How exactly will your life change?

To give us some answers, I brought in career expert Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist. As a syndicated columnist writing for the Boston Globe and Yahoo Finance, Penelope is already an authority on how to manage your career and how things like writing a book can affect your life.

She also has a blog, which is, in my opinion, one of the best on the Web. Since I know many of you are bloggers, I managed to squeeze a few nuggets of wisdom out of her on making the transition from blog to book. For more of Penelope’s advice, check out these posts:

How to Get a Six-Figure Book Deal from Your Blog
Coachology: How to Get a Book Deal

Now to the interview!

1) I’m an expert in my field.  How will writing a book help my career?

A book is a great marketing tool. For example, it will help you get speaking engagements, if you want that. Having a book published is sort of like having a ticket to play in the speaking world. And if you have a blog, the book is good advertising for the blog. A book can do a lot of things for you, but you really need to know why you are writing the book. You shouldn’t write a book thinking it will be a bestseller because you are probably better off buying lottery tickets. And you shouldn’t write a book thinking that it will change your life to be a published author. It won’t. You are the same you whether you have a published book or not.

2) Should I start a blog first?

If you can handle posting regularly to a blog, it’s a great way to get yourself known for your expertise. A blog is a great marketing tool for consultants. You don’t get an advance to write a blog like you do to write a book, but a lot of people get so much business from their blog that they don’t need a book in order to grow their business to where they want it to be. 

3) How is it different, writing for a blog and writing for a book?

A book needs to unfold, in a linear way into a big idea.  A blog is nonlinear. And while most blogs have a few, central, big ideas, each post can stand on it’s own without being about a big idea. A blog can succeed by having a good topic area. A book succeeds by answering a good question.

I have a difficult time making the transition. In fact, I blogged about how my book was a year late because my editor rejected my first manuscript. (http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/03/08/hey-its-time-to-pre-order-my-book/)  My editor had to teach me how to stop thinking like a columnist and blogger (very easy to transition between those two) and to start thinking in bigger ideas with linear buildup.

4) Can I repackage my blog posts as a book like Seth Godin?

We all can do that. But we won’t get the advances that Seth gets.

5) You’ve said sex makes people happier.  Will writing a bestseller get me laid?

Research shows that making more money does not get you more frequent sex, it gets you a wider selection of sex partners. So I think that based on this research the answer to your question is no: The amount you are getting laid will not change.  

6) I have 10,000 RSS subscribers.  Will my publisher care?

The publisher will care a little. But you need to show you have other ways to sell your book because there is not strong evidence that if someone reads a blog they will buy that blogger’s book. 

7) How can I convince bloggers to promote my book?

Be a part of the blogging community. And be nice. And be all this not because your book is coming out but because you genuinely care about the blogging community. In return, the community will care about you.

8) Which is more important: links from blogs or mentions in the conventional media?

Both have helped me. It is very hard to get a book deal today without being able to show you have traction in conventional media. So it’s been really good for me that I have a foot in each door. Tim Ferriss and Bob Sutton both got to the bestseller list without much help from traditional media, so this is good evidence that you can rely on bloggers to take you to the top. But publishers, I think, would still be wary of buying a book proposal that relied solely on this strategy.

9) How important is it to pick the right agent?

I don’t know. I sent my proposal out to five agents that I picked randomly from a list of agents who said they were not accepting new clients. (I figured they must be good if they don’t need more business.) One of those agents took me, and I am staying with her. I think that when things are not going well for a writer, the writer blames the agent. But my guess is that that is often misplaced blame.

10) Congratulations on getting a six-figure contract for your second book. How are things different, the second time around?

My agent is one of those really, really, busy always-doing-lunch types. The first time I sort of waited until she called me, which was so nail-bitingly intense. The second time I was a huge pest, and it was easier to know where things stand every second during the auction.

The other difference is that the first time I sold a book I thought it would be really easy to write a book. This time around I know it’s very hard, so I have more anxiety about getting it right.

Just for us, Mark has agreed to answer 10 questions. If you’re thinking about hiring a publicist for your business book, you can contact him through his web site here.

1) What is the role of a publicist in making a bestseller?

Publicists aren’t alchemists and can’t create bestsellers with a magic wand, but they can absolutely maximize a book’s media and sales potential. An experienced publicist knows which media outlets have the most sales impact, how to customize a pitch to these outlets for the best chance of a booking, and how to use the right timing and momentum so you have enough sales velocity to climb a weekly or monthly bestseller list. A good publicist acts as an author’s promotion partner. He or she should be as driven as you are to reach your goal, and wise enough to steer you in the right direction.

2) Do reviews in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, etc. really increase book sales, or are they just ego boosters?

Absolutely. The Wall Street Journal and USA Today are the largest circulation newspapers in the country and are one of the best ways to impact sales. A rave review of course has far more impact than a luke-warm review, and it is much better to get a timely review the same week as other big media instead of a late review.  Also, reviews in big outlets like these can be leveraged by a publicist to secure additional major media. I always send such major reviews to national television and radio outlets to help convince them that the book is “big”, has mass potential, has third party credibility, and is striking a nerve. Reviews in smaller outlets and regional papers have less value but still contribute to cumulative impact.

3) Which is more important for grabbing the media’s attention: a big publisher or a connected publicist?

I wouldn’t want anyone to think that there’s no need for a big publisher if you hire a publicist. And if you have a big publisher that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t hire a publicist. The ideal situation is to have both. I’m hired by both authors and publishers and most of the books I work on are published by big publishers. Usually bigger publishers have better publicity departments, but bigger publishers often have bigger lists of books which can sometimes mean less time and attention spent on yours.

