I spent some time with Bob Bare of BestSellingExperts.TV while at the Author 101 University here in Las Vegas last month.

Bob reached out to me to be part of his interview series of Best Seller Book Experts.

Here’s the finished product

Author 101 University is a must attend event for authors who are serious about making it in publishing.

I’ve told Rick Frishman that the “101” title is misleading. This has become a networking event that we go back to again and again.

The next one is March 3-6 in LA. I’ll be shooting video segments for my TV show.

Time will be tight, so I’m giving priority to my readers. You do have to be attending Author 101. If not, we’ll have other opportunities announced here in the future.

To get on the schedule, leave a comment below and let me know you’ll be there.

Author 101 is Sold Out

Last I heard, the event is sold out. Publishers, agents, book marketing professionals and authors gathering like this has a tendency to draw a crowd fast.

If you don’t have a ticket, but want to come and be in a video. let me know. I may be able to get a ticket. (leave a comment with your and I’ll email you privately).

Guest post by Geri Schneider Winters, Wyyzzk, Inc.

Marketing your own book is a necessity, especially when you are published by a "real" publisher. This is a lesson I learned the hard way.

In late 1996, I was asked to teach a class on a specific technique for writing software requirements. The students loved the class, and asked me if there was more information on the topic. At that time, there was not. Someone said, "Will you write a book for us on this topic?"  So I said yes!  I talked to a friend who had published a software book, and when he found out the topic, he got really excited. His publisher (a top publisher of software books) was looking for a book on exactly that topic! My friend introduced me to the publisher, and a book was born.
And so, by a very lucky sequence of events, I was a published author of a best selling book with the top publisher for the industry  There were no other books on that topic for 3 years, and the topic was hot.

I knew nothing. I thought the publisher would take care of everything. So there I was riding the top of a great wave, and I did nothing about it. No marketing, no followup, no promotions, no speaking engagements. No method for finding out who was purchasing my book.

The publisher promoted the book for a while, primarily by sending notices to book sellers and text book salesmen. But over time, they had other, newer titles to promote.  And because I knew nothing, my contract drastically limits my options as to what I can do myself.

Fast forward to 2005, and I had become interested in marketing and promoting my business. Over several years, I learned all kinds of things about how to promote my self as an expert. Warren taught me the things I should do as an author.  And I have been kicking myself these last several years for not doing this earlier.

You see at this point, I am trying to build a market, when 10 years ago, I had one.  I gave up all the advantages of being an author, and it is really hard to bring that back.  People want to know "What have you done for me lately?", not what did I do over 10 years ago. If I contracted with a publisher today, I would retain rights to e-books, books on tape, or at least be able to give away sample chapters.

Once my book is out of print, I can apply to recover the copyright and do anything I want to with it. But the book is still in print and still selling a hundred copies or so a year. So chances are, by the time I get the copyright back, no one will be interested in the topic.

I have also learned that books stay in print far longer than I ever thought. I have to consider 10 years or more of demand for my books, and consider how I will satisfy the demand for the book, as well as follow on products and services.  And that means I have to know who buys the book.

What am I doing today? I wrote another book last fall, and am testing it on a few people in my market.

I have some refinements planned based on feedback, and have some nice quotes from reviewers. When I am happy with the book, I will create a full marketing plan for it, along with plans for follow up products and services. Will I go with a regular publisher? I have not yet decided. I will be looking a lot more carefully at my options, and making sure that any contract I sign gives me the flexibility to promote my new (and future) books. Because now I know the publisher will not do it.
Warren’s advice in this area is priceless. He has taught me – and many, many other people – what to do to avoid the mistakes I made the first time. I hope I have a great topic again, but I am not going to depend on that. I am going to do the right job with marketing and promotions, and use the book to increase my business.

No doubt you are anxious to share your message with everyone you meet and talk about your baby.  You have an emotional bond with your book, your topic and are excited to share it.

Authors love their books.

Readers aren’t like you. They have motivations and emotional triggers and their own goals. You and you book are not at the top of their lists.

