April '23 Newsletter
Happy Spring
The flowers are blooming, the trees are budding, the magnolias and cherry trees are blooming, the weather has finally warmed up and it feels wonderful to be outside in the sunshine again. There’s hope!
National Library Week is coming up April 23 – 29. I remember when I was growing up, we would join the summer reading club and get to pick a prize based on the number of books we read over the summer. That was as good as going to a toy store!
I still very much enjoy going to the library. There’s something relaxing and pleasant about the library environment. Libraries are fantastic community resources. Not only do they provide access to free books and free or low cost movies, they also have storytimes, movie nights, book clubs, lectures and classes, and free internet access. I urge everyone to support their local libraries so we can continue to enjoy this valuable resource.
Good news for fiction writers -- Apple has developed a digital narration technology that makes creation of audiobooks much easier, and hence makes these books accessible to a wider audience; however, this technology is currently only available for fiction and romance authors. Digital narration of non-fiction and self-help books is in the works but not yet available. If you go through this program, your audiobook that is produced through this program can only be on Apple. If you later decide to have your audiobook produced elsewhere, you can then have it available anywhere else. Click here to read more about this opportunity.
1. Maximize your book's success
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 determine the right target audience and the best topic for your 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 start to put together a plan for how you will use your book to gain the results you are seeking.
We’re confident that participating in this workshop will give you the plan you need to drive your business forward and achieve your goals. So don’t hesitate to sign up today – spaces are limited!
Click here for more information and to sign up for this workshop. Sign up by April 13 to get the early bird rate and save $30.
2. New Published Book
SkillBites will soon be publishing the seventh book of Steve Feld, award-winning Business Management Executive, professional speaker and podcast host. His book, called How To Start a Successful Lead/Referral/Social Networking Group So You Can Build a Fan Base provides step-by-step guidance on building a successful networking group that will bring you hot leads for your business.
Being the facilitator of a networking group is a fantastic way to grow your network. If you are a coach, consultant, business owner, entrepreneur, or sales person, then you should look at starting or taking over a networking group to grow your business.
It’s time to work smarter not harder.
Learn from those who have built highly successful networking groups and use their proven strategies.
Learn the mistakes of those who have built a networking group only to see it close down after a few events.
The purpose of this book is to provide you with the strategies and tactics from successful networking facilitators so you can build a highly productive networking group that will help you grow your business.
3. 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.
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, I have two episodes for you. In the first of those, my guest is Charmaine Hammond, one of my guests from last month, who is back again. This month, Charmaine will be sharing her wisdom on how authors can get corporate sponsorships that help them get their book done. As a Certified Speaking Professional and best-selling author, Charmaine shares her unmatched speaking, sponsorship, and entrepreneurial experiences with business owners, authors, and speakers looking to expand the funding and reach of their projects.
She has funded her book tour (a 7 week north American tour through collaboration and sponsorship) and is known for selling her books in bulk and by the truckload.
In the second episode, my guest is Tony Guarnaccia. Tony is also a former guest on the SkillBites Show, having appeared in October. Tony has grown over 10,000 small businesses and a dozen Fortune 500 companies, including ADP, Ford, and AutoNation and became the Google Partner of the Year. Later, Tony returned to his entrepreneurship roots to bring the strategy, tactics and resources normally reserved for large enterprises to small businesses. Today, he is focused on bringing that same vision to podcast hosts and guests – to make Podcasting profitable.
In his October appearance, Tony talked about developing a media kit for getting on podcasts. In this episode, Tony shared how to use your podcast guest appearance to increase your influence, impact and income. Tony also offered listeners of this episode access to his software, podcastonesheet, for a 14 day free trial. You can test it out at https://podcastonesheet.com/skillbites
Last month, my guests were Victoria Bennett and Charmaine Hammond. Victoria is an expert in helping authors create crowdfunding campaigns for their books. Charmaine Hammond 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.
