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I’ve posted before about how much Simpleology has helped me increase my productivity. I think it’s a brilliant blend of goal-setting, time management, and self-improvement in one simple system.

Mark Joyner, who created Simpleology, calls it “the simple science of getting what you want.”

Now Mark has created a Web version of Simpleology 101, which is free to all. You can go through all the paces online, and/or download some software tools designed to reduce the paperwork and, he hopes, make it even more simple.

Whether you will prefer the new version or the former, paper-based version depends on how much you like to do things on your computer. For me, there are pros and cons to each way.

I like the way the software for the online version takes me quickly through the steps of the daily planning session, called the Daily Target Praxis, and make decisions about whether to delegate, do it now, or deliberate, the online software sorts everything out into the appropriate places. When you’ve gone through the DTP, you are left with a list of your Daily Targets. It’s a very clean process, and eliminates a lot of paper.

However, I like to then prioritize my targets. So what I do is put each target on a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 paper, and sort the papers into order and place them into today’s hanging folder. Other tasks can go into tomorrow’s folder, next week’s, or whatever.

One thing I don’t like about the new software is that when I put the Cockpit on my desktop, the only way to keep it is if my screen resolution is set for the highest resolution. I can’t read my computer screen well enough on this setting, so I can’t use this. Too bad–it was handy.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about and would like some help in getting more done more efficiently, check out Simpleology 101. It’s free, and it might work for you as well as it’s worked for me.

I just received an email from ezinearticles.com saying there are comments posted on several of my articles.

Of course I immediately clicked on the link to find out what someone said about my articles.

The comments reminded me of something very simple you can do to get your name out there and drive more traffic to your Web site.

Simply go to article directories that allow you to post comments, such as ezinearticles, look for articles on the topic of your expertise, and post a comment. (Note I have a list of links to various ezine directories on this blog.) You get to include your name and Web site url. Anyone reading the article might also read the comment and decide to find out more about you. Voila! You get instant targeted traffic to your site.

(Thank you, Yvonne Perry, for posting comments on my site and reminding me of this great tactic. Yvonne’s Web site is at www.yvonneperry.net. There you can subscribe to her excellent Writers in the Sky newsletter, view past issues, and receive her free ebook.)

Note how I was happy to reciprocate with Yvonne and give her a little extra exposure. Nobody loses when we promote each other.

I just had the privilege of interviewing one of my favorite authors, Francine Rivers, whose novel, The Last Sin Eater, was just made into a movie. (How many of us would love to have our novel turned into a movie that is seen in theaters nationwide? Francine never dreamed it would happen, either.)

Something she said struck me. She admitted that every time she begins a novel, she is terrified. She wonders whether she can pull it off. This author, whose every book hits the best seller list, doubts she can pull the next book off!

So if you feel doubts when you face the blank screen, know that even great and successful authors like Francine Rivers face the same thing.

Something else struck me. Even though she is obviously a master at her craft, she continually reads books on how to write. She recently finished reading two books by Sol Stein (Stein on Writing and How to Grow a Novel), and On Writing by Stephen King. On her Web site FAQ’s (soon to be posted, if it’s not up already), she intimates that if she had read Sol Stein before writing The Last Sin Eater, she might have done it differently:

“[It was a] challenge … to capture the dialect of the Appalachian people without losing the reader. Only recently did I read a book on writing by Sol Stein and learned it was best not to use dialect. That would have made it easier write, and perhaps easier for the reader as well!”

How’s that for humility?

In my coaching of authors, one of the biggest things that separates people who succeed and those who don’t is how teachable they are. Successful authors always seek to improve their craft, hone their skills, learn new marketing techniques, be willing to stretch and try new things. If you trace the history of Francine’s books, you see that each novel is very different from the one before it (with the exception, possibly, of her novella series).

Successful authors welcome input from others on their writing. I know I always welcome input from my editors. When I got one book back with very light editing, I felt disappointed. Surely I’m not that good a writer that I don’t need input from an editor!

So this is my challenge to you, and to myself: Am I always seeking to learn and grow in my craft, in my calling? Do I welcome feedback, both positive and negative? Am I willing, even eager, to stretch? Is true excellence my goal?

I would love to hear what you do to help yourself grow and stretch. Please post your comments!

Read or download the pdf of the latest Your Book Publishing Coach newsletter now.

Here’s a taste of what’s in this issue:

o ARTICLE: How Publishers Decide to Publish a Book (or Not)
o More on Book Proposals … and the NEW Jump Start Your Book Tool kit
o INSIDER’S TIP: 9 Good Reasons to Start a Blog

… and more!

Starting next month (March), instead of one long newsletter I will be writing one new article a week, and posting it on the “Current Newsletter” section of my site. At the end of the month, I will still put it into a PDF version so that you can download it, print it and keep it.

I’m hoping the new format will enable you to actually find time to read my articles. I know that it’s easy to put things aside for “later.” Trouble is, “later” never comes, right?

So make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter, and that you add diane@wordstoprofit.com is in your address book and/or white list, so you can look for a new article every week. Please print it out and read it.

In fact, why not start a “Book Publishing” binder? Print out all the past newsletters, and each article, and put it into your binder. You might also want to print out the blog entries. You will be amazed at the amount of great knowledge you’ll gain as you keep up.

If you have a blog–and you should, for many reasons I’ve outlined elsewhere on this blog–I just found a tool that will make blogging even easier–especially if you have more than one blog.

