Tag Archive for: author

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Behind-the-Scenes of a Bestselling Book

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BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”
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Where the Crawdads Sing is one of my favorite books and it’s becoming a movie! It takes a team of people to create a bestselling book.

And one of the most important people on that team is your book editor! The editor of Delia Owen’s bestselling book is Tara Singh Carlson, who joined me on Inside Scoop.

Tara is an Executive Editor at G.P. Putnam’s Sons and has worked on The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo (which was also a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick), on The Family by Naomi Krupitsky (which was a Read with Jenna pick in November), We Must Be Brave also by France Liardet and many celebrated and bestselling authors.

Here are a few points from Tara about what editors do and how they can help your book become a bestseller.

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The Business of Being an Author

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BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”
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If you want to be an author (or already are one) I’m going to let you in on a secret: You are also a business owner.

Yep! Having a book means you have a business (like it or not)!

Writing for fun is great but being a professional author means you need some business know-how to be a success.

I learned a lot about this after my first two books Listful Living and Listful Thinking were published and since I media-train authors I get a first-hand look at what happens in the book world.

And as I start the publishing process on my first fiction book, I’m already learning that the business opportunities are different.

Book publishing and business expert, Jane Friedman, joined me for my live-streaming show Inside Scoop to teach us all about The Business of Being an Author.

Here are four insights she shared to help you make the transition from amateur to professional.

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Five Ways to Write a Must-Read Book

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BONUS FREEBIE: Want to do more videos and get attention? So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

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When you set out to write a book, you probably dream of the moment it becomes a reality — when you’re holding the finished product in your hands. And you might also fantasize about that book becoming a bestseller.

But to make your book publication-ready and successful, you need to enter the process with intention.

Industry expert AJ Harper knows this well. 

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How to Create a Live-Streaming Show

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JOIN ME FOR GO LIVE! MASTERCLASS: Everything you need to produce a polished, lucrative and fun live-stream show that makes you stand out. Sign up here! 

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Back when I was a TV producer, experts needed to pitch their idea, meet with me, come into the studio, and find their audience that way. Now, all you need to connect with people is your phone or laptop! 

Just kidding — there’s a little more to it than that. 

Doing live video on social media is one of the best ways to grow your audience and establish yourself as an expert — but only if you do it right.

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How to Get the Media Attention You Deserve

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BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

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Annie Scranton, founder of Pace PR, knows a thing or two about the media. She and I met as producers at Fox News Channel, but she’s also worked at MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, HLN, and even Good Morning America!

With all that insider knowledge, Annie can predict what the future holds when it comes to getting on TV as an expert. She knows what it takes for people to get their message out there, because she helps people do that very thing every day.

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The Accordion Method For Interviews: Speak in Soundbites

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BONUS FREEBIE: I have a resource for you that will help you prepare to talk with media and audiences. It’s the 10 Questions Every Author Needs to Answer. You can grab the fiction and nonfiction lists here.

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When I was a senior health producer at Fox News Channel, I booked guest experts all the time. 

Sometimes experts rambled when the host wanted a short answer, and sometimes people didn’t give enough information.

To be a go-to media expert, you need to be able to deliver your content in a way that fits the situation. 

That means you have to be able to talk about your expertise within different time constraints. 

This is the core of my media prep plan that I teach my media-training clients.

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How To Do Your Makeup For Video

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BONUS FREEBIE: Your message deserves the media’s attention. So how do you get out there in a bigger way? I’ve got you covered. CLICK HERE to grab my free “Checklist to Become a Go-To Media Expert.”

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Now that meetings and interviews are happening remotely, you’re probably rethinking how you present your ideas on camera. 

But have you thought about how you’re doing your makeup? 

Makeup might seem like a secondary concern, but it’s actually so important. Distracting makeup and clothes will take away from the main event – YOU!

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Pull Media Pitches from Content You’re Already Producing

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MEDIA-READY AUTHOR: Go From Uncomfortable to Confident and Sell More Books with my Media-Training Class for Authors on Tuesday, October 18th! Reserve your spot now!

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Fresh content is great, and you can turn any podcast, blog post, video or thought you have into a media pitch!

The trick is knowing what (from your content) is most interesting to viewers.

This is especially important for authors who want to sell more books. A book is a piece of content and knowing how to leverage that content in the media is integral to sales!

(In fact, I’m hosting a quick and easy-to-implement live online training called Media-Ready Author: Speak in Soundbites, Set Up Your Virtual Studio and Sell More Books to help you learn those skills.)

 

I spoke with my friend Kate Hanley on her local news station about how to repurpose our content to create a media pitch. Kate is a journalist, podcaster, author of How to Be a Better Person, and has written for publications including Real Simple, Parents, and Martha Stewart’s Whole Living.

Here are three tips from Kate about how to turn your content into a successful media pitch.

1) Making the Connection..

In the beginning, the media probably isn’t going to come to you. You have to go to the media. You have to initiate contact.

Kate lives in Providence, RI, and she heard of a new morning show that might be looking for pitches. She posted in a local networking group to see if anyone had a contact, and a connection suggested reaching out to a producer over social media.

People who work in media often have their email address in their bio — because they want you to pitch them.

“That’s one thing that we have to just tell ourselves. We’re actually helping people do their jobs by pitching them,” Kate said.

Especially if you…

2) Make your pitch timely.

One of the elements of a well-written pitch is the “hook.” Why is this relevant right now?

Kate took this into consideration when she planned out her pitch. When Kate thinks of a pitch, she connects her ideas to current events or holidays.

“I just Googled ‘crazy national holidays’,” Kate explained. “There were all these wacky days like Flip-Flop Day and Hotdog Day. I noticed Make a Difference Day was coming up, which perfectly aligned with ‘How to Be a Better Person”.”

By connecting your pitch to an upcoming event, producers feel more urgency when considering your idea.

“Not only might they like that idea, but they need to act on it because that day’s coming up,” Kate added.

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3) Reuse and recycle.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they start to pitch media is that they think they have to create completely new or different material for a pitch.

Nope!

Use all your content to feed your blog, your book, your podcast, your pitches. They all go hand in hand.

Tailor your ideas for each outlet, but use the ideas you already have.

Kate’s lightbulb moment happened when she realized she didn’t need to be creating totally separate blog posts and pitches. She made a Google Drive account to organize her ideas and realized she already had lots of great material. She just needed to update and adapt what she already created.

“I found old pitches and blog posts that I had written and stuff I thought might be useful in a lot of different ways,” Kate said.

That doesn’t mean you should use the same posts and pitches over and over.

It’s important to refresh and customize your content and pitches to the outlet you’re pitching.

Check out Kate’s podcast “How to Be a Better Person” and watch our entire conversation here.

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MEDIA-READY AUTHOR: Go From Uncomfortable to Confident and Sell More Books with my Media-Training Class for Authors on Tuesday, October 18th! Reserve your spot now!

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