So How Do You Get Their Interest?

In all your book marketing, social media, interviews and interactions with readers, make it about them.

Sally Hogshead, wrote a book explaining how to be fascinating. FASCINATE: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation

I just finished reading Sally’s book and have dozens of questions for her whenever I get a chance to do an interview. She’s an expert on her topic and I imagine could produce more content, talk for hours and fascinate you with what she knows.

However, on Sally’s Blog, there are interviews with other authors that would be on interest to anyone wanting to know more about persuasion and fascination.

Sally marketing is for her readers. Provides information that readers will love and draws you in with an appeal to your emotional needs, not hears.

Your Appeal To Readers Emotions

Watch Sally’s video below. It’s a short and simple interview with best selling author Scott Stratton about UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.

This short interview asks questions that would interest readers of Fascinate, and focuses on a message Scott is sharing.

Scott practices this too. The interview is not “why buy my book” or him. His answers are directed to the subject, from the hear and great advice for any author.

Watch for the information. Watch for the method and think about how you might go beyond selling your book and think about what appeals to your readers emotions.

No matter what topic you write about, putting it in terms that your readers want to hear will always have more appeal.

These three are strong buying motives. When you talk about your book, write descriptions, advertising copy or get interviewed about your book, keep in mind that potential readers are more interested in the outcome they can get from reading than the contents of your book.

When you speak in terms of a positive outcome for them, you’ll be much more likely to get attention, interest and sales from the conversation. Putting your best foot forward is stating benefits in the way your reader wants to hear.

Make sure you state the benefits in a way that covers one of these three whenever you can

Make Money

Can your readers or clients get more money if they follow your advice?  Tell them.

Don’t assume they know this… spell it out.

“reading this blog will give you specific advise to sell more books, and convert readers into buyers”

Be as specific as you can. Tell the story of a successful outcome of a past reader or client.

“One author I worked with used his book to land a million dollar consulting contract”

Most everyone wants more money. If you have a business topic, this is obvious, but you might also show the dollars and cents someone can get from better health or habits, that they get from reading your book.

Save Money

Making money is attractive. Saving money can be nearly as powerful.

“Using my promotion strategy, one author cut his publicity budget by 65% while landing on a national best seller list and getting three times as many leads in a month”

Again, be as specific as possible. You can make saving money the focus of your book, like Brandi Funk did with “Cut Your Health Care Cost Now” where she sites examples of people getting massive discounts on hospital bills, and provides resources for any family wanting quality health care at an affordable price.

You can use save money in many ways. Staying fit reduces medical costs. Motivation make you more productive, saving time and money.

Better Life

Regardless of how much money someone can make or save, the outcome from reading your book, or busying your services will no doubt help someone have a better life.

This is where every author can add value to their books, products or other services.

Once again, don’t assume that people know this. I’ve talked to hundreds of authors who decide to write a book to share their story, give back to the world, or share an important message. When you live the topic, you know how important it can be.. but most of your readers will be buying your book without that experience. Very seldom that someone will purchase thinking they know as much as  you

Spell it out. Make sure your readers know how reading your book or engaging your business will positively affect their lives.

When they know, they’ll be more apt to buy. It’s as simple as that.

While working with authors who have joined our free Facebook page to promote good health, helping people and sharing great books during November, I found some authors are still having trouble with Facebook

That’s because Facebook is NOT a place to sell book directly.. it’s a HUGE RESOUCE for building a network that will help you sell more books than you ever thought possible.

The key to Facebook, social media, and ALL future book marketing and promotion: Today RELATIONSHIPS are more important than transactions.

Think about this.. you go into a bookstore and see a bargain bin. Do you expect to find the best ideas and help there?  NO. Those are the losers. The books that aren’t worth full price.

While some of the old rules of retailing apply to books and information products (i.e., having a sale).. for the most part, the more direct selling an author does, the lower the value of his expertise.

