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Working on a Health Related Book? Writing, Publishing, and Social Media for Healthcare Professionals

November 13, 2019 by Lisa Tener

Writing a Health Related Book

Dana Corriel, MD at Harvard Med publishing course — One highlight of the course is the opportunity to network with faculty. Pictured here: Dana Corriel, MD

This morning, I heard from a Family Practice Physician who’s been planning to attend Harvard Medical School’s CME Publishing Course for the past two years. She started on her book idea five years ago and feels ready to dive in. Helping her clarify what she’ll get out of the course—and how to make the most of it—reminded me of some of the ways this course is so effective for physicians and other healthcare professionals:

In-depth knowledge in health and self-help genres: The faculty have a deep understanding of the many aspects of writing, publishing, promoting and selling health related books.
Ability to meet and get feedback from literary agents, publishers, book coaches and book proposal coaches, independent editors and others who can help you refine your ideas—and choose the best one.
An immersion in publishing, so you can see what it takes and expose yourself to a variety of strategies for getting your knowledge and wisdom to the people who need it—from writing a health related book to penning articles to blogging and podcasting.
Guidance and coaching to develop a pitch: I always recommend participants sign up for the optional book pitching sessions. It’s an important step in refining your ideas and sometimes new, highly marketable book ideas emerge in the process.
Advanced Workshops: The final day of the course, participants can take more specialized and in-depth workshops on social media, writing a book proposal, creativity, memoir writing and podcasting, for example.

Over the years, publishing has transformed, medicine has changed and the ways we reach people are almost unrecognizable from the how these fields operated 20 years ago. In today’s blog post, Julie Silver, MD, the course director and founder, shares how the course has changed over the years and what participants can expect in 2020.

What to Expect from Harvard Medical School’s CME Publishing Course in 2020

Lisa: How has the Harvard Medical School publishing course—Writing, Publishing, and Social Media for Healthcare Professionals—evolved over the past 20 years?

julie silver, md director of harvard medical school publishing course — Julie Silver, MD, course director and founder

Dr. Silver: When I first started directing the course, most of the content was focused on publishing books. Although the course still covers how to publish a book, there is also a lot of other content such as how to ramp up your speaking career or start a new podcast. Physicians and other healthcare professionals have a lot of creative interests, and so we aim to provide them with the training and networking contacts that they will need to be successful.

Lisa: Anyone who wants to write a health related book needs to have ways of reaching their intended audience, and so all of these arenas from social media to podcasting to speaking also greatly support the tribe-building that an aspiring author needs to do. Being exposed to this variety of areas also helps aspiring authors think about how they’ll reach their readers and get a sense of what’s involved in each one. And some participants may even find that they prefer their newfound medium to a book. What are some of the skills and knowledge that participants leave with?

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networking at Harvard Med School CME publishing course — Networking with course faculty, one of many perks!

Dr. Silver: Participants learn how to make the most of print, live, and online communication channels. Individual sessions focus on:

•Best practices for connecting the public with ideas and insights

•Getting a book published in 2020: new challenges and options

•Lectures and workshops to improve one’s writing and “elevator” or book pitch

•Personalized instruction from top-tier writing coaches, editors, and literary agents

•Social media: introductory and advanced topics

•Self-publishing books, blogs, and websites

•Strategies for impacting national and international healthcare audiences

•Workshops to assist in the development of memoirs and narrative nonfiction

•Training on giving interviews and how to start a podcast

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Lisa: That’s a powerful list! Some amazing things have come out of this course. For example, Jon Lieff, MD was inspired to blog after taking a workshop with Rusty Shelton and myself on the subject.

Rusty continued to mentor Dr. Lieff, and Dr. Lieff’s blog, Searching for the Mind (http://jonlieffmd.com/) was chosen by Best World Wide Online Universities in “Neuronal Plasticity”: The Science of Learning – Resources on How Our Brains Work Best. along with large, distinguished institutions including Stanford and MIT. His blog has attracted researchers and armchair scientists across disciplines, translating the latest research on communication among cells. Dr. Lieff went on to sign a book contract with BenBella Books.

Can you share some more examples of the kinds of projects and accomplishments coming out of the course? What are some of your favorite “success stories”?

Dr. Silver: I have so many favorites that it’s hard to choose. Literally thousands of past participants have gone on to do some really incredible things.

For example, Dr. Yvonne Thornton published a bestselling memoir titled The Ditchdigger’s Daughters that was made into a movie, and she came to the course years later to connect with literary agents and editors so she could publish her next book which is titled Something to Prove.

This year we had Dr. Connie Mariano come back and talk about what it was like to be the first military woman to become the White House Physician to the President the first woman Director of the White House Medical Unit the first Filipino American in US history to become a Navy Rear Admiral. She explained how she published her book titled The White House Doctor and the road to this book becoming a television series.

Sarah Allen Benton is a therapist who did an amazing book pitch at the course and then went on to publish Understanding the High Functioning Alcoholic. Her work and book went on to be featured by Oprah.

Vint Virga, DVM is a veterinarian who came to the course and then published a truly moving book called The Soul of All Living Creatures: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human.

In the upcoming course, we’re excited that Dr. Rana Awdish who is known for her bestselling book In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope will be talking about her publishing journey.

What Next?

Lisa: Wow! I’m struck by the variety of the topics and also genres—from memoir to self-help to health books. What else would you like people to know about this course, Writing, Publishing, and Social Media for Healthcare Professionals?

