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If you are at all interested in marketing your book via the Internet–and you should be–then I invite you to a special class to be taught by one of my mentors, Bonnie Dillabough, this Thursday, November 2, at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central, 7 p.m. Mountain, and 6 p.m. Pacific Time.

Bonnie Dillabough teaches cutting-edge marketing techniques that work. She knows how to get high rankings in search engines without spending a dime on advertising or learning complicated Search Engine Optimization strategies. She is also a podcasting expert. None of the other big-name gurus are teaching what Bonnie teaches–yet I suspect they’re using these techniques themselves.

Bonnie calls her method of marketing “Cookie Cutter” because once you know the method, you can use it on any site for any product or service. This Thursday night, Bonnie will be giving an outline of her “Cookie Cutter Marketing Methods.” It will be worth listening in.

Did I mention the class is free (except for your normal long-distance charges)? The number to call is 641-497-7100, then punch in the code 144700#.

If you miss it, the recording is supposed to be posted later at www.thecookiecuttergroup.com. Check this page out for past recordings of Cookie Cutter classes, and links to Bonnie’s sites.

Another of Bonnie’s specialties is podcasting. Check out the different podcasting channels on the Cookie Cutter Group site. There may well be a place for you to develop a podcast of your own, which could do wonders for building your platform.

The kind of marketing Bonnie teaches is especially suited to authors and information marketers, in my opinion. That’s why I’m telling you about this. I hope you will be able to tune in, if not on Thursday, then later by downloading the recording.

Here’s what you’ll find inside the October issue:

• QUOTES OF THE MONTH: On “Purpose”
• ARTICLE: Scam or Valuable Resource?RESEARCH TIP: Find Free Information Fast Online
• Jump Start Your Book: What an Editor Says
• INSIDER’S TIP: Know Your Author Rights …
• Your questions answered! New audio available
• MARKETING TIP/RESOURCE: Book Marketing Expert Newsletter
• On the blog … A Cautionary Tale

To view the newsletter online, or to download the 8-page PDF file, click here or go to the Words to Profit Web site and click on “Read current issue” on the left. Don’t forget to subscribe, if you haven’t already!

Note that there is a new audio ready for all who subscribe to the newsletter. It’s an audio interview I did with Goal Guru Jill Koenig, and it covers a lot of ground about the publishing industry. I think you’ll find it both informative and inspiring.

If you’re already a newsletter subscriber and want to get your free audio, click here and go to the yellow box in the middle of the page to listen to or download the audio MP3 file.
I’d love to hear what you think, so after you read the newsletter please come back and post to this blog.

By the way, if you tried to visit this blog in the past few days, you will have noticed that it wasn’t there! If you subscribe to this blog, you know the blog wasn’t there, because you got an email announcing a “new post.” (Nothing like having one’s problems broadcasted!) Make sure you read “A Cautionary Tale” in the newsletter to find out what happened and, more importantly, to benefit from the lessons I learned the hard way, so you won’t have to.

If you use MS Word as your word processor, please read this.

If you don’t, hit “delete” now. (I love to save people time!)

Most authors use Word, and so do publishers. Word is a very powerful program. Yet few of us, including me, know how to use all its bells and whistles to make our writing go faster and smoother.

I heard New York Time best selling author Robert Ringer say that becoming proficient at word processing is the lifeblood of a writer’s business. Knowing how to use MS Word well could mean the difference between getting your book finished in weeks instead of months.

It can also mean the difference between sending in a professional-looking manuscript to a publisher, making a good impression, and causing them unnecessary headaches, making a bad impression.

In fact, I just finished editing a manuscript for a publisher. I had to make some changes that could have been caught by the author, saving me time and the publisher the extra money they paid me to fix the errors.

Bottom line: learning to use Word effectively will save you time and give you that professional edge when it comes time to submit your manuscript to a publisher.

My friend, Cathy Perkins, is now working on an eBook called “Word for Authors” that will teach you all the bells and whistles of Word.

The book is not ready yet, but Cathy asked me to ask my readers to go to a form on her web site and write down any frustrations you’ve had using Word, and/or any questions the perplex you about it.

For instance, I get very annoyed when Word takes it upon itself to set indents in ways I don’t want them set. I’ve wasted a lot of time trying to figure out how to “undo” their automatic formatting.

If you have issues of your own, or wish you could do a particular thing with Word but don’t know how, click to register your question for Cathy.

When you do, you’ll not only help her create a more useful book, but you’ll also get in on her early notification list so you’ll be the first to know when Word for Authors comes out.

A couple of weeks ago, I urged you to download Janet Switzer’s Publishing Protocol. If you have already done that, you have also heard about Janet’s latest offering.

If you have not, and you are at all interested in how your book can become a thriving business (or a very lucrative addition to your existing business), please read on.

Have you ever wondered why some people quickly become recognized as the leading expert in their field with all the fame, fortune and opportunity that goes with it — while others in the same industry struggle just to get by?

