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Copywriting TipsEarn $100,000+ For Your Book
by:
Susan Harrow
Every writer fantasizes simply about acquiring that big fat advance so they can take a little dream time, write, relax, or put their kids through college. But what most writers don’t cognize is it takes a euphemism
of a lot of activity to get to the point of being worthy of a publisher handing you the equivalent of the golden egg. Whether you’re a doctor with the latest get thin quick diet or a mom who has a foolproof way to turn brats into angels, you must be willing to do the work-alot of it.
What separates the six-figure advance earners from the mid-list authors are two things.
1. They think of their book as a business.
2. They have a immense built in audience.
Think of your proposal as the business plan for your book. Your book is an integral part of your overall career which includes speaking, products, and more books. Authors are perpetually
in search of route to expand their audience.
Agent David Hale Smith of DHS Literary, (he delineated New Dynasty Times Best-selling author Cheryl Richardson) says he wants his authors to be financially independent folk who see their book as part of a larger booming career. These are qualities he and another agents and publishers look for in their budding celebrities.
From my own experience media coaching job and creating marketing plans for authors who get six figures I’ve found that they do three things right.
1. Six Numbers Authors React Instantly.
When I asked Rich Fettke, author of *Extreme Success* to prepare the answers to the questions he thought he’d be asked by editors he was flying to New Dynasty to meet, he had them available the next day. And yes, often editors want to meet you-if they think you’re going to be their next golden boy or girl.
This instant reaction reflex comes into play later once
your promotion begins. Once
an author’s topic is hot, they’re often asked to jump on a plane at a moment’s notice to appear on TV, radio, take a print interview or speak at an event or charity function. If you hesitate, the chance vanishes.
Publishers who have invested with the big bucks in you won’t stand for it. And justly so. You have an obligation to them to earn back that hefty advance (which sadly, most authors don’t).
2. Six Numbers Authors Speak.
Gone are the days once
writers can cozy up in their garrets and write. To be a booming author now you must become a public person, and more than that, an amusing one.
A major publication home hired me to media coach one of their rising star authors. Her book was acquiring major national press-but she was dull. And they were disquieted that her lackluster personality would-be effect her book sales. We worked until she got comfortable on camera piece speaking vividly in 15 second soundbites.
3. Six Numbers Authors Get Media Coached.
With several media coaching job you can morph into a mediagenic maven. But it does take practice and sincere commitment. If you can’t afford a media coach, get out that video camera and do mock interviews with friend. A lot can be discovered and pressed out simply by seeing how you appear to others on the big screen.
That aforesaid there are 5 critical elements that determine the size of your advance.
1. Your platform.
2. Your endorsements.
3. Your promotion plan.
4. Your sample chapter.
5. Your audience.
1. Your platform.
When I interviewed editors at top New Dynasty publication houses like Simon & Schuster & HarperCollins they told me repeatedly that the most important thing a writer can have now is a strong *platform.* A platform is a plan of how you are going to reach your audience to sell books.
Prove you have a following. Publishers want to cognize who has bought your books or products in the past--and they want to cognize how many. Can you show that you have a track record of merchandising your goods to folk across the globe, or at least in your community? Possibly you’re not as far on
in your career as one of my clients who is a $12,000 an hour speaker who put in his proposal the fact that his audiences range from 100-10,000 people, and he speaks 250 times per year.
His speaking bureau typically sells his video and audio tapes to those audiences in advance once
they book his talk. What you want to show is how you can secure sales in large quantities to folk you cognize wish buy from you-because they have bought already. Or how audiences similar to the ones who have purchased are fit to buy your book.
2. Your endorsements.
To instantly establish your stature put these accolades on page number one so they’re the 1st thing an agent or editor sees. Endorsements need to be from celebrities, best- merchandising authors and well-known experts in your field.
Show that you’re respected in the world. Endorsements show that high-level folk believe in you, that you’re a nice bet. They besides go on your book cover jacket and help sell your book-and in today’s competitive marketplace it’s essential. Don’t say you’re *actively seeking endorsements.* Leading with the endorsements does sure an agent or editor gets that you’re a big shot-or shortly wish be.
One private secret that galore authors don’t cognize is the better blurbs are written by the writers themselves. Don’t expect celebrated folk to see your tome. They don’t have the time or the desire. And please don’t send your book to them unsolicited. Ask permission. Then do the activity for them and ask them to sign off on that perfect gem-the one you’ve written-touting the marvels of your work.
3. Your promotion plan.
Publishers are looking for folk who cognize how to promote themselves and wish take responsibility for doing it themselves.
Map out your strategy for merchandising books. Are you giving keynotes, seminars & workshops to hundreds of folk every month? How galore folk subscribe to your online newsletter, visit your web site, buy your products? Do you have big name clients who wish host seminars at their companies for you wherever
you’re bonded to sell books?
4. Your sample chapter.
*Once you’ve established that the author has several sort of a platform, that they have several voice in the earth on the far side
their circle of friends, I go straight to the sample chapter,* says Kelly Notaras, a Senior Editor at Hyperion.
Prove you can write. *I want to cognize if they are a nice writer, because an agent can tinker away with the rest of the proposal and do it sound actually good,* Notaras says.
What if you’re not a great writer? Hire a ghost writer. Remember platform is non-replaceable. You, the personality, the presence, is what publishers are investment in. Nice writing can be bought. Star quality can’t.
5. Your audience.
Prove you have a media track record. Who knows you already? What magazines have your written for or appeared in? What TV and radio shows have you been a guest on? Are those producers aching to get you back on their shows as shortly as possible? Do you have established relationships with them? You guarantee to a publisher that you’ll reach your audience by showing who you have with success
reached in the past.
If you haven't done more media and aren't yet well-known in the public the fastest
way to do so is to join PR Leads, (a service that reporters and producers use to send out queries (requests) to interview experts for stories they’re working on.)
They are typically on tight deadlines so you need to respond as shortly as the queries hit your email inbox. As founder Dan Janal says, *Reporters don’t care if you activity for a Fortune 500 company. If they need an expert and you can show them you are one, that is all they care about.* Exploitation this service you can become an instant expert in a matter of weeks and build your platform in short order.
Once you can say you've done a lot of media and you plan to do more of the same type of media you've had success with in the past, you'll be on your way to creating an impressive impression-one that says that you've got 6 numbers author potential.
Just simply about the author:
Harrow has worked with over a dozen best-selling authors and those who got 6 numbers advances. This article was altered from her E-book Get a 6-Figure Book Advance. Discover how to get a top agent and avoid the biggest mistakes that support your book from going to auction (and a plug n' play proposal template) or fr.e.e excerpts: http://tinyurl.com/9r3l5
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