Dr. Silver: We will have more content on publishing articles including op-eds, social media, and turning content into products and services. We’re excited to bring all of these creative and intelligent people in the same room to make some magic happen!

Lisa: Dear Reader, do you need any more to know this is a not-to-be-missed opportunity?! If you’re working with me on a health-related or self-help book, I encourage you to attend, even if you’ve attended before. There is so much to get out of this publishing course, year after year!

How Martha Rhodes Sold Over 20,000 Books (and Ebooks), Mostly Through Bulk Book Sales

November 6, 2019 by Lisa Tener

Martha rhodes author after publishing a book — Martha Rhodes at Emory University

Talking About Bulk Book Sales

When Stephanie Chandler asked me to speak at this week’s 2019 Nonfiction Writers Conference about Bulk Book Sales, I immediately turned to Martha Rhodes, author of 3,000 Pulses Later to get a feel for how an author I worked with is using that strategy.

I knew much of Martha’s success had been through bulk sales and her relationship with the company that has bought the bulk of her books, leading to:

3,000 Pulses Later being featured in the New York Times
16,000 print books sold and over 5,000 ebooks
A speaking tour during Great Britain’s rollout of TMS technology (trans magnetic cranial stimulation, a drug-free treatment for depression).

During the Nonfiction Writer’s Conference, I’m going to share strategies I’ve learned from authors, literary agents and a former publishing professional who was in charge of bulk sales (or special sales) for a major publishing house.

In today’s interview, Martha Rhodes shares the amazing experiences that opened up for her after approaching Neuronetics about bulk book sales. Martha also shares how she nurtured the relationship from the start.

Martha Rhodes’ Experience with Bulk Book Sales

Lisa: What were your goals in writing 3,000 Pulses Later?

Martha: Since Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) was only FDA cleared and brought to market in
2008, and since there was absolutely nothing available for me to learn about it when I searched for an
alternative therapy to ineffective medications, I wanted to spread the word about it for other patients
who were also suffering with treatment resistant depression.

I suppose another originally unintended subconscious goal was to create a cathartic writing experience
for myself by incorporating helpful information about TMS into my personal memoir and give credit
to what brought me through one of the darkest periods of my life after surviving a suicide attempt.

Lisa: It was powerful to witness that healing journey you took, as you went deeper during each draft of the book. It’s also been amazing to see you reach so many people with your message. How did your first corporate book sale come about?

Martha Rhodes knew she wanted to self publish. She got quoted in the NY Times and other great publicity for her book.

Martha: I was introduced to Neuronetics, Inc., the company that created the Neurostar TMS Therapy System, shortly after I had published the book. It was basically my “calling card” at that time. The President and several others at the company found it to be a compelling story they wanted to share with other TMS practicing physicians and their patients because they felt having a TMS patient’s success story would resonate with the then grossly uninformed public.

Lisa: Since selling bulk copies to Neuronetics, they have re-ordered multiple times. How many books have they bought?

Martha: Neuronetics has bought over 14,000 books as of today, and I’m told they’ve projected the need for another 1,000 before this year’s end. The marketing department has also informed me that they have included ongoing purchases of 3,000 Pulses Later in their 2020 budget. (I keep my fingers crossed on this.)

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Lisa: What have you done to nurture that relationship?

Martha: I’ve visited the corporate headquarters in Malvern PA several times for various events, e.g. new corporate office grand opening and a summer BBQ employee event. I was asked to give an employee “lunch and learn” slide presentation supporting the HR department’s internal values initiative and I’m now a member of the Neurostar Patient Advocate Advisory Council that meets quarterly.

Lisa: Neuronetics has also helped you with publicity and opened up other doors. Can you share the
exciting things that came out of this relationship?

Martha: Wow – I’ve almost lost count there have been so many wonderful opportunities thanks to my
relationship with Neuronetics. They’ve given me access to both of their PR firms in Philadelphia who
have connected me with several media outlets such as US News & World Report, The NY Times,
Sirius XM Radio, The Daily BUZZ TV, and several online media channels.

ELITE award winning author Martha Rhodes — Martha receiving the award

Also, Neuronetics nominated me for and I was subsequently awarded the 2016 PM360 ELITE Award (Exceptional Leaders, Innovators, Transformers and Entrepreneurs representing the most influential people in the healthcare industry) in the Patient Advocacy category.

One of the founding investors in Neuronetics’ introduced me to Emory University’s Office of Technology Transfer whose doctors and scientists developed the original Neurostar. I spent two days in Atlanta make a series of informative videos for a program they produced called, “Put A Face On
It.” I wrote an article about it and if you scroll down to the bottom you’ll find several links to the individual videos.

Multiple Channels for Special Sales

Lisa: You’ve done other bulk sales to doctor’s practices. How have those come about? Did you initiate or did they? How did they initially find you?

Martha: All of my bulk sales have come to me thanks to my website, the Internet, word-of-mouth and public awareness that the book exists as a compelling depression/suicide story with a happy ending thanks to
TMS. Nevertheless, I’m now considering doing a marketing solicitation via email and direct USPS
mail to all the TMS practices throughout the United States who may not realize I offer bulk rates to
their practices so they can either loan or give a book to existing/ prospective patients, or sell them
directly to patients from their offices.

Lisa: What advice do you have for authors interested in bulk sales?