Hiring a publicist is like getting an insurance policy for the success of your book. There’s no guarantee, but by hiring a publicist you can rest assured that you’ve left nothing to chance and you are doing everything you can to ensure the success of your book.  You’ll have someone to partner with in the promotion process and they can help you navigate and reinforce your relationship with your publisher. Some publishers like to hand over all publicity responsibilities when an outside publicist is hired and others prefer to divvy up responsibilities according to who has a better relationship with a particular contact or who has strengths or expertise in one area or another. Publicity requires having sustained attention and focus in lots of areas all at the same time so every book can benefit from having more hands for the work and more brains to strategize.

A respected publisher imprint on the spine of your book definitely influences the perception of quality among reviewers and major broadcast.  But a hired publicist can ensure that you’ll get aggressive follow-up, and creative, carefully planned pitches customized to the target journalists you want.

So answer your question, try to get both a big respected publisher and a great publicist that you connect well with and that understands your book. If both aren’t possible, at least get one!

4) How can you make a book visual, so that it appeals to TV media?

To get on a major network TV show, a good publicist should convince a producer that the topic of your book is not too abstract and cerebral to translate well into the visual medium of television. The publicist must be able to describe the book in a way that the producer immediately sees the camera rolling in their head and what the segment would look like.  In effect, the publicist needs to do the job of the producer for them by suggesting what kind of b-roll video footage could be used, what kind of stunt or demonstration might be done by the author on set, what the topic title for the segment might be, and what examples the author would focus on to illustrate his or her ideas.  Most shows will no longer book “talking head” interviews where a host sits down with an author and says “tell me about your book.” They now insist on creativity, visual stimulation, and whatever it takes to make a good television experience that will prevent the viewer from changing the channel.

5) I’m going on the Tonight Show tomorrow (I wish!).  What can I do to be the best guest in the history of the show?

Watch the show as many times as possible so you can deliver the right tone, style and pace. For your example of The Tonight Show, this involves lots of relaxed, chummy banter with the host, great storytelling, and a willingness to let your self be the target for humor.  The Tonight Show doesn’t want you to be funnier than Leno! They want you to be good material to make Leno funny.

Practice an interview with a friend but don’t rehearse and memorize because this will be very obvious.

Focus on your energy.  If you don’t appear enthusiastic and inspiring on TV about your topic, why should anyone be inspired to buy your book?

Get down your timing and pace. You don’t want to be faster or slower than the host and you want to pack in the core of your main messages without going off on a single tangent.  Better to come to a short confident stop than to keep rambling on to explain detail.

I offer my clients basic media training and then refer them to a professional media trainer with a camera-man if they really want to ensure a TV performance that will deliver and have sales impact.

6) Which is more important to the media: the book concept or the author’s story?

A publicist should always use all the best ammunition they have in their arsenal. Sometimes I’ll have a book with a topic that isn’t so original but the author’s story is irresistible. Other times I’ll have the opposite situation.

Book reviewers are certainly going to care more about the book than the author’s story. Most broadcast, particularly radio and short TV interviews, thinks in terms of topic, and then want an author who is articulate and credentialed enough to discuss the topic. But a profile writer in the feature section of a publication is going to be most interested in the author’s story.  And some media like Oprah or NPR’s Fresh Air or Charlie Rose are very focused on the personal experience of the guest and helping the viewer get to know the guest.

7) Can you predict which books will be a hit with the media and which ones will flop?

I’m known for having a knack for this but I’m no fortune-teller. I make these judgments based on how fresh the topic is, how much it speaks to the current cultural conversation of the moment, how much mass appeal the topic has, and how promotable the author is. One of the most common reasons a book might flop is that it is just too similar to books that have already been written. The bar is set high for a book to contribute a new idea.

8) How does publicity translate into book sales?

Usually this happens but it doesn’t always.   Publicity gets the exposure and provides the medium for delivering a message. But the message must be compelling fresh, and viral (something that will get everyone talking), and it must deliver a value proposition. Think about a recent interview you’ve watched on TV. Did it go in one ear and out the other? Or did you find it an entertaining segment but you still weren’t moved enough to buy the book? Or were you so impressed or moved or inspired by an interview that you ran to a bookstore and you told all your friends about what you saw? That’s the difference between a flat interview and a high-impact interview.

9) Can an author sell enough books to financially justify a publicist?

Some of my clients have sold over a million copies of their book, which certainly left plenty of change left over after my fee!

Some authors use part of their advance to put toward a publicist’s fee so they see it as investing in the success of their book.

Other authors hire publicists because the exposure and credibility they gain from a successful campaign is worth far more to them than whatever royalties may stream in from book sales.

In general I don’t think it’s wise to decide whether or not to hire a publicist based on a calculation of how much additional sales you might get.  You should hire a publicist if you really want to invest in the maximum potential of your book, and if you have any doubts about hiring a publicist don’t do it.

10) Who is your perfect client?  What do they do differently?

A perfect client acts as a partner with a publicist and asks what are the most valuable things they can do to play a role in the promotion process. For example an author might start their own blog, network with all of their personal relationships, write articles, and outreach to other bloggers. If the author is not engaged directly in the process, even the best publicist can’t make a book a success. A perfect client is also very clear about their specific goals and specific media targets so that the publicist can focus his or her energy in the right places. Fortunately I’ve been lucky enough to have many perfect clients and there’s nothing more rewarding than working closely with them to hit a bestseller list.

This is the question that brothers Chip and Dan Heath set out to answer in Made to Stick. After reading the book in one weekend (it’s a page turner!), I managed to catch up with Dan and ask him some questions about sticky ideas and how to make your book more memorable.

Sidenote: Made to Stick embodies what it teaches. It’s now a New York Times Bestseller. 

1) Why are people talking about some books for hundreds of years, and others are forgotten before they hit the shelves?

