New Rules of Book Publishing — Platform. Publish. Promote.

eBook Evolution

by Carole Brown

Why is it so hard to get an eBook done?

If you’re like me, the thought of writing an eBook may seem a daunting task, the idea of making it look good may seem insurmountable, and marketing it may seem impossible.

Kelly Kingman and Pamela Wilson have teamed up to help us overcome all three of those fears.

Listen as they tell us how to write it, how to make it look gorgeous, and how to get the word out so that people will know about it:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

What exactly is eBook Evolution?

Kelly sums it up:

eBook Evolution is your all-in-one eBook creation and launch toolkit. Pamela and I have met so many entrepreneurs that want to write and potentially sell eBooks but the current production and marketing options don’t work for them. They don’t want to use the old direct-response copywriting tricks to squeeze people into buying their eBook, but they want to sell it. They don’t have the resources to hire a great designer but want their eBook to look professional and stand out from the pack.

Creating great-looking eBooks in a snap and using relationship-based marketing to sell them? That’s eBook Evolution.

eBook Evolution helps you with:

eBook Creation: Pamela has used her 24+ years of publication design experience to create the eBook Evolution templates with OpenOffice Writer that anyone can use to create gorgeous eBook layouts, and she’s also putting together the Cover Recipe Book: step-by-step instructions on how to re-create 20 cover designs.

eBook Writing and Launch: In addition to including the Sticky eBook Formula, I’ve written the all-new eBook Evolution Launch Guide which shows you how to be successful on your own terms, without the old hard-sell approach.

So if you want to create eBooks, worksheets and manifestos without having to hire someone and you like the new marketing paradigm, you’ll want to opt-in here to get all the launch love.

It’s available today at a great introductory price, but don’t wait, the price is going up on Thursday.

Pamela Wilson of the Big Brand System believes that no one is more passionate about marketing a small business than the owner of that business. With some basic training, anyone can learn enough to craft effective and beautiful marketing materials that reach out and grab the attention of the market they want to sell to. Follow @pamelaiwilson on Twitter.

Listen to Pamela’s first interview about designing ebooks (2 parts)

Kelly Kingman is the author of the Sticky Ebook Formula. She thrives on working with “ideapreneurs” — coaches, consultants, bloggers, authors — who are in the process of making a big, positive impact in their respective fields. She helps them polish, shape and strengthen their ideas to make them stickier in any form they take. Follow @kellykingman on Twitter

Listen to Kelly’s interview about writing ebooks

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Your Monsters Don’t Want You to Write

by Alexia Petrakos · 1 comment

in Writer's Blocks

[Guest post by Alexia Petrakos]

Writing isn’t safe.

At least, writing stuff that really matters isn’t.

And the monsters in your (my) head don’t want you to be un-safe.

(Which is why it’s taken me weeks to write this.)

You could fight the monsters or ignore them like some people say.

Ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away, and the warrior method to dealing with monsters doesn’t seem kind, gentle or productive. Have you ever tried fighting through writer’s block? Every time I fight I end up not writing for a very long time.

Those monsters, that resistance in your head is part of you. They might have started outside you, but now they’re there.

Your first grade teacher may have scolded you for using blue for leaves instead of green and the rest of the class laughed at you. So now every time you step out of the norm your monsters stop you from being unique. Or your mom patted your head and said “how cute” to a 3×5 card village you spent hours and hours on, so every time you try to create something new, you quit or diminish your creativity because it’s just a hobby or just “cute” and not real.

All those voices become part of you as you grow.

So since they’re part of you, why be so violent?

I learned in kindergarten to use my words instead of hitting. So now I write out conversations with my monsters to figure out why they’re doing what they are and how to get past the block.

Ask your monsters “Why” and “what if…” questions. Things like “What if I did write this thing. What’s the worst that could happen?” Or “What if I did things your way and didn’t write?” Explain what you need, ask what they need.

Monsters will be loud, obnoxious and scary because they know that attracts attention. What if you weren’t impressed with their show and talked to them about what you want and how it would make you feel to write/draw/paint/teach/whatever?

Patience, talking, asking questions and listening go a long way with people who just want to be understood and it’s no different with your monsters. Next time you have writer’s block (or you have a string of monsters between your words and your pen), try talking to those monsters.

Alexia Petrakos is the co-founder of Monster Journals. If you want some help talking to your monsters, we have a few things to help! Since we think journaling is a great way to converse with your monsters, we created some journals (and rubber stamps!) to facilitate those conversations. Follow @alexiapetrakos on twitter

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Four Big Ways Authors Can Use Facebook

November 17, 2010

Hi. Grandma Mary here. Thanks so much Carole, for having me back on your lovely blog. I’ve been cooped up on my own site for too long! I have had the pleasure of doing a post here recently about Four Big Ways Authors Can Use Twitter. For those of you who don’t know me, I have [...]

Read the full article →

When to Keep Your Mouth Shut

October 25, 2010

I know, we live in a free-for-all, let it all hang out, be transparent social media world where anonymous commenters hurl flaming arrows of ugliness across the web. It’s very easy to respond to one of these comments with your own sarcastic response to prove your prowess in this realm. Face it, we like to [...]

Read the full article →

Making Friends With My Monster

October 22, 2010

You know that voice you hear that tells you to just give up your dream, that you can’t possibly be successful, that it will never work anyway? That’s your monster. We all have them. They are always whispering to us to give up, be quiet, don’t rock the boat, and an endless cacophony of other other advice [...]

Read the full article →

The Challenge: Published book by November

September 9, 2010

Last week I was hired to be the keynote speaker for a large annual conference in Indiana. Now, the really cool reason that I got this gig is because I have spent about a year building my author platform with my blog Ecosystem Gardening, my Facebook fanpage, my twitter account, and networking with other people. One of [...]

Read the full article →

Bad Design is Not Good for Your Business

July 27, 2010

We’ve talked before about the importance of good design for your books, and what the elements of good design are. These elements include not only your books, but also every element of your author platform, from your blog, your Twitter page, your Facebook page, and to your offline marketing materials as well. When I began [...]

Read the full article →

5 Things Trail Running Can Teach You About Focus

July 26, 2010

[Guest post by Yolanda Facio] Okay, so you’re probably thinking what in the hell does running have to do with focus, right? And, you’re probably wondering what trail running has to do with publishing a book! But we all need to practice good focus… I admit I would have thought the idea of focus and [...]

Read the full article →

How to Find Inspiration by Looking For It

July 8, 2010

[Guest Post by Stacey Curnow] First action, then inspiration ~ those are the words that drive me whenever I am looking for that elusive muse called inspiration. I’ve learned that if I show up first, whether it’s at my computer, a meeting, or a workout, she will most likely show up too. After all, one [...]

Read the full article →

Stuck in the Dip

July 1, 2010

What do you do when you feel like your platform has stopped growing? You’ve got a sinking feeling that no matter what you do it simply doesn’t matter anymore. You’ve peaked, and you feel like maybe you should just quit. You look at your blog stats (remember I said to stop making yourself crazy with [...]