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How Authors Land Speaking Gigs: Boosting Visibility and Thought Leadership

Do you want to get speaking gigs? Are you a new author who’s looking for exposure and thought leadership opportunities? The key is to use your book as a platform. Get clear on your message, then share it everywhere. How do authors land speaking gigs? They boost visibility and thought leadership by using their book as the springboard! Public speaking is the perfect opportunity to get exposure and demonstrate expertise in your industry. In this blog post, I want to share ideas on how to increase your chances of getting an invitation to speak. But before that.

Why Consider Public Speaking in the First Place?

Although most speaking engagements are unpaid, they can open up doors to a successful author career. That is why new authors need to consider speaking opportunities when they come available, especially if the topic of your book syncs well with their needs and goals.
The chance to expose your book to appropriate audiences is a crucial milestone towards building future income.

It’s a way to sell your book and build your speaking career simultaneously.

Are you a new author? Get your work seen for free on our promotional platforms - just send us your pitch!

Speaking engagements also provide you with the opportunity to promote an aspect of your book that is relevant to schools or helpful information for professionals who are looking for new ways to engage their audiences. It is a surefire method of reaching your target audience with the information they need.

Whether it’s speaking on stage at a conference, giving lectures at universities, presenting at a business workshop, speaking at an event, speaking on a podcast or video series – the opportunities are endless. You can leverage these moments to generate leads, identify customers for your other services, and brand yourself as a thought leader by having your name appear on other companies’ online platforms.

That all sounds great, but how do you position yourself?

Here’s What You Should be Doing to Get on Speaking Platforms

Many authors do not know where to start when it comes to speaking engagements and can be discouraged by how competitive it is to get on events that matter.

The truth is that speaking engagements are scarce for most people (even famous ones), so you’ll need to work extra hard. That’s why I have put together my favorite tricks to make the process easier for you. Consider the following tips:

Always Create High-Value Presentations
Presentations are one of the most important parts of speaking engagements. They provide insight for listeners who then go out and purchase your book or plan future opportunities with you. People want to listen to subject matter experts, so prepare informative content that is practical and actionable. Make sure to include valuable takeaways from your book. Also, remember not to sound ‘salesy’. Presentations that turn out to be sales pitches drastically lower your standing with the audience.

Prepare for Multiple Speaking Engagements at Once
The speaking space is competitive, and many people are vying for speaking gigs regularly. It’s not uncommon to get booked out years ahead of time. You can do this by developing a speaker placement program. Identify relevant opportunities, connect with event organizers, and then submit your speaker proposals.

Target the Right Audience
Know yourself and make sure you have an authentic message that resonates with the audience you’re speaking in front of–you can’t fake authenticity. The audience you pick should represent the people you want to reach. Some ideal avenues to start looking at are local organizations, associations, industry groups, etc. And still, you can choose to be a solo presenter or a panelist on an industry-related topic discussion.

Understand the Process of Speaker Proposal Submission
Sometimes there are usually calls for speakers. In this case, you can submit a formal application for consideration. But if not, don’t wait around for an invitation- connect with event organizers: reach out via email or LinkedIn. Submit your speaker proposals and take care to follow the protocol; include a presentation abstract, speaking experience, any specialties, and a short bio.
These are a few practical tips to get your book out there through speaking events.

Conclusion

Public speaking is an excellent way to build your authority and credibility as an author. You will get the chance to interact with people personally, which will help you grow an audience for future book sales or other creative endeavors.

If you haven’t considered public speaking, it’s time to rethink! I’ve provided some tips in this post that may be helpful if you are thinking of incorporating this into your business book strategy. Have any other insights? You can share them in the comments section!

If you are not yet a confident speaker, taking a short public speaking online course can help jumpstart your career. Check out our one-on-one coaching for building a profitable venture with your business idea. Still not sure, book a free consultation to explore your options.

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4 Amazing Tips to Learn from Wired for Uncommon Success

Wired for uncommon success is about life transformation that starts with self. I am a firm believer in the fact that you can go only as far as you allow yourself. The reason being your mindset determines your actions and behavior towards life.

As a nurse and coach, I have had to go through unpleasant experiences, some changing my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined. In those dark moments, I learned that what I make of the circumstances will determine the turn my life takes.

That is what fueled writing this book.

So, I want to share four incredible tips that were pivotal in changing my belief system and propel me to act.

Goal Setting and Action Steps

The power of taking action.
Success doesn’t just happen. You have to be intentional, set specific goals and actions to take. Then be willing to put in the effort. Learn how to lay down objectives correctly and commit to seeing them through.

Often, individuals struggle with achieving goals because they make them too ambiguous. For instance, to be healthier or procrastinate less. Such ambiguity diminishes focus.
An example of a specific goal will be, say lose fifteen pounds in one month. And the actionable steps to go to the gym three times weekly, stop snacking after eight pm, etc.

Choosing Company Wisely

The power of connections.
When it comes to the company you keep, you must be selective and wise- their voices shape your thinking.

Sometimes there’s no change in life because you are stuck with people without vision. So, together you sail through life. Their limiting perceptions rub off on you. They believe life is hard, wish on certain things but are not willing to make an effort to change. Moving from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset means connecting with the right people. The social circles, friends, mentors you associate with collectively form your mentorship.

I wrote more about the impact of the wrong mentorship and how to choose mentors in this book.

