New NEWS from The Book Shepherd this week / awesome audio tool?

Book Marketing and Publishing Tips for Authors–

eZine Issue #112 February 19, 2020

Publisher: Judith Briles

Practical Publishing Advice and Guidance for Authors

In This Issue

1. March program … it’s a Mini-Extravagnaza

2. Author Tools … Discover Otto.ai … recording tool

3. AuthorYOU VIP Member Benefit … Discover NZ Graphics

4. Webinar … Ask Judith Anything TODAY

5. Speaking Unplugged … sell oodles of books moxie via the cash Cow 2-Step and get the super-dooper Bonus

6. Hot podcasts for FEBRUARY … Add to your calendar and listen/learn

7. Question of the Week … How should I set up my table at an event?

8. Book Shepherd "Fun" of the Week … hairless cats at play

This Week Under The Book Shepherd’s™ Roof

Hello and Good Publishing Day to YOU …

Next month, it’s my annual Speaking Unplugged, something that any author who wants to sell oodles of books should participate in. Authors from Texas, Missouri, Colorado, and Texas so far have said—I’ll be there! All the Early Bird registrants will get a quick action photo shoot at the event—my personal birthday gift to you worth $100 (yup … another year is notched this week!). The awesome Ashlee Bratton will have her camera ready to capture a few shots of just YOU to use on your website, on social media to show meeting planners and
decision-makers for events that you are speaking within a presentation and audiences love you!

Share my birthday gift to you!

The Early Bird pricing ends on February 23rd—details come to Denver and spend two awesome days with me—March 27-28. Details HERE: http://bit.ly/Unplugged-Speaking. Treat yourself ... Come … it’s fun and lots of take-aways. Savvy attendees have learned that it’s smart to stay on-site at the hotel. We usually gather for a let our hair down dinner and bonus time together Friday night. Alumni participants of previous Unpluggeds always get a deep discount. There are 9 spots left. Don’t be a Tardy Bird!

And for general publishing moxie, on Saturday, March 7, there is a Mini-Extravaganza. Get organized as an author, using your computer. Get legal ahas. Get insights on design. Get tidbits for audiobooks and ebooks. Get Smart. Get More. Details below.

Have you ever explored the network website where I store all my podcasts? Over 100,000 authors download episodes every month! Here’s a new link to the AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing podcast SHOW page. You can select which podcast is for you from over 300 shows … the latest will always be posted on top: http://bit.ly/BookPublishingPodcast

MARCH 7, 2020 …

It’s a Mini Extravaganza – all day … lunch included.

Organizing and Revamping the Business of Authoring and Publishing

Most authors all right-brainers. We like sharing our wisdom from years of experience and insights peppered with real-life situations and events that connect with our readers. We write and publish to resolve their pain and provide solutions. We love the creativity of writing, building a character who may be a bit of an oddball and dropping in unexpected twists in plot.

Your Author Kingdom is a business … yes, yes, it is. Is there a nutsiness to it? Maybe a bit of insanity? Yes, yes there is. Can you blink it away? Nope … you need some strategies to bring saneness and organization to you from the get-go.

Soooooo … are you hoping for the Business Fairy to fly in and deal with this side of your life? Stop hoping … we are going to help you out with answers to questions and beyond.

Oh-Oh … you are already writing, publishing, and selling books. Is it too late? You may be past the get-go. Good news: there is always a starting point, a review point, a makeover point. We will take you there and beyond.

In the BEGINNING, do you know:

~ What websites should you have?
~What Legal steps you should take to protect your book?

~ When do you register with the State—do you need to?

~ What reports do you need to file?

~ What’s the best way to keep records?

~ What deductions are legit?

~ What taxes do you need to collect?

~ What licenses do you need?

~ If you put all charges on a credit card, do you need the receipts?

~ How should you file your sales tax?

~ If you ONLY sell wholesale on Amazon, do you need a sales tax license?

~ Should you charge sales tax if you sell out of state?

~ You need help on accounting … what should you use?

~ Should your publishing company be a sole proprietorship, an LLC or corporation?

What about ORGANIZATION … like your computer?

~ Do you ever lose files?

~ Want some awesome tips of organizing your writing? Your pictures? Your blogs? Your what?

~ How do you keep creating new material?

~ What file folders should be the minimum?

Postcards (quotes, book comparisons, presale, social media (twitter posts, LinkedIN articles, Instagram), Inventory, One page (author, book, speaker, trainer, coach), expenses, revenue, audio books advertising, eBook audiobooks , paperback advertising, interview questions, office equipment, book drafts, research, local press contacts (weekly paper, TV)

BONUS … design your Book, create an Audiobook, don’t forget the eBook and much more.

Answers are here. You should be too! And, bring your questions. This is a Q & A format.

Drs. Ron Beach and Judith Briles along with CPA Pat Comiskey are your guides.

EARLY BIRD ends on January 31 ... price will increase $10 forward

When: Saturday, March 7, 2020

Where: Smokey Hill Library, 5430 S Biscay Circle, Centennial, CO 80015

Time: Noon to 4

Cost: $47 for AuthorYOU members, $67 for Nonmembers. Price increases $ 20 on February 29th

Register: https://authoru.org/events.html

Otter.ai is a nifty recording tool … I’m posting out next week on my ezine.

https://otter.ai/login
Otter is a meeting recording tool that transcribes in real time, even real-time back through the conversation using artificial intelligence (AI) to clean everything up (a very cool feature). Then you can review the written notes and click through to hear the audio wherever you want. It will even pull out
keywords and phrases to help you find the topics you want quickly.