There is nothing in Made to Stick that would explain why Shakespeare is revered more than Sophocles, for instance.  And there are lots of books that endure for centuries despite being horribly unpleasant to read—particularly in the sciences.  I suppose that if you figure out how gravity works, no one demands that you be a master communicator, eh?  All that said, I think you can see patterns in long-lasting books that echo the principles of stickiness in our books.  Think of the Bible and its wealth of parables and stories.  Or Aesop’s fables and the way they take profound moral lessons and make them amazingly concrete (“The Boy Who Cried Wolf”).  Or Oedipus and its nasty surprise.  Bottom line: Stickiness is a factor in longevity, no question, but it’s certainly not the only factor.  Luck matters, art matters, the power of the underlying idea matters.

2) What is a book concept? Sounds boring and unimportant.

To me a book concept is the publishing equivalent of a Hollywood high-concept pitch (e.g., the movie Speed was pitched as “Die Hard on a Bus”).  It should communicate the core idea of the book in as snappy a manner as possible.  Hollywood high-concept pitches do a great job of this.  Alien was “Jaws on a spaceship.”  Book concepts tend to be more complicated—authors bristle at the idea that their books can be summarized in a phrase.  As a tangent, a bizarre hobby of mine is to analyze the flap copy in books.  Note that flap copy is quite different from the book concept—the concept is created before the text and the flap copy afterwards.  (Though a wise author would synch up the two.)  What I’ve found is that there are lots of brilliant books—for instance Oliver Sacks’ The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Paco Underhill’s Why We Buy—that have really uninteresting flap copy. The typical language of flap copy—e.g., salesy, adjective-stuffed summaries—is just the antithesis of stickiness.  You know the type:  “In this fascinating whirlwind tour of real estate financing, the estimable authority James Booker provides a thought-provoking and humorous summary of finding and buying your dream home.” 

3) Should I focus on one simple concept, or should I try and write the Bible for my industry?

Simple concepts become Bibles.  Think of the Tipping Point or Good to Great or How To Win Friends and Influence People.  None of these books are, or want to be, encyclopedic in their domains.  Their “narrow” focus is their strength.

4) Are gimmicks like shipping your book in a milk carton (Purple Cow) or tactfully using profanity (The No Asshole Rule) magical tickets to bestsellerdom?

I think it’s wrong to say those are gimmicks.  They are perfect examples of sticky communication.  The Purple Cow isn’t a gimmick any more than a Black Swan is a gimmick.  (The milk carton is gimmicky, but fun, and I’d draw a bright line between the carton itself and the underlying “Purple Cow” concept.)  The Cow and the Swan are concrete symbols of profound concepts—the purple cow symbolizes the remarkable, and the black swan symbolizes the unexpected, low-probability event.  And that’s what authors should do. They should surface the concrete images that represent their insights—images that will cling to memory long after their 250 pages of prose have faded.  And Bob Sutton was incredibly brave to use the word “Asshole” in the title.  Trust me, this wasn’t some easy-money gimmick.  He ran a serious risk of sabotaging his distribution and his publicity.  (You think Good Morning America is going to talk about “assholes”?  Or that Wal-Mart is keen to stock a title like that?)  The title is unexpected (a trait of stickiness) in its bluntness.  It says, hey folks, let’s call a spade a spade.  We know what an asshole is.  An asshole is not a “jerk” or a “meanie” or a “prickly pear” or any of the ridiculous waterered-down substitutes the publishers probably prayed for. An asshole is an asshole.  I love that he made that choice, and the fact that the gamble paid off was in no way a predictable outcome.

5) Should I regale readers with personal stories or stick with the facts?

Stories are alternate vessels for facts.  If you want to talk about the harms of the health care system, and you want your argument to stick, you need to embrace the power of stories.  You need to talk about families who suffered because of the absurdities of the system.  The stories you tell are factual, and they encode larger truths about the health care system, but they remove the abstraction of disembodied facts.  For another example, look at the Jared campaign run by Subway.  It was a phenomenal success—the guy was on Oprah within a week of the launch, for God’s sake.  What many people have forgotten is that, before Jared, Subway ran a campaign called “7 under 6”.  I.e., 7 sandwiches under 6 grams of fat.  Notice that this is precisely the same message as the Jared campaign.  But it didn’t move the needle.  This was a head-to-head matchup between facts and stories, and stories kicked facts’ ass.  (Or should it be asses?  Not sure if all facts would share an ass or if each fact would have its own.) 

6) My book makes people cry. Is that a good thing?

It’s a good thing in terms of its stickiness.  It means you’ve made the reader care.  But maybe a more appropriate question would be, should you be making people cry?  Were your intentions manipulative or sincere?  This is a reminder that something’s “stickiness” does not speak to its admirability or truthfulness—urban legends are proof of that.  Everyone knows the idea that “You only use 10% of your brain”—it’s an idea that stuck—but it’s a a dumb, false idea.  Or take the book The Secret.  (Concept: Tony Robbins meets Good Vibrations)  It’s a preposterous, sleazy book that will sell a million copies (or two or three).  So, bottom line, many undeserving ideas stick.  

7) Which is more important for building credibility with publishers and readers: experience and accolades or actually knowing what you’re talking about?

No clear answer.  People would read hogwash about leadership if it came from someone of the stature of Jack Welch or Rudy Giuliani (not to imply that their books are hogwash, but it wouldn’t matter if they were).  But they’ll also read “leadership fables” from people who have never had an employee.  It goes both ways.  Credibility can come from authority or from the quality of the ideas themselves.  In our book, we naturally focus on the latter—how can an idea carry its own “badge of credibility”?  One idea we discuss is the “testable credential,” which is a technique that allows the audience to try before it buys, so to speak.  For example, think of Ronald Reagan’s famous question in the 1980 presidential debate: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”  Rather than argue the economy is in a sorry state, using stats and figures and charts, he simply outsourced the idea’s credibility to the audience.  “Is the economy working for you or not?”  That’s a nice technique for folding credibility into an idea.

