Author Blog

As an author, many opportunities will present themselves, and within them, negotiations will occur. Speaking opportunities will be provided with trade-offs for fees: exposure, book sales, etc. Some will demand big payments right off the bat. Others will build resources and audience through relationship development. The point is to get your idea out there, so that it can grow to higher and higher levels, more opportunities, higher fees, and widespread credibility.

Geno Church wrote today about the Spinal Tap clip where the guitarist shows off his amp that goes to a volume level of "11." Most amps, as you may or may not know, only go to "10." When asked about why he doesn't just turn his regular amp to "9" and when he needs the extra boost, then turn it to "10," he replies, "But this one goes to "11." The Spinal Tap guy wants something bigger right now. I think many authors feel the same way.

Short term high cash vs. long term raving fans is an equation you'll have to solve on your own. Think about the consequences of both routes.

As with most content, the creator should consider the audience - what they want, why they want it, and why they should get it from you. In the case of speaking, this is more relevant than ever. After all, who wants to be in front of a group of people who don't care about what you're saying? Not me!

Nick Morgan has posted a 9 part series on how to write a great speech. His rule #1? Consider the audience. In fact, audience is considered in each of his 9 tips, making it clear that it's not just the content that is important, but the context of that content, and how to effectively make the bridge between an idea, and people that will absorb and use it. Check out the whole series and polish up your presentations.

From Divine Caroline:

"Odds of writing a New York Times best seller: 1 in 220
Odds of dating a millionaire: 1 in 215"

Seems like penning a best seller isn't so far out of reach!

For those of you who don't feel so confident, try hooking up with a millionaire and you might have a better chance at making the big time. But eventually, that money won't fill the aching hole in your soul to accomplish something, and, realizing that you sold out, will likely spend your remaining years dealing with emotional and addiction problems. But hey, the choice of which path to take is yours!

As previously discussed, and as some of you know personally, working with a publisher has huge advantages over self-publishing. However, it's not necessarily easy to get published. One of the reasons self-publishing has taken off as an industry is the ease for anyone to produce their idea on a limited budget. As many find out though, the challenges arrive when it comes time to getting the book out there.

Forbes wrote an interesting article about how one author dealt with this. Going the self published route initially, she found out how big of a platform she could get out of her idea. This 'evidence' led her to huge results. Check out the article here.

Some people spend years trying to get published while they become frustrated with the industry and their ideas burn out in the process. Others go the self pub route and quickly discover the challenges of moving inventory. Elle Newmark, the author in the article, takes both sides on to make an impact and elevate her to a higher author status.