PROS:

1. You get 600 minutes a month for free
That’s 10 full hours.

2. The paid version is very reasonable
For about $10 a month (less if you pay yearly), you get many more minutes. The upgrade also gives you other ways to export and more integrations, plus helps edit out the silent sections in the recordings.

3. Otter will recognize the speakers
One of the things the AI will do is to identify the individual speakers. You can go back in and swap words for the default "Speaker 1″ and Speaker 2." And with a few sentences, you can train Otter to recognize your voice and automatically identify you.

4. You can share the transcripts
Once you are done with a call, you can send the link to an assistant, and then have all the notes to do "whatever" with.

5. Otter is great for collaboration
Use Otter to capture the notes from conversations, but it would be even better for meetings and collaborations. You can invite others to edit and update the transcript

CONS

1. It doesn’t work while you’re on the phone
One bummer thing is that if you’re using the Otter mobile app on your cell for the meeting, you can’t record on it. You can use your cell as a recording device in a face-to-face conversation. So, record on your computer while you have your phone on speaker.

2. You should ask before you record
I’m sure the laws about recording conversations differ greatly around the country, but just to make sure, always ask for permission before turning Otter on (or any recording device).

3. The free version doesn’t sync in the cloud
If you record via the app on your phone, the audio stays on the phone. If you use your computer, your recordings will be stored separately. You have to pay for the upgrade to have everything in one place. But, if you do the above—recording from your computer via the speaker on your phone, it’s worth exploring.

Ask Judith Anything on February 12th

As always, it’s an open mic with Judith. Listen in or queue up and ask questions. Lots did. All answered until no more. There are no slides, just a voice. Approximate time:

Replay here: https://vimeo.com/392096995

Get Ready to Grab the Media’s Attention

Do you want to jump-start YOU as an author expert, YOUR book and YOUR publishing business in 2020? Bet you do. Make sure you register for my first webinar of the new year in this new decade.

A good public relations campaign is an important part of getting found and known as an expert. Today, putting your PR online is essential to online marketing success and a key factor to improving your search engine optimization results. Your online PR creates links to your content, awareness of your brand, and helps build your reputation – all essentials for today’s successful authors.

- You will get: Ideas for content authors can use, from News Releases to Newsjacking

- Six methods for pushing your content online to get found (one requires only 7 keystrokes)

- How inbound links are still one of the key SEO tools, and how you can choose 39 topics that link from tens of thousands of other ExpertClick press room and news releases to your press room, and then link to promote your website.

Would you like to turn the book you have or are creating into a money machine that cements your expertise and authoring success?

Would you like to know how powerful you, your book and experiences are and how they can influence and change others one word at a time?

Would you like to turn your book, your ideas, your mouth into a business that creates a lifestyle woven with travel, fun, global friends and financial success?

If that’s a YES, get yourself to Denver and show up for the 4th annual Speaking Unplugged bootcamp next month. You can with the smart and savvy strategies, you will reveal in this interactive and fun intensive workshop. With over 35 years of speaking on the platform, Dr. Judith Briles will show you how to become a successful professional speaker … a speaker that will soar your book sales. Since the 80s, speaking has been her #1 way to sell books … over 1,000,000 of them!

Question: How should I set up my book table at an author event?

Answer: Start with you--what is your branding? Your theme for your book or genre? What about expertise? Think about using posters, banners behind you and/or to the side of the table—as in 5 feet tall. With your picture … your book covers … something that represents "eye candy" to attract a passerby. At author events, the numbers of authors offering books can be small (less than 10) or large (over 30). What will set you apart? If it is outdoors, have a bowl that you refill with water for those who bring their dogs. If a book for kids, something that will attract them—kids get their parents to buy if they really, really want the book. Think about your table—it’s smart to carry a black cloth to cover it—or have a custom cover made with a logo or book cover or it or your name. What about adding color—more cloth, scarves, something that ties in with your theme or cover. What else can you add that will create a magnet and attract buyers to your table—to speak with you—to buy your book?

This is how each call starts: I share a few strategies, tips and tools that attendees can immediately start to use. All share … and ask plenty of questions. They get answers. Definitely an excellent way to start a Friday. Those of you who aren’t participating, you are making a mistake. I love the variety of books and authors who have chosen to participate. What’s also fun, is the energy that can be felt with what everyone is working on. Love it!

Here’s the link to take advantage of it and subscribe: https://thebookshepherd.com/product/author-friendly-fridays-subscription

Podcast expands to 7 networks … Follow us and learn …
new shows every Thursday.

GO to the SHOW page and select which podcast is for you… the latest will always be posted on top: http://bit.ly/BookPublishingPodcast

And, if you have listened, support our podcast and post a review. Thank you!
The AuthorU – Your Guide to Book Publishing podcast is now heard on SEVEN podcast channels. How cool is that? Listeners can tune into the weekly (always new – no repeats) show on:

iTunes - Player FM - Stitcher - MixCoud - Bluburry - iHeart Radio - Toginet Internet Radio

Get the latest #AuthorU-Your Guide to #Book #Publishing #podcast with @MyBookShepherd via iTunes here: http://bit.ly/BookPublishingPodcast

About Judith Briles, The Book Shepherd ™

Book Publishing expert Judith Briles, aka The Book Shepherd has shepherded more than 1,000 authors and created 500 best-sellers and award-winning books. She knows publishing inside and out from both the traditional and independent sides. Judith is an advocate for authors within her blogs, podcasts and speaking engagements. What’s her pet peeve? Two words: publishing predators.

She hosts the podcast AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing that generates over 100,000 downloads a month. Her website is www.TheBookShepherd, email: JudithBriles.com and phone: 303-885-2207.

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