Martha: Find a market niche and industry for your topic, and more important, make sure your content is
cogent, user-friendly, and a direct “value add” to their customers’ needs.

I also recommend offering the option of printing a personalized edition for the corporate sponsor so
that their own branding and marketing goals are enhanced, thus enhancing the author’s branding and
marketing goals. It’s wise to remember — you’re not monetizing the book, you’re monetizing the
book’s CONTENT!

Lisa: What percentage of your sales are special sales or bulk sales (and how many books)?

Martha: Eighty-three percent of my book sales are through bulk orders. As of today the total number is
14,000 books (out of close to 16,000 books sold all together). And I’m planning another print run in December for 3,000 books! That’s doesn’t include the 5,000 plus ebooks I’ve sold.

Book Customization

Lisa: Holy cow—that brings you up to 21,000 with the ebooks and 24,000 when you sell the books in the new print run! Have you ever produced any customized books where the company or institution adds a letter at the beginning or something on the cover and gives it away? How has that worked?

Martha: Neuronetics sends a book to anyone who visits the Neurostar website and provides their contact information.
They also give three books to every medical practice that purchases a Neurostar Therapy System. Neuronetics places a disclaimer on the inside front cover of every book they give away.

Lisa: What if a corporate sponsor doesn’t need your entire book and only wants a part of it, or a
condensed version of it, or even wants you to customize interior sections for their industry?

Martha: One of the benefits of self-publishing, especially with Print On Demand (POD), is that this can easily
be accomplished. The other option (but only if the bulk order is large enough) is to do a special print
run for that customer, although bulk pricing will definitely depend on the quantities requested.

Lisa: What else is in the works?

Martha: My audiobook will be published in early 2020. It’s a daunting process but I’ve decided to narrate it myself after listening to several audition voices that just don’t sound like what I had in my heart when I wrote the book. Sean Pratt is my narrator coach and I’ll be recording in a professional studio in Boston.

Lisa: How exciting! Good luck and let us know how it’s going!

Nonfiction Writers Conference: Join Me!

Readers, join me for my talk on Bulk Book Sales Opportunities at the Nonfiction Writers Conference on Nov. 8 (and sign up for all the great talks that week starting on Nov. 7.

The theme is “Promote and Profit.” Stephanie Chandler will be speaking on Tribe Building for Authors; Barbara Winter on Make a Living Without a Job; Matthew Bennett (who’s sold over 5 Million Books) will talk about Outselling Booksellers. Discover all the speakers and topics here.

Get Thyself on Podcasts: Reach Readers & Sell More Books!

November 1, 2018 by Lisa Tener

Earlier this year, I asked Rusty Shelton about the PR activities that most often resulted in book sales and learned that being interviewed on podcasts is one of the top things you can do to sell more books.

Why? Because podcasts tend to be very targeted, you can reach the exact audience who is the core market for your book—the people who most want and need what you have to offer.

What are Podcasts?

Writers block Podcast — The Writer’s Block Podcast NH Logo says it all–it’s about community!

If you know what podcasts are, just skip this brief paragraph. A podcast is a regularly produced “program” by audio or video that people can subscribe to and/or download on places like itunes, Podbean, Stitcher or even Facebook and YouTube.

To get a feel for podcasts, listen and/or watch several, especially those in your field and of course, on writing, so you’ll pick up some good writing and publishing tips in the process.

What Got Me on the Topic of Podcasts?

Debby Monk came to a “Writing in the Zone” workshop at All That Matters in Wakefield, Rhode Island years ago and stayed in touch via my newsletters. She reached out a couple of weeks ago to invite me to be a guest on her podcast, along with her co-hosts Shelly Devlin and Mandra Biscornet.

Tuesday morning, I had the joy to be interviewed on The Writer’s Block Podcast and so enjoyed our conversation about writing in the zone, book coaching, how to find the right editor for your work and how to reach your readers and sell more books.

Watch or listen to the podcast and you’ll learn:

5 key elements to consistently write from a space of inspiration
How to clear your mind and open yourself to write
What to do so you don’t come to the writing burned out
What to look for in a book coach, writing coach or editor.
What’s a muse?
What a good podcast looks and sounds like (these ladies know how to engage their guests and their audience).

What Makes for a Great Podcast Guest

Here’s what Mandra Biscornet says about what makes for an engaging podcast guest: “We enjoy having guests on our podcast that bring a level of expertise, new ways of thinking about writing concepts, and PERSONALITY! Most of our guests we have met in person, or heard speak in the past…we have a sense that they will not only help educate our audience but be enjoyable and inspiring to listen to.”

Shelly Devlin says she values “good back and forth interaction and throwing in some humor!” I would say that good back and forth interaction means not hogging the microphone. Answer the host’s questions in some depth but be sensitive that you don’t lecture. And give your host time to share their response!

I asked the ladies about how The Writer’s Block Podcast NH started and here’s what Mandra said:

“Writing can be a solitary process…our podcast was born from the idea that other writers could benefit from the information & support we were sharing in our bi-weekly writers group. In addition to critiquing each other’s pages, we were researching the various ways to find an editor, get published, and market books,etc. Plus we inspired each other on the not-so-great-writing days, and to be honest, thought we were pretty darn funny in the process.

“We started videoing ourselves in the garage of Shelly’s hair salon and the plan was to post on YouTube.”

Debby’s husband, Jonathan, helped them “see the light.” When Debby told Jonathan about it, he said, “Deb, how many podcasts do you know are filmed in New England, in an un-heated garage that are successful?” and she said, “None.”

