began by telling the story of getting my first book published. I will share that with you in this post. In my next post, I will share the four principles, I learned from my experience.

The Work of Getting Published

In 1997, a friend of mine urged me to consider writing a book that would eventually become The Millennium Bug. He was a well-connected literary agent and was confident he could find several publishers interested in buying it.

So, I prepared a formal book proposal. He then began the process of trying to sell it. He pitched the book to thirty publishers. The first twenty-nine rejected it. I was discouraged and wanted to throw in the towel. My agent persisted.

Finally, Regnery, the thirtieth publisher, agreed to publish the book and offered me a contract. I was thrilled—until I realized I now had to write the book! That’s when the real work began (or so I thought).

The Work of Writing the Manuscript

I was determined to meet my deadline, so I mapped out a writing plan. I calculated how many words I had to write a day to meet the deadline. I worked from 4:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. daily and then went to my day job.

Unfortunately, as I approached the finish line, I started falling behind in my daily word count quota. It was becoming clear that I would miss my deadline. This was unacceptable, so I checked myself into an extended stay hotel for two weeks to finish the book. I wrote every day for twelve hours.

I then hired a professional editor to copy-edit the manuscript. Miraculously, I turned in my manuscript by the due date. I was proud of the finished work. I envisioned my editor saying, “Wow. This is the cleanest manuscript I have ever seen.”

I didn’t hear a word from the publisher for almost three months. Then suddenly, without so much as a phone call, I received the edited manuscript back in the mail. My editor had marked up almost every page with red lines and notes. Some pages were completely crossed out. My heart sank.

I hadn’t factored into my schedule time for the editing and re-write process. As I would later learn, this was a common rookie mistake. I spent the next thirty days—early mornings, evenings, and weekends—revising, editing, and polishing my manuscript. But I finally finished and resubmitted it to the publisher.

The Work of Promoting the Book

Six weeks before the official pub date, the publisher called. He explained that his sales staff had been unsuccessful in trying to place the book. “The bookstore buyers just don’t get it,” he explained. “They don’t know if it’s a computer book or a current events book. I’m afraid we are going to have to cancel publication.”

Drawing on my previous sales experience, I talked him into continuing with the book’s publication. However, he said it would be “a small print run of no more than 2,500 copies.” I was disappointed, but didn’t have another alternative.

Regnery then assigned me a publicist to help promote the book. However, she would not return my calls or emails. The publishing date was fast approaching, and I was growing desperate. Finally, another publicist called me.

After a brief introduction, she said, “Your original publicist is not going to work on your book. The publisher doesn’t think it has enough potential, so they have assigned it to me. Frankly, I don’t get the book at all.”

Great, I thought. Maybe this book is just not meant to be.

But, again summoning my best sales skills, I explained who the audience was for the book and why I thought it would work. She reluctantly agreed to write a pitch letter and fax it to the top media outlets. She didn’t seem particularly hopeful.

The Work of Success

To our surprise, radio and TV stations began calling to book me as a guest. In the first thirty days after publication, I appeared on more than one hundred shows. The book began to take off. Within the first week, the publisher had to go back to press.

Six weeks after publication, the book hit the New York Times bestsellers list, where it remained for twenty-eight weeks. During this time, I did more than one thousand interviews. Some days, I would do 12–14 interviews in a row. It was demanding and draining work. On top of that, I still had my day job.

(Sidebar: After turning in the original manuscript but before publication, I came to work at Thomas Nelson. I explained to my new boss that I had agreed to promote my book. He and I both assumed that this would require no more than 20–30 interviews, and then I would be done. Regardless, he agreed that I could do whatever it took. To his credit, he kept his word and supported me throughout the process.)

The book eventually sold about 360,000 copies. It was an incredible outcome for a book that almost didn’t get published. If I had known how much work the publishing process would require—both in writing the manuscript and in promoting the book—I am sure I would not have signed up.

In Part 2 of this series, I share some of the lessons I learned about creativity and work.

Since publishing my new e-book, Creating Your Personal Life Plan, I have had several people ask how I created the e-book. Rather than try to answer these questions individually, I thought I would document the process here. You might want to try something similar.

I first did this when I published my two previous e-books, Writing a Winning Non-Fiction Book Proposal and Writing a Winning Fiction Book Proposal. I used the same basic approach here.

One key thing to note is that I didn’t intend to create an e-book for sale. My sole purpose was to create a “premium” that I could use to build my e-mail subscription list. However, I still wanted the e-book to be excellent, so that it would add value to my readers.

The format of the e-book is a little unusual. It is landscape in orientation and resembles a “slidedeck” (or PowerPoint slideshow). I first got this idea from the ChangeThis manifestos. Other popular e-books use this format, too, including Digging into WordPress, Evernote Essentials, and Zen to Done.

Here are the seven steps I took to create the e-book. This, of course, doesn’t include the marketing, which I may blog about at a later time if there is sufficient interest:

1. I wrote the manuscript in iWork Pages. I combined several popular blog posts I had written on life planning. I then created transitions and filled in the holes. I ended up having to add about 25 percent new material. You could also do this in Microsoft Word. I just personally like Pages better.
2. I hired a professional editor. Once I was finished with the manuscript, I passed it along to Alice Sullivan to edit it. She used to work at Thomas Nelson. I didn’t feel that I needed a “substantive edit” (advice on the content itself); I just wanted a copy-edit (e.g., syntax, grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc). She corrected several grammatical errors and made numerous helpful suggestions.
3. I decided what e-book features I wanted. I looked at several other e-books for ideas, including the ones I mentioned above. I decided that I wanted hyperlinks in the text, simple navigation to move to various parts of the book, an easy way to print the e-book, and a way to display it full screen. I also wanted to include a version number, since I wanted to update the e-book from time to time.
4. I designed a template in iWork Keynote. I created a custom “slide size” of 792 pixels x 612 pixels. This prints out nicely on 8½” x 11″ paper. I then decided on a nautical theme. I selected a photo from iStockPhoto for the cover. I selected another photo for the background on the pages. I then determined what typefaces I wanted to use. I selected Requiem Display, Myriad Pro, and Gotham. I then designed several page styles that I could alternate to keep the design visually interesting.
5. I composed the pages. This is where the real work kicks in. I had to cut and paste the content in, one page at a time, designing various elements and callouts. This probably would have been easier in Adobe InDesign, but I am just not as familiar with that tool. This process took me most of one Saturday to do. Caution: You don’t want to do this until the content is really stable. It’s a pain to go back and change it.
6. I exported the whole thing to a PDF. Once I was happy with the design, I exported it as a PDF file. Well, technically, I printed it from within Keynote and chose the “Save as PDF” option in the lower left-hand corner of the Print dialog box. This created a really large file: over 10 megabytes! However, not to worry. I fixed this in the next step. Sort of.