What you want is readers BEGGING FOR HELP and ANXIOUS TO ENGAGE. Social media is perfect for this.. and Facebook is the hands down leader.

So what do you do?

You stop saying “come buy my book” and start building relationships.. it’s as simple as that.

Here’s the action plan:

Start by finding like minded authors. I’ve talked to thousands for non-fiction expert authors over the past decade. Nearly every author I meet understands that their book is like a business card… just the start of relationship.

Finding authors in your niche, or related topics is easy today. Many of them already have a Facebook Page.

For an example.. I’ll use Brandi Funk’s “Cut Your Health Care Costs Now”

You’ll want to join us on this one.. It’s current, it’s gaining momentum fast, and (BIG HINT) It’s the one Warren is working on right now, so you know you’ll get more promotional oomph immediately

Go to Our FACEBOOK PAGE and LIKE the page

Now you are ready to cross promote with our network.

Our partners are posting on blogs, their Facebook pages, their newsletters, Twitter and more about others in the promotion. These tell people about Brandi’s book, and the idea of getting healthy information out this month. So here’s what you do:

1. Post on your blog that you are one of the authors supporting this promotion. You’ll want to mention Brandi’s book and link to the Brandi’s Facebook page.
   It can be a review of the book, a description of the promotion, or short narrative of why you are joining us to promote good health and healthy helpful authors. Anything BUT an ad for your book (we’ll get to that)
2. Tell Facebook and Twitter. Tell your readers, Tell your network.. Tell the world.
3. We will do the same. The traffic you get will be to that post.. and the world will see you are a giver
4. More people come to this page, some buy the featured book and some go back to your gift announcement.

This  publicity is permanent because the links on the web will be left up, indexed by search engines, and found by readers again and again.

Brandi will continue to post health tips here and network with the partners in the program. Soon there will be thousands of LIKEs (fans of the page) and high authority link juice (that’s SEO talk for “Google will like you more”)

When you start promoting like this… Shining the light on others besides yourself, you’ll find plenty of other pages and others to help out. They will be happy to tweet and talk about you AFTER you have done it for them. Simply LIKE their page, comment on their blog, share a link, blog about them or whatever else you can think of to promote their good work (for free and in just a few minutes of your time) and they will LOVE YOU.

Remember. You can get anything you want out of life if you help enough other people get what they want. While it’s normal for you to include your web site with your signature, mention your book or blog in a post, or share a resource that will lead to making you money.. more and more, people are attracted to those who HOLD OFF selling and help others first.

As all of your partners work to build the network. You can create your own Facebook page, cross promote new products, all that marketing stuff… but READERS want to see conversation. Makes sure you start with conversation!

Build the network and you will build your own brand. The next step is ON FACEBOOK

Best selling author David Meeman Scott’s new book will be out next week but as usual, he’s been marketing and promoting it for some time.

Real-Time Marketing and PR: How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now is already a best seller. Readers have been anticipating it because he’s built his tribe of followers and engaged them in many ways over the past few years.

In this video, Scott shows how two companies took advantage of a news event as it happened. When you watch it, think about how you can jump on stories related to your book in real time.

I stopped best selling author Jim Kukral in the hall at Blogworld Expo to get his ideas on how authors can build a business by getting attention.

Jim’s book ATTENTION! This Book Will Make You Money is full of ideas that will help any author get attention for your message and sell more than a few books

I’ve been holding off reading the NY Times Best Seller Conquer the Chaos till I knew I could give it some attention.  Well today, I got thinking that I’m going to see the authors next week and since I wanted to take the afternoon off, I sat down and read the whole thing start to finish.

That was an accomplishment. Every time I read a good business book, my mind goes off in many direction with the ideas that come to me. The best books are the ones that keep my mind racing with ideas.

I knew that would happen with Conquer the Chaos. I’ve been using InfusionSoft for many years and all of the trainings, webinars and speeches from these guys are this inspiring. Sometimes, I sit down to do a task in Infusionsoft and come up with 3 more great ideas.

