Writing developed as an unintended interest for me when I became chronically unwell. Prior to that time, I engaged in writing for purposes of my professional work and study: writing submissions and reports, reviews and recommendations, assignments and papers; and writing to raise issues and present new ideas to staff or bosses. I enjoyed writing for work and study and had not considered broadening my perspective to write in other genres. Besides, when I wasn’t at work or studying, I was busy being physically active: with four children in tow, a full-time job, building our home on a farm in a remote location in Australia’s Northern Territory, raising cattle and growing pasture, I did not need to look too far afield to keep myself busy. Writing as a personal endeavour, and just for fun, was the furthest thing from my mind!

How things change - and without any planning on my part! Over the past 20 years I have had several lessons in my life nudging me to notice that I am not totally in the driver’s seat directing my own life. In former years I argued vehemently that we control our own destinies and we must direct our lives in whatever way that we choose for ourselves. I even taught others how to achieve their goals more efficiently when adopting a single focus. Well, that philosophy worked well up to a point… 

Repeatedly, the lesson that has been presented to me through the challenges of chronic illness, is that I am not alone in the driver’s seat, but rather that I need to work with whatever presents in my life each day. This may seem at odds with general coaching advice but it appears to be a necessary philosophical approach to life when living with an erratic and unpredictable health condition.

So what has this got to do with Why write? Absolutely everything! The very reason I have developed a love for writing is because I couldn’t do much else! Had I not become unwell with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS),which main symptom is erratic and low energy levels, I would have continued living a highly physical and active life and I would never have contemplated, or even had time for, the ‘leisurely’ pursuit of writing.

When I developed CFS, my busy lifestyle was brought to an abrupt halt. Being bedridden for long periods of time allowed me much time to think, although often my mind would not function sufficiently well enough to form a rational string of thoughts, a typical symptom of CFS. With reduced physical capacity and the inability to accomplish many tasks associated with my various roles, I was forced to find new ways to make sense of my life and carry out activities that were manageable from my bed. So began my pursuit of writing.

Why write? Writing commenced as a way to express the disappointment and grief associated with my reduced capacity to do things.  I was fortunate to have a dear friend and mentor who was interested in reading whatever I wrote and this was great encouragement for me to continue to write and express the physical and emotional battle of my experience with CFS.  Many years and millions of words later, I thought that some other sufferers may benefit from my expressions of struggle with CFS and the additional symptoms of Fibromyalgia that had become part of my experience, and so the concept of my book Longing to Live was born.  The book has been many years in the writing (that’s another blog topic!) and will finally be published this year.

Why write? For me it is to put words and expression to the inner journey, with the wonderful side-effects of gaining insights and developing greater awareness of myself and my reason for being here.  What is it for you?

Margaret Lambert is a Registered Psychologist specialising in the use of Energy Psychology techniques (EFT) for counselling and mentoring. She has lived and worked in remote Australia and currently is based in Darwin, Australia. Margaret writes on matters of personal and spiritual development and holistic health and her articles can be found at www.connectcounselling.com.au

I had actually started this revelation process a couple of weeks ago. As I’ve done for the past few years, I recently started working a project job with a company that sells reading programs.  I love the programs and always enjoyed talking to parents about their kids and how to use these great programs to get help for their kids. I was quite successful because I believed in the product. 

This year however, rather than sell the programs, they asked me to interview sales people for the job that I’d been doing for the past few years. Interviewing potential enrollment coordinators, and listening to them gush about what we do, I found myself constantly having to remind them, “yes, it is a wonderful program, but the bottom line is that it is still a sales call. You have to get the credit card.” I realized that the success of this 42 year old company that has enhanced millions of kids reading abilities over the years, is not because of their wonderful programs, but because they have a business process in place to promote these wonderful programs.

So, when I heard Alison say, “To be successful, you need to be committed to the process of the business as opposed to being committed to the content of the business,” it all fell into place. You can have the most wonderful products/services in the world, but if you are not set up with processes to run your business, it really doesn’t matter how wonderful you are. Yes, you definitely can achieve some success with just good content, but to have that 6 or 7-figure success, you must get your business processes in place.

Bottom line take-away for me? To run a successful business, you need process over content. 

Do you have your business processes in place? Have you experienced a recent revelation in the past few weeks?

It was different on the trip home. I took a 22 hour train trip. I was not connected to wi-fi, or internet nor phone. I couldn't do anything except read, walk the aisles and look out the window. I can't remember when the last time I had almost a full day and night where no one wanted something from me or where I didn't have to do something.