Last Thanksgiving Debby and Johnathan stopped by his work which had a new studio at Studio 21 Podcast Cafe. When Debby saw the set, she asked Jonathan to film her doing a little clip to send to their daughters. “It was thanksgiving, I believe, so I pretended to do a show all serious news-like, how we at the writer’s block didn’t even stop on Thanksgiving. Back in the car, Jonathan and I started brainstorming.”

What decisions did they make about the podcast? Mandra says, “Be Honest. We aren’t going to get any better at writing if we can’t take each other’s honest criticism, and we aren’t going to have a podcast worth listening to if there isn’t the some lively discussion! Another decision we made was to dress for the camera. Most podcasts are listened too, however, some are viewed so we make an effort to be ‘camera ready.’

“We also decided to be prepared with a given topic, but allow time for impromptu discussion. Jonathan advised us to keep the podcast to about 22 minutes, the average length of someone’s commute. Some weeks the time limit is difficult to stick to, but we try!”

By all accounts, the three agree their main schooling was seat of the pants learning.

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Thinking of having your own podcast?

Mandra sums up some of the benefits she’s seen in podcasting, from creating community in an otherwise solitary act (writing) to building her platform in advance of publishing her memoir to honing her speaking skills.

If you want to start your own podcast, Mandra suggests, “Listen to other podcasts! Pay attention to both the podcasts you enjoy, and the ones you have trouble even finishing. Not all podcasts are created equal.

“If possible, utilize a podcast studio, they have state of the art equipment, the expertise, and the resources to get your podcast heard. Be mindful of your time, the 20 – 25 minutes rule works well.”

One reason that listening to podcasts is growing is that it has some advantages over radio:

You choose the topic.
You can start at the beginning, rather than in the middle.
A good podcast will be consistent in length so you have some idea of whether you’ll have time to hear the whole thing during one commute.
Whether you listen in one sitting or two, you can be sure to catch the end, rather than miss it if you’re listening to radio.

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You don’t have to start a podcast of your own. In fact, being on other people’s podcasts can help put you and your book in front of multiple audiences.

Like anything on social media, the best way to start is to become a member of the community. Listen to podcasts that relate to the subject of your book, as well as other subjects that intrigue you.

Share the podcasts you enjoy on social media and interact with the hosts when possible. If you’ve already established yourself as a contributing member of their community, they’re more likely to consider you as a guest when your book comes out.

A Shout Out for Well-Behaved Woman Coming Undone

I can’t end this interview without sharing a little about Debby’s novel. Before my interview, Debby sent me a copy of this gem of a book. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book where the magical realism is laugh out loud funny—a combination that’s inspiring, playful and entertaining. And the book had the perfect balance of laughter and occasional tears. I thoroughly enjoyed Well-Behaved Woman Coming Undone.

Hair design by podcaster Shelly Devlin — Hair Design by Podcaster and Writer Shelly Devlin

I look forward to reading the memoirs all three hosts are working on. Shelly, a salon owner and hair artist is writing As the Chair Turns. After visiting her website, I just have to include a couple of photos of her hair creations. I had no idea that hair art was a thing. How cool is this?!

Which leads me to another benefit of being a podcast guest—you meet interesting, creative people you may otherwise have never met and who open your world to new experiences!

How to Get a Book Deal: 7 Qualities to Cultivate

October 9, 2018 by Lisa Tener

Have you ever wondered how to get a book deal in this increasingly competitive environment? Certainly, there are the actual steps to take, including writing a top notch book proposal and growing your author platform.

Yet, there’s another side to getting a book deal—and that’s the grit. How do you stick with it? How do you complete all the steps to get there—sometimes in the face of disappointment, rejection and even what seems like failure?

Thursday’s Happy Book Deal Story

I received an email last week from a client sharing his good news: he’d just heard from his literary agent with the first offer from a publisher! It was particularly thrilling because things had not been looking so rosy a month ago. In fact, the rejections had been pouring in and he wondered whether he would ever get a book deal at all.

I believe this author’s success in getting a book deal is based largely on several particular qualities of his. Let’s see if you can guess what they are…Without reading ahead, close your eyes and think of a few qualities you believe to be crucial to an author’s success in getting a book deal. Open your eyes and jot ’em down.

Now let’s see if you guessed right! (Or perhaps you’ve identified additional qualities—please share them as a comment below.)

Visionary

When I first met this author, I was intrigued by his book idea, but I wasn’t sure I was the right book proposal coach for him. While intrigued, I wasn’t particularly excited about the subject at first glance.

Yet, when I hesitated during our first phone call, the author convinced me that this book was necessary, groundbreaking and transformational. He shared his vision and I soon shared his enthusiasm—a complete turnaround.

This visionary ability—and the enthusiasm with which he shared his vision—served him time and again in developing his platform, signing a contract with a top literary agent and ultimately in getting a book deal.

Flexible and Coachable

Some folks will tell you why they can’t do xyz, or why building a platform isn’t going to work for them or why their book has to be 750 pages. And they may be right, but it may not be so easy to help them get a book deal with that kind of rigidity.

On the other hand, authors who take each recommendation step by step and figure out a way to do even the uncomfortable, the daunting and the downright terrifying have a better chance of developing the platform and proposal that publishers want to see. Some of those efforts may meet with success while others may miss the mark. Yet, if you’re willing to try a number of challenges, some of them will work.

