Are You a Real Author?

A book is a book and an author is an author, right?

Well in the not so distant past an author would write a book or proposal, submit it to one or more publishing houses and wait for weeks or months to hear back. After a decent amount of time, around six months, said aspiring author would send out the manuscript, making copies and mailing the documents of course, to another round of publishers and the waiting process would happen all over again.

Flash-forward to the present.

Now, if someone wants to write a book... anyone, even a child, can. All you have to do is create the file and upload it on one of the many services, such as Amazon's "Create Space," and voila! An author is born. Or is an author really born?

What is the definition of an author?

A. One who writes?
B. One is is published by the traditional means...publisher with a print product.
C. One who is self published with a print product?
D. One who is self published with a print and/or digital product?

Confusing right?

To add to the confusion we can include the caveat the author needs to sell books to be considered a published author. By selling I don't mean to 100 of your best friends or manipulate the system, such as Amazon to spike sales at 3 PM in the morning, or offer the book for free on a slow day to become an Amazon best seller.

This is a hotly contested subject and I know many of my readers are self-published authors or those who aspire to be traditionally published at some point in their writing careers. I turned down a 4-book publishing contract in 1996 after I had successfully self-published said books and was happy not having to make 15% commission when I was making 100%. However, does that still make me a published author if I self-publish? I can't join many of the professional associations because I am self-published however several of my authors, Susan K. Marlow is one, is part of these associations because I publish one of her books!

And so we go round and round and I'm sure you have an opinion, so let's hear it!

Going Viral in a Good Way

We've all seen the video that is lifted from obscurity to make the prime time morning show circuit. What is it that brings the masses and how can you, as an author, profit from this market? The process is really simple however the execution is what becomes difficult.

Here are the "Simple" Steps:

1. You create a video.
2. You post said video on YouTube, or GodTube  TalkFusion (or similar site).
3. You let your friends know.
4. They let their friends know.
5. The friend of a friend let's his friend know.
6. Number 5 happens to the infinite power.
7. Said video goes viral.
8. You are invited to the morning news show circuits.
9. You sign a 6-figure book deal

Now for the not so simple execution of the fictional account above:

1. You create a video with the hope of going viral.
2. You follow steps 1 through 3 above.
3. You look at said video months later to find only 10 people or less have watched it.

So, what went wrong?

The idea of a viral video to those who market is to get sales. Let's face it, the videos that go viral have no sales in mind. They are quirky, fun or just plain silly. There isn't a marketing genius out there who has not analyzed and studied these videos in the hopes that imitation will yield the same results. And, some have come very close.

There is a bottom line and "secret" sauce here, the videos that go viral don't mention the product. They entertain, delight, embarrass or wow the viewer. In other words they illicit a response. Recently while attending a family celebration at a friend's home she had to share her latest YouTube find a video of a dog that appeared to be speaking to it's owner. I watched her reaction as she watched it and she kept stealing sideways glances at me to be sure I was watching as well... she was just as amazed each time she viewed the video as the first time. Therefore, add engaging to the list above.

Let's break this down, the video must be:
1. Entertaining
2. Delightful
3. Wow it's audience
4. Engage

Sounds like Marketing 101.

Notice the video in question did NOT mention a product. It was purely entertainment. Perhaps my friend a dog lover, with a dog that often chews the legs of her furniture secretly (yes, I'm assuming here) hopes that someday her own pet will behave in like-wise fashion. Or, better yet, that someday she'll own a dog like that. I'm not sure. What I do know is the million plus viewers of the video equally enjoyed the dog's antics.

An engaging video allows the watcher to dream, aspire to an ideal, or secret inclination. It is the perceived value. For those who market directly the hope is to illicit a response from the buyer. The value may be to get thinner, think smarter or in the case of authors, convince a buyer to purchase their book!

That's it, simple.

Create a video that allows those who watch it to see the perceived benefits of your product and there you have it, a million-dollar idea in the making. Easy? Not really. However it is worth a try!

If you have a great video that shares your product idea please post it here! Who knows we might help you go viral.

