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Why?

Because I heard a great interview by the author on the radio. I knew I had to get his book.

Alex Mandossian often said, “You don’t make money writing books, you make money explaining books.”

Test it for yourself.

Think about the last time you bought a book. Wasn’t it either because someone recommended it, or because you somehow heard the author talking about it and it seemed interesting to you?

Notice too the viral element. I’m telling you about it, and word is going out via my blog, emails, Twitter, Facebook. All because of one interview! (And no, I do not work for the publisher. They don’t know I’m doing this, but I would love a review copy, hint hint!)

Check out my past Virtual Book Tours and see if you’re not at least tempted to get one of the books. Just browse the left-hand column for an author or topic that interests you. I’ve got lots of topics to choose from, from leadership to parenting to health. www.virtualbooktourexpert.com

The book, by the way, is Richard Swenson’s In Search of Balance: Keys to a Stable Life. I took notes on the interview, and can’t wait to read the book. It’s a topic I’ve been thinking about a lot, and Dr. Swenson’s other book, Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, was excellent. Life-changing, really (though I admit, I need to go back to it).

Why is a topic for another blog post….

However, there’s a right and a wrong way to do this.

Wrong way: Add a general comment that means nothing, just to get a link. Also bad: commenting on blogs that have nothing to do with your topic.

I regularly get comments such as this one, which just came in today: “wow i didn’t think of that! thanks for sharing your knowledge ” It was in response to the post, “”It’s a New Era in Publishing–Are You Ready?” but the commenter was from the  Asia Pacific Network Information Centre and I knew it was just a ploy to get a link. (Or worse. Who can keep up with all the nefarious Web activity out there?)

Fortunately, with Wordpress you can moderate the comments. I called this Spam. He will never get my link!

Right way: Make an intelligent comment (or just a sincerely nice one) on a blog that speaks to the same audience you do. The blog owner will be more than happy to add your comment, and you may get someone visit your site. At the least, you’ll get a relevant link to your site, which will help in the search engine ranking.

If you like this post (or any other here), leave me a good comment, and I’ll be happy to help you get traffic!

J

I was very impressed with the way they are going about the launch, which you can view here. Please view it in your browser after reading this post, and you’ll have an example of what I consider to be a “book launch” with panache–something you can model for your own.

What I like about it is, first, it’s not full of hype. Even the clean look of the site adds to this feel.  (The actual topic is incredible enough, it doesn’t need any more hype. This truly works–I’ve tested it for 3 years,  my own testimonial can be viewed here, and I’ve seen it work wonders with many, many other people as well–including my 78-year-old mother.)

Second, they give you a couple of free videos whether you buy anything or not. Yes, they are building their mailing list, but with integrity. The videos add to the value of the book  (and yes, the desire to get it) in an honest way. (The Dr. Bruce Lipton video is in 7 parts, at least 70 minutes long.)

Third, you get truly valuable bonuses: access to a teleconference series, “Secrets of Dynamic Living,” as well as other bonuses. Classy bonuses, related to the book’s topic, from people who truly know about The Healing Code and want to promote it. Not a bunch of no-value bonuses from everyone under the sun.

So check out the launch page, buy the book, enjoy the bonuses.

And if you want to read an excerpt, you can do that here. Note: If you missed out on the launch, you may still get the book and the bonuses, but only here (my special, which includes free shipping and bonuses of my own, as well as the ones offered on launch day).

Just today I came across an article about using a blog to sell a novel. And I thought the idea was “novel” and worth passing on as an example of a “new era publishing” strategy. (However, I must say, the editor in me wanted to take a red pencil to the author’s writing! I see more and more of this sloppy writing online. Sigh.)

I’d love to hear back from anyone who tries this or a similar “new era publishing” strategy. Comments please!

Although the Virtual Book Tour Preview Call is past, you can still listen to the replay. It was almost 3 hours long, so you’ll get lots of great training!

Here’s some of what you’ll learn if you sign up and listen to the replay:

• 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!

(Note: This was a Preview Call for the Virtual Book Tour Secrets course, and the deadline is past to sign up for that. However, for more information about how Virtual Book Tours work, and for help with yours, you can visit www.virtualbooktourexpert.com.)

(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.

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.

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.

(Thanks to Bill Soller, Publicity Guru, for this link. He’s an interesting guy to follow on Twitter, by the way. If you haven’t gotten my free report on Mastering Twitter in 10 Minutes or Less, do so now–and follow me and Bill!)

Two things I notice about these, summed up in two words: partnership and specialization. Reminds me of the guest article by Jimmy D. Brown….

What do you observe? Post your comments, please.

You can’t switch on any kind of media, surf the Web, go to the grocery store, or drive your car from one place to another without being bombarded with messages.

The trouble is, you as an author or business person–someone with a message–also need to get YOUR message across, don’t you?

So how do you get YOUR message across in a world that is absolutely saturated with messages?

How do you make sure YOU’RE HEARD above the din?

I believe there is a very effective way to get people to listen and even buy what you have to offer. But it means embracing a new approach.

You’ll find out what that is in the article, “Cutting Through the Noise So You Can Be ‘Well Heard.”

But this week, I have even MORE for you than the article.

My second offering is

actually a call Russell Cox, Bonnie Dubrow and I did as a “pre-class” call for our new course, “Design Your Village.”

This course will start next Thursday, June 11, and the way Russell likes to teach is by having “pre-class” calls to orient people to the content.

So, this week’s Publishing Coach Weekly teleseminar will be a replay of that class.

It’s in two parts, only about half an hour all together.

It will give you more ideas and action steps for how to do what I talk about in the article.

You may remember Russell from the last PCW interview, in which we talked about how to develop your audience. (You can listen to the replay of that here.)

This call is something of a follow up, in that once you know what your message is, the question becomes, what do people do when they come into your orbit? What’s the glue that will hold them together into what you want–a community built around your ideas?

So this week’s PCW offers a lot of good content to chew on. Please take some time to read and listen.

And if the Design Your Village class sounds like a good fit for you at this time, remember there’s an early-bird special going on through Monday. (More about that here: http://www.designyourvillage.com.)