Maybe you don’t get a commitment from the New York Times bestselling author you’ve identified to write the foreword for your book, but you do get some yeses for endorsements and even a couple of commitments for special sales (or bulk sales) that you can include in your book proposal.

This author took each of my recommendations and, step by step, implemented them, even though he didn’t have a huge budget to implement everything all at once, or the time to initiate all suggestions at once. It took time but slowly, step by step, his platform grew—developing a professional website, blogging for Psychology Today online, tweeting actively, setting up speaking engagements, adding video to his website. When he hit a wall, he came back for advice, listened and took it!

Intuitive and Creative

Now, I’m not saying ignore your intuition and listen only to your book proposal coach! But weigh the advice and check in with your heart. Are you open to what’s possible? Is it truly your intuition speaking or your fear? Only you can answer that one.

If you hit a wall, can you get creative? If you can’t grow your platform one way, or get commitments for presales, are there other, creative ways to accomplish these goals? This author set a number of challenging goals, achieving some and not others. When something didn’t work, he looked for new ways to accomplish a similar goal, creatively.

Persistent

In the same way this author knew he wanted to work with me, he was completely clear about the literary agent he wanted to work with. He contacted her a bit early in the process. She expressed interest and encouraged him to continue to work on his author platform, providing several specific suggestions.

He consistently did the work on his platform and it grew enough that he decided to approach her again. Again, she encouraged him to work on platform, as he still needed to build it. Yet, he felt that to continue to do the work, he needed the motivation of having signed with this agent (there’s that intuition again!). He promised to do the work and asked her to take him on as a client.

Now, this isn’t the advice I generally give a client. Why tie yourself to a particular agent when that agent is clear that you are not yet in the position where she would be ready to pitch your book to publishers? Doesn’t it make sense to wait until you have what she requires? Well, that was my orientation but in this author’s case, his persistence paid off. She signed him as a client, gave him a couple more platform suggestions and he had the emotional boost he’d needed to keep on truckin’—another example of trusting your intuition about what you personally need to be successful in getting a book deal.

Eventually, he felt he’d accomplished what he could on the agent’s list and asked her to pitch the book. She did.

Resilient

Feedback was tough. As I mentioned, the book was groundbreaking. It served a good sized audience that hadn’t really been served by a book specifically for their challenge before.

And, unfortunately, publishers tend to prefer books that compete in an established space. Acquisitions editors wondered whether there truly was an audience for the book. Without having sold products or programs (such as a webinar series) to such an audience, it wasn’t clear whether the intended audience would just look for information in online articles or whether they would actually buy a book to help them resolve this challenge.

And so, initially, no offers came in. One publisher did suggest a different book that they’d be interested in from this expert. And yet, the author felt it would be disappointing to turn his back on the book where his deepest passions resided. He considered the other book, but he didn’t feel quite the same enthusiasm as he did for the first. He hung in there.

Well, you know what happened. Fortunately, he didn’t have to turn his back on the first book because the first offer came in, and then a second offer.

Your Turn

I look forward to the day when I can share more details about this particular book, once the contract is negotiated and signed. Meantime, what takeaways to you have from the story? What insights do you have for qualities you can cultivate in yourself? What’s been serving you in your work in writing your book proposal or book and what qualities or tendencies could you cultivate in order to get a book deal? Share your insights and experiences as a comment below. Thanks!

7 Benefits to Growing Author Platform Before You Write Your Book

September 13, 2018 by Lisa Tener

I am a book proposal nerd. I just love sitting out on my deck and digging in, occasionally looking up to see a monarch butterfly or two glide along the wind currents, or a hawk circle above.

I love reading about book ideas, feeling the author’s passion for her or his subject and especially adding new creative ideas to help them make the book even more resonant for their readers and more attractive to publishers.

The biggest flaw I see in most proposals is that the author’s platform isn’t quite there yet. Often, I can suggest a few ideas specific to their book to help in growing author platform now.

Sometimes aspiring authors find the advice about growing author platform frustrating:

“I’m writing the book to grow my platform. Why do I need a publisher once I already have a platform?”
“I want to reach people now with my book. I don’t want to wait another year or two for growing author platform.”
“I don’t know how to grow my platform.”
“I tried and didn’t get anywhere.”
“Who’s going to want to endorse my book and write a foreword, or help promote my book when I don’t even have a book written?”

These are all great questions. Chicken? Egg? Where to start?

The truth is, though, that whether you self publish or traditionally publish, your platform as an author is how you’ll reach readers. You NEED a platform to reach them (unless you have a very niche publisher who already reaches your exact target market, a quite unusual situation).

7 Benefits to Growing Author Platform Now!

Instead of bumming out. Rejoice in the benefits to growing author platform ahead of time. You’ll be able to:

1. Write a Better Book: By engaging with your audience ahead of time, you’ll get to test out your ideas and improve upon them. Not only that, but working on your author platform can give you lots of extra practice writing. Says Christopher Littlefield, “After Lisa’s book proposal class, I took a break to focus on growing my author platform. I finally started my newsletter—just emailed my 20th issue!—and wrote several articles for other websites, like Thrive Global and LinkedIn. All that practice is improving my writing of the proposal and the book. And now people find me online, not just by knowing my website.