   

7. Enhance with Adobe Acrobat Professional. This is also some heavy-lifting. The first thing to do is to optimize the PDF file. You do this under the Advanced | PDF Optimizer menu option. This reduced the file size from 10 MB to about 2.5 MB—definitely an improvement. Next I started adding links to the navigation elements and the in-text hyperlinks. You do this with Acrobat’s “Link Tool.” This makes it possible for users to jump straight out to Web pages, download files, and other nifty tricks.

There are probably many other things I could have done. Some are still on my to-do list (e.g., create an Amazon Kindle version). Hopefully, this will give you an idea of what is possible. I feel like I have just scratched the surface.

If you have anything that would improve my process, I would love to hear form you. I am planning several more e-books like this.

Naturally, as a book publisher, you would expect me to believe in the value of reading. But it is more than that. In fact, I got into book publishing because I was so committed to books as a tool for personal and cultural transformation.

A few months ago at the Chick-fil-A Leadercast, I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Ben Carson, world-renowned Professor of Neurosurgery, Oncology, Plastic Surgery, and Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University. Not bad for a child that was raised in extreme poverty by a single mother. Statistically speaking, he didn’t have a chance.

As a grade school student, he experienced difficulty academically, eventually falling to the bottom of his class. His mother, who was working two to three jobs, became alarmed. She did not want her two sons to drop out of school, believing that education was the only way they would escape a life of poverty.

She began to notice that the wealthy families she worked for watched little television. Instead, they spent their time reading books. As a result, she sold her television and insisted her sons read two library books a week, writing a book report on each one. She would then review the reports, make marks on them, and assign two more books. Several years later, to his surprise, Dr. Carson discovered that his mother couldn’t even read.

In the interview, Dr. Carson said to me, “Everything changed when I began to read. I started to see myself as a smart person who could learn anything. The whole world opened up to me.”

Indeed it did. This is the power of reading books.

Contrary to what is often reported in the mainstream media, books are not dead. They are still valuable today. But we must contend for their existence against all other forms of media. Books do for people what movies, television, magazines, newspapers, blogs, and social media will never do—fundamentally alter their worldview and inspire them to greatness.

I rarely meet a person who says, “that movie changed my life.” Or, “your blog post transformed me.” I’m not diminishing either of these. Both of their place in inspiring, educating, and entertaining others.

But there is just something about a book that changes everything. I have met thousands of people through the years who have reported, “That book changed my life.” I can certainly point to the books that have shaped my own life. In fact, we can point to specific books throughout history that have changed entire civilizations.

Watch my interview with Dr. Carson and see for yourself how books made a difference in his life. I hope this video once again inspire you to the potential and power of long-form reading. There is a lot at stake.

By the way, if you haven’t made plans to participate in this year’s Chick-fil-A Leadercast, you need to give it serious consideration. I will be once again hosting the backstage interviews with people like John Maxwell, Seth Godin, Sir Ken Robinson, Mack Brown, Robin Roberts, Muhtar Kent, and Dave Ramsey. You can either attend in person in Atlanta or host a simulcast of the event at your business or church.

In order for authors to be successful in today’s publishing environment, they need two things: a compelling product and a significant platform. Many authors are under the mistaken notion that if they just write a great book that is sufficient. It’s not.

I received an email message a few days ago from an aspiring author. It is typical of what I hear on a weekly basis. She wrote,

Two respected agents have told me they loved my book and proposal and are willing to represent it, but not until I have social media followers numbering in the thousands. I find this bewildering: Doesn’t a good book stand on its own anymore? Are writers now doomed to spend the bulk of our workdays trawling for blog subscribers?

The answer to the first question is, “no.” A good book does not stand on its own. It is foundational, but it is not enough. In fact, it hasn’t been enough for at least two decades.

As I often tell authors, “Writing a great book is half the job. The other half is promoting it.” This is true now more than ever. Why? Three reasons:

1. Competition has never been greater. There are more books available now than ever before in history. According to Google’s research, nearly 130 million books have been published in all of modern history.

   Bowker, the service that assigns ISBN numbers to books, reports that more than 1 million new books were published in 2009 in the U.S. alone. While the number of books released by traditional publishers remained flat (about 288,000 titles in 2009), the number of self-published titles rose from 2008 by 181% to 765,000 titles. The numbers for 2010 have yet to be released. I am confident, however, the number will be even larger.

2. People are more distracted than ever. It’s not just that we have more books available. We have more of every kind of media available. More movies. More television channels. More radio stations, podcasts, and the Sirius satellite radio network. More news sites, blogs, and, of course, Facebook, and Twitter. And then, of course, we have the whole phenomenon of Angry Birds, FarmVille, and other games.

   In other words, people’s attention is a finite resource. Authors are not only competing against other books on their topic and genre, they are also competing against every other media that wants a slice of their prospective reader’s attention.

3. The publishing industry is stuck in an old model. I hate to admit this, because it is my industry. But most publishers are still focused on trying to find an audience for each new title rather than helping their authors build an enduring platform. Seth Godin was the first to get my attention on this, primarily through his book Tribes, which I highly recommend.

   But as an author, I wouldn’t assume that publishers will suddenly change and begin helping you build your platform. You must take responsibility for this yourself. If you can get help from your publisher, great. But in the meantime, re-calibrate your expectations. No one cares about your platform more than you. You must, therefore, carefully build it and nurture it. Done right, it will be an asset that will generate income for years to come.

The bottom line is that the time to build a platform is before you need it. Once you begin shopping a book proposal or once your book is published, it is too late. The good news is that it has never been easier. More on that later.

When I attended Digital Book World back in January, they interviewed me about my take on social media, bundling, sharing, and the success of our BookSneeze.com program. One of the things people requested on my recent reader survey was more video, particularly excerpts from my speeches and interviews. Enjoy!

