March '23 Newsletter
Buyer Beware
This month I became aware of two situations involving expensive contract mishaps. A friend was moving her daughter from Florida to Pennsylvania, and hired a moving company (she thought). Actually, she entered into a contract with a broker, not a moving company. When the moving company that the broker hired came to pick up her daughter’s stuff, they advised they required an additional amount up front (in the range of $1500) plus an additional $3000 or so on delivery.
Since the daughter needed to be out of her apartment in 2 days, there was no time to find a different moving company, so my friend had to pay about $4500 above and beyond what she had already paid the broker for the work.
The other situation involved a software development agreement between one of my law firm clients and her developer. They had discussed several features for the program, which were all included in the developer’s proposal. However, the developer’s contract, which my client signed (without my legal review or any other legal review), only covered about a third of the features, even though the price was the same as it was in the proposal that included all the features. When my client raised the issue of the missing features in the app, the developer said they were out of scope, since they weren’t included in the contract. Rather than pay the developer more, my client terminated the agreement, preferring to spend the time finding a developer with more integrity.
In both of these cases, a careful reading of the contracts in question would have likely avoided the later problems, saving these individuals the extra cost and time, not to mention the aggravation, they encountered. Sure, they could probably sue, but the cost, emotional headache and time involved was not worth it to them. Contracts are not fun to read, and can be hard to understand. If you don’t want to read them, it might be less expensive for you in the long run to retain a good contract lawyer to review your contract for you and point out any deficiencies or missing items that could harm you.
1. New Published Book
SkillBites has recently published the second book of Dory Herman-Sample, called The Price of Magic. The book was started by Dory’s nephew, who unfortunately was unable to complete the book, so Dory masterfully completed the manuscript in his memory. For fiction lovers, it’s a delightful read, even for those who aren’t big fans of fantasy fiction.
Newly released from a hellish prison, Bale sets out on a journey to find a place—any place-- where he can lead a “normal” life. Despite his determination to remain as far from trouble as possible, he encounters humans and magical creatures, both good and evil, and some in-between, who test both his resolve and his strengths as his travels lead him to a future beyond his imaginings.
Witches, ghosts, griffins and peasants all need something from Bale. He is placed in circumstances requiring him to move beyond his image of himself as nothing but an ex-con, and he is confronted with questions he never even dreamed were important to ask, much less ultimately answer.
With his new found companion Foxy by his side, Bale discovers a gift for magic, and must face his own inner demons to be able to continue his education. Verda, Queen of All Witches of the Middle Kingdom and Bale’s mentor, and Healer, her bonded companion, teach Bale to hear and feel the life forces around him, and to suspend his earlier perceptions of the world as he ventures in a world both familiar and strange.
Bale, Foxy, Verda and Healer join forces, each of them with a role to play in the battle against the evil Crump. What, though, is the price of magic? The answer is both devastating and redemptive.
2. New Services
SkillBites has 2 new services it is offering:
Get a personalized, 6-part book marketing plan. The plan addresses the following elements:
- Your book-specific business model
- How to reach your target audience
- Your ideal foundational marketing tools
- Your ideal foundational marketing activities
- Your title-specific promotional activities
- Your title-specific specialty market sales options
Receive a targeted media list and pitching tutorial.
Whether you’re pitching your book for radio or television interviews, for reviews in print or digital publications, or connecting with bloggers, reaching the right media members with the right pitch is critical for the successful promotion of your book.
You’ll receive a great media list that the following:
- Targeted and relevant outlets
- Contact information
- Outlet and/or contact profile information
- Pitching preferences
You’ll also receive a pitching tutorial that includes:
- Do’s and don’ts
- Tips and tricks for garnering exposure
- Pitch crafting suggestions
- Effective Calls To Action
Your Price: $399
Email me at judy@skillbites.net to sign up for either or both of these services.
SkillBites is pleased to offer another amazing tool that is currently being offered at a huge discount through the end of March.
The tool is called Mockup Shots. MockupShots is every author/marketer’s dream.
It’s a full library of over 600 mockups with different themes and settings. All you have to do is upload your book cover into the platform, and you can have it set in the mockup of your choice in seconds.
As a loyal customer of the guys who created MockupShots, they’ve given me a special link for a whopping 50%+ off.
Simply click here before the end of March, and you can get lifetime access to MockupShots for only $97. (Normally $198.)
3. How to Crowdfund Your Book
Wouldn’t you love have people pay you to get your book published? You could use the money to hire a book coach, get a cover designed, or procure a book marketing expert to help you promote your book, without spending your money on these items.
Crowdfunding is a way of raising money for getting your book done, while at the same time spreading the word about your book and enabling you to do some market research about the preferences of your target audience. Done right, crowdfunding can bring in $7500 to $12,000, according to crowdfunding expert Victoria Bennett.
Victoria has helped hundreds of authors create successful crowdfunding campaigns. She is doing a two-hour workshop on March 14 where she will be doing a deep dive into running an author crowdfunding campaign, including these components:
- Understand the key elements of a successful crowdfunding campaign and how each part stacks onto each other
- Learn how to create a realistic timeline, budget, and funding goal for your projects
- Develop a plan for building a solid and engaged community around your book project
- Learn how to create appealing perks and incentives that will entice backers to support your campaign
- Walk away with a framework for crafting a compelling campaign page that will capture the attention of potential backers.