8) My book is highly theoretical. What can I do to make it more concrete?

It is inexcusable for any business book to be “highly theoretical.”  Because business is not highly theoretical.  Businesses clothe people and cure people and exploit people and give money to employees and move things from city to city and spark communication between strangers.  Those things are real.  Ultimately, any strategy or marketing scheme or financial plan must manifest itself in the specific actions of specific people.  So talk about those people and those actions.  It’s crazy not to—you are creating your own obscurity if you stay at the theoretical level.  Here are some tactics for forcing yourself to be more concrete: (1) Imagine a teenager who continually asks you, “So what?”  after every paragraph you write.  (2) Imagine that your best friend, someone who is sympathetic but won’t accept your word as gospel, keeps asking, “Give me an example.”  (3) Reread your last few pages and eliminate any passages that lack sensory images, passages that can’t be visualized.  (4) Avoid making conceptual arguments that you don’t have specific anecdotes, stories, or details to back up.

9) Okay, I’ve got 10 minutes on Oprah (I wish)! Any final words on what I can do to increase my chances of people remembering me and my book?

Don’t worry, if you’re on Oprah, you’re all set.  You could slobber uncontrollably or speak Urdu and you’d still move 100,000 books.  But if you also manage to sprinkle in some of the concepts of stickiness—telling stories, using concrete language, seizing the power of surprise, staying simple—then bully for you.

For a full biography, click here.

In my opinion, his advice for authors posts from 2005 and 2006 are the best of their kind on the Web. Not only is Seth one of the most prolific and consistently successful authors alive today, but he knows how to communicate what’s important to people that are struggling to understand the publishing business. If you haven’t read the above posts, they’re required reading for this interview.

That being said, here are 10 questions and answers with the legend himself, Seth Godin:

1) With 172,000 books published in 2005 in the US alone, it seems like everyone is doing it now. Is a book still a good way to distinguish my ideas?

A book is just a vessel, something that holds your ideas. It used to be that the act of getting published was a Dip (see my new book for details). Getting through it meant something. Getting an editor to take the time and the trouble and the money to turn your book from manuscript to bookstore was not just a seal of approval, it was a source of scarcity. Because published books were relatively rare, it mattered.

Now, of course, there’s no scarcity. So the Dip in creating a book isn’t in getting it published… it’s in getting it read. And ironically, the pricing and distribution of books makes it less likely, not more likely!

2) Do you think a video on YouTube could eventually become a better medium?

It already is! For most topics, a great video is seen by far more people than a great book ever would be (do a google search on “will it blend” and you’ll see what I mean. Of course, this doesn’t apply to literary fiction or detailed historical tracts. I’m talking about the books most people write and the books most people read. Most of them, especially popular non fiction, would deliver the idea to more people if they were great videos instead.

Now, let me be clear: I’m talking about “most” people. There are still people, important people, who are far easier to influence with a book. And that’s going to be true for a long time.

3) There are even more blogs than books. Are blogs really a good way to build a platform, or is it even harder to get noticed?

Again, no Dip in building a blog. There are 80,000,000 of them! But, a blog is fast and free and relatively easy way to have a platform. The real question I’d ask an author-in-process is: what’s your effort going into? If the effort is about persuading publishers, persuading bookstores, etc., then you’ve entered the “I cut down trees” business. If you spent that same effort spreading your ideas with a blog, would it have a better outcome?

4) Between your books and blogs, the amount of insightful content you produce is staggering. How do you do it? Does being bald help?

Being bald, of course, is a cooling mechanism, and no sense overheating the cranium.

The secret of what I do: I notice things and give them names. I haven’t bit off more than that, because I’d probably do it poorly. Part of the challenge in breaking through is finding a niche you can overwhelm.

5) Which is harder: getting signed by a big, New York publisher or regaining the credibility I’ll lose for not being signed by a big, New York publisher?

Depends on who you are trying to influence! Do the editors at the New York Times book review REALLY matter to your life? Why? Most Americans will never read your book. In fact, the typical American buys exactly one book a year and probably doesn’t read the entire thing. So we’re back to: who are you trying to influence?

6) What is a permission asset? The same thing my accountant is always harping about?

Send an email to free@permission.com and you’ll see what I mean.

It’s the privilege (not the right) to deliver anticipated, personal and relevant ideas to the people who CHOOSE to get them. And it’s at the core of what is being built online. If you don’t have that, you’ve got nothing. Amazingly, this asset is undervalued by traditional powers that be in publishing. They just let authors take it. And we should. We must…

7) How can I use a free e-book to build a permission asset?

Write a manifesto (see changethis.com for examples). Sell your ideas, hard. At the end, say, “if you send me an email, I’ll send you a monthly newsletter of ideas on topic xyz.” And then follow through. Day by day, week by week, this list should grow. Especially if your ideas are good!

8) I’m trying to get attention (interviews, links, press) for my free e-book, but the media treats me like I’m not a real author. What should I do?

Who needs that media? They’ll all be unemployed sooner or later, and unless you can get on Oprah, it’s not your best bet. Your best bet is relevant blogs. If your ebook is fantastic, blogs will blog it. If they do, it’ll spread. Fact: the ratio of downloads to listeners/readers is 500 to 1 better on a blog than on a radio station or magazine.

9) Let’s say 10,000 people have downloaded my e-book and entrusted me with their e-mail addresses. Is that enough to make my next book a bestseller?

What does ‘bestseller’ mean? You mean NYT bestseller? Sure, if you do the timing right. But is that label worth so much? If you self publish a book and 3,000 people buy it and you make 20 bucks a copy…

10) This all sounds like hard work. Is it really, really, really worth it?