In this short, three-minute video I answer five questions:

1. Why did you, as the CEO of a major publishing company, personally get involved in social media?
2. How is social media changing the way that you market books?
3. Why did you start BookSneeze.com, your book review program for bloggers?
4. Why do you think the “bundling” of different product formats (e-book, print, audio, etc.) will become more common-place?
5. What are some aspects of traditional publishing that publishers, authors, and agents must abandon in order for digital publishing to go to the next level?

By the way, here are several other interviews with publishing executives at Digital Book World that you might want to check out:

• Jane Friedman, Founder and CEO of Open Road Integrated Media (former CEO of HarperCollins)
• Sarah Weinman, News Editor of Publishers Marketplace
• Deborah Forte, president of Scholastic Media
• Dominique Raccah, CEO of Sourcebooks
• James McQuivey, VP and Principal Analyst of Forrester Research

Just three months after publication, Heaven Is for Real by Todd Burpo (with Lynn Vincent) is a publishing sensation. With more than one million copies in print, it the #1 bestselling non-fiction, trade paperback book on the New York Times list.

Todd Burpo is the pastor of a small Wesleyan church in Imperial, Nebraska, just 150 miles from my hometown in Kimball, Nebraska. He is also a wrestling coach and a volunteer fireman. He operates a garage door company with his wife, Sonja, who is also a children’s minister, busy pastor’s wife, and mom.Heaven Is for Real is a true story about Todd and Sonja’s son Colton. At the age of four, he almost died during an emergency surgery. While unconscious, he went to heaven and had some extraordinary experiences.

When I read the book prior to publication, I was, frankly, skeptical. I didn’t know how the book would fit with my theology. I also didn’t have much confidence in the recollection of a four-year old little boy.

But I couldn’t put it down. In fact, I read through it in one sitting. Evidently, others have had a similar experience. It has a four-and-a-half star rating on Amazon with almost 400 reader reviews. The theology is sound. Colton’s experiences are compelling. It is a book of hope that demonstrates this life is only part of the picture.

In this video interview, I ask Todd to recount the story of Colton’s illness and experiences in heaven. He only scratches the surface, but it will give you an idea of why the book has been so hugely successful. I also asked him the value he thinks that the book offers to pastors and others in a leadership role. This is a book you will want to read and pass on to others.

Last week I attended Digital Book World in New York. More than 1,300 industry professionals showed up, doubling last year’s attendance. It’s clear that digital represents the fastest growing segment of the book industry, but will it grow as fast as industry executives think?

Forrester Research presented a fascinating study, based on a survey of book publishing executives. One conclusion was that “by 2014, [publishing] executives predicted that half of units sold will be e-books, although it was not clear at what price e-books will be sold.”

I have no doubt that we are in the midst of a digital transition. It is here to stay and is proving disruptive—especially to brick-and-mortar booksellers. The only question is. how fast will the migration to digital happen?

In my opinion, not as fast as the majority of my colleagues in the industry think. I do not believe that by 2014, 50 percent of all books sold will be digital. I believe the number will be closer to 25 percent. That is, in fact, the planning assumption we are using at Thomas Nelson.

Here’s why:

1. Forrester’s study was based on a survey of industry executives. Honestly—with all due respect to my colleagues—who cares what they think? The only audience I care about is readers. And, unfortunately, consumers are notoriously bad at telling you what they are going to do. The only accurate predictor of trends is how consumers actually behave.
2. E-book sales are still relatively small. The media hype has outstripped the reality. According to a study by BISG, e-book sales for the fourth quarter of 2010 were only 7 percent of all book purchases. That’s up from 2 percent in 2009 and represents dramatic growth. But this is still a long way from “50 percent by 2014.”
3. The music industry hasn’t even reached this benchmark yet. Apple launched the first iPod in the fall of 2001. Almost ten years later, digital music sales are still only 46 percent of the overall music market. Yet, if you read the press, you would think CD sales died years ago. Certainly, the music industry has gone through enormous disruption, but digital music has not yet reached half of all music sales.
4. Readers are more attached to print books. Music has always been an audible experience. It doesn’t matter if the device generating the sound waves is a CD player or an iPod. For everyone but audiophiles, the experience is the same. This is not true of books. Holding the book and flipping through the pages is a cherished part of the reading experience for many readers. (Even e-readers try to replicate the page-turning experience.) So expect readers to embrace e-books more slowly that music lovers have embraced digital music.

Let me be clear: I am not arguing that the book publishing industry is not in the middle of a digital transformation. It is. I am only arguing that the rate-of-change will be slower than the media, consultants, and hardware and software manufacturers—those with something to sell—suggest.

Thankfully, at Thomas Nelson we are ready regardless. Ninety-five percent of the books that generate 99 percent of the revenue are available for sale today in all the major e-formats. In addition, we are publishing every new book simultaneously in e-book and print formats. Regardless, I envision being in the print business for some time to come.

Update: PriceWaterhouseCoopers (“PWC”) agrees with my basic premise. They just released a new study called Turning the Page: The Future of eBooks. They project that digital sales will be 22.5% of total book sales by 2015. They say, “The Gutenberg era is not about to come to an end. … In coming years, printed books will still account for the majority of sales.”

If there’s one thing every publishing professional hates, it’s a title meeting. Why? Because coming up with compelling book titles is arduous, time-consuming work. The same is true for bloggers and their blog titles.

Yet nothing in the marketing mix is more important than a strong title. It is like a newspaper headline: If prospective readers are intrigued, they keep reading. If they don’t, they move on to the next book or blog post.

Based on our research at Thomas Nelson, consumers first look at the book’s:

1. Title
2. Cover
3. Back cover
4. Flaps (hardcover books or trade paperbacks with “French flaps”)
5. Table of contents
6. First few paragraphs of the book’s content
7. Price

I didn’t mention the author because it varies. If the author is well-known, it might be the most important element. (This is why publishers sometimes put it at the top of a book.) If the author isn’t well-known, it can be a non-factor.

Notice that price is last. Readers don’t buy price. No one ever said, “That book looks great! If it were only two dollars cheaper.” Or, “This book doesn’t really appeal to me, but if it were a buck less expensive I would buy it.” As long as the book provides enough value for the price requested, it sells. But I digress.

The most important component is the title.