For more information and to register, click here.
For those looking for a more in depth GET IT DONE program on crowdfunding for authors, with step-by-step expert guidance on creating a crowdfunding campaign, Victoria is offering a 12 week program that starts on March 28. There is a $300 discount on this program that is greater than the cost of the March 14 workshop, so if you are interested in this program, you can save money by registering for the March 14 workshop. Victoria requires that you get on a call with her or her partner to make sure you are ready for this program, so if you are interested, send an email to victoria@thecrowdfundinghub.com.
Your Book is Done … Now What?
My friend and colleague Charmaine Hammond, an 11x best-selling author who has won numerous awards for her books, has developed a powerful course that includes everything you need to help your book business thrive and reach your audience. Charmaine is offering her 8 module course called Your Book As A Business, starting April 3, 2023. The course includes such topics as:
- Building your author platform
- Launching your book
- Getting bulk sales,
- Getting in libraries and bookstores,
- Getting PR
- Getting corporate sponsors
For more information and to sign up for this course, click here. Charmaine has offered my audience a 15% discount on her course. At checkout, use the coupon code YBAAB15SKILLBITES.
4. How to Reach Your Book Goals
Writing and publishing a book is a lot of work. You don’t want to go through all that effort only to find that your book doesn’t get you the results you want.
Key to writing a successful book is developing a plan for how you will use your book to gain the results you are seeking. The best time to create that plan is before you write your book, so you know exactly what to do for it to be successful. Having a plan will also help you write a better book. Even if you’ve already written and published your book, creating a plan will increase your chances of obtaining better results.
To help authors develop their plan, I am offering another session of my workshop called Publishing Profits: Create A Path To Your Book’s Success. The workshop will be on April 20, 2023 at 1:30 ET / 12:30 CT / 11:30 MT / 10:30 PT. It’s primarily for business owners and professionals who are writing a business book to help them grow their business. In this 90 minute workshop, you’ll actually put together a plan for how you will use your book to gain the results you are seeking.
Click here for more information and to sign up for this workshop.
5. Get Your Book Done!
What’s your #1 struggle or challenge with getting a book completed?
Whether it’s deciding on your topic, or doing the actual writing, or one of the many other obstacles authors face, I’d love to help you.
I’ve developed 2 programs that can help you finally get your book written this year:
The first is a set of 52 tips for writing a business book, sent 1 tip per week via email over the course of the year. The tips cover a variety of topics, including:
- The many benefits of becoming a published author, including how to use a book to grow your business;
- Steps to take before beginning to write, which will accelerate your ability to get your book done in addition to enhancing the end product;
- How to select the right topic for your book; and
- Strategies for getting your book written in the least amount of time and with less effort
Click here to sign up for the tips at no cost.
The second is a weekly, virtual accountability program. No travel, just 5 - 10 minutes of your time once a week to check in and get some helpful advice, so you stay on track.
- Unsure how to proceed?
- Stuck on which way to go?
- Having trouble sticking to your timetable for getting your book done?
You need to join the Book Writing Accountability Program! For more information and to sign up for this, click here.
5. 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.
This month, my guests are Victoria Bennett and Charmaine Hammond. Victoria is a strategic marketer, a scientist by training, and has worked for major national and international companies with strong commercial achievements. She has developed an expertise in helping authors create crowdfunding campaigns for their books.
Charmaine Hammond is a professional speaker, movie producer and bestselling author. Charmaine helps authors bring their books to life through collaboration and sponsorship.
In this episode, Victoria and Charmaine explained what crowdfunding is, how it can benefit authors, and some common mistakes authors make that jeopardize their crowdfunding campaign.
Last month, my guest was Global Credibility Expert Mitchell Levy.
When someone asks “what do you do?” does it take more than 5 seconds to respond? If you do, you may lose their attention as they become disinterested. You need to say something that captures their attention in the first 1-3 seconds.
You need to say something that generates enough interest that they want to spend the time and energy to get to know you a little bit more. Listen to this podcast to learn Mitchell’s process of developing your message.
You can listen to it by clicking here.
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. If there is a topic you would like to hear on the podcast, let me know and I’ll look for an expert to cover that.
5. Tip of the Month: Creating an Author Page
People like to learn about an author, often before they decide to buy the author’s book. Amazon provides an opportunity for you to share information about yourself and your book(s) on an Author Page. If you don’t have a good author page set up, and other authors in your genre do, you will probably lose some sales.
You may have noticed on Amazon that some authors’ names are hyperlinked and some are not. The hyperlink takes you to the author’s Author Page. If an author’s name is not hyperlinked, then they have not created an Author Page.
It’s free to create an Author Page. Start by going to authorcentral.amazon.com and log in. Next, go to the Books tab and click ‘add more books’ to add all the books you’ve published on Amazon. Then go to the Profile tab and add your bio and photo. You can also add articles, your blog, upcoming events, your twitter account, and any video trailers. You can even choose your own URL for your author page. Note that Amazon has a separate author page for the UK, so if you want to sell books there, you should create an author page at authorcentral.amazon.co.uk.
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,
