Archive for News

Dr. Alex Loyd

Tonight is the last teleseminar in the Successful Author Secrets series. And it may well be the linchpin that makes or breaks everything else you may have heard.

It’s been quite a series! I have gleaned so much from all the speakers–great nuggets that can be put into action to make a real difference in my success (and yours, as I pass them on to you).

Tonight, however, may be the most important of them all.

Tonight you’ll find out how to heal whatever it is that’s stopping you from attaining the success you dream of.

If you sense that you are not where you could be, that there’s been something holding you back, then you must take time to listen tonight or tomorrow to the replay.

Without what you’ll learn tonight, you might as well throw out the window anything else you’ve learned. Anything I or anyone else tell you about how to become a successful author will be worthless if you are cut off from the power to use it.

Tonight you’ll find out what it is that cuts you off from that power, and how to unleash it. Read More→

Did you know that one of the best ways that an entrepreneur can stand out from the competition is to write a book?

(It’s what I talk about in my Find Your Publishing Path free teleseminar–path #2 and #3.)

When you’re an author, you have a business card that lasts forever, sharing your message and wisdom with the world. In fact, a book is often your ticket to getting invitations for paid speaking engagements, media attention, information products, higher fees, and a steady stream of clients.

However, writing and marketing a book can be challenging, especially if you don’t know where to begin. Aspiring authors can get bogged down and never finish their books, or, even worse, write a book that no one wants to buy.

I’m really excited about an event happening the month of August, Successful Author Secrets: Navigating the Course from Aspiring Author to Best-seller and Beyond. This ground-breaking program will feature
21 successful authors who will tell you the truth about what it took for them to become successful. Read More→

MasterLeader_3D-IT

Master Leaders: Revealing Conversations with 30 Leadership Greats by George Barna with Bill Dallas

On Thursday, December 10, I conducted a Virtual Book Tour with George Barna on his new book,  Master Leaders: Revealing Conversations with 30 Leadership Greats. I invite you to listen to the replay (if you don’t have a question, feel free to write “none” in the box).

If you’re an author or aspiring author, listen–you ARE a leader! In fact, I asked George a question that was submitted: “Does a leader have to have a published book?” (I’ll let you listen to what he said.)

I grilled George on the most-asked questions about leadership, and his answers were based not only on his own insights, but on the insights gleaned from these 30 other leadership greats.

For instance: Ken Blanchard, Tony Dungy, Newt Gingrich, Henry Cloud, John Ashcroft, Colleen Barrett, Seth Godin, San Chand, Mike Huckabee, Laurie Beth Jones, Patrick Lencioni, Ben Carson … the list goes on.

Sign up to  get a free sample of the book and listen to the replay. There is also a very special bonus only those who listen to the VBT will know about (and it’s a limited time offer).

George Barna is founder of The Barna Group, a research and resource
firm whose clients grange from The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to
corporations such as Ford and Walk Disney, as well as The U.S. Navy and U.S. Army.

George Barna is a prolific author (more than 40 books), but the book we”ll be discussing is what he feels may be one of his best: Master Leaders: Revealing Conversations with 30 Leadership Greats. This is a “leadership conference” in which well-known leaders from all walks of life cover the gamut of leadership topics, from defining leadership, developing leaders, team building, dealing with criticism and pressure, so much more.

I sure hope you’ll take an hour or so and listen in–George gave a lot of great nuggets such as “you get what you tolerate” and “we hire for attitude, we train for skill.” Ponder those for a while. The interview, and of course the book, is full of these golden nuggets.

Get this information now, okay?

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.

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Jun
05

New Magazines Still Emerging

Posted by: Diane | Comments (0)

There are still some new magazines starting up, believe it or not. Take a look.

(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.

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Mar
05

Must Authors Become Entrepreneurs?

Posted by: Diane | Comments (1)

Two very thought-provoking articles I’d like you to read.

First, Alex Mandossian’s blog post on “A Brief History Of The Entrepreneurial Revolution.” It keys off of some words President Barack Obama declared in his February 24th State of the Union Address: “The future of our economy relies on the imagination of our Entrepreneurs.”

I found the post very interesting.

After you read what Alex says, go read “Why You Have to be An Entrepreneurial Author” by David Hancock.

Then tell me what you think. Do authors need to be entrepreneurs in the New Era of Publishing?

Categories : News
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One of the key aspects of what I call “New Era Publishing” is to provide content in more than one format, so that the author’s message can be consumed in the ways the consumer chooses. “Your content on their terms” is how Paul Colligan puts it.

Publisher Thomas Nelson just announced a new program called NelsonFree, which “allows readers to receive content in multiple formats—physical book, audiobook and e-book—without making multiple purchases.” With NelsonFree, the price of the hardcover book includes both the audio download and the e-book, available in several formats, including EPub, MobiPocket and PDF.

Once readers purchase a book with the NelsonFree logo, they are directed to a Web site where they register and answer a security question. They then can download an audio MP3 file and choose the format of e-book.

Interestingly, Joel Miller, v-p and publisher, business and culture, said Nelson will not raise the price of hardcovers in the NelsonFree program. “I only see the price going up if a particular project has unique added expenses in producing the audio and digital books,” Miller said.