2. Get to Know What Your Readers Truly Want: You may think you know what you want, but whether you are speaking, blogging, teaching, podcasting, consulting or writing articles to grow your platform, you’ll learn from their comments and questions what most interests them. Dr. Craig Malkin was writing a relationship book, but it’s his post about Narcissism that went viral and resulted in the book that garnered a 6-figure book deal with HarperCollins—Rethinking Narcissism.

3. Make Money Now: I always encourage writers to have a business plan for how your platform building and book promotion will create income for you. Rather than pouring money into it, you want your platform building and book writing to be a self-sustaining project—one that creates abundance. Beth Suereth of Caregiving Pathways started working with me on her proposal, then shifted her primary focus to platform buliding early on in the process. After parlaying her platform building into multiple income streams, Beth quit her job to focus full time on the work she’s passionate about.

Beth says, “Platform building felt overwhelming at first, but it has paid off already. I learned how to network with my primary audience on Twitter, and I tweet about their efforts in addition to my own work. As a result, a well-known nonprofit organization connected with me — via Twitter — to offer me a consulting opportunity. I also now teach part of a course I took for the credential and networking it offers. I tweet about the course and the presentations I’ll be giving at the director’s conference, and she retweets many of my posts to her 30,000 followers! In addition, just yesterday I discovered my name on a blog post from earlier this year titled 50 Aging Influencers You May Not Have Heard Of.” In the background, Beth’s been working on her proposal here and there and just sent me a rough draft today.

And Christopher Littlefield, mentioned earlier, said that by finally creating a newsletter, as part of his platform building plan, four people have read the newsletter and reached out to him with business opportunities.

4. Give Yourself the Gift of Time: The sooner you start, the more time you have to build momentum. This means more potential readers (and book buyers) as well as less pressure to try to build all at once—which is more stressful and harder to pull off. I’ve seen several authors wait to start growing their platform until their proposal was done; they were disappointed about how long it took to grow their platform afterwards. Others who work on platform ahead of time and while writing the proposal often find themselves ready to pitch once they’ve written the proposal—a more satisfying position to be in.

After our initial work together, Dr. Stephen Snyder took my advice and spent several years working on his author platform before completing and submitting his book proposal. His diligence resulted in a 6-figure offer with St. Martin’s Press!

5. Enjoy the Exponential Effects of a Supportive Network. As you help others along the way, they’ll help you. New York City sex and relationship therapist Stephen Snyder MD, author of the acclaimed new book Love Worth Making: How to Have Ridiculously Great Sex in a Long-Lasting Relationship shares how supporting a colleague of his led to even more substantial support from her down the road. While you don’t want to do all your good deeds expecting something in return, you will find that the good turns you do others will come back to you manyfold. In Dr. Snyder’s case, he attended a book talk given be one of his medical colleagues, Catherine Birndorf, who’d just co-written The Nine Rooms of Happiness. Since Dr. Snyder liked the book, he wrote an article about it on his website, and a few months later the author gave his name to a producer on the Today Show who invited him to do a segment. While in this case, his book was already out, I’ve seen similar situations with aspiring authors who were still working on their books.

6. Meet Your Idols, Paper Mentors and Other Cool People: As you work on platform building, you may finally meet a bestselling author you have admired from the distance or be introduced to new people who inspire you greatly. While teaching a workshop for the International Coach Federation, I met my coach, Tama Kieves, a great advocate for trusting my muse and honoring my creative instincts. In the spirit of platform building for my next book, I made it a goal to be interviewed on some podcasts. On one podcast, I met Laura Berman Fortgang, whose books I had read joyously when I first decided to become a writing coach. Unbeknownst to me, Laura was guest co-hosting the show and I got to tell her how much her books had meant to me!

growing author platform - zender at Harvard course — Dr. James Zender and other participants at Harvard Medical School’s Publishing Course. He will return this time as a speaker in 2019

7. Reach (and Help) More People Even Before Your Book Comes Out: I encouraged Dr. James Zender to pitch a blog to Psychology Today online and to apply for speaking opportunities as part of his platform building. He wrote me this week to share that over 300 people have signed up for his lecture on chronic pain from the mind body perspective, which takes place Friday at the Michigan Brain Injury Association fall conference. He has also been invited to speak at Harvard Medical School’s CME publishing course in 2019 and other venues. And his Psychology Today blog, The New Normal, reaches hundreds of thousands.

Just Added: “What if I Don’t Want to Write More?”

I just received a detailed email from a reader of this blog who said she wants to write her book, but not much more writing. I decided to add to the post so that everyone can benefit from my answer:

Question 1: She asked about using Facebook Groups or Pages.
My answer: Be careful with Facebook. The rules change all the time. You could put tons of energy and time into your group or page, only to find that no one will see it without advertising. And with a book, that investment in ads may not make sense financially. So, I would not make Facebook my primary media for reaching people — Ideally, you should lead people back to your website. In my recent interview with Rusty Shelton, he suggests quizzes. One of the great things about a quiz is that it is automatic. So, you can provide value to your participants without putting much time in once the quiz is developed.

If you are going to use Facebook, focus on groups (at least at the moment, until Facebook changes something again). With a page, you have to pay to get seen but when you post to a group, members will be notified automatically.

Another popular medium for reaching potential readers is podcasting. If you’re hesitant to write, you can try that.

Question 2: She also asked whether sending a newsletter out once a month is often enough.

My answer: Once a month is better than not at all, or every other month! So, do what you can, rather than strive for perfection.

