January ‘21 Newsletter

2020 is thankfully over and done with.  2021 is getting off to a somewhat rocky start, particularly on the political front; but with the Covid vaccines available and slowly being distributed, things are looking up, as at some point this year we should be able to resume in person meetings and events.  Hopefully things will get back to normal.

I recently read a blog post by Melinda Emerson, the Small Biz Lady, on the 22 essential business books every small business owner should read.  In case you are interested in seeing the books she listed, you can read her blog post by clicking here. Let me know what you think of this list – are there any books you think she missed, or which you don’t think belong on the list?  How many of them have you read?

1. How To Quickly Write Your Book

On January 12, I will be providing a 1 hour webinar entitled Rise Up: How to Quickly Write a Book that will Explode Your Business.  There’s no cost.  Please help spread the word by sharing this with your friends and colleagues.  You’ll learn such valuable strategies as:

• How to determine a profitable topic for your book
• A system for carving out the time to write your book
• 4 ways to quickly write a book even if you aren’t a good writer, or hate writing
• The pro’s and cons of the three most popular publishing options
• The 8 steps you need to take after your manuscript is completed

For more information and to sign up, click here. The recording will be made available to those who sign up. Limited space available.

2. 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, so if you can’t listen to one live, you can listen to the recording by clicking here.

Our next the SkillBites Show will be on January 20, 2021 at 1 pm ET / 12 CT / 11 MT / 10 PT.  Our guest will be Cathy Fyock, the Business Book Strategist.  Cathy is the author of ten books, including The Speaker Author, and Authority. In this episode, Cathy will discuss

• the power of your book to move your business forward,
• how to position your speaking business and your book for greatest impact,
• how to broaden your platform to amplify your message, and
• how to leverage speaking and authorship to become the authority.

To listen to the live presentation, you can go to https://zoom.us/j/98012759802?pwd=ZW51UjQ0OGlDWnlCWHZ1M2pNWnhnQT09 or call in, using a line local to you:

+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)

+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/abAXTgmoXv

Meeting ID: 302 156 4627

Save The Date:

Next month, the SkillBites Show will be on February 17, 2021 at 1 pm ET / 12 CT / 11 MT / 10 PT.  Our guest will be Juliet Clark, a dynamic and sought -after speaker and podcaster who has spent the last twenty years helping authors, coaches, speakers, and small businesses all over the world build expert platforms.  Juliet will discuss why a platform is necessary before you publish a book and how to build your platform.

Last month, my guest was Marika Flatt, Founder and Chief Publicity Strategist for PR By The Book.  Her company helps authors elevate their relevancy and create buzz.  Marika has worked with over 900 authors to promote their books.  She shared her wisdom on the best ways for authors to promote their books during the pandemic.

If you missed this presentation, you can listen to it by clicking here, or you can read a summary of the show on the SkillBites blog 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.

3. Tip of the Month: KDP Updates

Amazon is constantly updating its platform.  Over the past 3 months, it has made several significant changes, two of which are summarized below.

• New version of Sales Reports — The new KDP reports improve upon the existing ones by allowing you to:
  • Use the Dashboard to see how your books are performing.  The dashboard shows the number of orders for your books, your estimated royalties, the source of your royalties by format and marketplace and your top three earning books for that day.
  • Display data for more than one book on a single graph so you can compare books and see title-level trends. You can compare up to five books at a time.
  • Choose to see graphs as a line or bar chart.
  • Estimate your monthly royalties in a single currency of your choice.
  • Use your phone and other mobile devices to view reports.

You can access the report for the books you’ve uploaded in your KDP account by going to kdpreports.amazon.com or go to the Reports tab in your KDP account and click on the line at the top that reads “NEW! Try the new KDP Reports beta. Try it out and tell us what you think.”

• Nominate your eBook for Amazon promotion – You can nominate two eligible eBooks to be included in Kindle deals and one eligible eBook for Prime Reading promotional programs to reach new readers.  Nominations do not guarantee enrollment in either program.  Amazon considers a number of factors when selecting titles for these programs, including reviews, sales, broad appeal and timeliness (summer reading, holidays, etc.).  To nominate a title,
  • Click on the Marketing tab in your KDP account.
  • Under Nominate for promotions, choose the promotion for which you want to nominate your book.
  • Click Nominate a book.
  • Choose the title you want to nominate from your eligible titles.
  • Click Continue.
  • By default, the nomination for this title will be automatically renewed at the end of 90 days. If you want to nominate a different title after this nomination expires, uncheck the auto-renew checkbox.
  • Click Nominate book.

You can edit auto-renewal settings at any time during the nomination under Manage nomination.

To be eligible for nomination for Kindle Deals, a title must be enrolled in the 70% royalty plan and not contain adult content.  For Prime Reading, the eBook must be enrolled in the KDP Select program.  For both programs, only eBooks are eligible.

4. 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,