So what does it take to create great titles that get books on the bestsellers list or pageviews for a blog post?

Great titles are PINC (pronounced “pink”). They do at least one of the following: make a promise, create intrigue, identify a need, or simply state the content. Let me provide a few examples from the current bestseller lists.

1. Titles that make a promise:
   

   The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman	Sexy Forever: How to Fight Fat after Forty	Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?: Fabulous Recipes & Easy Tips

2. Titles that create intrigue:
   

   Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back	Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know	The Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life

3. Titles that identify a need:
   

   Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear	The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness	How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One

4. Titles that simply state the content:
   

   Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy	Why We Get Fat	Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1

Some of these titles employ more than one strategy. For example, The 4-Hour Body makes a promise, but it also creates intrigue—How could you recreate your body in four hours?

Please note that these guidelines are primarily for non-fiction books and blog posts. Coming up with fiction titles is a whole other thing—though it seems like the strategy is usually to create intrigue, for example, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest or What the Night Knows.

And I have to admit that many books break these rules completely and succeed. I remember trying to come up with a title for Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. Our committee was convinced that the author’s title would never work. We believed that no one would have a clue what it meant.

But Don was stubborn and wouldn’t budge. We finally acquiesced. And all it did was work! The book has sold more than 1.3 million copies to-date and still continues to sell tens of thousands of copies each year.

By the way, for bloggers, one of the best books you could ever read is Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich: Create Winning Ads, Web Pages, Sales Letters and More. The book sounds cheesy and is expensive. But it is worth its weight in gold. It is basically a catalog of headline templates that have proven effective in selling all kinds of products. I constantly refer to it.

The bottom line is that the right title can make you or break you. It is worth spending the necessary time to get it right.

Why do books have “running heads”? This is where publishers put the title of the book on every other page, usually alternating with the chapter title. Comedian Brian Regan asks, “Why?”

Gail and I are going to see Brian live on Sunday night. I can’t wait! Second only to Ken Davis, he is my favorite comedian.

Warning: Brian uses the word “hell” one time in this short clip.

I am really excited about our Caribbean Cruise for Creatives on April 2–7, 2011. We still have a few slots available, and I would love for you to join us. At the bottom of this post, I will tell you how to sign up and get the opportunity to pitch your book to Alice Sullivan, a savvy book editor with extensive experience.

The cruise is hosted by Randy Elrod and his wife, Chris, two of my best friends and a true “Christian creative.” What is a creative? Anyone who creates—or wants to create—art. This includes book authors, recording artists, graphic artists, bloggers, worship leaders, photographers, culinary artists, and more.

The theme of the cruise is “The Creative Life.” In addition to Randy and his wife, Chris, I will be speaking, along with Pete Wilson and Ken Davis.

• I will speak on “The Creative Life: How We Work”
• Pete will be speak on “The Creative Life: How We Worship”
• Randy and Chris will speak on “The Creative Life: How We Love”
• Ken will speak on “The Creative Life: How We Enjoy”

In addition, the five of us will host a Q&A session on the creative life. I am especially looking forward to this session.

Here are seven reasons you should make plans NOW to join us:

1. You will be able to hang out and interact with like-minded people for five days.
2. You will hear stimulating talks from some very creative people.
3. You will experience one of the best cruise ships in the world.
4. You will get a healthy dose of fresh air, sunshine, and water.
5. You will eat some exquisite food.
6. You will be able to relax, kickback, and recharge.
7. You will be able to leave winter behind and get a fantastic jump on spring.

Perhaps most important, particularly if you want to get a book published, you will have a chance to pitch your book to Alice Sullivan, a former Thomas Nelson editor, who now owns her own editorial development company.

How will this work?

• I agreed to listen to pitches from the first 12 people who signed up. (All these slots are taken.)
• Alice will meet with the next 12 people who sign up. We still have several slots available—but these will go quickly!
• After that, we will pick one winner from those who sign up to meet with me.

How much does it cost? The entry-level price is only $749 per person. That price includes all taxes, tips, and the conference fee itself. (Note: your travel to Miami is not included in this price.)

All of the speakers—me included—have waived our speaking fees. One hundred percent of the conference fee ($99 of the $749) will go to benefit Kalein, a retreat center that Randy founded to inspire and mentor Christian artists.

In addition, everyone who registers through me will receive a free copy of my two eBooks, “Writing a Winning Fiction Book Proposal” and “Writing a Winning Non-Fiction Book Proposal.”

To qualify for the free e-books and the opportunity to pitch your book to Alice (or me if you are the one picked) you must register here. This will also ensure the best price and a berth on this “creative voyage.”

Because I am the CEO of a book publishing company, I am regularly asked how I see the future of digital publishing. As Yogi Berra said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

I don’t know exactly how things will shake out long-term, but I believe we will see the following six trends in 2011:

1. Bundled Books. Some publishers have experimented with this, including my company. However, I believe it will happen in earnest this year. The major e-tailers will make it possible for you to buy different kinds of e-bundles at a discount—a bundle of the same book in both print and e-formats; a bundle of of one author’s complete library or most popular titles; or a bundle of several titles on a particular topic.
2. Social Reading. I have seen several concept demos of this already. (Here’s one.) But this is the year it will be widely implemented. Imagine hosting a digital discussion group, inviting a dozen friends or co-workers and being able to see one another’s highlights, comments, and questions—and reply to them. This interaction could happen in preparation for the group meeting or in place of it.
3. e-Book Clubs. With over a million new books published in 2009 (the last stats we have), we are awash in content. We need curators more than ever. A single editor or a panel of them will pick the best of the best. Since it is all done electronically, readers will choose the frequency in which they receive new titles. Just like the book clubs of yesteryear, etailers will give them an e-book bundle in exchange for a commitment to purchase a specific number of titles at a special membership discount.
4. e-First Publishing. We are already seeing this, of course. But again, I think the trend will accelerate—especially since 19 of the top 50 books in the week following Christmas sold more e-copies than print. Publishers will see this as a way of reducing risk and testing the market. The print copy will be manufactured for those who prefer them (still the majority of readers) or printed on demand for those who want a souvenir.
5. Free e-Readers. E-tailers will do this as a premium for readers who buy bundles or join e-book clubs. Or they might provide a dramatic discount to induce the next segment of holdouts to try digital reading. More and more the dedicated reader will be seen as a commodity, just like razors are to razor blades. In the near-term, expect to see the major e-Readers drop below $100.
6. Monetization Experiments. We will begin to see publishers try new ways of monetizing content. This will include in-book advertising (or commercial-free for a premium), sponsored links, subscription delivery, and even all-you-can-read options for one price. Most of the infrastructure for this already exists. It’s just a matter of someone capitalizing on it.