Today I forced myself to read the whole book. Still, I had to pause and write down two ideas.. one of which will likely add $30,000.00 to sales in the next week.

Should you read this book? Absolutely

Marketing Lessons for Authors

Now, for authors wanting to build an empire. Here are some takeaways from turning your book into a business

1. Think of your book as a business. It is, whether you do or not
2. When you see a brilliant marketing strategy like this, take notes (they were an instant best seller)
3. Tie your book into a lead generation plan for other business
4. Plan on spending more than you make on royalties to promote
5. FOLLOW UP (read more about this in the book.. it’s where my $30k idea came from)

Are you building a business based on your book?

Read Fast Company Article “13 Business Books That Will Blow Your Mind” here

Rich Brooks

President, flyte new media
Portland, ME

Rich listed some of the best books any business person could read. I’ve listed the titles here that are clients or friends (Dale Carnegie and Ayn Rand are the exceptions.. two people I wish I had met)

• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip & Dan Heath
• Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan & Julien Smith
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers by Seth Godin
• Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presenting Design and Delivery 
• Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
• The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century by Thomas L. Friedman
• Crush It! Why NOW is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk
• The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Authors need to have a tribe to read what they write.

Publishers don’t build tribes, they print and distribute books.  This business model has served them well in the past when there were limits on ways authors could reach readers.  All authors and publishers would do well to study Tribes

Seth announced his intentions on his blog

Authors need publishers because they need a customer. Readers have been separated from authors by many levels–stores, distributors, media outlets, printers, publishers–there were lots of layers for many generations, and the editor with a checkbook made the process palatable to the writer. For ten years, I had a publisher as a client (with some fun self-published adventures along the way). Twelve bestsellers later, I’ve thought hard about what it means to have a traditional publisher.

Traditional book publishers use techniques perfected a hundred years ago to help authors reach unknown readers, using a stable technology (books) and an antique and expensive distribution system.

The thing is–now I know who my readers are. Adding layers or faux scarcity doesn’t help me or you. As the medium changes, publishers are on the defensive…. I honestly can’t think of a single traditional book publisher who has led the development of a successful marketplace/marketing innovation in the last decade. The question asked by the corporate suits always seems to be, “how is this change in the marketplace going to hurt our core business?” To be succinct: I’m not sure that I serve my audience (you) by worrying about how a new approach is going to help or hurt Barnes & Noble.

We know that publisher can still serve an author. If you have build a two way dialog with your tribe (say, you are on TV but have never blogged) then a large check from someone betting on your title to click with their distribution is a no-brainer.

Seth has been teaching us to build a tribe for years. Now he’s broke ties with the old model that used to serve him. No doubt he’ll do well.

What’s your strategy to build a two way dialog with your readers?

The following rant is dedicated to my friend Jim Kukral. His new book ATTENION! This Book Will Make You Money will tell you the right way to get attention and you should order a copy right now from Amazon … (go ahead, I’ll wait)… NOW! Then post your full name in the comments below and I will read it to Jim when he comes on Social Media Radio on 8/20… Did you do this yet? … I’m serious, this is the right way to start a dialog with a famous author. Buy his first book before he gets too famous. He will love you for it and remember you later.

I admit it.  I’m an attention seeking, self promoting, Twitter loving maniac.

Will I do ANYTHING for attention? Of course not.

And neither should you.

Talking To Me Like You Know Me (which is okay if you do)

Here’s one that really bugs me lately. I’ve had some very good friends. NAME authors that you’d recognize, include in Tweet, and tag me in NOTES on Facebook. One went as far as to pepper a sales letter disguised as an article with the names of 15 thought leaders and TAGGED each of us. My name appeared with others in one sentence paragraphs like “Don’t you agree? Warren, John, Dick & Harry”

I won’t show you that one. When I contacted the big name guy he promptly fired the real writer and promised to never let anyone fake being him again.

I will show you this.

Several times a day I get spam tweets with little more than my name and a link from someone that does not FOLLOW me and to whom I have absolutely no connection.

