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I just got a sneak peak at the notes for tonight’s Virtual Book Tour Preview call.

Here’s some of what you’ll learn if you sign up and attend tonight at 6pm Pacific, 8pm Central, 9pm Eastern:

• the three-step ATS formula that will revolutionize how you approach book marketing
• the secret of _________ that will make all the difference in whether you will be a “well-paid” author or a “broke” author
• what a “bookinar” is and how it can work for you
• case studies of various ways you can use Virtual Book/Product Tours
• how Virtual Book Tour Secrets will help you avoid costly mistakes
• and much more! (Alex is legendary for “over delivering.”)

I got you a $79 discount, remember. And with the Preview Call, you also get a copy of my Special Report, “How to Choose Your Bestselling Title.” That’s a $14.95 value, so you’re really getting $113.95 worth of training for only $20. Such a deal! (See details here.)

This week’s Publishing Coach Weekly teleseminar comes a little early, and it’s a recording, so you can listen to it whenever you want.

(But I really want you to listen to it before tomorrow night, and I’ll explain why.)

I know I’ve been talking about Virtual Book Tours a lot this week, because I think it’s just such a great way to promote a book.

Last year, I did an interview with Alex Mandossian about Virtual Book Tours, and I would like you to listen to that asap.

In the interview, Alex said that often the lesser-known authors sold more books with a VBT than more well-known authors. Find out why.

On that call, I grilled Alex about how VBTs work, how and why they were invented and …

Listen in, and remember that the VBT Preview call is tomorrow night–Thursday, July 2. I got you a special discount, and there’s another special gift for you just for signing up for that Preview call (which is a training unto itself, I promise).

Note that when you sign up for the course, you will receive special additional bonuses from me that will ensure you WILL make the most of your VBT.

Someone just sent me an excellent question about Virtual Book Tours:

“How well can one apply the VBT to non-self-help and non-business books: e.g., science fiction, narrative non-fiction, biography, nature stories, etc? (All the examples on Alex Mandossian’s website are of self-help or business owners.)”

Yes, I believe a Virtual Book Tour can be effective on nearly any kind of book. Alex’s examples are geared mainly to the market he’s most interested and experienced in, i.e. business and self-help, but his principles apply to nearly any kind of book (with the caveats mentioned below.)

With his training, I myself have done Virtual Book Tours for a range of book topics, from the art of parenting boys , to whether common church practices are really pagan in origin, to what’s so great about Christianity, to how to find God in everyday life (the topic of my own VBT on Abundant Gifts). (See www.virtualbooktourexpert.com for samples of Virtual Book Tours that are NOT on business, success, etc.)

Any book on any topic that can engender questions is a candidate for a VBT.

I’ll admit, fiction is a bit of a tough nut to crack. Success with a VBT would depend on Read the rest of this entry »

As you may know, I’ve done several Virtual Book Tours, some of them with bestselling authors such as Dinesh D’Souza and George Barna. (Publishers paid me handsomely to do them, too.)

I also did one for my own book, Abundant Gifts, and sold 124 books in one week.

I learned how to do Virtual Book Tours from Alex Mandossian, who invented them.

It was the best investment I’ve ever made in myself as an author.

Please read my story now, and see how you can get the equivalent of a $40,000 education for less than 4% of that.

I put together more than $700 in bonuses of my own, to complement the excellent training you’ll get from Alex Mandossian.

The education, contacts, coaching, and resources available through this course are unparalleled, especially for what you invest. It’s one of the best things I ever invested in. Check out the video on this page to get a
taste of the training I’m talking about.

It was what Alex Mandossian calls a “pack-your-bags” moment–a moment when you have such an “aha!” that you could pack your bags right then and feel you’d gotten your money’s worth from the event.

And the event hadn’t even started!

The moment was over dinner, when Jay Aaron (brilliant guy, very nice too) was talking about Oprah Winfrey.

“There are two ways to be an expert,” Jay said.

“One is to be a guest on Oprah’s show.

“The other is to BE Oprah.”

