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.
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.
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,
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:
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