The one pictured is is an especially obvious spammer. None of the people mentioned are really being addressed, a BOT put the Twitter handles in to make it appear when you look at the victim’s profile.

I don’t follow beapretz and doubt there such a person. Like I said this one was easy.

How NOT to Be Seen As a Spammer

I also receive dozens of well meaning tweets from people that don’t know me well enough to be asking me for a favor or presenting a personal question like “Want to loose weight?”  Most of these are from some that just wants attention for a new blog post and was taught that adding a bunch of names is like cc’ing the famous people. No, it’s a good way to look like an annoying spammer.

Here’s some tips to keep you out of hot water.

1. Get to know people before even considering asking for a favor. If you tweet anything to me that has @WarrenWhitlock in mentioned, I will bend over backwards to try to find a way to answer and engage in a conversation.
2. Don’t make me bend over backwards. If you tweet “Good morning” “I see you” “Is it hot in Vegas” or an other such greeting I will assume that you want to talk BUT have not idea what you want to talk about. I used to go find a profile, links to blogs, do a Google search or look people up in my customer database. I’m just that crazy about conversations… but most people won’t research to see who is saying “Waz Up” … Make sure you get to the point in one line
3. Be specific. As much as I crave having a conversation with each of the tens of thousand of connections I have online, I get turned off by “Can you give me some feedback on my web site?” and if I’m in a particularly snide mood I will reply with “Here’s my feedback. Don’t promote by asking for feedback” If you really want to know what I think. Ask “Do you like the font on my order form” or something VERY specific. My opinion on your font choice will be just as valid as a “nice site” comment you want and either way, I’m not going to email you a list of tips and suggestions for your site.
   NOTE: I love reviewing sites for clients and writing long emails with punch lists of things I see can improve your traffic, conversions, search engine positions and give you the life you always wanted. Key word here is “client” FREE advice is given in blog posts, tweets and rants like this.
4. Don’t drop names. Don’t cc: someone so people will think you know them. The beauty of modern media is that big time authors will talk to you. They want to engage their readers just as much as you do.
5. Avoid putting more than one name in a message. The Twitter game #FollowFriday is an excuse for people who want to look like they are helping to send out a tweet that make them feel good, and not much else. If you like someone, they deserve the whole 140 character to themselves. Think about the last service group activity you worked tirelessly on. When the president says “Thanks to everyone who came or worked on the event” at the next luncheon meeting it doesn’t feel like much. If she reads a list, not much better. You didn’t do the work just for the recognition, but you sure do appreciate when she give you 10-15 meaningful words of praise from the podium. Adding a lot of name looks spammy and people know you just threw everyone in a list.
6. Don’t expect much. If your read #4 and though. Great idea. I’m going to get @Oprah to talk to me, you are likely to be disappointed. I know hundreds of authors who will answer anyone who tweets to them. Then there is that friend I’ve known for 10 years who didn’t answer my last email and has all his phone calls redirected to a voice mail box that says “This line not monitored”… when I see him, he says “I thought you were going to contact me”
7. Build Up Your Karma This one should go at the top of the list, (that’s both true and a note from converting this later to a book chapter). The more you give, the more you get… so to get more results, you don’t need a magic pill or a secret handshake, you need to GIVE MORE. I like the math from Chris Brogan and Julian Smiths book “Trust Agents” where they suggest TWELVE acts of sharing for every time you self promote. I have a lot of stuff I’d like you to read, so I’m promoting others at least 100 times a day.
8. It’s Work. You want to be a best selling author? Start acting like one. The big name multi millionaire authors I know are busy working. When you see a program, seminar, networking event, tweet up and think “I can’t sell any books there” you are really being way too short sighted. The “over night successes” I know got there from years of work. They didn’t say “but no one knows me” and they didn’t ask “what’s in it for me?” very often.

