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“I’m an author. Is podcasting right for me?”

“I’m a business person. How can podcasting fit into my business?”

These are questions many people asked me this week.

After listening to the Podcast Secrets preview call on Wednesday evening, I would say that podcasting is right for a lot of people.

It’s right for an author who has a book and wants to reach a wider audience. One of the things Paul mentioned was how fast the market is growing of people who buy and use portable media players. One-third of this audience is overseas.

Maybe all these people can’t get your book. But if they could benefit from your message, wouldn’t you want to make it available to them to receive how, when, and where they want?

That’s what podcasting does: It makes your message available to people when and how and where they want to listen.

Of course, this is the trend of the future. Paul pointed out that Web 1.0 was about the producer (of information–as in you, the author) making the message available on the producer’s terms (e.g., you have to go to a website). Web 2.0 is all about the producer’s message being available on the consumer’s terms.

Just a Tivo frees people to watch whatever programs they want, whenever, so podcasts allow people to subscribe to your content (podcast) and listen when and how (computer, portable media player) and where they want to.

Ideas for Your Podcast

If you’re an author, or a speaker, you already have content. You can (more…)

You know I’ve been talking about how podcasting can help build awareness of your expertise, whether your book is published yet or not.

And you know I’ve been recommending the Podcast Secrets course and the Preview call (which is TONIGHT by the way).

Well, I now have a way to get you set up with your own podcast, very soon, very quickly, at no extra cost to you (I’m footing the setup fee).

You will not need to know any technical details of how to set things up–all that’s taken care of for you.

All you’ll need to do is talk into a telephone about what you know for 30 minutes per week.

This is also set up to bring in income for you.

Go here to find out how it all works.

There’s a special bonus when you sign up for the Podcast Secrets Preview call, which is TONIGHT. I got you a VIP discount. (Don’t worry if you can’t listen to the live call, if you sign up you will get the replay link, and my special bonuses still apply.)

You won’t believe how easy and fun podcasting is until you try it. I hope you will.

Please act now.

This podcast will enlighten any parent or educator who cares about the self-esteem of children and wants to see them learn as fully as possible.

On my Books ‘n’ Such podcast on the ReviewYak channel, I interviewed Dr. Kathy Koch, the Founder and President of Celebrate Kids, Inc., in Fort Worth, TX.

In this lively interview, we discussed her book, How am I Smart? A Parent’s Guide to Multiple Intelligences. You’ll find out how to identify these in your children (and perhaps yourself as well), how to deal with behavioral issues in light of these 8 “smarts,” how to use them to help your child succeed in school and find direction in life … and a lot more.

If you publish with a print-on-demand publisher (who more than likely is using Lightning Source to print the books), things are about to change–and that could end up costing you more to self-publish.

Amazon is telling publishers that if they want to sell their books on amazon.com, they will have to use their print-on-demand printer, BookSurge.

It smacks of strong-arm tactics to get people to use their services, though Amazon cites increased efficiency as the reason: “By using machines that are located in its own fulfillment centers, Amazon can have a title ready for shipment quicker than if it needs to wait for a book to be shipped to its facility. The extra time will permit Amazon to ‘marry’ a title with another product that will be shipped in the same box, in most cases hitting Amazon Prime shipping times,” Publisher’s Weekly reports.

Amazon states that if publishers do not want to use BookSurge for print-on-demand (pod), they can still sell their titles through Amazon’s Advantage Program, “provided they pre-produce five copies of each title that Amazon will stock in its warehouse.” Publishers can also use Amazon’s third party marketplace option to list titles. Amazon is not requiring that pod titles be printed exclusively through BookSurge (though their links won’t work on the Amazon site if they don’t).

So what does this mean for anyone who is self-publishing? As Mark Levine, founder of Mill City Press, says on his website, it’s not that big a deal. It’s mostly a pain for the self-publishers, who will have to keep accounts at both BookSurge and Lightning Source. Yes, they may have to pass those costs on to the author, but that’s the way it may be.

As Levine notes, however, “Officially, nothing but threats from Amazon have actually happened. … Message boards are filled with calls for protest and revolution. That may cause a backlash against Amazon that makes it reconsider its publishing-Gestapo approach.”

We’ll see, I guess. Stay tuned. And weigh in on this–feel free to comment!

I’m a big proponent of making your content available through many kinds of media, not just books (which are the most valuable but least profitable, much to my sorrow.)

What are your options?

One is to “repurpose” your content into a higher-priced package of some sort.

Many people flinch at this option. The thought of putting together a huge course or a big DVD package that they can sell for $100 or more sounds like a ton of work.

However, in Jimmy D. Brown’s usual way, he’s found a way to help authors earn more with their (more…)