Taking Risks
The power beyond the comfort zone.

Uncommon success and risk-taking have an inevitable connection. The world keeps evolving whether you are a willing participant or not. Moreso today.

To stay relevant, you have to be willing to take a chance on new ideas and opportunities, no matter how scary. Take the example of Blockbuster and Netflix. Netflix chose to take risks and move with the trends while blockbuster rested on its initial success, only to declare bankruptcy later.

The comfort zone is a place of stagnation.

Exercising Self-Compassion
The power of self-acceptance.
Self-compassion helps you to accept mistakes and failures so that you can learn from them and move forward. Take stock of the journey from time to time to appreciate how far you’ve come. It’s the best way to show yourself kindness. People who fail to be kind to themselves during failure find it hard to let go and learn from the experience.

Final Thoughts

The road to achieving uncommon success will have unexpected turns, detours, and dead ends, but if you persist and do the right things, you’ll get there. It’s time to ditch the fixed mindset and adopt the growth mindset.

Find more books capacity building books on business and personal growth by this author here.

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How Do You Determine if Your Book Idea is Going to Get Amazon’s Bestseller Tag?

Very few things are as frustrating as spending time, money, and resources to write a book and then having it gather dust on Amazon’s shelves without a single sale. Or, maybe you’re lucky to have it sell a few copies and then drop after some months. Indeed, you’d like to know how best to determine if your book topic is sellable.

It hurts to spend a ton of cash on marketing, consulting friends and promoting your book on various promotion sites, only to have your book still sitting there with no sales, not even a free download.

But does it have to be this way? Of course, not! All it takes is simple research to determine whether your book idea will attract buyers or not. A simple analysis will get you to know whether there’s a market out there for your book, even before you write it.

With this, you’re guaranteed sales right before you begin writing. What’s more, researching and validating your book idea will give it the best chance of being discovered on Amazon and possibly hitting the bestseller category.

Now, at Lead Nicely, we do not use simple techniques like “heading to the store to find out what’s selling and what’s not.” Instead, we adopt tech-based concrete steps that will provide you with every information needed to determine whether your book idea is ok for the Kindle book store or not.

So, in this article, I’ll show you the very process that we use to determine whether a book idea will sell on the Kindle Direct Publishing Book Store or not.

Several steps are involved, so I will summarize them for easy comprehension.

What does it take to determine if your book idea is a good one?

What does it mean to discover a “profitable” book idea?

The truth is, this equation has several contextual pieces, for instance, writing on a topic that you are passionate about or writing on an issue that you have in-depth knowledge on. However, in this article, we will emphasize the marketing aspect and whether or not there is a pre-existing market searching for the book you want to write.

The question you are asking yourself at this time is: how can I publish my book on Amazon and make money?

Celebrity authors like Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk, or Pat Robertson can sell whatever they write. They’ve got the fame, reach, and the platform, so the only thing they have to do is write a book and show it to their fans…and boom! They’ve hit the bestseller category and raked in millions of dollars in profits.

The sad news is that not all of us can replicate this. Instead, most of us rely on writing a uniquely positioned and discoverable book on Amazon without high competition.

To achieve that, you must have a book idea that meets the following criteria:

  1. A ready market: A ready market is evidence that people are already searching for your kind of book. They are browsing the internet and actively searching for the subject you consider writing.
  2. Proof that your book idea is profitable: Here’s the thing: many people type in a ton of stuff into the Amazon search bar – and some of it is stuff that they don’t intend to pay for. Sometimes they may pay for it, but they quickly discover that they can get it for free elsewhere. So, you’ll want to verify if the market is willing to pay for your book idea.
  3. Low competition: Even if you have a ready market, your book will sink and gather dust on Amazon if there’s high competition. For instance, a book on “Weight loss tips” may have huge market potential, but the bad news is that it will sink in the sea of other books on “Weight loss tips.”

This sounds like a lot, but there’s no need to be discouraged. At Lead Nicely, we have a process, a tool, and a team that will help you collect the above information, create, launch, and maintain highly targeted content that is fully optimized for Amazon’s search engine.

Step-by-step guide on book title research

Our team uses the steps below to determine whether a book will sell or not.

Step 1: Determine if many people are actively searching for your book idea or not

The first thing you need to do is to determine if there is an active search for your kind of book on Amazon. You can do this by typing your potential book title into Amazon. Amazon will autofill responses that people have previously typed into their search bar when you do this. Using this process, you can build a bank of keywords used by Amazon shoppers. You can go a step further by supplementing this list with suggestions from Google. It is not a waste as it can help you discover other book ideas. You can use the Keyword Planner from Google or KWFinder.com. However, the Lead Nicely SEO team can save you the stress by using a special algorithm that:

  • Lists all the suggestions indicated above
  • Tell you the exact number of people that searched for that phrase on Amazon
  • Estimates probably profitable keywords

Step 2: Find out the profitability of your book idea

So, how do you know if your book idea is profitable?

First, type your potential book title into the Amazon Kindle search bar.

Select the books that show up on the first page of Amazon search results, then look out for their Amazon Best Seller Rank (ABSR), Number of reviews, and price. Every book’s ABSR is located in the book’s Product Description section.

Next, you calculate the number of each book sold per day. Finally, place the ABSR number in this free Amazon Best Seller Rank calculator created by Dave Chesson.

