The most common mistake authors make is to fail to promote their books. No, people will not discover your book just because it is great. And no, your publisher will not do all the work and tell you what to do. You have to do it yourself. This is hard for authors because the work…
I’m about one month from the publication date for my new book Build a Better Business Book, and I’ve built an ad-hoc collaboration environment for the launch promotion. I’ll describe what I’ve built. I’m hoping it may be a model for some of your own book promotion efforts. Promotion strategy for my book launch My…
You’ve just sent the manuscript of your first book off to the publisher. Your brain is bursting with endorphins — and more ideas. What should you do now? Get started on the next book? No, no, no! You’re forgetting something. Your book is not done, and it is certainly not popular. You need to be…
You’ve completed and turned in your manuscript to the publisher. Congratulations. Time to have a well-earned break, right? Well, maybe for a day or two. There’s typically at least a 5-month gap between when the manuscript is done and your publication date. (That can be shorter if you’re self-publishing, but there’s still a gap.) What…
In the monumental effort of writing a book, the biggest milestone is handing in your finished manuscript. Whew, that felt good. You’ve done 95% of the work. But you’re not done. Unless you prepare for the rest of the work, your book won’t be as good as it ought to be — and it might…
If you’re working on an advice book, here’s a way to get a lot of people to hear about it. I call it the hero crew. Do this, right now — before writing (if you haven’t started yet), before you do anything else. Nail down your audience. It might be women entrepreneurs, CIOs embracing the…
Yesterday was an exciting day for me. I got to experience the highs and lows of a book launch within half an hour — and learn what a truly committed publisher will do for you. I spent much of the last two years working with the CEO of [24]7.ai, P.V. Kannan, on a book on…
If you want a great book launch, your focus after completing the manuscript should be on promotion and relationships. Great books sell, but they don’t sell themselves. The traditional publishing process has three stages. In the first stage, you create a proposal and pitch the book to publishers. In the second stage, you complete your research and…