Only if your goal is to spread your ideas. That’s the last great dip. Ideas that spread, win. If there were a better, more reliable, more rational way to do this, I’d suggest it!

The best way to become a millionaire is to find a million dollars in the street.

The most reliable way to become a millionaire is to get really good at something and work hard at it.

Well, rejoice. There’s hope.

If a book about economics can reach number two in the non-fiction section of the New York Times Bestseller List and sell over a million copies, then it proves that your dream really is possible.

Steven Levitt, author of Freakonomics, tells about how he turned a private fascination with how things work into a best-seller. He doesn’t take credit, mind you, but in my opinion, he gives some of the most articulate insights we’ve published on this site to date.

Thank you, Steve.

Here’s the interview:

You said that, initially, you didn’t think of yourself as a writer. Now that you’re a best-selling author, have you changed your mind?

No, not at all. Freakonomics wouldn’t have sold 100 copies if Stephen Dubner wasn’t my co-author. He is a first-class writer. I am good at doing economic research, but there is no way I could have written a best-seller myself. Compare our book to other books written for a general audience without someone like Dubner on board and I think you will understand what I mean.

What was it like, co-authoring a book? Enjoyable? Maddening?

Co-authoring with Dubner could hardly have been better. We spent about a week mapping out what the book would look like. Then the way we generally worked was talking two or three or sometimes 20 times a day. He would produce a first draft, and I would revise what he wrote the next day. What made our partnership work was that we found a common voice we could both write in, and we were both very accepting of the other’s opinion.

Was Freakonomics a natural extension of your curiosity for how the world works, or was it a calculated attempt to create a bestseller?

We only wrote Freakonomics because the publisher gave us a big advance. Neither of us really had a burning desire to write it. But that actually freed us up…we decided to just write a book we would like, not worrying much whether anyone would want to read it. For instance, we decided that it was okay to write a book that did not have an overriding theme, but rather just wandered around from story to story.

If you had to guess the economics of writing a bestseller, what do you think they would be?

The publishing industry is set up so that the rich get richer. Once you make a best-seller’s list, the bookstores and media give you all sorts of free promotion so success feeds on itself. That is true even across books. If your last book sold, the next book benefits because there are loyal readers and the publisher will promote it.

The sad fact, though, is that there are hundreds of thousands of books published each year. If you set out to write a best seller, there is every reason to think you will be sorely disappointed.

What are some of the things you did to promote Freakonomics?

Initially, we set up a web page and sent promotional copies to any blogger who had ever mentioned my research. The book was reviewed in many prominent places. I went on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and after that the media floodgates opened: Today Show, Good Morning America, 20/20, O’Reilly Factor, Tavis Smiley, etc. I did a fair amount of radio early on as well. We didn’t do a traditional book tour – maybe 3 book readings total.

You seem genuinely passionate about what you’re doing. How important do you think passion is for creating a bestseller?

I think loving what you do is essential to success in general. Probably this is even more true in writing because producing a book is such a long and laborious process with very little positive feedback.

In the introduction to Freakonomics, you said that New York publishers asked you to write a book, but you didn’t want to at first. What caused you to change your mind?

I changed my mind when we figured out that Dubner and I could co-author. Also, I read “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell, and that gave me a vision of how academic material could be translated into a popular book that works.

So many authors are hunting for a publisher, but for you, it was the opposite. What can authors do to become someone publishers are competing over?

For me, the answer was getting a profile of me in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. Easier said than done, though! I do not think there is an easy answer here. There are so many people who want to right, and so few commercial successes, especially by unknowns.

How do you transform a boring subject like economics into something that can capture the curiosity of the world?

I’ve just always asked questions that I found interesting…I was just lucky that other people found those questions interesting too.

If you could pass on one piece of advice to aspiring authors, what would it be?

I don’t want to be unduly discouraging, but realistically the odds are hugely against anyone trying to write a bestseller. My advice: only write a book for its own rewards: the joy of creation, being able to say you wrote a book, giving free copies to your friends, etc. If those rewards aren’t enough, don’t write the book.

So, here it is, in unedited form:

Would you say that writing a book and transforming it into a bestseller is like starting a business?  What are some of the similarities and differences?

In one way, yes, in so many others, no. Yes, it is an act of creation. But it is an act of creation from one mind, not many. A business calls for many minds, pragmatic minds, not necessarily creative minds, albeit they are all forged together when done the best way by the creative leader, E.g., the entrepreneur. A book is a creation of a much different order,and while one could create a bestseller through aggressive marketing, one could never create a bestseller that way for the long term. A book that is a true bestseller becomes so on its own. That happens between the reader and the author, the author engaging with the reader like a great company engages its customer…at the heart, at the experiential level, as only one who knows another truly can.

In E-Myth, you say that every person that starts a business has three people inside of them: the technician, the manager, and the entrepreneur. For authors, what is the role of the technician? The manager? The entrepreneur?

The author is pure technician, no doubt about it. A book is not a business.

As an author, how important is it to build a team of people to support press altar for your book? When should you hire a staff to support your publishing business?

An author is rarely in “the publishing business,” he or she is in the writing business. When an author becomes invested in a publishing business, he or she ceases to be an author. Then he or she best become an entrepreneur.

How important is it to innovate with your book–to say something that’s never been said before?

It’s only important if it is important, and for no other reason. Innovation as a device for an author for the purpose of distinguishing himself or herself from other authors is a poor excuse for writing a book. A book to an author is a product of his or her imagination, it is a tract through which he or she speaks to the world, it is a philosophy, a mindset, a work of art or education; it is not written to make oneself successful. If it is it is a poor example of a meaningul book.

You emphasize the principle of quantification. Most authors only quantify the number of books they’re selling. What other metrics would you recommend authors track?