Multiply the number of books sold each day by the book’s price and “30.” This will give you an estimate of how much each book earns per month.

Estimated monthly revenue = (Number of books sold daily) x (Price) x 30

You’ll do this for all 14 books displayed on the first page of Amazon’s search results for a specific keyphrase. Then you sum the daily earnings and divide by 14. This will give you the highest average daily royalties for the book.

You should ask yourself if whatever you get from this calculation seems like a good number.

PS: The Lead Nicely SEO team will pull all this data and other vital information and show you the books already ranking for your preferred keyword.

Step 3: How stiff is the competition?

By now, you should have discovered the number of searches for a particular key phrase and whether it has the potential of raking in some dollars or not. Now, the next thing is to determine if the competition for that keyword is on the high side or if you can get your book ranking on the first page of Amazon’s search results.

Here’s how to do it:

First, you record the number of search results appearing for that phrase. To do this, type the word in the Amazon search bar and look for the number of results.

Next, you take the average of the ABSR of each of the top three books.

That is:

(ABSRs of book 1 + book 2 + book 3) divided by 3

The third step involves taking the ABSR of the top 14 books, then finding their average

That is:

(ABSRs of book 1 + …. + book 14) divided by 14

The last step will involve looking at the book covers, the descriptions, reviews, and other important stuff, and grading the whole book on a scale of 1 – 100. This is the holy grail of quality competition analysis.

With these data, you will be able to compare how competitive your book idea or key phrase is – both quantitatively or qualitatively.

But what are the factors that determine the competitiveness of a book? From our experience, these factors include:

  • The number of monthly searches for that book idea
  • Optimization of the titles and subtitles
  • Quality of the book cover
  • Sales copy and book description
  • Is the author a celebrity or not?

If you are unable to rate the above, fret not. Lead Nicely can help you with it. We have the time and resources to take most of that information and create a competitive score. Then, we will use our experience and intuition to figure out if it is super easy or highly competitive to you.

Step 4: Repeat the process

Most people don’t strike gold on their first try. So, you have to start all over. Then, you can either narrow down your search, go in an entirely different direction, and consider Amazon’s suggestions.

You see, when you start researching books in your preferred category, it will become evident that you can niche down…this will reduce your competition, and on the other hand, the traffic level as well. But that’s not entirely bad, you know. You’re better off with 40% of 100 than 1% of 1000.

Amazon will assist you with ideas on niching down. As you type your keyword into the search box, you’ll notice that Amazon will generate suggestions. Amazon gives you these suggestions because it has what people have searched for on its website.

So, there’s no time to waste. Begin writing and see the suggestions that Amazon will generate.

On the other hand, you can pass the whole task to the Bookleader team, and we’ll sort things out for you.

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5 Must-Have Elements of an Author Website in 2021 for Success

As a modern day author, you will need a website for your book to be taken seriously. A good author website is no longer just a portfolio of your work. It’s the hub for all your marketing efforts: building an audience, connecting with influencers, and selling books to potential readers worldwide.

Websites have become staples for many people looking to find the latest in business news, entertainment, or even finding out more about their favorite authors. The non-fiction gurus know this and capitalize on the many opportunities it affords them. Here’s the catch though, currently, you may have to be more creative than the traditional website to stand out. Though the functional elements will always be necessary, the modern website that sells adds flair to capture attention. So, it will be different from what you’re used to seeing now (and we’ll get into why in a minute).

You will need to arm yourself with the following five elements that make up a successful author website today.

1. A blog

A blog or newsletter is a way to publish content on your site and keep subscribers updated on new posts. Keep your website up-to-date. Information is indeed the currency of the internet. And your readers will want not only to buy your book but also to get helpful information.

A great site will be a central location for author news, author interviews, and other author-related content. Don’t forget newsletter signup as a lead magnet to get people’s emails so you can send them information about new releases or tips, guides, and freebies.

Pro Tip: Email marketing helps build a loyal relationship with your readers.

2. A Revamped Author Bio

A bio or about page is a functional element but what is different is the presentation. The modern about page should provide a brief overview of who you are as an author and your background.

It helps your potential readers find out more about you as a person. Make it interesting, informative, and easy for your reader to digest in one page. It’s also about building credibility; include where you appear, awards won, recognitions by notable organizations, etc.

Pro Tip: put your book front and center on your homepage to reinforce your profile. You want readers to tell immediately they visit your website that you are an author.

3. Samples and Reviews

Add samples from the first few pages of the book and reviews from respected sources.
Take readers into the world of your book by teasing a few chapter samples. You want to make sure they get a feel for your author’s voice and style.

Think of it as the hook for your book.

Include some reviews of your book by respected sources such as Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, or Amazon. A word of caution. Avoid posting too many quotes from one review. If you have reviews by more than one respected source, you’ll want to include those quotes here. You can follow the discussions on the book group for all things authors to learn more on how to get your book reviewed by credible outlets.

4. A Social Media Feed

The author’s website in 2021 is where you can engage with your audience using timely social posts to increase brand awareness. Moreover, it is the space that allows current followers to stay up-to-date on all things authored. It will do well to integrate social links to your website.

Looking for website creation help? Get a professional non-fiction author’s website and increase opportunities with the Lead Nicely website package. Many of their packages are inclusive and startup-friendly, therefore ideal for new authors who can’t afford to spend tons on marketing yet.

