Wow! What a program. I haven’t said this all year, but unless you had a really good reason for not being there Saturday (like a paid speaking gig or a kidney transplant), you missed an AMAZING program.
Dan Poynter, author of 126 books including the industry bible The Self-Publishing Manual, gave us four solid hours of ideas, insights, and actionable strategies to get your book out of your head and into print. It was like a Bruce Springsteen concert.
For those of you who missed it, my notes in this post are shorter than usual because Dan has graciously posted his entire slide deck on his site. Just follow this link. So the stuff below are what I considered to be the highlights of Dan’s program.
Writing a book…
- Is like giving yourself an advanced degree in your subject
- Makes you an authority
- Gives you exposure and notoriety
- Becomes a profit center – it’s passive income
- Plus, it’s fun to wake up in the morning and see how much money you made while you were sleeping [great movie tie in idea]
- Allows you to charge higher fees
People buy non-fiction for one of two reasons:
- To learn something
- To solve a [specific] problem
Selling books
- Sell your books in the front of the room – let people stare at them the entire time you’re speaking, plus people tend to rush the stage and you want your books to be where you are
- After a speech, let people buy with a self-service form; go by the honor system
- You don’t have to run a store, instead spend time talking to people and answering their questions
General thoughts on book writing
- Do research at a big bookstore; check out your category; find a book you like (design, layout, page color, type size, etc.), buy it, and use it as your model
- eBooks are the future of publishing – do them IN COLOR, because it doesn’t cost you anything to print them
- Packaging matters! Rainbow book = 25,000 copies; Free Stuff for Kids = 500,000 copies and #6 on NYT Bestseller list
- Do an “Afterword” at the end of your book – an encouragement to readers
Getting started – use the Binder System
- Get a 3-ring binder!
- One that has a clear plastic sleeve on the outside to put your cover art and back cover,
- Make sure it has a pocket on the inside for pieces of information, articles, clippings, printouts of research, and things you collect
- Carry it with you EVERYWHERE you go to take advantage of those little bits of time you find in your everyday life to work on your book
- Plus, you never know where that next really great idea for your book is going to come from. Be ready to capture it in your binder.
Dan’s final charge to us was this: “Next year, when I see you at the NSA Convention, will your book still be in your head or under your arm?”
Thank you, Dan!
Happy speaking (and writing),
Steve Hughes
President, NSA St. Louis 2010-11