You can listen to these episodes 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.
6. Opportunities
I like to share information that I feel would be helpful to my community as well as supporting my colleagues in this industry. In that regard, there are three programs that I want to share with you that are coming up this month.
The first is a comprehensive program being offered by my friend and colleague Charmaine Hammond on book marketing. Charmaine is an 11-time bestselling author who is running a program called Your Book As A Business: Sell more books and increase your impact, influence and income. This 8-module program provides you with the strategies, scripts, templates and tools to simplify the marketing and selling process so you can make a bigger impact with your book.
Click here to view more information on this program and to register. Charmaine has given me a 15% discount for members of my community. Use YBAAB15SKILLBITES at checkout to receive the discount.
The second opportunity is for those who are interested in getting guest appearances on podcasts. My friend and colleague Tony Guarnaccia is hosting a 5-Day Challenge called Get 5 Podcast Interviews in Just 5 Days. Each day, Tony will take you through the steps to get on podcasts, leverage the podcasts and avoid the most common mistakes people make when pitching for guest podcast interviews.
Participants will get 30 day access to his software called podcastonesheet.com, which enables you to create your own podcast one-sheet as well as being able to comb through his database of podcasts to find which ones are most suitable for you to apply to. He is including other gifts as well, totaling over $2850, for the low cost of $55 to join his challenge.
The challenge runs from April 24 – 29. To sign up, click here.
The third opportunity is for those who are interested in creating a card deck around their book. A card deck is one of the most creative, expressive, high-touch, client wow’ing tools you can create. One single card connects your client immediately to your message as it inspires, motivates, or guides them. That’s powerful.
My colleague Marcy Nelson-Garrison is a genius when it comes to card decks, and she will guide you to the right approach for you and get you excited about possibilities. She is running a 5-Day Challenge from April 17 – 21 to help you nail your client-attracting, business-building card deck idea.
Click here to register for the Your Stand Out Card Deck 5-Day Challenge.
7. FAQs: ISBNs and Library of Congress Control Numbers
What is an ISBN and do I need one?
ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a machine readable identification number that uniquely marks a book. This number can be translated into an EAN barcode, which businesses and bookstores can scan to order, track, and sell books at the cash register.
If you plan to sell your book online at Amazon or other online book retail sites, or in a bookstore or to libraries, you will need to purchase an ISBN number prior to publication or procure them from your publisher. An ISBN is needed for each version of your book. If you have an eBook, a print book and a hardback book, or even a large print paperback, you will need a separate ISBN for each version.
The only legitimate ISBNs for publishing a book in the US come from Bowker. Don’t waste your money buying less expensive ISBNs from other outfits, as they won’t be accepted. Note, if you are only looking to publish your book on Amazon, you can utilize Amazon’s free ISBNs; however, those will not be accepted on any other book retail site, nor at bookstores or libraries.
What is a Library of Congress Control Number and do I need one? The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, housing over 170 million items in various formats, including books, manuscripts, maps, films, photographs, music, and sound recordings. This massive collection is cataloged and indexed using Library of Congress Control Numbers, a system of classification that helps organize the library's holdings and makes them accessible to researchers and readers.
Library of Congress numbers are used by libraries and other institutions around the world as a standard classification system. You will need to get a Library of Congress Control Number if you plan to sell your book to libraries. The Library of Congress number can be listed on the copyright page, however it is not required to be printed in the book.
You can obtain this by visiting www.loc.gov and creating an account. After creating your account, proceed to the Cataloging in Publication (CIP) program page on the Library of Congress website. The CIP program is designed to provide pre-publication cataloging records for books. You will need to complete an application form and submit it together with copies of your book's manuscript and completed publication information sheets.
Once your application has been received, the Library of Congress catalogers will review your submission to ensure that it meets their requirements. If your submission meets these requirements, you will be issued with an LCCN that you can use in your book's publication materials.
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,