Are you a new author? Get your work seen for free on our promotional platforms - just send us your pitch!

5. Website Design and Branding

A website is a reflection of your brand, and you should design with that in mind. You must be specific with the book’s voice, tone, style and make it consistent with your website. In 2021, this also means using material design principles to create interface designs optimized for both desktop and mobile devices.

The best author website is a representation of yourself- style and voice.

On design, make sure to use white space effectively. You don’t want to have a website that looks like a textbook.

Pro Tip: You may want to stuff every blank space with words but don’t. A perfect balance of white space with content ensures visitors see exactly what you want them to.

Takeaways

You have put a lot of time and effort into your book. It would be such a shame not to get the sales you deserve for all that hard work! The key is to invest in website marketing resources from day one to build an optimized site with features like blog content that will keep readers coming back for more.

We recommend these five elements as must-haves when designing your website-a responsive design, iconic bio, chapter samples, social media integration, and blogging.

Even if you already have a website, it’s always good practice to ask professionals about optimization. To find out how we can help optimize yours, contact us here.

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How to Get Your eBook into the Hands of Your Readers: Understanding Your Distribution Options

You have your eBook ready for publication, but you still have one more vital decision to make; getting it into the hands of your readers.
Knowing exactly how you will sell your book before getting it published is an essential step in your authorship journey because it saves you a lot of time.

Earlier, we looked at how to write your ebook.

In this post, we’ll share a few distribution channels available and how to decide the ones to use. First, it is necessary to point out that your distribution strategies can be as complex or as simple as the time and effort you invest.

For the purpose of this article, we will consider these options:

  • Amazon exclusive
  • Individual Retailers
  • Using an aggregator
  • Sell directly on your website

What is ebook Distribution?

eBook distribution is providing it to online retailers for selling. These retailers are of two types- self-service and aggregators.

Before getting your book published in online stores, you must have an appropriate ebook format and cover design. Online distributors use two types; the EPUB and.MOBI formats. So, consider which one is acceptable by the retailer you choose. Since 2020, Amazon can only accept EPUB formats which they convert into a.MOBI. The latter is exclusively an Amazon feature, while the rest use EPUB.

You also need a professional book cover which you will need to find out from the distributor the dimensions for the file to upload. That implies finding a pro designer who will also not break the bank.

Lastly, an ISBN. It’s not a necessity for most retailers because they will offer a free one when you publish. You can still purchase yours. And the advantage is if you do, your book will show up with you as the publisher instead of the publishing platform.

Assessing Your Ebook Distribution Options

Amazon Exclusive
Due to its popularity, the first logical step in your publishing journey is a stop at the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing(KDP) store. That is whether you want to be exclusive with them or not. Currently, Amazon controls 80% of the ebook market in the US and UK. So should you go exclusive or not?

When you get to upload your book through KDP, you will have an option of KDP select.
The ‘KDP Select’ is an option for authors to list their books only with them for at least three months. That means if you go this route, you can not publish anywhere else(including promotions or selling on your website). And Amazon, of course, will try to entice you into an exclusive deal.

So, in exchange, this is what they offer:

Countdown deals
Every 90 days, you have an opportunity to discount your book, and Amazon will promote it among its customers during the period. And, you get 70% royalty even on books below 2.99 dollar selling price.

Free promotions
The free promotion means every 90 days, you can list your book as a free giveaway in the free books section. On these five days, your book can become quite visible in the free store.

Kindle unlimited and kindle owner’s library
As a KDP select client, Amazon will automatically enroll your book into these two services. The kindle unlimited and owner’s library are highly popular subscriptions with readers, meaning more visibility. Additionally, authors in these services get a percentage of the KDP global fund according to the number of pages that people read of their book.

Higher royalties in territories that usually have a low royalty percentage.
As a KDP select author, your book will earn 70% royalty in Japan, India, Brazil, and Mexico, where non-KDP select members get 35%.

The Downside
All these are great benefits accompanying distributing your ebook exclusively on Amazon, but there are limitations to expect like:

  • Because of the restriction to sell through other channels, you will not reach readers in other areas.
  • You can’t sell directly on your website.
    The good news is your restriction is for 90 days, after which if the shoe doesn’t fit, you can always review your options.

Individual Retailers
Aside from publishing on Amazon, other retailers with a substantial audience you can upload your eBook include; iBooks from Apple, Kobo, Google books on google play, etc. When you choose to work with individual online retailers, you have to use their sole publishing platforms.

The benefit of publishing directly to individual retailers is getting a higher percentage in royalties.

The downside is:

  • You will have to upload the eBook to each site separately and repeat the process on all the others. That includes the metadata, descriptions/book blurb, discounts and promotions, and any changes- a process that takes time and effort.
  • Not to mention the separate sales report that can be hard to track.

Using Aggregators
As the name suggests, aggregators combine different retailers in one platform to ease the process of publishing on several platforms. The aggregators are facilitating your book distribution at a cost. And the charges for this service vary between a share of the royalties(sales) or a flat-rate fee.

Some of the known aggregators are Bookbaby, draft2digital, eBook Partnership, Smashwords, and PublishDrive.

All these aggregators service a particular region, so it may be better to research your book’s target audience before settling on one. Draft2digital, Smashwords, and Bookbaby sell primarily to English-speaking areas. eBook Partnership is UK-based, while publishDrive is international, reaching other global markets.