At first I was a bit restless. Then, while sitting in the observation car watching the last of Puget Sound race by around 10 feet away from my window, seeing the snow capped mountains in the distance, my mind started to relax. The swirl of my 'need to dos' and 'next steps' and 'what ifs' slowly dissipated.

I watched a bald eagle soar and followed its path until we passed out of sight. Things around me became muted. I began to notice little things like broken limbs on most of the trees and small mud slides which made me think they must have had a violent storm recently. Instead of jumping from idea to idea, I was flowing into and out of each one without conscious thought.

I realized two things. First, once I quieted the storm of my mind, my mind was able to make decisions without my consciously trying to force a result. Things just slowly moved to the front of my mind and I became aware of what needed to be done. Once my mind quieted, it was able to sort through and see the right path without a struggle. My mind was able to move forward into silence.

The second thing I recognized was about my writing. I've written a couple books in the past. I've ghostwritten a book. I am currently working on two other books and so normally, writing is not an issue for me. However, I have been lax in writing in the past few months. I certainly wouldn't call it writer's block, but more a situation where I had lost the joy from my writing.

At one point in my trip, I was actually able to spend three whole uniterrupted hours reading a book! As my mind moved more and more forward into silence, I could enjoy reading without feeling guilty that I wasn't doing something else that needed to be done. For me, that actually translated into once more feeling the joy of writing. My books began to take more shape. They made more sense. I wanted to begin writing right then and there. It was fun to feel that again.

It is interesting because I work a lot with our authors on the process of writing their books for Our Little Books. Here then was a situation of "Healer, heal thyself", because one of the main issues we work on when I work with the authors is working through their procrastination and writer's block. I have a lot of different tips and suggestions we work on and it helps our authors move forward with their writing. Now after my recent personal experience, maybe all I should do is tell them to take a 22 hour train ride and watch what happens!

What do you do to bring joy back to your writing?

Based on a comment by Vicki Dello Joio from the audience, my Ah-Ha moment was that our business, Our Little Books, is very innovative. As a publishing company, we have a wonderful and unique product in our little books, and the service we provide in helping to demystify the whole process of becoming a published author goes along with that. However, how Our Little Books is moving forward as a business is very predictable. So even though we have a very innovative business, we are getting very predictable results. Thus, a disconnect and my Ah-ha!

What is strange about my Ah-ha is that as part of my job as Publishing Consultant, I talk with authors on how they can innovatively repurpose the contents of their books. Whether you have a big or little book, the content in your book can be used in multiple ways and is an excellent way to attract the different people in your audience. When you package the content in different ways, not only can you reach more people but you can also bring in additional revenue streams while increasing your credibility as an expert.

For example, here are some innovative ways to repurpose your book content that will result in innovative results (including the innovative idea of more income!):

• E-books – If you have a print book, you can turn it into an e-book (and vice-versa, e-book into print book). But with an e-book, you open yourself up to those readers who now only read on an e-reader. You can give away a part of your book to get people interested in the whole book, which all goes to building your fan base.

• Audio – You can make an audio book out of your print/e-book. Or, you can take the content and make an audio training, which you use in webinars or teleseminars. The training program would enlarge upon or complement the message in your book. The recordings can then be downloaded as either a give-away or sold product.

• Worksheets and workbooks – This could be part of a webinar or teleseminar. You can offer complementary worksheets that go along with your book, webinar, or training. You can offer a free tip sheet from the information in your book to use if someone signs up on your site. This will give you a mailing list for future webinars, training and future books and we all know how important the list is! Or you can make an entire workbook program that you sell as an independent product.

• Public speaking – You can take the information in your book and take your message on the road. Design a program around your book. You can make worksheets and training manuals to go with your topic.

• Podcast  – Get on the radio. A podcast is a great way to offer trainings and your book content without the travel involved with public speaking.

And here is a bonus innovative thought. If you have or are doing any of the above but do NOT have a book, then just repurpose the content of what you have and what you are using into a book! Now how innovative is that!

So thanks to my weekend Ah-ha moment, I realize that I need to practice what I preach to our authors. By doing so, not only will we have innovative products, but the business will move forward in an innovative way.

What innovative ways have you repurposed your content and how is it moving your business forward in an innovative way?

There’s never been a better time to be a writer! Does that sound *suspiciously* positive, as if I’m about to sell you something? Well, in a sense I am. Writing a book is horribly difficult, time-consuming, and potentially soul-destroying. Then there’s the energy-sapping hunt for an agent, for a publisher, for sales... However, the current independent publishing revolution has turned the book business on its head, and new opportunities are opening up for writers. Suddenly, some of the pain has gone.

