June ‘22 Newsletter
I always look forward to spending time during the summer reading a good book. Currently, I’m reading an interesting book that my sister recommended, called Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History’s First Global Manhunt, by Steven Johnson. The title comes from the conundrum that England encountered when pirates seized British ships in international waters. Since English laws didn’t apply in international waters, they adopted a standard that if an offense occurred outside of their territory that constituted a harm to all mankind, their laws could still apply, and they called such a circumstance “Enemy of All Mankind”.
This non-fiction book follows the development of a particular pirate, and in the process reveals a plethora of delightful tidbits. For instance, the term “strike”, relating to a labor strike, came from the striking of sails by crews that were protesting their wages or other conditions, meaning that they would lower the sails. The drink mocha actually was named after the port city of Mocha on the Southwestern coast of Yemen, on the Red Sea, which was well known for its coffee. I love learning trivia like this. I’m only about half way through the book but do recommend it.
What books are you reading this summer? If you have read a good book lately, please let me know.
1. Hiatus
Speaking of summer, I will be taking some time off this summer, to enjoy more time to read, among other things. I will suspend sending out this newsletter over the next few months. I hope you have an enjoyable summer and get to take some time off as well.
2. New Author
SkillBites has recently published the book of Veena Kasbekar called Power Over Themselves: The Literary Controversy about Female Education in England, 1660 – 1820. The publication is the fulfillment of a long-held dream of this author to publish the dissertation she wrote 50 years ago. If you know anyone yearning to have their dissertation published, let me know. We can enable them to achieve their dream as well.
During the period from 1660 – 1820, the world consisted of a class-based patriarchy, relegating women and other lesser beings to certain societal and familial duties and denying them education beyond their prescribed role. Kasbekar examines the writings of the time, including the books of female authors such as Mary Astell, the Bluestockings, Mary Wollstonecraft, Hannah More, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Maria Edgeworth, Jane Austen, and many others. She explores four prevailing philosophies of thought, labeled Conservative, Progressive, Reactionary and Radical, analyzing them to ascertain 18th-century attitudes toward women and their education. The book is a valuable resource for those looking to understand the time and place as well as the evolution of thoughts and ideas on respecting women’s minds and capabilities through a more robust education.
3. The SkillBites Show
Each month, we bring you an expert to help you get your book done, leverage your book, grow your business or improve your life. The shows are recorded, and you can listen to the recording by clicking here.
On our next SkillBites Show, our guest will be Marcy Nelson-Garrison. Marcy helps others create successful products and programs that reflect who they are, make a difference and make money. One of the products Marcy helps her clients create is card decks. In this episode, Marcy will share why card decks are a great tool for authors, to reinforce the messages in their book and to generate more income with the same content. She also explained how to create a card deck. Be sure to listen to this episode and find out how to get Marcy’s free gift for listeners.
Last month, my guest was Shadeed Eleazer. Shadeed helps experts and entrepreneurs convert their Intellectual Property into a license-ready curriculum that is sold to corporations, universities, and government agencies. In this episode, Shadeed provided a proven gameplan for self-published authors to define and monetize their intellectual property by creating licensing partnerships with universities and corporations.
If you missed this presentation, you can listen to it by clicking here.
Here are the upcoming guests for July and August, since I will be suspending this newsletter during those months:
In July, my guest will be Marjorie Saulson. Named both Top Speaking Coach of the Year and Top Motivational Speaker of the Decade, Communication Confidence Coach, Marjorie is also a #1 international bestselling author of Empowering Business Owners to Overcome Speaking Fears Whether You’re Talking with 1 Person or 1,000, and was one of 50 women (including Oprah Winfrey and Melinda Gates) who were contributing authors to the book, America’s Leading Ladies – Stories of Courage, Challenge, and Triumph.
For over 40 years Marjorie has coached reluctant speakers to create their unique and authentic messages, acquire engaging presentation skills, and overcome their fear of public speaking; so that they can communicate with confidence and skill, reach their professional and income goals, and make the impact they desire to make in the world. In this episode, Marjorie explains how fear of public speaking prevents people from discovering and using their unique voice, from serving those whom they are meant to serve; from reaching their personal, business and lifestyle goals; and from sharing their gifts with the world. Then she shares strategies for overcoming this fear and deal with the usual nervousness before speaking.
In August, our guest will be Soness Stevens. Soness is the Head Speaker Coach for multiple TEDx events and has coached over 140 TED & TEDx speakers. She represented Japan for TED Worldwide and is a 4-time TEDx speaker. Soness has a weekly nationwide broadcast TV show on communications and is an Associate Professor of business presentation skills at YNU. As a professional speechwriter, her rhetoric has competed against presidents and Nobel prize winners to win 6 Cicero awards. When she’s not on stage speaking, she’s making light of life as a stand-up comedian. Want to get booked to speak at TEDx? Wondering if you have a TED-Worthy idea? In this episode, you’ll learn how to find your TED-Worthy idea with Soness–a TED Worldwide and 4-time TEDx speaker who is coach to 140+ TED & TEDx speakers.
Do you have expertise that you believe would benefit the SkillBites community of entrepreneurs and authors? If you would like to be the guest on the monthly SkillBites Show, contact me at judy@skillbites.net or 610-783-4519.
4. In The News
Last month, I was a guest on the Biz Coach & Coffee Podcast hosted by Biz Coach Steve Feld. It was a lot of fun, and we covered a number of pointers on getting a book done. You can check it out here:
https://bizcoach.libsyn.com/judy-audio
YouTube – https://youtu.be/NwVmlzY4vFw
Spotify – https://bizcoach.libsyn.com/spotify
Apple Podcast – https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/show/biz-coach-coffee/a8ba54f6-6a85-4644-acf6-02d178c731e9/episodes
5. Tip of the Month: PubMatch
Did you know that there is a great opportunity to get revenue from selling the rights to your book in foreign markets? There’s even a resource to help you do that. It’s called PubMatch (https://www.pubmatch.com/). Not only are foreign rights sales a lucrative opportunity, they also put your book and your message in the hands of readers all around the world, thereby greatly increasing your visibility.
PubMatch makes it easy for you to put your book’s rights for sale, as well as for buyers to purchase such rights. As the seller, you can set the price for rights by language, territory, format (paperback, hardback, eBook or audio book) and length of the deal. PubMatch provides a contract, so no lawyer is needed, or you can use your own contract. It’s a great way to reactivate dormant backlist titles and create a new income stream from them. Check it out!
6. Earn Commissions For Referrals
Do you know anyone who has been wanting to write a book but has been stalling? Let them know that SkillBites offers a variety of services to make book writing and publishing easy, quick and convenient. When you sign up to be a SkillBites affiliate, you can get a commission for each person who signs up to purchase SkillBites services through your unique referral link. To obtain more information and to sign up for our referral program, click here.
Thanks for supporting SkillBites. If there is anything you think we ought to be doing better or anything we should be doing that we’re not, please let us know. We value your input.
Cordially,