The advantage of aggregators
They consolidate all information for the book in one platform to post across the online retailers. The same goes for the sales reports.

The downside is:
Aggregators can be uneconomical for new authors.

Selling Directly on Your Website
A website is a simpler alternative, especially if you have an online presence and have already built regular followers.

The benefit of using your website to distribute your ebook:

  • You have control and flexibility you can’t find with online retailers
  • You can use your book to grow and build your audience further.
  • It can be the most profitable option since you don’t have to split royalties.
  • Because of the flexibility, you can experiment with different marketing and promotion strategies by learning a few digital marketing tricks.

Ultimately selling your ebook through your website is the cheapest and most flexible distribution option. The only downside is you have to invest a little more in building traffic and an audience before experiencing sales numbers that matter.

The Verdict

Which option should you consider for distributing your eBook? We say, spread your wings.
List your eBook in as many places as your pocket allows. But, at the same time, be careful of a few factors such as the market reach for individual retailers, the cost for aggregators, and the popularity of your genre readership on Amazon.

Whatever you choose, research first.

Are you a new author? Get your work seen for free on our promotional platforms - just send us your pitch!

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7 Habits that Make a Successful Indie (Amazon) Author: Advice for New Writers

The message most writers get even before venturing into the field is that authors don’t make money. The notion may be partly true. But like any other business or venture, you have to invest to gain returns. That includes investing in your time, money, and effort.

I am here to show you that you can still make money from your writing. You are a small business owner using your blog to share knowledge on running a business or a business leader trying to share your expertise in a book. It doesn’t matter. You can still make money from your writing. And this post shares crucial habits that will ensure you get there. These are habits that successful indie(self-publishing) writers have that give them an advantage.

1.They Focus on Quality

Not to state the obvious but, All business people know that a quality product sells itself. The same rule applies in writing. Whether it is freelancing for others, writing your blog, or a book, quality content boosts credibility. Authors that maintain top chart positions and generate a sustainable income from their writing offer quality products. They invest in making every element of the book excellent. From the cover design, writing, editing, proofreading, blurb, and logo. All these aspects of book writing need attention to make a book readers can’t put down. So, it requires professional technical assistance. It calls for investing in content creation, production, and marketing of the book.

Get this complete business package for your author platform from Lead Nicely. It is an inclusive combo of tools and training in building and maintaining an online presence at a reasonable price.

2.They Publish Under Many Categories

The world of book publishing is highly competitive. Successful authors know this and boost the selling odds by mastering genres to list their books in stores. Amazon has over 16,000 categories, so it is helpful to go through and identify relevant ones for your book.

Successful publishing is about targeting the right audience with your book. It is more than non-fiction or biography. The author must know the specific subgenres and niches that fit the content. For example, look at two of the categories of Limitless Success on Amazon:

  • Books> Political & Social Sciences>Philosophy>Methodology
  • Kindle Store> Kindle ebook>Health Fitness and Dieting>Counselling and Psychology>Mental Health>Emotions

Today, authors can publish to as many as ten categories on Amazon, and not just three as many do. So, if you are going to list, know exactly where your readers will be hanging out.

3.They Create a Series

If you look at most successful Amazon indie authors, they usually develop a series around a topic or niche of their expertise. Some of the reasons are; It helps with backlist sales. It helps build an author brand that helps readers identify with the niche. It is a better way to develop goals for an authorship career. As a business and leadership coach, my expertise is helping build talent and products, so my books focus on providing helpful knowledge for business and personal growth. Here are examples of a series of my books in this field.

4.The Build a Mailing List

Most marketers are talking about the falling value of email marketing, but if you know how to use this tool correctly, that isn’t the case. Top digital marketers like Neil Patel say that email marketing will be here for a long time. However, instead of fake personalization that often comes with email marketing, the trend will be depersonalization (dial back on the phony relation and write like an actual, live person).

Successful authors build a list relevant to their niche and treat them with respect. For an author, an email list can be one of their most valuable assets. Emails help keep in touch with readers, send updates and also sell more in the long run. You can learn how to start building a mailing list with this resource.

5.They Make Use of Ebooks

Most people shy away from becoming authors because of the cost of producing a book through traditional publishing. It’s every writer’s dream to see their book on physical store bookshelves, but as an indie author, the best bet is to spend on ebooks. Ebooks are economical for self-publishing authors. They have no printing and shipping fees, so that means they make more return on investment. Instead of printing and spending on paper, shipping, distribution, why not focus on marketing the electronic copies first.

6.They Explore Publishing Options

Successful indie authors also diversify. They are not comfortable with few options. So, they keep experimenting with various online book platforms to see what works. They can publish on Amazon, iBooks, Nook, and other platforms out there.

7. They Use Promotion Services Wisely

Unlike traditional publishing, where an author has an agent to promote their book, self-publishing authors have to shoulder the weight of book promotion. Definitely, not an easy feat. That is why indie authors have to get affordable marketing resources. With the number of online tools, it is easy to throw cash at the first available option and hope it works. But, successful indie authors have the habit of carefully researching their marketing options. They consider factors like:

  •  Testimonials
  •  Suitability to their niche
  •  What value does the resource offer
  •  The price and return on investment.
  •  Promotional tools should not exceed your budget

There you go, these are among the top habits that successful indie authors on Amazon employ. If you are a new writer, start implementing these ideas and keep up with upcoming trends.

