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If you missed last night’s Virtual Book Tour with New York Times best-selling author Dinesh D’Souza on his book, What’s So Great about Christianity, you can listen to the replay at your convenience.

These are just some of the questions (gleaning the most-asked questions from the nearly 700 submitted by believers, atheists, and agnostics) that Dinesh answered:

• “Why is Christianity under such attack nowadays?”
• “Believing in God/Christianity requires a disconnect from science and reality. Science has all but proven that all of the theistic accounts for creation are in error. What is the best scientific proof for God?”
• “How is Christianity compatible with Western thought and Democracy, and how compatible is it with socialism?”
• “Though it’s true that Christianity has inspired great movements in the arts, writing and architecture fields, it has also inspired a lot of scorn the world over, in the shape of the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, the various wars in Ireland, The Balkans, Europe and the Middle East. So I ask you, how can you still endorse a faith that has inspired so much hatred, bigotry and murder in the history of humanity?”
• “Just what is it that seems to draw people toward unbelief, or away from belief?”
• “How do you account for evil in this world if God is good and all powerful?”

Dinesh, who regularly debates atheists such as Christopher Hitchens and (on December 3) Peter Singer from Princeton U, is not afraid to tackle the tough questions. Listen to the replay of our interview … and feel free to comment on this blog.

I thought you might like the information about tonight’s Virtual Book Tour with New York Times best-selling author and master debater, Dinesh D’Souza, on his book,  “What’s So Great about Christianity.”

Nearly 700 questions have come in from all around the world from believers, atheists, and agnostics alike (judging from the questions). We will answer as many as we can in 60-70 minutes.

Here’s the info:

DATE: Tuesday, November 18,2008

TIME: 5pm PACIFIC /6 pm MOUNTAIN/7pm CENTRAL /8pm EASTERN(time/date converter link)

WEBCAST and info link with call-in info (listen via computer–no long-distance charges; replay available immediately after.) If you have trouble dialing in (phone lines are limited), use the webcast.

And remember, if you can’t make this live call/webcast, the recording will be made available afterward (but you have to be signed up at http://www.askaboutchristianity.com to get the notification.)

Hope our paths cross there!

Next Tuesday, I will be conducting a Virtual Book Tour with New York Times best-selling author, Dinesh D’Souza, author of What’s So Great about Christianity. Tyndale, the publisher of the new paperback edition, is hiring me to do this. (You’re invited, of course! Ask a question, sign up at http://www.askaboutchristianity.com.)

How did I learn how to do Virtual Book Tours?

Through master trainer and inventor of Virtual Book Tours, Alex Mandossian.

Virtual Book Tours are only one kind of teleseminar Alex teaches. There are many other forms and purposes for teleseminars, all of which can help authors and business people build a platform, sell more books, stay in touch with their audience, and even create new products at the speed of sound. Not to mention, turn a very nice profit!

Alex will be teaching his premier course, Teleseminar Secrets, in December. Before the training begins, he will be holding a Preview Call. I got you a VIP discount for that call.

Here’s what I’d like you to do:

1. Read my new Publishing Coach Weekly article on “5 Ways to Use Teleseminars to Build an Author Platform–Before or After Your Book is Published.”

2. Ask your question about teleseminars. I’ll be answering them on next week’s Publishing Coach Weekly call.

3. Sign up for Alex Mandossian’s Teleseminar Secrets Preview call on December 4 at http://www.teleseminarsecretspreview.com. When you do, you will also be eligible for my 1-hour+ follow-up strategy call focusing specifically on what you learned from the Preview Call and how it relates to being (or becoming) an author. This will also prepare you to get the most out of the Teleseminar Secrets course itself, should you take it. (And I highly recommend you do.)

So go here now to read the article and get all the details.

If you’ve been reading my articles and blog posts, you know that I think this is a great time to be an author.

There are so many wonderful tools and opportunities to promote books that weren’t there before to create success as an author.

In addition, the Internet and other technology has allowed us authors and aspiring authors to actually make a huge profit from the information we have to share with the world.

Whereas before, we could only hope for 10-15 percent of “net” royalties from a publisher (if we were so lucky as to be published), now we can not only self-publish and keep ALL the profit, we can also deliver our content in a variety of other ways.

Just about all of these alternative ways–teleseminars, membership sites, articles, ebooks, multi-media home study courses, etc.-have a much greater profit margin than printed books.

You would do well to consider these new methods of getting your message into the world.

I’d like to recommend you take a 2-minute quiz to start you on this path. It’s an Electronic Marketing quiz put together by one of my colleagues, Alex Mandossian, who is an amazing marketer and one of the best trainers I’ve ever come across.

When you take this quiz, you will receive a customized analysis of your current starting point. You will also begin to receive some free training on marketing that is very worthwhile.

