Writing A Book By Blogging

A great way to write a book if you’re not a writer is to blog about your subject. An idea a day for a month or two will give you a meaty little book. If you’re in a profession you know a lot about that profession and each professional brings something unique to the way they do business. You can tell people about what you do in paragraphs – that way they don’t get overwhelmed while you talk about what you do. Ditto for a product – what attracted you to the product and how has it helped you. Ditto for the benefits of your product – for example who can use it, how and why. You can get a free blog at www.blogspot.com. However…blogs and articles are not books. They have a different rhythm and a different arc. Make certain to adjust them to the book.

Writing Is 20% Writing 80% Marketing

Writing, like every other business is 20 percent writing and 80 percent marketing. Even if you’re published by a big house you’re going to have to do your own marketing. Do you remember Sarah Palin driving all over the country for book signings? Have you heard Robert Reich promoting his books on MSNBC? Every single blurb that I have published on Facebook and on my blogs are part of my marketing strategy and they take time, effort and thought. They also take time away from writing the books and stories that are my product. In many ways the product is the easy part. Whatever your business the 80/20 rule applies even when your business is in the arts.

Strict Pomodoro - A Chrome App

For those of you who spend too much time on the social media – or other on-line addictions – let me introduce a Chrome App to help. Strict Pomodoro can be activated when you want to get something like writing done and you’re experiencing resistance in the form of internet distractions. It gives you 25 minutes during which time you cannot access the social media. If you’re truly dedicated to work avoidance, you can then clean your oven – or you can do the writing or whatever else you’ve been resisting. At the end of 25 minutes the App gives you a break and then you can click it on again and get another 25 minutes of work. It’s a great way to build exercise into your day. Instead of going back on line to check your email, walk around the block before beginning your next block of work. It’s only accessible from Chrome. And it’s a marvelous little tool.

How To Handle Case Histories

Case histories are very popular in writing. They make pages of dull explanation come alive. AND you have to be very careful not to open yourself to legal action when using them. There are a number of ways to handle case histories in writing. First you can contact the person you are writing about and ask for permission to use their story in your book. Be sure go get that permission in writing and be sure to ask if you can use his or her real name in the book. If they say “yes” you’re covered. If they say you can’t use their real name make a footnote that says “Not her real name.” Referencing the real name is also done with a footnote. If a digital publisher program will now allow footnotes simply put the information in parentheses just behind the story or the story title. Finally, if you do not get permission to use a specific story you can write a composite story. Use different parts from different people’s stories so that it is clear to a client or patient that you did not use their story in your book. I generally put in “not his real name” for double protection and to give an edge of credibility to the story.

Your Competition Is Your Greatest Gift On And Off The Digitals.

By looking at what your competition has done you can research their keywords and learn how to place yourself on the internet. You can look at their covers and see what’s appealing about them, research consistent colors and themes. You can see what they’ve talked about and identify what you can offer to the field that’s different. Successful competition is your greatest teacher in all areas of your field. I’m fairly sure that applies across the board to every kind of business. Learning from your competitors doesn’t mean you are stealing from them. I am not promoting plagiarism. Learning from them means you are unearthing all the different possibilities in your own field. If you quote from your competition at length, be sure to check with their publisher for permission. Usually permission is given because it promotes sales, sometimes it isn’t and you open yourself for suits. And don’t forget to credit them if you do quote them. Honoring others in your field is the highest compliment.

The Body in Character Development

Suzy Prudden and I have written a book called “Body Wisdom” which is about the connection between your body and your life. I used the information we developed in that Body Wisdom book in my book “The Character Book.” Example: The Nose represents how you present yourself in the world. The best story example of the nose is Cyrano – who was so embarrassed by his large nose that he used a surrogate suitor - the very handsome but not very intelligent Christian - to woo the fair Roxanne. Roxanne fell in love with Christian because of his intellect not his looks and both Cyrano and Roxanne were deprived of their great love because of Cyrano’s nose. Quasimodo in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” had a deformation in his upper back – the area of betrayal. Body parts and what they represent in people’s lives are wonderful character traits and great places to begin character development. Writing “The Character Book” was one of the most delightful exercises I’ve ever done. It made me so aware of the skill other writers bring to their craft. It makes me think when I’m writing about what I should add to my characters in their development. I wish I had had it when I was an actress. I consider it the best bathroom reading available because the information comes in small bits. Much like this blog.

Did I Say Keywords Are How Your Readers Find You?

They are vitally important to sales. When you’re working in keywords in Kindle in that front sales page, you will notice that on some of the keywords numbers come up. I used to think that that was the number of people searching for the keyword…it’s actually the number of people using the keyword. It is better to go with a lower number that is a closer fit than with a bigger number that 20,000 people are also using. Also, finding descriptions (several keywords in a cluster) rather than just single words will bring the reader you’re looking for closer to you. Look for the long string combinations with the shorter numbers and then make note of them and use them on Smashwords, Kobo and Nook as well. In this exercise, you are looking for YOUR reader, the person who is looking for your book or product with keywords, more in terms either of people searching generally or others using the same word is not necessarily better. The same hold’s true for your business. Narrowing your market in big venues like yellow pages is always better as long as you know that people are looking for what you’re selling. Example from my old days…”Weight Loss” are terrible keywords. They encompass everything and everyone everywhere. "Los Angeles Weight Loss" is better because at least you’re only competing in one city. "West Los Angeles Weight Loss" narrows the field a lot. "West Los Angeles Weight Loss Hypnosis" is about as narrow as you’re going to get. So, when the yellow pages salesman tells you that they got 50,000 hits for "Weight Loss"… don’t bother to be impressed. That’s not a good thing. Look into the narrower field and see what they got if they even bothered to check. 200-300 really interested possibilities would be a nice number in that narrow field because they’re probably looking for you.