Subscribe to this blog to stay updated on what’s new in the writing world and free resources to aid your authorship career.

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How to Develop a Writing Habit in Days for Your New Book

Writing of any kind is effort and time-consuming. Writing a book is a long and tedious process. If you are an entrepreneur or business leader, the thought of adding writing to your schedule is even unimaginable. Yet, you want to become a published author. What are your options?

Well, you can outsource writing help. However, realize for people who are writers at heart, the experience of putting their ideas into words is what counts and a satisfying experience. Writing services are good, especially for business and website content, and can save precious time but may not capture the essence of what the author wants to communicate.

So, even if you wish to go this route with your books, I’ll still suggest creating the skeleton for your paid writer.

If you, however, are passionate about writing and want to learn how to develop a consistent writing habit for your next book, this article is for you.

What you will learn:

  • The writing habits of famous authors
  • The science behind developing writing as a habit
  • My productivity tips for juggling work and writing

The Writing Habits of Famous Authors

How do great authors manage to produce quality books regularly and still live a balanced life? The secret is in the writing habits. And that’s why we want to explore some of the practices of famous authors.

Maya Angelou- find your creative space
The writing habits of prolific writer Maya Angelou involved leaving the house to a new space to inspire creativity. Whenever she started on a new book, she would rent a hotel room and commute to and from her home for her writing for six months.

Ray Bradbury- the more you practice, the more writing comes to you naturally.
For this pioneer of modern fiction, developing a writing habit is simple. You write a lot.

Here is a quote from one of his interviews in a writer’s symposium in 2001;
“The best hygiene for beginning writers or intermediate writers is to write a hell of a lot of short stories. If you can write one short story a week-it doesn’t matter what the quality is to start, but at least you’re practicing, and at the end of the year, you have 52 short stories, and I defy you to write 52 bad ones. Can’t be done. At the end of 30 weeks or 40 weeks or the end of the year, all of a sudden, a story will come that’s just wonderful.”

J.K Rowlings- write any chance and time you get.
She is known for her monumental writing success in fantasy novels. But, before fame, J.K Rowlings was an ordinary single mother juggling a lot. So, when starting a writing routine was not an option she had. She managed to squeeze writing in between the hustles of the day.

Haruki Murakami – Repetition and physical fitness launch you into a deeper state of mind necessary for effective writing.
The best-selling Japanese author develops his writing habit by repeating his routine exactly every day and ensures to take care of his health to ensure the mind is well-prepared for the intensity of the writing.

He describes his process as follows:
“When I’m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at four a.m. and work for five to six hours. In the afternoon, I run for ten kilometers or swim for fifteen hundred meters (or do both), then I read a bit and listen to some music. I go to bed at nine p.m.
I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind.”

Kurt Vonnegut – set time aside for writing in your workday, then achieve balance by infusing a bit of relaxation.

His writing habit involved rising early and getting his writing in before taking breakfast, exercising, and later heading to work. He taught in the afternoon, after which he relaxed at a bar.

Although each of these master authors has a unique routine, there are underlying effective writing habits we can pick from them. I call them the three Cs for developing a writing habit.

The Three Cs for Developing a Writing Habit in a Matter of Days

Creativity
Find a space that spurs creativity. Writing needs a creative mind, and science says changing the environment is one way to inspire creative ideas. If you want to develop a writing habit, find a way to keep your creative juices flowing.

Consistency
One indispensable aspect of becoming a writer who writes is to be consistent. Any habit can only form by practicing it.
So, if you want writing to become a habit, put down a few words daily for at least two consecutive weeks. I have written a book on success habits that delve into the practicality of breaking self-destructive behaviors and building consistency.

Calmness
Writing requires a lot of brainpower, and the intensity to keep it up daily needs mental health. As Haruki Murakami says, taking time off helps to build mental fitness. So, as a writer, relaxation is what will help maintain your habit.

What Science Says About Developing the Writing Habit

Here is the gist. Many prolific writers in history have a particular daily routine and strange creative rituals.

It turns out there is a science behind it. There is evidence that routines, rituals, and environments can change and rewire the writing process to boost performance.

These strategies encourage flow instead of boredom, alleviate attentional overload, and boost the retrieval of ideas from memory.

My Tips for Staying Productive and Still Getting Time to Write

It is possible to write your book as a busy entrepreneur and business leader. These are my favorite go-to tips that help me stay productive and slot my writing needs in a day.

Design your power morning
My mornings are very crucial because they set the tone for the day. So, I ensure to start them by boosting my mental agility. You can design your power morning around activities that energize you.

Create Boundaries
When you set a schedule, stick to it. Setting boundaries on what you can and can not do gives you more time to write each day.

Set the ultimate goal and create an action plan with smaller actionable goals

Never work without goals. That includes your writing. If you want to incorporate a writing habit in your day, set a weekly target (ultimate goal) and the daily number of words to write (actionable goals).

Create a reward system
Reward yourself for every time you hit your daily writing milestone.

Developing a habit is the key to productivity. If you want to write and publish a book, you must start by creating your writing habit.

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How Using Amazon Categories Boosts Your Chance to Become a Bestselling Author

For any writer, finding what to write about is the first and most crucial step in their journey because the idea determines the book’s worth. That’s why a best-selling book isn’t just an idea in writing. It has to be original, value-adding, and most importantly, be able to sell.