There are none. Again, an author is not a businessperson, a book is not a business.

You’ve built a publishing empire around E-Myth. What were some of the steps you took to transform your book into a business? Would you recommend other authors take the same steps?

I didn’t build a publishing empire around E-Myth. I built a business empire first, and then wrote E-Myth as a distillation of what I had learned in my business. The business came first, the book second. My books are purely just that, books. I speak to my audience — my reader — through my writing and my books. They are as successful as they are because they are very good books with a very important message for my readers.

What do you spend more time on now than you did when you were writing your first book? What do you spend less time on?

I spend my time the same way I did at the beginning: creating new businesses, writing, speaking, creating new ideas, pursuing my imagination, stimulating my creativity every chance I get in every way I can.

One of your founding principles is creating a turnkey business. Only, is it possible for authors to separate themselves from the details of creating products? How?

A book can be turn-keyed, but after you have created the first one, you are simply manufacturing the ones that follow. That is not writing, it’s manufacturing. Nothing wrong with it, but one must be clear about the distinction.

Chicken Soup for the Soul and Rich Dad, Poor Dad have inspired an entire line of books, where the original authors invited others to contribute. Is this step similar to franchising a business, and how can more authors reach that level of business model maturity?

I have a lot of feeling associated with this subject, good and bad. Leave it at that.

Not only have you written one of the world’s most famous books on entrepreneurship, but you’ve genuinely changed countless lives. What advice can you offer to authors that have similar passion for their topic?

Make sure you are truly passionate about your topic as opposed to the role of a successful author. Most people who write books to expand their commercial reach are not authors, but mechanics solely interested in selling themselves to an audience to influence that audience to buy what are referred to in the industry as “the backend.” The book is the front end, the backend is training, coaching, consulting, etc. So the book is the front end of a sales process, the lead generator for the sale of backend products or services. In such a case, the author is the salesperson. Often those books are not even written by the “author” but by a “ghost” author. It’s remarkable to me how many times people come up to me and ask if I have actually written my own books!

Yes?  Then you need a subscriber base.

A subscriber base is a collection of people that have given you permission to contact them.  Online, they usually give you their e-mail address or subscribe to your RSS feed.  Then you can send them regular updates and start building a relationship.

What’s the big deal?

If people give you their e-mail address or subscribe to your feed, then they are usually a fan, and if they are a fan, they’ll probably buy your book.  A large list of 5,000 or more subscribers can sell a lot of books.

So, how do you build a subscriber base?  Here are some links from the best of the Web:

Building Your Fan Club - If you read nothing else, read this!

What Is a Double Opt-in Email List and Why Is It Important? - Detailed guide

0 to 12,000 RSS Subscribers: - Story of how Lifehack.org did it

Permission Marketing - The book that started it all

The List Building Blog - An entire blog on the subject

11 Ways to Find New RSS Subscribers for Your Blog - From the master himself

What is a Namesqueeze? - What it is, and how to use it

It’s a central part of every author’s marketing campaign — some say the most important part. If you going to become a best-selling author (and I know you will!), then it’s essential you start learning the ropes now.

But isn’t the publisher supposed to handle publicity?

If you’re lucky, the in-house publicist will spend a few months on your book. Some authors also hire freelance publicists, but in either scenario, you’re going to be involved. It’s unavoidable.

To help you get started, Lissa Warren has agreed to answer some questions on book publicity. She’s the Senior Director of Publicity at Da Capo Press, as well as the author of The Savvy Author’s Guide to Book Publicity.

Why is publicity so important for a book marketing campaign? How do authors benefit?

Actually, I don’t see publicity as a part, or subset, of a book’s marketing campaign. I see it as its own campaign. But it certainly is important to the success of most books. It’s a great (and basically free, save for the unit cost of the book and the cost of shipping it to the media) way to increase the public’s awareness that a book exists-which is half the battle since so many books are published each year, and there are so many other forms of entertainment and education these days. It’s also a way for the consumer to have the book evaluated by a disinterested third party. A publishing house can say a book is an excellent read – in the flap copy, in advertisements, etc. But when the New York Times or another publication says it’s wonderful, it means more because they’re unbiased.

Publicity is also important because it’s a way that booksellers evaluate a book’s importance. We let our sales reps know about the publicity we’re getting for the book — print publicity (newspapers, magazines websites) as well as broadcast (radio and TV). They in turn let their buyers know. A booking on a morning show, or an interview on NPR, or a review in a major-market paper can help them convince their account to purchase more copies. That increases the visibility of the book in the bookstore. And that’s very important, for obvious reasons.

What is a radio or TV tour, and how can authors use them to sell more books?

A radio tour is when an author pays an outside company to secure interviews with national and local radio programs on their behalf. They usually book them in batches of 20-25. Often times they can be done within the period of one week, which can generate a nice sales pop. Sometimes, all of the interviews can be squeezed into a day or two if the author’s time is limited. All interviews can be done via telephone from the comfort of the author’s home or office. Some last five minutes, some last an hour. The more air-time the better, of course. A reputable radio tour company will guarantee the author 20-25 interviews and will refund (or provide some other form of compensation — such as securing some print interviews for them, or carrying over the remaining radio interviews for their next book) if their efforts are not successful.

A TV tour is similar, but instead they’re reaching out to news shows on TV stations around the country (and perhaps even some nationals like CNN). The author can do the interviews in one day (usually in batches of 10 or 20) from their local affiliate via satellite. The interviews often take place in the a.m., since morning news shows tend to be more open to doing author interviews. Evening news is usually too busy recapping the day’s happenings.

Should authors emphasize their personal story during an interview? Why or why not?