Regardless of how it plays out, I am more optimistic than ever about the future of reading. I can’t imagine a time in history when I would rather be in the publishing business.

The books in the table below represent the top 100 bestselling Christian books of 2010. It is based on unit sales for the twelve months ending December 31, 2010.

We created these lists from a proprietary database we have assembled at Thomas Nelson. It is based on various point-of-sale systems from multiple sales channels.

This list is not perfect. It is missing sales, for example, from large mass accounts that don’t report to the major services. Nor does it include ministry or direct sales. Nor does it include e-books or sales outside the U.S. It primarily represents sales through traditional bookstores, both general market and Christian specialty stores.

When Apple launched the iPad last spring, most everyone assumed it would kill the Kindle. After all, the iPad had a multi-touch screen, a crisp, color display, the ability to view books, photos, and movies, and run thousands of applications.

For Amazon, this seemed like the classic David vs. Goliath scenario—the single-purpose, underpowered Kindle against, the multi-purpose, powerful iPad.

But then a funny thing happened on the way to the gallows. The Kindle not only survived, but according to Amazon, it has become it’s biggest selling product—ever. We don’t know exactly how many Kindles Amazon has sold, since the company refuses to release specific numbers. Nevertheless, some experts estimate that they sold as many as eight million Kindles in 2010.

Not that the Apple iPad has suffered. Apple had sold more than 14 million iPads last year. Not too shabby.

But it is clear that we have two distinct product classes here with less overlap than originally thought. Apparently, the market is big enough for both.

So how did Amazon do it? How did they compete with the Mighty Apple, when everyone was predicting they would be crushed by a more sophisticated machine? They used a four-prong strategy:

1. Amazon kept the price of the Kindle in the impulse range. The cheapest iPad (16GB, wireless only) is $499. The cheapest Kindle is $139 (wireless only)—less than one-third the cost of the iPad. Obviously, that doesn’t make it an impulse item for everyone, but it is far easier for customers to justify $139.00 than $499.
2. Amazon made the Kindle software available on every device. Currently, Apple’s iBooks application only runs on the iPad, the iPod, and the iPhone. Amazon’s Kindle app runs on almost every device you are likely to have—Kindle, your desktop, Android, iPad, iPod, and the iPhone. Best of all, your most recently-viewed position syncs in the cloud. This means you can be reading on your Kindle, set it aside, and pick up on your iPhone where you left off.
3. Amazon maintained its focus on product breadth. Almost every book I could possibly want to read is available in the Kindle format (with the exception of more obscure theology or history books I often read). Some will argue that other readers have even more available. Perhaps. But one thing is certain: Apple has the most limited selection of all. Fortunately, you can use the Kindle app on the iPad.
4. Amazon made the single-tasking aspect of Kindle a feature. This is one of the primary reasons I didn’t enjoy reading on my iPad and ended up giving it to a co-worker. In order to read well in today’s always-on, always-connected world, I need fewer distractions not more. I have found the Kindle’s singular focus on reading to be an oasis in the Desert of Distraction.

Perhaps none of these strategies by itself would have been sufficient to compete with Apple, but taken together, they enabled the Kindle, not only to survive, but to thrive.

By some estimates, more than one million Amazon Kindles were given as gifts today. I got a new Amazon Kindle 3 a few months ago and love it. (I unbox it here, chronicle my experience after a month here, and compare it to other e-readers here.)

But now, what do you put on it? So many books, so little time. Seth Godin created a terrific little Squidoo page with his list of favorite books. I thought I would offer a “baker’s dozen” of my favorites here. These are in alphabetical order:

1. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas
2. Decision Points by George W. Bush
3. Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado
4. Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo
5. The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer That Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World by Richard Stearns
6. Holy Bible, New King James Version
7. Jesus Calling by Sarah Young
8. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin
9. Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs by Emerson Eggerichs
10. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
11. The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective by Andy Andrews
12. Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make A Difference by Max Lucado
13. Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

The great thing about the Kindle—and also the dangerous thing!—is that you can download a sample, start reading the book, and then decide you want to buy it. All you have to do is click the “buy” button. Go ahead. Give it a try!

A few nights ago, I sat down with the intention to write a blog post. I had been mulling a specific idea over for several days. I thought it was a slam dunk. I should be done in 30 minutes, I thought, 45 minutes—max.

Not so much.

The first paragraph came quickly. But then I got stuck. I wrote another one, didn’t like it, and deleted it. I spiraled through that same loop ten times. Nothing seemed to work.

About that time, distraction set in. P.J. O’Rourke described it well when he wrote:

Usually, writers will do anything to avoid writing. For instance, the previous sentence was written at one o’clock this afternoon. It is now a quarter to four. I have spent the past two hours and forty-five minutes sorting my neckties by width, looking up the word “paisly” in three dictionaries, attempting to find the town of that name on The New York Times Atlas of the World map of Scotland, sorting my reference books by width, trying to get the bookcase to stop wobbling by stuffing a matchbook cover under its corner, dialing the telephone number on the matchbook cover to see if I should take computer courses at night, looking at the computer ads in the newspaper and deciding to buy a computer because writing seems to be so difficult on my old Remington, reading an interesting article on sorghum farming in Uruguay that was in the newspaper next to the computer ads, cutting that and other interesting articles out of the newspaper, sorting—by width—all the interesting articles I’ve cut out of newspapers recently, fastening them neatly together with paper clips and making a very attractive paper clip necklace and bracelet set, which I will present to my girlfriend as soon as she comes home from the three-hour low-impact aerobic workout that I made her go to so I could have some time alone to write.”

But distraction wasn’t really my problem. At least not initially. I was intent on writing—I just couldn’t.

After writing four books and almost one thousand blog posts, I have learned two things about writing:

1. Sometimes, I just need to park myself in my chair, fire-up my laptop, and force myself to start. Nine times out of ten, this works for me.
2. When that doesn’t work—after a concerted effort—I just need to quit. I have to get up and do something else.