Where can one find such an idea? Amazon is an excellent place to start, especially for new writers.

A statistic by WebRetailer ranks Amazon as the number one marketplace with 5.7 billion visitors, followed by eBay with 1.6 billion and then Walmart(456 million). So, if you are looking for ideas for creating the next best-seller, Amazon can give you a lot of insight on which topics are popular with buyers. The categories you choose affect whether your book becomes a best-seller when you publish or not.

Today’s article will show you how Amazon categories can help your success rate as an author and boost your chance of making it to the best-seller list.

How to Pick a Book Category That is Both Profitable and Popular on Amazon

Well Ranked
Amazon ranks books based on their popularity among readers. The rank numbers usually indicate the overall performance history of a book. If you are a new writer, you want to consider categories that draw readers. That is, they have more buyers but less competition. With that said, consider the next point as well.

Low Sales Threshold
Highly competitive categories have a large readership. However, this may also mean they have many authors competing for the same market. If you are a new writer, that will prove almost impossible to make this best-seller list. So, go for categories with a low sales threshold- fewer books you have to sell to beat the top dog.

Pricing
Just like any product, price matters to customers. When starting, you can begin by writing shorter books on a single topic to list on the Kindle version. According to the trend, Amazon Kindle books that fall between the 2.99 to 9.99 dollars range generate the most amount from sales per book.

Sales
Look at the number of sales ranks necessary to hit the best-seller list under each category. The sales rank will tell you how many books the top sellers are selling per day. Highly competitive genres will have a higher number to beat and also a high threshold for you.

Marrying Price and Sales
 Although pricing and sales affect ranking, a profit-making book doesn’t necessarily have to be one with the most sales. Different genres have different expectations from the readers. That means a genre may sell fewer books but still make more depending on the value derived by readers. Consider this scenario. A book in the romance category goes at 2.99 dollars and sells only 100 copies. And another on project management that sells two copies at 60 dollars. It is, therefore, essential to pick a genre that achieves a perfect balance between the price and the number of sales.

If you are a new writer, meaning you are not a celebrity or have a million followers, then get ready, this post is for you.

How Amazon Selects a Best-selling Book

Every book on the Amazon store is assigned a best-seller rank. It is a number relative to the number one best-seller overall. The ranking depends on the number of copies a book has sold or downloaded over time compared to all other books on the store. Since these sales fluctuate, the position of a book may also fluctuate.

The book shown has an Amazon Best-seller rank of 15,042. A total of 15,041 books are selling more on Amazon than this one. But, it is also a best-seller in other categories. In this case, it is performing better in its specific genres- number one in sports medicine and nutrition and number two in medical nutrition. That’s a win.

Choose a Category that Boosts Your Potential to Be a Best-selling Author

Now that you know this, what must you do? There are two solutions.

Be Intentional in Your Genres
Use the knowledge to write a book in the category that checks off the boxes discussed above. If you want to be successful, it’s no use writing in a niche that will not sell, even if that’s where your interest lies.

List in Appropriate Categories
The second is, list your book in relevant categories but also those with a low sales threshold. In this way, you will be able to make it on the front page of that genre section.

Here is an illustration;
If you pick a category where the number one book has a best-seller rank of 3000, you will need to be number 2,999 to top the list. On the other hand, if you pick a category where the best-seller is number 82,000, you will only need to be at 81,999 to top the list. The logic is simple. The lower the overall Amazon market rank, the higher the number of sales you have to make per day to beat the competition.

Before and after writing your book, take time to browse Amazon categories for insight. After all, this is going to be your number one marketplace for listing. However, don’t stop there. You can drive traffic to your Amazon store using other marketing strategies. I have a comprehensive guide for online marketing that covers the A, B, Cs of outselling your competitors.

If you want more assistance to become an author, I currently have a one-on-one coaching program that helps new writers put their ideas together. Some of the people I am coaching are part of my new book project Thrudemic: Hidden Nurse Pandemic Stories.

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5 Simple Steps to Come Up with a Perfect Title for Your Non-Fiction Book

Non-Fiction books are a great way to share your expertise and knowledge with the world. But before you can do that, you have to come up with an attention-grabbing title! Most authors know that the title is key to the success of their book. It’s what draws readers in and helps them decide whether or not they want to buy your book.

A good title will not only help readers find your book on Amazon or other sites, but it can also work as keywords for SEO purposes. In this blog post, we will discuss five simple steps to creating the perfect title.

The following five steps will help you come up with a perfect non-fiction book title for your next project:

Step One: Know Your Genre and Theme

The first step to creating a good title is knowing the type of book you are writing. For example, if your non-fiction work falls under the business or self-improvement category, then that will help determine what kind of tone to use in your book’s title.

The easiest way to identify a genre for your book is to research popular niches. For this step, consider the world’s most extensive online book library- Amazon. You can check out what popular titles are in your category of interest.

Step Two: Tailor Your Title to the Book's Audience

Once you have determined your book’s genre, think about who will be reading it. It may sound simple, but it is one of the more essential steps in creating an attention-grabbing title.

For fiction books, this can be easy – readers know that Harry Potter and Twilight are for a teen audience because of the tone and writing style.

In non-fiction writing, it can be more complicated, but you can do the same by identifying the category of people that will most benefit from the solution you provide with your book.