If their personal story is relevant to the book, yes. For example, I’m currently publicizing a book called From the Heart: A Woman’s Guide to Living Well with Heart Disease. It’s written by Kathy Kastan, who had to have a bypass in her early 40s. Her story is inspiring (she went on to become President of an organization called WomenHeart so that she could “give back”), so I’ve made it part of the pitch. On the opposite end of the spectrum is a book called We Were One: Shoulder to Shoulder with the Marines Who Took Fallujah by military historian Patrick O’Donnell. For that one, I’ve tried to focus my pitch on the men whose story Patrick tells. So it all depends on the book.

During an interview, how can authors make themselves memorable, so that publicity translates into sales?

It’s important to learn how to talk in soundbites, to explain your book in 30 seconds or less (in a way that’s interesting), to be gracious and humble and not interrupt or talk-over the host (or the other guests if it’s not a solo interview). Anecdotes, examples, and analogies can be helpful-and also very memorable. Depending on the show’s format, you may be able to read a passage from the book. That’s a nice way to give people a feel for it-to show them what your prose is like. One thing to guard against is shamelessly self-promoting your book on-air. No need to start every sentence with “In my book.”

What’s the secret for landing an interview on a big talk show like Oprah? How important is it?

Put the package together for them-the expert (which is your author) as well as people who illustrate the point your author is trying to make. If your book is a marriage guide and your author is a psychologist, ask your author to put you in touch with 2 or 3 couples she has counseled-couples who might be willing to go on the show with her. Make their stories part of your pitch.

Keep in mind that they’re going to need to be able to make the story visual. Let them know where the footage could be shot. For instance, using the above example you could suggest they film a ceremony in which the couple renews their vows.

It also helps to send the shows reviews and copies of newspaper and magazine articles about the book-preferably in national or major-market publications so that they come away with the feeling that people are interested in this book.

Keep in mind that, if a TV producer is intrigued by your pitch, they may ask to see some footage of your author. So have it ready. If you don’t, the producer’s enthusiasm may have died down by the time you get it to them.

For the authors still writing their books, what steps can they take to make themselves irresistible to the media?

Your concern at this stage needs to be how to make yourself irresistible to a publisher, and the best way to do that is to build yourself a platform. Start a website or a blog. Publish some articles or op-eds related to your topic. Start giving presentations at libraries, churches, synagogues, schools, corporations, organizations, etc. Get yourself a lecture agent (we know that, if an author gives lots of talks, we’ll have lots of opportunities for back-of-the-room sales of his or her book).

Why should authors hire a publicist? Can you do something that the do-it-yourself author can’t?

Depending on your own media potential and the media potential of your book, it may make sense to hire a freelance publicist to promote your title. If the publishing company doesn’t have a publicity department, or if you get the sense that the publicist to whom you’ve been assigned doesn’t “get” your book or doesn’t view it as a priority, you might want to outsource the campaign. I encourage authors to have a candid conversation with their in-house publicist or editor before doing this, however, because freelancers are expensive. It can be a big investment, and you want to make sure it’s really necessary. Also, if you do decide to hire a freelancer, the in-house publicist or the editor may have some good referrals.

Some authors hire a freelance publicist to do the hardcover campaign. Some hire one to keep the momentum going after the in-house publicist is done (usually 2-3 months after the book pubs). Some hire a freelancer to handle the paperback campaign (usually a year after the hardcover pubs).

Publicists — both in-house and freelance — can do more for authors than they can do for themselves. We have more contacts, because we’ve been building relationships with the media for years. And we know how and when they like to be approached. Plus, the media-at least, major media-prefers not to be approached by authors directly. It’s just too awkward if they have to say no. Besides, they rely on publicists to vet books for them. The editors at the Washington Post Book World know I’m not going to follow-up with them on a book unless it’s a big one for us and unless I’m confident it’s appropriate for review in their pages.

How can authors justify the expense of hiring a publicist? Do they make the money back from book sales?

Authors should think of a freelance publicist as an investment in their future. They may sell more books with a freelancer than without one, but probably not enough to directly recoup the cost. However, thanks to the freelancer’s help the book’s sales track may end up being strong enough that the author can get a second book deal-maybe even for more money. So, in the long run it can literally pay off.

What questions should authors ask a publicist before hiring them?

It’s appropriate to ask them to put in writing exactly what they’d do on your book’s behalf. Will they be approaching national media or just local? If local, in which market(s). Will they go after TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, or all of the above? What about the Web-will they approach websites and blogs as well? Will they arrange bookstore events for you, or is that not part of what they do? Also ask how long they’ll be actively pursuing the media on your book’s behalf (2-4 months is usually the norm).

I’d ask them what books they’ve worked on previously that are similar to yours. That will reassure you that they know what to do with your kind of book (great if they’ve publicized a cookbook to bestsellerdom, but not if yours is a children’s book or a novel). Also ask them what media successes they had for that similar book, and what they feel a successful campaign for your book would look like. That should reassure you that their goals are in line with yours.

Beware of a freelance publicist who makes hard and fast promises. A good publicist will have a gut feeling that she can get you on such and such show or in such and such paper, but we can never guarantee it, no matter how good our contacts are or how many books and authors we’ve placed with that media outlet in the past. A good publicist will use verbs like “try,” “approach,” “reach-out,” “target,” and “pitch.” You get the idea.

What can authors learn from The Savvy Author’s Guide to Book Publicity, and why would you recommend they buy it?

The book contains a lot of specific, practical tips for authors who want to do their own publicity — how to write a press release, how to pitch the media, how to arrange a bookstore event (as well as how to promote it), etc. However, it also provides authors with information on what they can really expect from a publicist and how best to support that person’s efforts. My goal is to educate authors about every aspect of what happens to their book after it comes off press. So many authors think their job is done once they turn in their edits. In reality, it’s just beginning.