This is all part of the mystery of writing. It’s a balancing act, isn’t it?

You want to exercise self-discipline and force yourself to write, even when you don’t feel like it. But you also have to trust the process and recognize when that won’t work. If you are patient—with yourself and with the process—the Muse will eventually speak.

At least once or twice a week someone asks me, “So why do eBooks cost so much?” This is a fair question. After all, digital publishing eliminates the costs of physical manufacturing and distribution. What expenses do publishers have left?

As it turns out, plenty.

Let me begin by putting things in perspective. First, the retail price has already been adjusted. As you are probably aware, Amazon is selling most eBooks for $9.99. That is already roughly half the price (depending on the format) of the typical physical book.

While Amazon is currently buying these books from some publishers at a discount off the physical retail price of the book, this will ultimately change. When it does, publishers will net approximately 70% of the retail selling price or $7.00. (This is often referred to as “the agency model.”) This will fluctuate up or down, depending on where retail pricing levels ultimately land.

Second, physical manufacturing and distribution expenses cost less than you think. Some people assume that these two items represent the bulk of a book’s costs. They don’t. Together, they account for about 12% of a physical book’s retail price. So eliminating these costs doesn’t do much to reduce the overall cost structure.

Publishers still have to pay for acquisitions, royalties, editorial development, copyediting, cover and interior design, page composition, cataloging, sales, marketing, publicity, merchandising (yes, even in a digital world), credit, collections, accounting, legal, tax, and the all the usual costs associated with running a publishing house.

In addition, publishers have to incur at least three new costs:

1. Digital preparation. Granted, most new books start out as a digital file. If they aren’t already digitized, then they have to be scanned or manually keyed in. But that’s only the beginning. Publishers must then format the books, so that they work on all the various eReaders.

   Currently, there are about six major formats. Some are similar, but each has its own nuances and quirks. In addition, publishers must collect and add all the relevant metadata, so that customers can actually find the books when they search for them.

2. Quality assurance. Once the publisher gets the eBook formatted for a particular eReader, he then as to take it through a quality assurance process (often referred to as “QAing” the book) to make sure that each of the major eReaders renders the pages correctly. This is a time-consuming and laborious process.

   This is fairly easy with books that are straight text. But few are this simple. When you add epigraphs, pull quotes, tables, charts, graphs, illustrations, footnotes, etc., it quickly becomes complicated. In this sense book publishing has become much like software development. At Thomas Nelson, we have seven full-time people managing this process, and we’re currently looking for three more.

3. Digital distribution. Once publishers have finished the QA process, then they have to distribute the files to the various eRetailers. You might think Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, and Sony are the only ones out there. They’re not. We are currently distributing our eBooks to more than twenty separate accounts.

   Each of these has a different upload protocol and digital asset management system. When something changes in an eBook (e.g., simple corrections or a new edition), publishers must re-distribute the new file and ensure that each eRetailer has the current version. Publishers must also collect payments from these accounts, ensuring that they are getting paid for each download, so they can, in turn, pay their authors.

So far in our experience at Thomas Nelson, the elimination of manufacturing and distribution costs are being offset by retail price reductions and the three additional costs I have outlined. The good news is that we are making about the same margins, regardless of whether we sell the book in physical form or digital.

As a result, I don’t expect eBook retail prices to come down any more. If they do, then publishers will have to figure out how to make it work. But for right now, I think the pricing is fair, based on the associated costs.

Andy Stanley is one of my very favorite authors and speakers. I listen to his monthly leadership podcast and read everything he writes. Last week, we released his newest book, The Grace of God.

In case you don’t know, Andy Stanley is the founder of North Point Ministries (NPM), one of the fastest growing and most influential Christian organizations in America. Each Sunday, over 20,000 adults attend services at one of NPM’s three campuses in the Atlanta area: North Point Community Church, Browns Bridge Community Church, and Buckhead Church.

Andy is also a best-selling author of Visioneering, The Next Generation Leader, and The Principle of the Path. He and his wife, Sandra, live in Alpharetta, Georgia, with their three children.

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Andy about his new book and about what he is learning.

Q: So often we hear from you on leadership, vision, and communication. I’m curious. Why did you choose to write on the topic of grace?

My publisher, Matt Baugher, pointed out that I preach on this topic often but had never written about it. He asked me to consider a book on grace and immediately I got excited about it.

Q: There’s no subtitle to this book. If you were to add a subtitle, what would it be?

“The Solution to Just About Everything”

Q: It is easy to see the grace of God throughout the New Testament, but you say, “a careful reading of the Old Testament reveals grace to be God’s preeminent characteristic from the very beginning.” When do you believe we are first introduced to God’s grace?

Creation. Not to get too philosophical, but why is there anything? Why did God bother to create anything? For His glory, certainly. But life itself, the opportunity to live, to love, to be loved is an expression of God’s grace.

Q: It is evident that the church today has an uneasy relationship with grace. How can we, the church, do a better job of consistently communicating the message of grace?

The church, or I should say, church people, must quit adding the word “but” to the end of our sentences about grace. Grace plus is no longer grace. Grace minus is no longer grace. We are afraid people will abuse grace if presented in its purest form. We need not fear that, we should assume that. Religious people crucified grace personified. Of course grace will be abused. But grace is a powerful dynamic. Grace wins out in the end. It is not our responsibility to qualify it. It is our responsibility to proclaim it and model it.

Q: In the opening chapter you say, “When we are on the receiving end, grace is refreshing. When it is required of us, it is often disturbing.” It is true. How do you fight this constant tension?

The only reason I have for extending grace to others is that it has been extended to me. All the “one another” passages in the New Testament: Love one another, serve one another, forgive one another… are anchored to the fact that God did all of that for us. I am to extend grace to others as a response to God’s offer of grace to me.

Q: I find that people often confuse grace and mercy. How do you clarify the difference between these two ideas?

Mercy is not proactive. Mercy is not getting what I deserve. I can decide not to punish my children. But that different from doing something FOR them when I should actually be doing something TO them. Grace is proactive. Grace doesn’t merely withhold retribution. Grace offers something good in addition to withholding what an individual deserves.

Mercy says, “I won’t sue you.” Grace says, “I won’t sue you AND I’ll come over next week and serve you. God didn’t merely withhold punishment, He sent His Son to die for us.