Step Three: Make Your Reader Curious

Another way to make your reader curious is by asking them a question. You can do this in the title or even within the book itself as part of an exercise. Asking questions that will generate curiosity and interest about the problem you seek to solve, how it works, or why they should care will help to craft a perfect title that will sell.

Step Four: Keep it Short

You want to keep your title short and sweet so that people will not lose interest. Like, if writing a how-to book, short is always the better. Try using powerful words when coming up with ideas for titles because they have a high impact.

Step Five: Brainstorm Potential Titles and Subtitles

It’s not enough to come with a single title idea at this stage. With your genre, audience, and intrigue nailed down, it is time to play around with potential title ideas. You want to come up with a list of at least ten possible titles.

Next, write down five subtitles that go along with the title you choose for your book.

Conclusion

To create a perfect non-fiction book title, you need to account for the three factors that will make it successful.

First and foremost, your potential audience must find worth in what you are writing about, so consider a topic in high demand or that solves a prevailing problem. Second, the title should reflect the niche so people know what they can expect from reading it. Finally, it needs to be specific for readers to see why this particular book is worth their time and money.

Are you a new author? Get your work seen for free on our promotional platforms - just send us your pitch!

You may also want to read:
How to Develop a Writing Habit in Days for Your Book
How Do You Determine if Your Book is Going to Get the Amazon’s Bestseller’s Tag

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5 Practical Takeaways from “Relentless Pursuit” by Tonika Bruce

What does success mean to you? According to Tonika Bruce, best-selling author and business development coach, success is achieving your goals and purpose regardless of the challenges and obstacles that you face.

In one of her best-selling books, Relentless Pursuit, Coach Bruce (as she is commonly known) explains how critical success is to your life and existence. She offers valuable tips and steps you can take to position yourself for success and the practical ways you can stay focused and relentless in your pursuit.

How to Achieve Success

In the book, Relentless Pursuit, Coach Bruce acknowledges that many people worldwide know about making and earning money. Still, very few live within the glory, satisfaction, and abundance of the opportunities the world has to offer. According to her, only 1% of the world’s population is incredibly successful. 

You want to be successful and bask in the abundance of life. Whether financially, emotionally, philanthropically, or mentally, you define your success on your terms. What counts is that we all want to be successful in one way or another, one field or another. As a result, we need to set out and pursue what we believe and want in our lives. That’s why Coach Bruce gives you practical tips you can easily apply to your path to achieve success. Here are some takeaways you can pick from the book.

  1. You Need Success

Relentless Pursuit explains that you need success at different times in your life to accomplish your purpose of living. Your economic background or socioeconomic status doesn’t matter. If you fail to achieve success, everything around you fails with it. Your career, business, and personality may fail. The book also denotes that the journey doesn’t end at achieving your purpose. You have to make it an obligation to maintain your status, as failing to maintain success will cause everything you worked so hard to build to collapse. Here, the author gives relatable examples of once-powerful empires such as the Romans, Greek, Vikings, and American Indians.

As a result, you learn why success is necessary for your daily existence and why you should put effort into being the best version of yourself.

  1. Understand What Success Means To You and Set out Plans and Goals to Achieve it.

Another great lesson that you learn from reading Relentless Pursuit is identifying your word for success. Everyone you meet in life is unique and running on different paths. As a result, what you consider essential and urgent may be an optional choice to the other. Thus, you need to identify yourself and understand your path. In the book, the author takes you on a road to self-discovery and self-development, the two crucial success tools.

Once you know your path, set goals and plans to carry you forward. It’s not enough to say, “I want to achieve this.” Coach Bruce encourages you to set realistic goals and break them down into more achievable chunks. You can talk about achieving something by the end of one year, then break down the plan into monthly, weekly, and daily activities.

  1. Learn as Much as You can

It may be challenging if you are a professional and believe in yourself, but the value of information is priceless. According to Coach Bruce in her book, she says that the most successful people put so much effort into reading, learning, and exploring. She adds that while making excuses may be easy, you need to squeeze in some time and discover much about your field of interest. You may need to research books, videos, and even online. If there’s a need, you may consider getting a mentor. And most importantly, remember to implement.

  1. Be Consistent

Your next weapon towards achieving and maintaining success is staying consistent. This is part of the most challenging principles for the 99%, but the successful 1% adhere. While staying consistent may be difficult, it’s one way you will achieve your dreams and accomplish your purposes.

The book also reminds you of the phrase, “Success is a journey, not a destination.” As a result, you need to keep doing what you do if you want to live your full potential and gain the self-confidence that comes with accomplishments.

  1. Expect Failure

While doing everything to reach the top, Coach Bruce reminds you that failure is part of the journey. She explains that even the most successful people in your cycle failed at one point in their journey. The only reason they are exceptionally well-off is that they accepted the failure, learned from it, and moved towards recording success.

She says that the most successful people are not enjoying the status because of being special, but because they are obsessed with getting results. That means you need to focus on the results rather than obstacles and failures. Even though you may fall many times, rise again, learn from the mistake and continue. However, she warns about wallowing in guilt and proposes self-forgiveness and moving forward.

The tips we covered here are just some of the reasons you may want to grab a copy of this book and read it. This article isn’t exhaustive, as Relentless Pursuit has several points to help you unlock your potential and join the 1% most successful group of the world population.