Five Secrets Every Author Should Know

"Secrets" is very possibly a misnomer for this piece, but as with every other blogger out there capturing your attention is important; and additionally, this may be new information to those beginning the process.  Perhaps you believe I'll begin by teaching writing techniques, how to set the scene in fiction or how to wow a publisher into taking your manuscript? Sorry, that's not what this post is about. It is about the raw truth. What every author wishes he or she had known at the beginning of the journey and what every new author should glean from and take heart.

The raw truth is that there are steps to the writing process and none of them begin with a sheet of paper, unless you are a list writer and then it is important. Writing is about a story, a lesson, accomplishing a task (for those of us oriented to "do"), and about sharing something inside us that will not remain bottled up! Writing is putting that idea on a piece of paper and hoping the world will consider it as brilliant as we do. Writing is about overcoming your fears and having courage to let someone outside read your work and possibly tear it to shreds, or even worse ... ignore it!

While writing is all of these things and so many more it is also about getting the word out about you, what you write and having anyone care enough to pause long enough to listen! We've become masters at words and little else. We've honed our craft, taken classes, joined groups and listened to radio shows on the topic at length. These too are highly commendable and congratulations if you are pursing improvement of your skills.

Jump Start Your Writing Career!

But writing is about the little know angles that no book, even my Information in a Nutshell: Writing and Publishing can cover well and that is getting your book seen takes an army and that means more than one. I've worked with many authors throughout the year and the first thing I look at is their motivation.

Why? Because if they aren't excited, thrilled and elated with this project they won't last.

Similar to the sappy comedy, The Wedding Planner (sorry guys, chic flick here), and the heroine's prediction that a bride-to-be's selection of a bridesmaid's dress color or song for the wedding signified whether or not the marriage would last, I too make a prediction. My prediction is based upon years of working with lackluster, unenthusiastic authors who think they want to write a book, and then at the least little bit of a road block or obstacle, cry foul.

It is all about the presentation in food and so too in writing! Excitement and enthusiasm goes a long way. Having talent is icing on the cake. You don't believe me? Think about the last lackluster book you took off the shelf and said, "How did this author ever get published?"

I can tell you how. Someone believed in them, their message or their social media outreach. The new crop of the writing elite are bloggers with thousands of followers. Blogging is a full time job if done well and the new blogger is the new best selling author. Bloggers have been given book deals, movie deals and soon possibly cologne deals!

Perhaps your manuscript is truly the next Indiana Jones, The Lion King or Les Miserables... so what if no one knows about it! How are they going to find you? Behind your laptop or in your home?

Perhaps. We're living in a new world, the new frontier and believe me many have gone before you with great success. These are the people who recognize that the "flavor" of the month was the electronic reader for adults for Christmas. And what goes on that eReader? Thousands upon thousands of manuscripts that might have sat undiscovered and unloved.

I will be sharing about writing eVersions soon, however the reason for this piece is there are things for you to do before you write that next best seller.

So what are the five secrets every author should know?

1. Relationships Matter and so do joint ventures
2. Branding is important
3. Your Reach
4. Your Contact List
5. Podcast, Radio, Internet, TV

This topic will be the covered in an upcoming webinar I'll be presenting hosted by Nathan Kievman group owner of Linked Strategies on LinkedIn. I've learned alot from Nate as well I should. I've worked with him over the past two years as a ghost writer and now I'll share my strategies with his group.

You are all invited to attend.

Where? Online: Here http://bit.ly/yBm9P7
Time? Noon ET
Host: Nathan Kievman ~ Linked Strategies

New RELEASE!

Speaker: Felice Gerwitz ~ Five Secrets Every Author Should Know Before Writing the First Word
Speaker: Carol Topp, CPA ~ Five Secrets to Short Cut Your Record Keeping for Tax Benefits






Can't make the live presentation? I'll post a recap for you here as well as share more about my ideas for the eVersion reading craze and how you can profit in these hard and challenging times!



Felice Gerwitz is an author and publisher of the series:


Information in a Nutshell:

Author: Felice Gerwitz Writing and  Publishing and
Author: Carol Topp, CPA Business Tips and Taxes for Writers
(To catch Carol's interview go to WritingandPublishingRadio.com)

You can find these books on Amazon in print and Kindle and in other versions on the publisher's website at Media Angels.com