He paused. Watch out, here comes the $64,000 insight. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t know about you, but I realized I have this underlying low-grade anxiety over online activities.

Perhaps it started when my blog was actually hacked into (twice).

Imagine a client and friend sending an email saying, “I clicked the link in your email and got a big red message that the site had a virus.”

It happened to me. Twice.

Scary, frustrating, time-consuming and costly.

I still haven’t done all the cleanup on that.

Now I know this scenario was preventable.

Read the rest of this entry »

Technology–bane or blessing?

If your web site is ever hacked, it will feel like a huge bane. If not a curse.

I’ve had my blog hacked into twice now (and I’m wondering if my email was also hacked–if you get spam from me, IT’S NOT really from me. I’m looking into it.)

Listen, as authors, we need a blog. We absolutely do. (Read here for 9 reasons why .)

But if your site is ever hacked, and perhaps shut down or blocked by search engines–that is a BIG PROBLEM.

There are some simple steps to keep that from ever happening, and tomorrow you get a chance to listen to Cathy Perkins, the WordPress Wizard, talk about some of the things you have to know to keep your blog secure.

Read the rest of this entry »

I have two new exciting Publishing Coach Weekly things for you.

ITEM #1: New article on “9 Reasons to Start a Blog.”

If you have a blog already, this article will help you think through whether you’re using it optimally. (It did that for me even!)

If you don’t have a blog, I tell you why and how to start in 5 minutes or so: http://www.publishingcoachweekly.com/Start-a-Blog-9-Good-Reasons.html.

ITEM #2: For this week’s Publishing Coach Weekly teleseminar, my guest will be Cathy Perkins, “the WordPress Wizard.”

I have to be frank: One of the drawbacks to having a blog is that it can be hacked into.

Cathy will talk about how to prevent that so that blogging can be as joyous and hassle-free as possible.

(Cathy’s the one who helped me when my blogs were hacked twice, and she’s about to start a short course on blog security.)

You can ask any blogging question you have, especially as it pertains to security, either now or on the call. Ask a question and/or get call-in details here.

Charlene Baumbich and I had a wonderful time today talking about her publishing experiences (13 fiction and nonfiction books, new one just made the Chicago bestseller list last night, after being out only around a week!).

Charlene is an example of a successful author who is successful because she’s “doing what she knows and loves to do.” In this interview we talked about the other part of the equation as well: “being well heard and well paid.” Is it possible? Find out our take on that–you may be surprised.”

We talked about how she became a published author (”because I had more guts than brains …”), the only reason someone should pursue being
an author, the one thing an author MUST have to create a good book, my own secret to goals that you can reach, what publishers’ advances are like now, the economics of book publishing, self-publishing vs. traditional publishing, and much more!

Tune in for a fun ride:
http://www.publishingcoachweekly.com/charlene.html

Do check out the teleseminar special, especially if you haven’t started your book yet.

There are “add-ons” that are unavailable anywhere else, and a brand-new bonus that I’ve also never made available.

Recently, I attended the book signings of 3 different author friends.

In one case especially, it was a real joy because of the incredibly rocky road she traveled to the point of getting a (traditionally) published book in her hands. You can find out who that is, and what it takes to become a successful author, when you tune in to this week’s Publishing Coach Weekly teleseminar. I will be interviewing special guest Charlene Baumbich, author of the brand-new book, Don’t Miss Your Life!: An Uncommon Guide to Living with Freedom, Laughter, and Grace–which just hit the Chicago best seller list today, less than a week after it’s out!

One of my passions as “your book publishing coach” is to assist you on the journey to become a “successful author.”

But what does this mean?

That’s the topic I’d like to explore on this week’s Publishing Coach Weekly teleseminar.

I invite you to ask a question and/or comment on what “successful author” means to you. I’ll share it, along with your website link and book title (if applicable, and you want me to).

Then, attend the teleseminar on Thursday, June 11, at 1 pm Eastern, as Charlene and I tell true tales of successful authors and you learn what it takes to become a successful author in today’s publishing climate.