However, if you are going to send a newsletter once a month, I recommend you use it to share a blog post, podcast or video and then just have a short introduction and link to its appearance on your website. Why? It will help you get found on search engines like Google.

If you send a newsletter, it’s “one and done,” but if you put it on your blog or website, it adds to the relevant content on your blog–something search engines like Google LOVE. So, you’ll increase the chances of people finding you when searching the internet for relevant terms.

Question 3: ‘If I start a Facebook Page, how do I protect my title?”
My answer: You can’t copyright a title. If you think someone may use it, just use a different name for your Facebook Group (preferred) or Page. Perhaps use your name. That way, if you write additional books, you can continue to use the same Facebook Group.

Now, Here’s My Question for You

Readers, have you found that working on your platform changed your book, helped your business, opened doors or was just plain exciting? Share your story about growing author platform as a comment below. Thanks!

Are You an Expert or an Authority? An Interview with Author Rusty Shelton

September 13, 2018 by Lisa Tener

Are You an Authority?

Last November, during a conversation over lunch during Harvard Medical School’s leadership course for women in healthcare, my long-time friend and colleague–and my publicist of over a dozen years–shared ideas with me about what it means to be an authority in one’s field. And why it matters.

This is the subject of his Rusty’s latest book, Authority Marketing, co-authored with Adam Witty and with a foreword by Steve Forbes. We continued the conversation over email that I might share his insights with readers of this blog, published and aspiring nonfiction authors.

Lisa: What’s the distinction between expert and authority? What does it mean to be an authority?

Rusty: It’s incredibly hard to become an expert, as those who have earned their M.D., financial advisory certification or other distinguished degree know. But the reality is that there are more than 400,000 doctors and more than 300,000 financial advisors in the United States. That degree puts you in rarified air but when I go to pick a doctor, dentist or financial advisor, I have a lot of choices and for those looking to drive impact, leads or both, it’s hard to stand out among such numbers.

Authority marketing is combining stand-out expertise with targeted, meaningful visibility that pulls someone out of that commoditized “expert” space and positions them as a visibility thought leader (what we call an authority).

Lisa: And how does one do that?

Rusty: We’ve identified seven pillars of Authority Marketing and they include:

[bctt tweet=”The 7 Pillars of Authority Marketing ” username=”LisaTener”]

Branding – Do you have a differentiated brand that positions you as an authority? This often starts with a home base website that showcases a mission-driven brand (what’s your cause?) and re-markets media coverage, speaking experience and even a book to build authority by association.
Lead Generation/Audience Creation – Once you have a differentiated brand in place, the next step is driving engagement with that brand. The best way to do this is by integrating earned media (PR, speaking, referrals, a book, etc.), rented media (social media, advertising, etc.) and owned media (your website, blog and email list) to give yourself leverage to spread your message and/or grow your business.
Content Marketing – In our book, Mastering the New Media Landscape: Embrace the Micromedia Mindset, we argue that we have entered the age of “Micromedia” in which every individual and brand is a media outlet – whether they know it or not. Success in today’s media landscape means thinking more like the media than a marketer, which is why smart understand they have the same power the media does – to build an audience that looks to them (via a blog, podcast, etc.) as the best source of entertaining and informative content in their topic area.
Publicity –This is the most sought-after form of earned media for a reason – it provides more immediate authority to you than just about anything available. At the same time, the limiting factor of PR is that someone else has to say “yes” for you to reach an audience, be that a producer, editor or blogger. But even though this category doesn’t give you long-term leverage, it’s an important component for any expert looking to make the jump to authority.
Speaking – Some argue that speaking is just as powerful an authority-builder as publicity and it’s incredibly important for experts who want to be viewed as thought leaders. To become a visible, successful speaker you must brand yourself as one (even before you may consider yourself “keynote” quality). Think about it – if I get to your website and can’t find a picture of you on stage or access comments from recent audiences, am I really going to think you’re a fit for my conference?
Events – There is some crossover between this category and speaking but it is a separate pillar because events also include those you own, from open houses to virtual events (webinars and beyond). Events provide significant authority and value to your audience.
Referral Marketing – Most experts rely only on this category to grow their influence, impact and business, believing that “if I do great work – opportunities will come my way.” There’s no question that you can’t be an authority unless you “have the goods” (meaning that you actually do great work) but the limiting factor of sitting back and waiting on referral is that you don’t have any control over lead generation or audience/impact growth – you have to wait on someone else to talk about you. So, while this is a very important piece of the puzzle – it’s just one of seven pillars.

Lisa: You’ve been in book PR a long time and over time your focus has shifted a bit from just books to this concept of full-service Authority Marketing. Can you say more about why it’s an important strategic perspective for you and your clients?

Rusty: We still do a lot of PR work at Zilker Media but the reality is that PR is just one (very important) piece of the puzzle in today’s media landscape. Our clients need us to have a plan in place to integrate earned, rented and owned media so that the media interview they do or the article they write drives people toward meaningful action that either grows their impact, markets their book or builds their business. Specifically, we have found that driving audiences toward a free quiz or assessment (interactive content) is the best way to provide value and engagement around a cause. Booking the interview is in fact just the first step and those who end the work there are leaving a lot of value untapped.

It’s All About the Book

Lisa: When we saw each other last year at the Harvard Medical School course for women in healthcare leadership, you mentioned that for women in healthcare, and leadership in general, you’ve seen books as the biggest way these women have “moved the dial” in terms of their authority in their field. Can you say more about why that is and what you mean?