It’s called BlogDesk. It’s very easy to use. It’s set up very cleanly, as if you were posting to your blog. The time-saving part of it is, you can set up your blog info once (such as the blog address, password, the categories, whether to allow comments etc.). Then all you do is click a button when you’re done writing, and it is published instantly.

You can also spell check, something I can’t do with my blog software (WordPress) doesn’t allow. This feature alone saves me lots of time, for two reasons. One, I used to write the blog in Word just to spell-check it. (Amusing side note: “blog” and “blogger” were not in the software’s dictionary!) Two, then when I copied the post from Word into my blog, there were usually extra spaces I would then have to change.

You can also do everything in BlogDesk you can do on your blog software, such as insert images or links. In fact, the “insert images” file worked better for me in BlogDesk. You can even use foreground or background color–thus: Get BlogDesk now!

Pretty cool or what? (Note: The first time I published this from BlogDesk, the highlighting didn’t show up. It only did when I cut and pasted it. So, it’s not perfect yet. Oh well.)
By the way, the one gripe I have with this is that it doesn’t seem to work with Blogger.com. I do a weekly post on a blogger.com blog, and I haven’t been able to configure that automatically. So it this is the only blog you use, BlogDesk won’t help you much. Sorry. (Google, which owns Blogger, seems to run by its own rules, you know.) I even asked my friend and technical whiz who told me about this, WordPress guru Cathy Perkins, if she knows a way to get around this. So far she hasn’t figured out a way. If she does, I’ll let you know.

Traditionally, fiction authors have found it very difficult to get publicity outside of media that reviews books. That’s because they’ve been focusing on their book, rather than the topic.

The way novelists can get publicity is to highlight their expertise on a topic related to their book that will interest the media.

For instance, one novelist I know wrote a book about a young woman who was raped and faced the dilemma of should she abort, even though it went against her beliefs? The author had done a lot of research on post-traumatic stress syndrome as it relates to abortion. One of the things she discovered is that abortion affects not just the woman who chooses it, but everyone else involved: the father of the child, the woman’s family, even the doctor and nurses who might be involved in the abortion. While her novel graphically portrayed how all this plays out, the publicity angle is based on her expertise as someone who not only had an abortion, but did extensive research on it.

Another novelist I know wrote a fast-paced adventure story concerning, among other things, world hunger. Publicity angles could include how organizations do or do not hinder relief efforts, how corporations fit into the picture (something her novel portrayed), what one person can do to fight world hunger, etc.

Publicity offers some of the best exposure for your book, as I’ve said over and over again. If you’re a novelist, don’t overlook this outlet. Brainstorm all the issues that relate to whatever goes on in your book. Keep abreast of news and trends and how you can fit in. See yourself not just as a novelist, but as an expert in some area related to your novel.

When you get publicity for your expertise on this subject, of course your book will get mentioned. You can talk about how your research played into the formation of your characters, etc., but remember to keep the focus on the angle that interests the media.

Last week I attended the CBA Advance publishing conference. It was geared toward helping retailers (i.e. book store owners) strategize about how to deal with industry changes and challenges. At such conferences, there is always a publishers Expo, and that was what interested me. I got to talk with other authors, a few editors, sales people, retailers, and publishing executives. I also got to “walk the floor” and just look at who is publishing what.

I was encouraged and surprised to discover a few new publishing companies I hadn’t even heard of before—publishers that had sprung up in the past few years. Then there were the tried and true publishers, who had been around for decades. Some of those, however, had been bought out by larger companies, such as Howard Books which is now owned by Simon & Schuster, one of the big New York houses.

Observation and conversation with authors and publishers confirmed that it is getting more and more difficult to get published. However, authors who both understand how traditional publishing works and who take time to build their platform create a definite edge for themselves.

Of course, that made me smile. In fact, when I mentioned my introductory coaching course, Jump Start Your Book: 12 Questions You Must Answer Before You Write Your First Word, publishers got excited and said that is exactly what authors need to do to create a winning book proposal and saleable book.

My mission is to help authors understand how publishing works, and create a publishing path that fits their dreams, goals, and resources. I have many exciting new ways to do this, so stay tuned! Make sure you subscribe to this blog and to my newsletter list. More importantly, make sure you read everything, because the kind of information you get here is not what you’ll find elsewhere.

Speaking of resources, today is the last day the University of Masters audio class I did with Suzanne Lieurance on killer book proposals and queries will be available free. If you didn’t already done so, please download it now.

I’m back from the Advance publishing conference, and it was wonderful! Got to meet lots of new people–authors, agents, and publishers–and see what the different publishers were up to. Saw a screening of a new movie based on one of my favorite
novels (The Last Sin Eater) by one of my favorite novelists (Francine Rivers).

The next issue of the “Your Book Publishing Coach” newsletter will contain articles based on some of the ideas stimulated by the conference, such as the no-no’s of contacting a publisher, how fiction authors can get publicity, why blogging is such a great marketing tool for writers, and an answer to the question, Are book signings worth your time?

If you haven’t already subscribed to the newsletter, you might want to subscribe now, so that you won’t miss any of these valuable articles.

Finally, on Monday I will be taking down the link to the free University of Masters class Suzanne Lieurance and I did on Writing Winning Queries and Book Proposals, so if you have not yet downloaded it, please do so now.

Have a wonderful weekend!