Another plea to get your ATTENTION for your own good: Did you go buy Jim Kukral’s book when I told you to? … when I say Get on Jim’s good side now while it only costs you the price of a book you ought to buy and read anyway.. I really mean it. Jim is going to be one of those overnight success stories. How do I know? He’s been working this for years. He’s a giver, smart, and fun to hang out with.  Don’t wait on this one. Buy that book now, put the comment in below and start looking for where Jim will be in person. Go up to him and say “I bought your book from a post on BestSellerAuthors.com and I’m so glad I did” (those exact words if you really like me) and if expect at least a warm smile of gratitude and likely a big hug. Trust me on this one. This really works.

Speaking of comments. That should be on any good list about Attention. Leave a comment here and EVERY time you read a blog post. You get a link back to your site, your name in lights and most important, a CONNECTION to the writer. I notice when you comment and tweet about my work. I appreciate it and whenever I can, I find some random act of reciprocal kindness.

Karma dude. KARMA.

I’m reading posts from New York Times Best selling author Ramit Sethi on his blog named after the book.

Like many modern authors with a tech background, he’s naturally doing many of the techniques I teach.

I could list them here (I have in other posts) but today, I think it’s best to say “Go watch this guy, model what he does and BE RICH”

In almost every field, there are people who are extremely good at getting publicity.

The media loves them and they’re regularly on radio/TV shows and written-up in print publications.

They not only know how to get a ton of free coverage, but also how to profit from the coverage in the form of increased sales, name recognition, speaking engagements and more.

To discover how these "publicity superstars" do it and how you too can use their strategies, join Steve Harrison this FREE WEBINAR

Here’s just some of what you’ll learn on Thursday:

• Advice from a former NBC producer who booked guests for the Today Show and Dateline NBC on how to become a regular guest on national TV and/or even get offered your own show (think Dr. Phil).
• How to brand yourself for the media in a way that celebrates your uniqueness while also separating you from all the other experts in your field.
• Three things Donald Trump does to speak in compelling sound bites.
• How Jennifer became a regularly-featured lifestyle expert on Fox News Channel and the Early Show as well as scoring coverage in hundreds of print media outlets including O the Oprah Magazine, Redbook, US Weekly, Success and Entrepreneur.
• Why most authors and experts fail to make the leap from just getting local publicity to scoring big-time national media coverage.
• Why your credentials don’t matter as much as you might think, but what DOES matter when the media is deciding whether or not to feature you.
• "The Book Plus Strategy" and how an unknown self-published author used it to become a regular on radio, making a six-figure income doing phone interviews.
• The hook that helped a nutritionist score so much media coverage it generated over $60 million in sales of his books and information products.

Click to register for this FREE WEBINAR

I’ve worked with Steve Harrison for years and can endorse the programs he recommends because I have seen the results.

You will see that Steve’s free training such as this seminar give you a ton of actionable information… regardless of whether you sign up for his paid programs. (Imagine how much more you get when you do though :)

Don’t miss out on this chance to learn some of Steve’s secrets

I help authors sell books, build a business and take their messages to the world.

We do that in two ways here.. a lot of free information on the web, and high paid clients. Unless I get a crazy idea to test new software and give away the paid consulting.

I am trying out a new webinar system for my private coaching sessions. So you get this same ME, hopefully a great show, and the fun of watching me bumble through with new technology (OK.. you can get that anytime)

The only catch.. I’m just doing this ONCE.. it will NOT BE RECORDED (no evidence if I screw up) and it is on SHORT NOTICE.

Friday at Noon Eastern (9am Pacific) on July 16th (yes, that is tomorrow.. I did say SHORT NOTICE)

Grab a slot here –> Warren’s free coaching session

I’m going to share some new tests from what is working on FACEBOOK, how partners are getting 10x the publicity on the MEGA SUCCESS DAY promo for next week and other freebinarific advice. I may talk about Twitter if you twist my arm.

I will answer ANY question… show any secret site.

You can still ask your question in a comment, on Twitter or whatever.. but you won’t get the real live me with a mouse in my hand showing you exactly what YOU need to succeed unless you register here