Independent digital publishing is not a literary Nirvana, but there’s some cause for optimism. My previous books have been published by big ‘traditional’ publishers, but for my latest book I’ve gone ‘indie’. It’s early days, but I’m pretty happy with the move. Here are some things I’ve learned from the experience so far.

I’m mid-list writer. I’ve always had to do other things to make a living, such as food journalism and ghost-writing. As time goes on, it’s getting more and more difficult to stay afloat in trad publishing. Even if your aim is simply to ‘get the book published’, you might find the process far harder than it used to be. And it was always a ball-breaker.

Self-publishing allows you to get your book out as an ebook and a POD paperback quickly and efficiently. Also, the stigma of ‘vanity’ pubbing has now vanished (or is rapidly doing so), with best-selling authors increasingly making the change. Have you read Lawrence Block’s latest? He’s doing it himself. Ditto a whole bunch of writers with solid careers in trad publishing.

The future of publishing is uncertain. Publishers are still reacting to the ebook revolution. They’re dragging their heels on ebook royalties (still very low) and there’ll probably be fewer opportunities for new/unpublished writers from hereon in. So if you’re busy writing your first book, why not start sniffing around to see what you think of indie publishing as a serious alternative to the trad route?

There are countless websites and blogs out there helping to show you the way. Writers like David Gaughran and Joe Konrath are good sources. Also, if you register with Kindle Boards, the place where indie writers go to compare notes and swap tips, you’ll pick up a sense of what serious indie publishing is all about. There’s a lot more to it than just finishing that damn book.

One particularly difficult area for many indie writers is doing publicity for their book. There are thousands of other indie writers now competing for visibility in an increasingly crowded market. Then again, if you really believe in your book, perhaps it’s not such a bad thing to have to stand up and shout about it. And remember, the traditional route has ts own issues here. There’s nothing worse than having a book out with a trad publisher and watching as, after a month or so, the publicity push fizzles out and your book dies. Doing it yourself means you can persevere; many successful indie ebook take between six months and year to gather momentum and start selling in large numbers. And who knows? You might find that you’ve got a talent for self-promotion! I’m only been an indie for a few weeks, but I’ve really enjoyed doing interviews, guest posts on book blogs, and generally trying to get people to notice my new novel.

Here’s the downside. Before you get to that stage you’ll have to take on some extra responsibilities... One huge advantage of big publishing houses is there is a bank of experts there to help get your book published. As an indie you either have to become your own editor, proof editor, cover artist, book designer and publicist, or pay people with those specific skills to help you. Increasingly, successful indie writers are paying good money for such services. A total of around $1000 for a book is not uncommon.

Shelling out a grand to get into print? The great thing for someone writing their first book is that, whatever you decide to do once it’s finished, these opportunities will all be there. In fact, there are new ones opening up all the time. Fiction streaming, Wattpad, enhanced books, Amazon Prime, a million forms of interactivity... The book world is changing at an incredible speed, and you can decide where you fit into it.

Convinced? If not, don’t worry. Trad publishing is not going to vanish, and who knows what opportunities might open up for new writers in trad publishing. Whatever, you’ll always have a fall-back position, because the ebook/indie sector is not going to go away any time soon.

John Barlow has published fiction and non-fiction with HarperCollins and FSG in the US and Canada, and has been translated into six languages. Contact John here:

http://www.johnbarlow.net/
http://twitter.com/John_Barlow_LS9

John’s crime mystery, HOPE ROAD, is set in his native West Yorkshire. Buy it here (or see other vendors on his website).

Before we start with the benefits, I want to make it clear that the type of e-book I am talking about that will provide these benefits is one that is not ‘salesy’, but rather one that is content rich. It needs to be done correctly, be high quality and well produced. It is a reflection of your business so you want people to learn from it and then want more! If you have an e-book such as this, these are just some of the benefits you will receive:

1. Establishing yourself as an expert. As for any type of book, an e-book will increase your credibility and add value to your services. People will read your book and realize that you really do know what you are talking about! It will educate your target market providing that connection that will have people coming back.

2. Increasing your business product. Once you have your e-book, it can be re-purposed into courses, CD’s, videos etc. with less effort than starting fresh. You can bundle an e-book with a package of products that you already have which will add additional value to any of your services.

2. Aiding in promotion of your business. You can give away your e-book as a promotional item in and of itself or as a preview of a bigger book or product.