Why do some experts get book deals, licensing deals, distribution deals, speaking tours, spokesperson contracts — while others wait years to get hired as a speaker or find a publisher for their book?

I have. And finally I’ve discovered the answer from a woman who is reportedly the secret business advisor behind many of the biggest name celebrity experts you’ve heard of.

Jack Canfield… Mark Victor Hansen… Chicken Soup for the Soul… Jay Abraham… Les Brown… Yanik Silver… Laurie Beth Jones… All these stars have been her high profile clients.

In fact, they’ve paid her a fortune to create new profit centers for their businesses — but she’s never revealed her system for building entire publishing and media empires… until now.

If you’ve ever wanted to be not only a published author but also an internationally renowned speaker… a syndicated columnist… an expert on the six o’clock news…

If your business or professional career would benefit from corporations, national media and third-party marketers “discovering” you as the leading expert in your field and bringing you exciting deals and national exposure…

If you’d like to add easy profit centers to your business that return staggering 85% to 95% profit margins selling products priced at $5,000 or more…

I urge you to read an announcement about how you can master the BUSINESS of the information products business — from someone who’s been working in the background creating these profit centers for nearly 20 years.

Janet Switzer is herself a New York Times Bestselling coauthor and international speaker — and one of the top information-product marketers alive today.

She’s perfected the art of turning expertise of any kind into 52 different income streams ranging from book deals to coaching programs, high-priced consulting, seminars, licensing, subscription products, corporate contracts and more.

And for the next 48 hours, she’s offering the opportunity to work with her to build their own info-business or media company — an option she’s made available only one other time.

I’ve followed Janet Switzer’s work for several years (secretly longing to work with her myself). I’ve reviewed her highly detailed and well organized materials. And I recommend that you at least read what she has to say about how you, too, could join her select cadre of celebrity clients.

She’s even giving away a copy of her confidential book proposal and business plan that recently landed a six-figure deal from McGraw-Hill Publishers — but you must respond in the next 48 hours. Janet is in the middle of finalizing her next book deal, and has decided to take on clients just one last time…through a unique process I know you’ll be interested in.

But you must hurry. By October 19, the window of opportunity will be closed.

Janet Switzer and her empire-building systems have my highest endorsement. Her approach has literally skyrocketed my career and business. If you’d like to join me in developing your own uniqiue leading expert persona in the marketplace, I urge you to read about Janet Switzer’s unique advisory client program. I hope you’ll act quickly and be one of the few to get to work with her.

“Write a book in 14 days!”

“Get published in 6 weeks!”

“Become an Amazon best seller and rake in the publishing deals!”

“We’ll publish your book and get you in all the book store chains.”

Perhaps you’ve seen these and other promises made to people whose dream has always been to write and publish a book, and even, perhaps, get on the bestseller list.

Promises like these make me angry. I hate it when people prey on other people’s dreams, just to make a buck.

I admit, I too have fallen for one or two of the scams. A few years back, I bought a program that promised to teach me “How to Write a Book On Anything in 14 Days or Less … GUARANTEED!”

It was pricey then—around $300, I think—and now it’s even more. Perhaps twice that.

All I can say is, the guy was a better copywriter than he was an honest man. He did not make good on any of the promises he made. and try as I did to use his system, it still took me my usual 9 months to actually write my latest book, MotherStyles: Using Personality Type to Discover Your Parenting Strengths, with Janet Penley. (It actually took us about two years, all told. Never believe it takes less time to write a book with someone else!)

I will not say more about this product here, but if you have any questions, email me.

Now, I’m a copywriter myself, and there’s nothing wrong with showing your product or service in its best light, highlight all the benefits.

But they must be true benefits, and you must be prepared to make good on all your promises.

So … if some product sounds “too good to be true,” no doubt it is. Before putting down your good money on any product, put aside your emotions for a moment and do a little research.

Google the person selling the product. In this case, the creator purported to be a “famous master writer” and “best-selling author of hundreds of books and articles.” A Google search did not turn up his name anywhere!

If you can, check around to find out if anyone you know has used this product/service. For instance, I recently discovered someone who published with  Publish America. She thought her book was on amazon.com and in Borders. Well, it was listed on amazon … but with no description or reviews or information on the publisher. I’m sure her book was made available to Borders—meaning it’s on a long list that buyers can buy from—but I’m sure it’s not actually in one Borders bookstore.

Another client of mine almost signed on with a “publisher” who promised to get his book into the bookstores—for an extra $500. I read the wording of the contract carefully, and knew that all it meant was that the publisher would include his book on a list that is made available to the distributors from whom the bookstores buy. But no publisher’s rep would be calling on the book buyers, and I assured him his book would never end up on any bookstore shelf.

I love saving people money! (In this case, $500.) But it angers me that so many unscrupulous people take advantage of people who simply want to get a book published.

Bottom line: Before you order any product, or sign on with a publisher, do your homework. If you like, shoot me an email about what you’re considering, and I can help you check it out.

I am putting together a Special Report on scams, and a review of good and bad products. If you want to be on the notification list for when that will be ready, click here.