Q: From your studies and/or experience, what has surprised you most about grace?

It is extraordinarily powerful. It is often extraordinarily slow. Fear works quicker. But fear erodes relationships. Grace is like a crock pot.

Q: Who are some voices that you are learning from these days?

These days, my staff. I’m surrounded by some great thinkers and great communicators. As I told the crowd at Catalyst last week, my opening talk was inspired by two of our staff communicators. I get a lot of credit for ideas and results that are actually a reflection of the efforts and insights of the brilliant people I get to work with every day.

Publishers are increasingly using “book trailers” to raise awareness for their books. We are certainly using them here at Thomas Nelson. For some projects, they are very, very effective.

Yesterday, we held our Quarterly Team Meeting at Thomas Nelson. This is a meeting with all our Nashville-based employees. In the meeting, we report on our most recent quarterly performance, recognize our top performing divisions, preview a few of our “coming attractions,” and then hear from one of our authors. (Yesterday, we heard live from Emerson Eggerichs, author of Love and Respect.)

In the “Coming Attractions” section, we always introduce a few of the books we are about to publish. Several years ago, we started doing this via video. Initially, it was simply the author talking to our team. But over time, these videos have become more and more sophisticated. Today, they rival movie trailers.

In the old days (three years ago), these videos didn’t provide much utility beyond our quarterly meetings. However, today we use these videos to raise awareness for titles well beyond the company’s walls. They often become the launching pad for the marketing campaign.

Depending on the author’s platform and our assessment of how social-media-friendly the topic is, we produce these videos months before we publish the book. I believe they provide five benefits. They provide a means to:

• Sell our internal team on the project.
• Create intrigue and initial buzz.
• Provide a tool for fans to use in spreading the word. They can post links on Twitter and Facebook or even embed them in their own blogs.
• Generate ancillary content and promotion on eRetailer sites.
• Introduce prospective readers to the book in a way that can’t be done traditionally.

These videos have become so popular that we have created our own YouTube Channel.

In addition to the Majestie trailer by David Teems that I embedded at the beginning of my post, here are a few of my recent favorites:

Slave by John MacArthur:

The Skin Map by Stephen Lawhead:

Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas:

Immanuel’s Veins by Ted Dekker:

Plan B by Pete Wilson:

It used to be that great marketing was the difference that made a good book a bestseller. As a publisher, all you had to do was demand sufficient shelf space in the bookstore, get your author on some big-time media shows, and then spam the target audience with advertising messages until they succumbed and bought the book.

In the old world, if the book succeeded, it was because it was an obviously brilliant book. If it failed, it was because the publisher didn’t spend enough on marketing.

But those days or over. Good is no longer good enough.

Why?

Because readers have millions of options—literally. Over one million new books are published every year. That doesn’t include all the books that have already in print and sitting on bookstore shelves.

Suddenly, the publishing world has become very crowded and terribly noisy.

Yes, it helps when the author is highly visible. It helps when you have an arresting book cover. It also helps when you score a major media hit. But great marketing only makes a mediocre book fail faster.

Why?

Because of word-of-mouth. In the age of Twitter and Facebook, everyone has a megaphone. The voice of ordinary citizens is amplified. If they don’t like your book, your movie, or your art, they are not afraid to say so. Bad news travels faster than ever before.

But good news also travels fast. Apple spends less on marketing as a percentage-of-revenue than any other consumer electronics company. They don’t have to spend more, because the remarkable products they produce are the marketing. People are willing to spend hours in line on launch day just to get their hands on them. Their customers are their sales force.

This is also why authors like Ron Hall and Denver Moore, Eric Metaxas, and Sarah Young—authors you probably have never heard of—are selling more books than many of the tried and true authors of yesteryear. Just sample their books, and you’ll see why. They are truly remarkable.

So what can you do as an author to have a shot at the bestsellers list? I suggest three things:

1. Start with a compelling topic or story. This will win over great writing every time. I am not saying it’s either/or. It should be both/and. But if you don’t have the right idea, no amount of polish will save it.
2. Write the best book you can. Don’t “phone it in.” Don’t settle for mediocrity. Push yourself. Above all, listen to your editor. It’s better to stumble before an audience-of-one than fall flat on your face in front of a crowd.
3. Build your social media network now. I have seen some authors try to do this when the book launches. Forget it. You build a loyal audience over time: one post, one tweet, one status update at a time. You have to build it before you need it.

Once you’ve done these things, you’re in a great position to demand that your publisher step up to the plate and partner with you. Until you’ve done these things, you’ll never get the marketing push you think you deserve.

Almost a month ago, I video-taped the unboxing of my new Amazon Kindle 3 and posted it here on my blog. I shared my initial impressions. However, after using it for almost a month, I wanted to share my thoughts here in a little more depth.

I should start by saying a few words about the iPad. I have pretty much set it aside. Why? Two reasons.

First, it isn’t sufficiently powerful enough to replace my laptop. If all you do is consume media, the iPad is great. It is lighter and smaller than most laptops, and thus easier to lug around. But, if you create content like I do—blogs posts, presentations, and other documents—you might find it too cumbersome. I did. It did not replace my laptop, and I ended up carrying both devices around.

Second, while the iPad can do much more than the Kindle, I found this multi-function capability frustrating. While reading, I was constantly tempted to pop out of the iBooks app and check my email or Twitter account. The iPad is also much heavier, and I found the backlit display tiring to my eyes. I just didn’t find that it contributed to “an immersive reading experience.”

Consequently, I think we will see a growing divergence between smaller devices: multi-function tablets like the iPad and dedicated eReaders like the Kindle. I think you have to assess your own needs and workflow to determine which is right for you. For now, I am sticking with the Kindle 3.