Rusty: Right or wrong, in our culture we assign almost an irrational amount of authority to someone who has written and published a book. A book legitimizes ideas, establishes thought leadership, provides prestige and allows someone to communicate their message at scale. It also makes each of the seven pillars above much easier to do. Here’s a snapshot of that:

Brand – When I arrive at someone’s website I may not know who they are, but as soon as I see their name on the front of a book I immediately assign authority to them (authority by association)
Lead Generation/Audience Creation – A book is a great way to build an audience and drive lead flow.
Content Marketing – A book is perhaps the most tangible and iconic form of content marketing thanks to its staying power (no one discards a book).
Publicity – A book makes getting publicity much easier.
Speaking – A book legitimizes a speaker and provides a great takeaway for audience members.
Events – A book launch is a great reason to host an event, be it a book signing or webinar.
Referral Marketing – Giving away your book to your biggest fans provides them the easiest and most comfortable way to refer you.

Lisa: Yes, I can think of so many examples of all seven pillars working for my clients with their books. What are some of the changes you’ve seen in the PR landscape over the past year or two? Where should authors and experts be putting their energy?

[bctt tweet=”Changes in the PR Landscape: Where to Put Your Energy ” username=”LisaTener”]

Rusty: Wow, where should I start? I think the biggest opportunity for authors and experts is the magic of using a quiz or assessment to drive engagement, education and growth of their email list. I call this quiz marketing and have been so convinced by the success of client quizzes in recent years that I joined with a few partners recently to build Catch Engine, which is a software platform for those who want to feature a quiz or assessment on their website.

When it comes to email growth, lead magnets typically fall into one of three categories:

Old faithful – “Click here to sign up for news and updates” (this converts at a horrific rate)
Gift marketing – “Click here to download my free e-book or whitepaper” (this converts well if you’re well known and poorly otherwise)
Interactive content – “Click here to see how confident you are – take the confidence quiz” (177,000 people have taken this quiz over the past three years – and counting)

Our system, Catch Engine, is great but whatever software system you use – there’s nothing I can say that will be more impactful for your audience than considering adding interactive content to their website – it will make an immediate impact.

Lisa: Now that Facebook and Twitter are tending to require payment for ads for most posts to show up, is it still beneficial to be on those platforms? What are the considerations? How much time and effort should one put into those platforms? What can one expect?

Rusty: The decline in organic visibility (non-paid reach) across social media has been a wake up call to many and serves as an important reminder that your social media channels are “rented media.” In other words, when you build an audience on your Facebook page, LinkedIn profile, Twitter account, etc – you’re building an audience on real estate you don’t own, which means you can only reach that audience at the behest of the owner of that real estate (which gives them all the leverage).

Lisa: I agree wholeheartedly. It makes me nervous when I work with an aspiring author, and authority, and all their engagement is on facebook, for example, and not their website or blog.

Rusty: That doesn’t mean I don’t recommend actively using social media – it just means that you have to always be focused on doing two things:

Delivering great value with entertaining and/or informative content
Giving those you reach a reason to leave that social media channel and head to your website so you can “own” the connection to them once they join your email list.

I should also add that a smart, well-targeted Facebook advertising campaign is one of the best possible ways money can be spent in a marketing campaign…with one caveat – the call to action or lead magnet must actually give value (hint: a great quiz!).

Lisa: In our conversation over lunch you encouraged me to blog or write articles on LinkedIn. Can you say more about that strategy for our blog readers, to help them with their platform and authority?

Rusty: You’ve been doing a great job of extending your content over to LinkedIn – I always enjoy it! LinkedIn has recently opened up the ability for anyone to publish “long-form” content on their platform. That means you can have a blog within your LinkedIn profile and, once you start posting, LinkedIn opens up the ability for you to build a separate audience from your more formal connections – followers. One way LinkedIn is encouraging its members to post long-form content is by giving sizable organic reach to such posts. So, we have a window in time right now where your readers can get extra value by contributing content there.

Lisa: What are some visibility and authority strategies that are working especially well for your clients right now? (examples would be great and we can link).

Rusty: I have talked so much in this post about quiz-marketing – let me link to a few of our most successful quizzes:

book by writing coach lisa tener — My first book helped me be seen as an authority on book writing and publishing, not even the topic of the book itself (an unintended consequence as well!).

Lisa: Thanks, Rusty. It sounds to me like some of the biggest takeaways are, if you want to stand out as an authority (for all the benefits you mentioned earlier):

a) Write a book (my favorite, of course).

b) Offer something engaging and valuable to people, like a quiz.

c) Use rented media, like social media, to bring people to your website, where you can offer them both a) and b)!

And I love your list of the 7 pillars. While I wholeheartedly recommend writing a book to many experts or those who have a message to share, I also encourage readers to think about the 7 pillars you mention. These are ways to reach people and have impact before you even complete your book, and they will help your book be successful!

[bctt tweet=”Join Us at Harvard! ” username=”LisaTener”]

Readers, Rusty and I will both be teaching at Harvard Medical School’s Career Advancement and Leadership Skills for Women in Healthcare this November. There, you can learn more from Rusty about Authority Marketing. Also, I’ll be teaching a workshop on honing your expert bio, as well as offering an advanced class on How to Write and Publish a Book to Support Your Mission and Work. The course sells out every year, so be sure to register early if you are interested!