Nelson president and CEO Michael S. Hyatt said, “I believe that the industry is shifting and we, as publishers, need to explore new methods of getting our content into the hands of customers. NelsonFree will give readers a new level of value and flexibility. It will enhance their literary experience and allow greater employment of the content without breaking the bank.”

I applaud Nelson for being proactive here and leading the way. As an author’s advocate, I can’t help but wonder, do authors get any added royalties for the digital content? My guess is not, if the publisher is not charging extra.

On the other hand, making the content available in many formats should only boost sales and gain an author more exposure and reach. And isn’t that what we want as authors?

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Did you know that the older a boy gets, the more he needs from those who love him?

If you have a boy in your life (son, grandson, nephew, student, someone you’re mentoring), find out why boys are the way they are and how you can come alongside them at any age to help them navigate the choppy waters of the journey to manhood.

Listen to the replay of the Virtual Book Tour with authors Stephen James and David Thomas as they answered questions submitted at www.answersforparentingboys.com. (You can also submit your question; authors will be answering them on their blog.) Find out:

  • why it’s so hard for boys to “sit still and pay attention”–and how to help them learn anyway
  • what the 5 stages of a boy’s development and what they need in each stage
  • how do we deal with a boy’s emotions (anger, crying, etc.)?
  • how do you get a boy to obey?
  • what does a boy need most from his mom? his dad?
  • what is THE most important thing to remember when nurturing a boy?

And much more! Listen and learn how to better nurture the boy in your life.

Categories : News
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Please join me and my guests, Stephen James and David Thomas, authors of the new book, Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys on tonight’s Virtual Book Tour at 5 pm Pacific/6 Mountain/7 Central/8 Eastern.

We will be answering questions submitted at http://www.answersforparentingboys.com. (You can go there even after the VBT to ask a question and listen to the replay. Authors will periodically be answering questions on their blog at http://www.stephenanddavid.com.)

This book is meaty! I have an 18-year-old son myself, and when I started the book, I thought, “Oh, it’s not going to help me, my son is too old.”

Wrong!

One of the key things they say that caught my attention is that, “The older a boy gets, the more he needs from his caregivers.” They flesh that out in very practical ways.

And you know what? I’ve taken taken some of their advice, and it has improved my relationship with my son already.

(You’ll have to tune in to find out the best thing a mom can do to relate to her son … and why I’m still trying to screw up my courage to do this!)

Again, join me by clicking this link at the appointed time. You’ll get to a page with the call-in information and the webcast.

Categories : News
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I just received an email from the publisher of my book, Abundant Gifts (New Hope), which included a a press release from Publisher’s Weekly “about the issues that are sending all publishers back to the drawing board.”

It was entitled, “Worse Publishing Environment May Be On the Way” which summarized an address given by Simon & Schuster president and CEO Carolyn Reidy.

It was pretty gloomy, as the title suggests. Reidy spoke of critical issues facing publishers, including: “significant decrease in retail traffic, less consumer purchasing, a gloomy economic forecast, declining backlist sales, brand name authors continuing to sell but ‘everything else is far off normal levels,’ and retail partners who demand more favorable terms and concessions ‘as if we are the answer to their problems,’” Reidy said. (That would tick me off, too. In my opinion, publishers already give retailers way too much–like complete return privileges. Don’t get me started!)

Other pre-existing problems Reidy enumerated include retailers competing with publishers, low barriers to self-publishing, and “the economics of digital publishing that appear to bring in less revenue.”

This latter puzzles me. I’m not sure what kind of digital publishing she means. Because my experience has been, digital publishing offers more profit margin–by far–than print books. A course taught via teleseminar with perhaps a print Study Guide–all deliverable via instant download, to be listened to when the consumer wants–can fetch a much heftier price than the typical $14.95-24.95 of a print book. And it costs almost nothing to deliver (compared to printing and distributing a printed book).

Yes, publishing is an industry in trouble, but as Reidy points out, it’s been that way for a long time: “Ever since I have been in the publishing business it has been considered an industry in trouble … you could reliably mark your calendar that every few years the mainstream media would run a big thumb-sucking article signaling the end of our days.” Reidy said publishers have met challenges in the past by “adapting to new realities, changing business practices and putting forth their best publishing efforts.”

Reidy told PW that “now we have the chance to actually find the reader where they are spending their time-in front of a screen-and cement a relationship with them through e-mail newsletters, viral marketing, mobile delivery and other tools.” Yes, yes, and yes!

Publishing as we knew it may be dying … but if you look at it as simply a way of getting information out to people who want it, publishing will never die.

In fact, looked at this way, now may be the BEST time to publish and be an author.

You just may have to redefine what “publishing” and “being an author” mean. If publishing means only printing and distributing books … well, that may be in big trouble. But if publishing means “getting information out to people who want it, in the ways they want to consume it, so that a profit can be made”–well, then the possibilities abound!

And if “being an author” means “being enough of an authority that you can garner a following, and serving your followers well by providing truly valuable content that they can consume when and how and where they desire … then this truly is the best time to be an author.

The old publishing model is broken. But so what? As Reidy said, we can adapt to new realities, change business practices and put forth our best efforts, and we can reinvent what publishing means.

I call it the New Era of Publishing. And I for one am nothing but excited about what can come of it … because I’m experiencing firsthand the many things that are working.

More on that later. For now, your comments? Oh, and if you have a question–ask it here. I’m going to address them in my teleseminar on Tuesday night.

Categories : News
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