|Home|

April 20, 2009 Program Summary

How to Position Yourself as an Expert
by Writing a Book


Speaker Randy Peyser
Want to be perceived as a top expert in your field?

Writing a book is one of the quickest ways to solidify your reputation, gain credibility in the eyes of potential clients, and make yourself stand out above your competition. Having a book will help you attract more clients, extend your visibility and build your brand.

Your book can help you obtain media exposure, attract business collaborators, and seamlessly get new prospects into your pipeline. You can use your book for back-of-the-room sales when you speak, at trade shows, or whenever you want to establish your presence as an expert.

This event propelled numerous veteran and aspiring authors further along on their journeys toward publication. Publishing maven Randy Peyser, owner of the national publishing advisory service, Author One Stop, used clever props, anecdotes, and real-life examples to explain how the traditional and self-publishing worlds work. She discussed how to:

  • Easily overcome objections to: "I don't know how to write" or "I don't know where to begin."
  • Choose from 4 different formats that make it easy for you to write a successful book.
  • Compose a compelling title and back cover text "sell copy."
  • Use your book to upsell your more expensive services and products.
  • Complete your book when everything else in your life demands your attention.
  • Distinguish between your publishing options and choose one that is right for you.
  • Publicize your finished book online to a huge audience.

Read Randy's tips, below, use the links further down to download the handouts, and see her contact and bio information at bottom.


5 Sneaky Little Things Every Author Should Know That You Probably Don't
by Randy Peyser


As a publishing pro,
I have learned a lot of information that most authors don’t know about but should. Here are five sneaky little things to file away in the back of your mind as you pursue your publishing path…

Sneaky Thing #1: Who owns your ISBN?

If a print-on-demand (POD) company or a traditional publisher publishes your book, they own the ISBN. Whenever you change companies (for example, you sell your self-published book to a traditional publisher), the ISBN will change to reflect your new publisher’s ISBN for your book.

The sneaky thing you need to know: whenever you change ISBNs, you LOSE your current Amazon ranking.


Sneaky Thing #2: Repurpose your material.

You can make more money with an information product than you can with just your book alone – so do both!

Sneaky tip: In addition to publishing your book, spin some segment of your information into a special report or information product and sell it online as an e-book, or as a DVD or CD.


Sneaky Thing #3: Use press releases strategically.

One of the best ways to get exposure for your book on the Internet is to write keyword-enhanced press releases and distribute them through electronic distribution services, such as PRWebDirect. PRWeb kicks out press releases to the Google and Yahoo Newswires, as well as to RSS feeds.

Now, here are the sneaky details you need to know. For best results:

  • Run your release at their $300 level and upgrade it by $10. This tiny addition will bump your release up above everyone else at the $300 level. When you select “upgrade” on their screen, you will see a $40 amount automatically appear. Most people believe that amount is fixed, but it’s not! Delete it and add your $10 amount.
  • Run your release on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, which are the best days for exposure. PRWeb has superb customer service. I recommend them for reaching a national audience.
  • For regional audiences, try Send2Press or MarketWire. Send2Press is lacking in the warm and fuzzy department, but they do provide a solid service, as does Market Wire.

Sneaky Thing #4: Beware of Amazon’s POD publishing limits.

Amazon recently declared they would no longer carry books published through POD companies, except through their own company, BookSurge. Their decision has raised a lawsuit. Other big POD companies have had to make special arrangements to continue to have their authors’ books featured on Amazon.

Anyone who is publishing through a POD company outside of BookSurge should investigate if the company helping them to self-publish will be able to get their book onto Amazon.


Sneaky Thing #5: Use caution with cover art.

Many graphic designers in California (and perhaps in other places, but predominantly in California) are downright sneaky in claiming ownership of the designs they create for book covers. That means if you self-publish your book and want to use your cover image or a portion of it for any other purpose, you will be stuck paying licensing fees for each additional use to that graphic designer.

To avoid this scenario, make sure the designer you intend to hire puts in writing that they are performing a “work for hire,” and that you own whatever they are creating for you.

Copyright 2009 Randy Peyser (see below for bio information)


Downloads & Resources:

For best results, please use the following tips when downloading files:

  • Windows Internet Explorer: Right-click on the link and select Save Target As... You will be prompted to save the file to a specific location on your hard drive.

  • Other platforms or browsers: Right-click on the link (click and hold on the Mac) and select Download link to disk, Save Link As... or a similar command. You will be prompted to save the file to a specific location on your hard drive.

Here are links to the handouts:

Questions? Please contact Randy:

  • Phone: (831) 726-3153

“How to Position Yourself as an Expert by Writing a Book”
Date: Monday evening, April 20, 2009
Speaker:

Randy Peyser is the owner and CEO of Author One Stop, a comprehensive publishing advisory service for aspiring authors. She is also the creator of the Write-a-Book Program, and is one of only a few people in the country who specializes in representing authors in finding literary agents and publishers at Book Expo America (BEA), which is the largest Book Expo in the U.S. Randy is a frequent media guest, and speaks for publishing conferences, business organizations, writers organizations, and spiritual organizations around the country.

Randy is the former Editor-in-Chief of a national magazine and an SF/Bay area magazine, and currently writes for Awareness Magazine in Southern California. Her interviews include New York Times best selling authors, such as Neale Donald Walsch, Esther Hicks, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Suze Orman, Caroline Myss, Marianne Williamson, and many more. Randy has edited books from business, to marketing, to spirituality, self-help, children's, fantasy, horror, fiction and non-fiction.

She is also the author of:

  • The Power of Miracle Thinking
  • Crappy to Happy
  • The Write-a-Book Program
  • The Internet Publicity Directory
  • The Mind/Body/Spirit Speakers Directory

Disclaimer, credits, copyrightGet Acrobat ReaderSome articles or linked resources may be in Portable Document Format (PDF). To download the free Acrobat Reader, click the icon at right. To install the Reader, double-click the downloaded file.

Disclaimer and credits