For years, Bob has been doing mentoring calls every Wednesday morning called “Breakfast with Bob.” During these calls, he focuses on “inner wealth” issues. I appreciate his spiritual approach.

This summer, he has been letting his listeners in on how he’s developing the content for his new book, coauthored with Mark Victor Hansen. The working title is The Last-Minute Millionaire.

Bob has been sharing some of the exercises in the book, asking us to do them and give him feedback. On this past week’s call, he asked those of us who did the exercise from the week before to comment on what it was like for us. (It was excellent, by the way. Check out the 8/13/08 class.)

As he listened carefully, you could tell he was taking notes. In fact, he really liked something I said, and asked for my name, so maybe he’ll quote me! (That would be the 8/20/08 class. All classes are downloadable.)

It strikes me that this is a wonderful way to write a book. Those of us who have been on the calls are already invested in Bob’s book. We feel like we’ve actually helped write it!

If you’re still developing your book, find ways to get people to help you write your book by giving you feedback and even coming up with their own ideas. You can do this through Ask campaigns and teleseminars, on a blog, in a social networking group like Ning or CollectiveX.

It shows humility to ask people to help you write your book. Bob Allen has that humility, and it’s wonderful to hear. Perhaps “it takes a village” (or as Seth Godin would say, a “tribe“) to write a great book.

Speaking of interaction, I’d welcome feedback on what you might have tried along these lines. Leave a comment below, please.

And stay tuned, because I’m investigating a very cool way to get people into your “tribe.” Plus, I will be unveiling something new I’m launching–next week I hope–that you will want to know about.

“Get published in 6 weeks!”

“Become an Amazon best seller and rake in the publishing deals!”

“We’ll publish your book and get you in all the book store chains.”

“We think your book sounds promising. Forward your manuscript with a $25 (or $50 or $100 or …) reading fee.”

Perhaps you’ve seen these and other promises made to people whose dream has always been to write and publish a book, and even, perhaps, get on the bestseller list.

Promises like these make me angry. I hate it when people prey on other people’s dreams, just to make a buck.

If you are unsure of whether a company or resource you’re considering is credible, I invite you to submit your question here. I will respond if I can with a review of the resource or a private email (depending on whether I want to publicly say anything negative about the said resource).

Many, though not all, of the publishing scams have to do with getting your book published. If you’re considering self-publishing, I highly recommend the book, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing by Mark Levine. Here you’ll find in-depth advice on what to look for in a self-publishing company, as well as the contracts and services of 45 self-publishing companies analyzed, ranked, and exposed.

In my opinion, this book is an indispensable resource.

Also, if you have any information you would like to share, as in your own experience with a product/service, that would be most helpful. I promise you strict confidentiality. Either send me an email (diane at wordstoprofit.com) or submit your question/comment at www.askyourbookpublishingcoach1.com.

If you want to share your question or comment with the world, feel free to comment below.