Here’s what I like about the Kindle 3:

1. Affordable price. At $139 for the wi-fi only version and $189 for the free 3G plus wi-fi version, the Kindle is more affordable now than ever. When I have shown the device to friends and told them the price, they can’t believe it. Several have ordered one on the spot.
2. No monthly fees. Although you will pay $50 more for the 3G version (which I did), you won’t have any monthly fees for 3G access. This means you can access the Kindle Bookstore where ever you have cellular access (via AT&T), even though you might not have wireless—like after boarding a plane.
3. Big selection. The Kindle Bookstore has almost almost 700 thousand books available (excluding public domain books). While I still can’t find some book I want, it is rare. Conversely, I rarely found the books I wanted on the Apple iBooks store, although this is gradually improving. As a result, I had to resort to the Kindle app on the iPad.
4. Smaller footprint. The Kindle 3 weighs just 8.7 ounces—about one-third the weight of an iPad. This might not seem like a big deal, but I found the weight of the iPad annoying for protracted reading. At just 7.5″ tall by 4.8″ wide, the Kindle 3 feels just right in the hand.
5. Greater battery life. With 3G and wireless on, the Kindle will last 10 days. With it off, it will last one month. That is a very long time, especially compared to the iPad.
6. Easier page navigation. The page-forward and page-backward keys are easier to use and seem more intuitive than even the Kindle 2 (which was a big improvement over the original Kindle).
7. Higher screen resolution. Amazon has really improved the screen resolution in this new model. Frankly, I didn’t think the resolution on the Kindle 2 was bad, but if you put them side-by-side, you can definitely tell the difference. The text truly rivals the printed page.
8. More storage space. I can’t remember how many books the Kindle 2 can store, but the Kindle 3 will store 3,500. That’s amazing when you think about it. It’s like an entire library in your hand. It’s certainly more than enough for most people.
9. Lighted case. The case for the Amazon Kindle 3 is really nice. It is similar to a Moleskine notebook, with an elastic band that holds it shut. I bought the lighted version. It has a built-in retractable LED reading light that pulls out from the back cover and slides away to become invisible when not in use. The cover comes in seven colors.

Here’s what I don’t like about the Kindle 3:

1. Lack of a touch screen. After using an iPhone for a couple of years and an iPad for a couple of months, my brain is conditioned. I automatically want to interact with every device by touching the screen. The navigation selector is improved in Kindle 3, but it’s still not as straight-forward or intuitive as touch screen technology.
2. Clunky, bland interface. I also wish the Kindle 3 had a color screen. I don’t miss this too much for straight text books, but the iPhone and the iPad have raised our expectations. In addition, highlighting text and adding annotations are cumbersome. The chiclet-style keyboard takes some getting used to.
3. Elimination of number keys. One of the reasons the Kindle 3 is smaller than the Kindle 2 is because Amazon eliminated the top row of keys. They are now accessible through the “Sym” key. Frankly, this makes the keyboard even more awkward. I don’t understand the design objective since there is still plenty of room for these keys on the current design.

So far, I am loving the Kindle 3. I am carrying it with me everywhere. The only downside is that I am back to taking notes in my Moleskine notebook (as opposed to Evernote on my iPad), but that is not a big loss. Best of all, I am finding myself voraciously reading again. I was starting to lose this with the iPad, and it made me nervous about the future of book publishing.

Amazon says that Kindle users buy 3.3 times the number of books as non-Kindle customers. If my experience is any indication, I can definitely see why.

We live in a culture that places a premium on things that are new. Discontent, if not a virtue, is certainly a way of life. Understanding this, marketers highlight “newness” as a primary attribute of their products, assuming that this equates to better.

The implication is three-fold:

1. New is more valuable than old.
2. New is more relevant than old.
3. New is more accurate than old.

In the book publishing world where I work professionally, this is especially true. Not surprisingly, all the bestsellers lists are dominated by new books. In fact, booksellers typically give up on new books after 60 days and ship the unsold ones back to the publisher. They do this to make room on the shelves for the avalanche of new books that are in the pipeline. Last year alone, more than 1 million new books were published in the U.S.

That’s why it was refreshing to read again C.S. Lewis’ Introduction to On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius. I am teaching this book in my adult Sunday school class as part of a series on the early church fathers. In preparation for that, I spent the entire first session on Lewis’ introduction. In it, he makes the case for old books, arguing why it is so important to be steeped in their writings.

He begins his essay by saying that we often mistakenly think that old books are for scholars rather than for the rest of us. As a result, we often think it is better to read some new book about some old book rather than read the book itself. Instead of reading, for example, Plato’s Symposium directly, the modern reader

would rather read some book that is ten times as long, all about ‘isms’ and influences and only once in every twelve pages telling him what Plato actually said” (p. 5).

Lewis says that we do this because we don’t think we can understand these great minds. But he then argues that it is precisely this very greatness that makes the original author more understandable than the modern commentator. As a result, the old books are usually easier and more delightful to read.

Lewis then suggests that if we must choose between an old book and a new book—particularly in the area of theology—we should always select the old one. He then provides three reasons why:

1. Old books are safer. A new book has yet to be proven. It is still on trial. Furthermore, amateurs are in no position to judge it. “It has to be tested against the great body of Christian thought down the ages, and all its implications (often unsuspected by the author himself) have to be brought to light” (p. 4). Conversely, old books have stood the test of time. The ages bear testimony to the validity of their ideas.
2. Old books provide context. Lewis compares reading a new book to stepping into the middle of a conversation. People may be in the middle of a debate about a point made earlier in the conversation. Or perhaps they are laughing and making asides. Regardless, you have no idea what is being said, because you missed the beginning of the conversation. Reading the old books provides context, so you understand the entire conversation.
3. Old books provide a corrective. Every age has its own particular outlook. It is especially good at seeing certain truths and blind to others. Even writers who seem to oppose one another share the same contemporary outlook. None of us can fully escape this blindness, but we shall certainly increase it, and weaken our guard against it, if we read only modern books. “The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books” (p. 5).

Lewis is careful to point out that there is no magic in the past. Certainly, when it comes to theology, we can’t point to a “Golden Age.” Even in the New Testament era, heresies abounded. Immorality was rampant. People then were no more clever than they are now. They made as many mistakes as we. But—and it’s a big but—they did not make the same mistakes. He notes, “Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction” (p. 5).

In this sense, Lewis says quite humorously, books from the future would be just as good a corrective as books from the past, but, unfortunately, they are more difficult to obtain.

In the final analysis, Lewis is a realist. He concedes that his readers will not likely confine themselves exclusively to old books. (And it’s a good thing for those of us who make our living publishing new ones!) He compromises by saying, “It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one until you have read an old one in between.”

I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I am particularly excited about reading these early church fathers, some of whom I have read before and some that will be brand new—at least to me.