Below, I’ve collected all of the best resources from the Web to get you started. If you notice one I’ve missed, add it in a comment below.

How to Build a Profitable Home on the Web - A great collection of video tutorials

The 120 Day Wonder: How to Evangelize a Blog - Tips from a personal hero

The Blog Starter Checklist - Huge Collection of Tips

Competing for Attention in an Attention Deficit Blogosphere - How to stand out

How I Got a 120 Visitors to a Brand New Blog on Day One - Start with a bang

Don’t Sell… Teach - Use your blog to teach and the sales will follow

Focus on One Blog and Make It Special - Concentrate your efforts

Setting up a Home: Prelaunch Blog Checklist - What to do before you launch

Who’s There? - A free e-book from the master himself, Seth Godin

Blogging for Beginners - A series of posts (Read this!)

How to “Announce” a Blog - How to introduce yourself to the community

The Five Essential Elements of an Influential Blog - Grab their attention

Starting a Blog - An excellent series from the Blog Herald

How to Build a High-Traffic Blog - Tips from a guy that’s making a fortune

Because it works.

If you’re a prospective author, a blog will help you:

• Refine your ideas by writing about them
• Build a loyal following of readers
• Get to know other thought leaders
• Prove yourself to publishers
• Sell lots of books when you’re finished

To talk about it, I’ve brought in best-selling author Michael Stelzner. Perhaps the world’s foremost expert on writing white papers, Michael has written nearly 100 white papers for some of the world’s most respected companies, including Microsoft, FedEx, Monster, and Hewlett-Packard.

Further solidifying his reputation, he also published Writing White Papers, a guide on how to capture attention with white papers. It’s quickly become an Amazon.com bestseller, and Michael has become a thought leader in the blogging community. He’s graciously agreed to answer 10 questions about how he did it:

Publishers stress having a platform–an existing fan base that will buy your book. How can you use your blog to build a platform?

I had a platform before I launched my blog, which is actually the opposite of many bloggers that are out there today.  I had a base of 20,000 readers of my WhitePaperSource Newsletter. 

The blog is also a great way to build on that platform.  In my case, I became active in the blogosphere by monitoring the daily traffic on my topic – white papers.  I made sure I was out there on other blogs and adding to the discussion.  This created links back to my blog.

How did you convince other bloggers to link to your blog?  Would you recommend other authors follow the same strategy?  Why or to why not?

You can’t really make anyone link to you.  The best way to encourage links is to write excellent content.  That is hard work.  Serving up valuable information three, four or five days a week takes commitment.  Over time, you will establish a loyal base of readers.

What is the relationship between the number of people reading your blog and buying books?  Do you see a direct correlation, or is it more about building your brand?

I have found a strong relationship between the blog and the book.  In my case, my blog is called Michael A Stelzner’s Writing White Papers Blog (see http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/ ).  The book happens to also be called Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged (see http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/book/ ).  As folks become regular readers of the blog, they “discover” that I happen to have a book by the same name.  In many cases, my book readers are coming to the blog for more information and telling their friends about it.  The net net is more readers and ultimately more business.

Generally, blogs are free and books cost money.  How do you convince a blog reader to fork over the money for your book?

I give away the first chapter of the book for free.  I advertise that free chapter as part of my marketing efforts.  In January for example, more than 6000 people read the free chapter of my book.  At the end of the free chapter, I provide an incentive for folks to buy now by providing $5 off the book.  It is very effective.

As people begin to respect your daily writing on your blog, they will want to learn more about your craft.  This helps me sell my book and classes.  I have already established the name recognition and credibility with the blog.  The natural next step is to offer something relevant to my readers.

How did you push your book to the Amazon bestseller list so quickly?  Do you recommend any specific strategies that other authors could use?

What helped push the book to the number one spot on Amazon’s business writing book list was a constant buzz.  I had a publicist help push the PR when the book was first released.  I personally targeted the bloggers.  In the first 60 days of the books release I had extensive press coverage for the book.  See http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/press/#News. 

You’ve commented that you use your blog as a warmup for working on longer projects like your book.  How does it help?

I write white papers for a living.  The blog helps get my fingers moving.  It also helps keep my writing sharp.  By forcing myself to find content that is interesting to my readers, I put myself at the forefront of my industry and also keep baking new ideas.  The more you write the better you are, period.  I know I am a better writing because I blog.

Why don’t more best-selling authors have blogs?  Do you think that will change?

There are plenty of big name authors that do blog.  Take Seth Godin for example or Bob Bly. 

However, writing a book is HARD and exhaustive work.  After the book is done, many authors want to refocus on their core competencies.  However, I think more and more authors will see the value of blogging.  In fact, many new authors are coming from the world of blogging rather than the world of traditional media.

How can authors use white papers to help establish their brand and sell more books?

A few years back, I wrote a white papers called, “How to Write a White Paper: A White Paper on White Papers (see http://www.stelzner.com/copy-HowTo-whitepapers.php ).  In the paper, I put some of my trade secrets on the table and helped folks understand how to create these very complex documents.  I also persuaded many people they could NOT do this by themselves.  That paper has had more than 40,000 registrations and has helped me land big names such as FedEx and Microsoft as clients.  It also served as the foundation for the book. 

Today, I use the book as one choice at the end of the paper and offer my services as another.  Thus, I am using a white paper to sell my book and it is very effective.

How are you monetizing your blog and book?  Speaking engagements?  Freelance articles?  Teleclasses?

I do offer writing services, teleclasses and onsite training for corporations.  My latest teleclass is entitled “Creating White Papers That Generate Leads (Luring Prospects With Words).  See http://www.whitepapersource.com/teleclass/

You’ve got a teleclass coming up on February 15.  Would you recommend that aspiring authors take the class?  Why or why not?

If folks want to understand the value of writing white papers, I strongly advise the class.