So take this quiz and go from there. Don’t worry, in the coming days and weeks I’ll be helping you put the things you’ll be learning into the context of being an author and getting your message into the world in ways that could very well change your life (as they did mine).

Just click here to take the 2-minute quiz now.

I have been a fan of Simpleology for several years now.

When I use it, it doubles my productivity. If you haven’t investigated it yet, I encourage you to check it out. It’s free, fun, and it works!

But I’m writing now about something new from Mark Joyner, who created Simpleology. (I think Mark Joyner has a real gift for boiling things down to the most valuable essence, and then communicating it clearly. See if you agree.)

It’s about the only four investments you will ever need to make (in good times and bad).

Can you guess what they are?

If your mind starts racing with answers, you’re not alone. Recently over 668 people placed a guess at what they were and the answer will be revealed on the 6th.

Check to see if you agree with the folks by clicking here.

Now here’s another question …

If you know the four areas to invest in, how do you do it?

(The answer to this holds the key to just about anything you want.)

The good news is, anyone can do it.

… young, old …

… wealthy or poor…

It doesn’t matter. It applies to everyone, including YOU.

Curious?

Learn more about what’s brewing here. I think you’ll be fascinated.

(Special note: This blog is a goldmine for authors. You must at least read the November 1 post AND ESPECIALLY the comments. I will be revealing why and how it’s a goldmine, soon.)

If you were unable to attend the Virtual Book Tour last night on Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands: Lessons in Non-Linear Leadership, the replay is now available here.

It was great! We had people from all over the world ask questions and attend, and Nancy answered as many questions as we could cover in an hour.

You can listen online, or download the mp3 file to your computer or portable media player. If you want to download it, please right click the “download now” link, rather than the “Podcast Now” link–it will work better for you.

There’s even a special bonus for those who get the book (of course!).

Just a quick reminder: On Tuesday night, October 28, I will be interviewing Nancy Ortberg in a Virtual Book Tour to discuss her book, Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands: Lessons in Non-Linear Leadership.

The cool thing is, you get to ask Nancy a question ahead of time! Just go to http://www.asknancyortberg.com and you’ll get to sign up, ask a question (or not), get the call-in details and see how these Virtual Book Tours work! You’ll also be able to download the first two chapters of Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands: Lessons in Non-Linear Leadership free when you sign up, so you can get a taste of the book right away.

I recently sent Nancy’s book to Seth Godin, author of Tribes, another inspiring book about leadership. The other day he wrote back to thank me, and said he’d already bought a copy right before my book came. (I told him I’d send him a book for commenting on my blog, but didn’t tell him which one.)

So–Seth Godin thinks Nancy Ortberg is worth reading, and you will, too! It’s a terrific book. Great stories and insights. Make sure you get a copy, and if you can, listen to the Virtual Book Tour. If you can’t make the live event, you can always listen to the replay. You’ll get the link when you sign up.

(And you too will get a free book if you comment on my blog.)

If you’re an author or aspiring author, have you ever considered that you are a leader? As I mentioned in my recent Publishing Coach Weekly article, the real job of a successful author is to lead. Lead people toward your vision, lead people to interact with your ideas and do something about them.

Since you’re already a leader (author means authority), I believe you will be interested in attending the Virtual Book Tour with Nancy Ortberg next Tuesday evening. I’ll be asking Nancy Ortberg YOUR questions on leadership and how to unleash leadership potential in yourself or others.  We have dozens of questions already from all over the world!

I believe Nancy Ortberg’s “lessons in non-linear leadership” will inspire you. Nancy is a great storyteller as well, and I’ll be asking her to share some of her great stories during our interview. Storytelling is also something all authors need to do well–another benefit you will glean from listening to this VBT.

Nancy’s book is called Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands and you’ll get a free sample chapter when you sign up for the Virtual Book Tour at http://www.asknancyortberg.com. Even if you don’t have a question, or can’t make the live call next Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. Eastern, you’ll get the link to the replay afterward to listen to at your convenience.

There’s a fascinating and thoughtful article on “Why I Blog” by Andrew Sullivan, a senior editor of the Atlantic. (Thank you, Terry Whalin, for pointing this out.)

Sullivan’s thoughts on how blogs are an emerging literary form all their own are fascinating. Particularly interesting to me is his contrast between blogging and what he refers to below as “the alternative” and I call “old era publishing”:

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One of my passions is to warn you of people, companies and products to avoid because they are scams.

There are lots of people who prey on the desire that so many of us have–to get our ideas out of our hearts and heads and into the world. Usually via a book (although, I keep trying to say, there are now many other ways of getting our messages out).

Anyway, I just discovered a great new blog, and of course, I just linked to it. It’s called Writer Beware. These wonderful folks are doing a great service, pointing out scams and intelligently showing why they are scams.

Bravo to Victoria Strauss, Richard White, and A.C. Crispin for a great-looking blog that provides a valuable service. Do check them out.