3. Building loyalty. When people sign up for your e-book, you can grow your mailing list, increase your fan base, get more ‘likes’ on Facebook and more followers on Twitter. (Just as an FYI, if you ever want to have a print book and want to publish with a traditional publisher as a new author, before they even look at your manuscript they will look very closely at your fan base to see if you have a potential ‘buying’ audience.)

4. Less actual product lying around. You don’t have to worry about actual product as people will be able to receive your e-book immediately online. Yet, at the same time, your e-book can easily be converted to a print book as additional product for your business whenever you are ready.

5. Increasing Opportunities. You can leverage your e-book to get more speaking gigs, radio interviews or TV shows, all of which increases your visibility.

6. Increasing Revenue. While many businesses will give away their e-book, you can also sell it as a product on your site. Once you have put in the work, then any future sales are just passive income for you.

7. Becoming a published author. If you write your e-book and have an ISBN, it will be “published” and you can call yourself a published author!

What other ways can you think of how an e-book can help your business?

If you have any questions, Our Little Books would be glad to guide you through the process. If you have an e-book and want to now have it in a little book form to add product to your business, as always please contact us to help!

We would recommend a company like Smashwords. Just to let you know, Our Little Books has an account at Smashwords where we sell our little books in e-book format. On Smashwords, you can certainly put up your e-book as a word or PDF document and sell it or give it away like that, but that won’t get your e-book into the e-book stores. The real power of Smashwords is their e-book distribution reach to the non-Amazon retailers and mobile platforms because obviously, as an author, your objective is to maximize the availability of your book by getting listed in as many retailers as possible. Smashwords is constantly building out their distribution network, all with the goal of helping you reach more readers. While there are other companies that do the same thing as Smashwords, Smashwords is the first and we really like their personal attention. [We don’t get any remuneration for this recommendation. It’s just because they are good!]

Basically, what a company like Smashwords does if you want your e-books in virtual stores, is to offer you a conversion of your file and distribution into the stores. Again, your book has to be formatted correctly, so that can take a bit of trial and error. But, since you want your readers to have a good experience, you need to take the time to do so. Your cover needs to look sharp. The formatting needs to be smooth. Your e-book is, after all, a reflection on you. You will need an ISBN number if you want to get into the e-stores. You can get one yourself, have Smashwords give you one of theirs, or, if you are working with a publisher like Our Little Books, we provide one for you.

Then you set a price and determine whether or not a reader can see a portion of your book. We highly recommend this part. Our Little Books is set to 20%. What we have found is people download 20%, love what they see and then buy the book. You can even give away your e-book for free. For some who may have several e-books, that is an excellent marketing tool as a reader will download the free one, like what they read and then buy your others.

Bottom line? Get yourself and your e-books out there. There are services, like Smashwords to help, or as always, Our Little Books would be glad to help you with any of your publishing needs!

If you are like me, you tend to drop things…especially the more important electronics which is not only annoying but can get expensive! So, the first accessories that you want to look at for your reader are cases and skins. They can also be called slipcovers, jackets, or sleeves. No matter what you call them, what is fun about them is that not only can you get protection, but you can show off your personality!

Because e-readers/tablets tend to be different sizes, you will have to look for your particular e-reader to check out what sort of covers they offer. You can get something simple like a slipcover where you just slip in your reader or something or elaborate with pockets. However, just because they are practical does not mean that they can’t be fashionable. Covers come from synthetic materials to soft leather; from plain to zebra stripes; from ‘60’s psychedelic to business-like. What ever fits your personality is probably out there.

You can get jackets that fold over for protection. You can get water resistant or water proof jackets. Some even look like real books so that you can pretend you are reading a book! Some come with built in lights (for e-readers that need lights). My favorite is the hard shell (due to my above-mentioned tendency to drop things). This enables you to protect your e-reader from drops or hits, but even they come in various colors and designs so that I can show my whimsy by customizing and protecting at the same time. (Now, if they can just add some magical stickiness so that I don’t drop it…)

There are skins which are very thin, yet hard so they protect your screen from fingerprints, scratches and dirt. You can get them for the entire e-reader or just for the screen itself. Going bigger there are bags along the lines of laptop bags. Beautiful messenger style or over the shoulder bags.

You want to get some earphones so when you are around other people, you can hear audio books without bothering anyone. Another necessity is a power adapter. Even though most reader batteries have staying power (my husband went backpacking for 3 weeks and even though he read everyday, he still had battery life when he got out of the wilds), you will need to charge your e-reader. You might consider an additional car charger as well.

The reading experience with, for example, the Kindle is like reading a real book, so if you are outside, there is no problem seeing the print. However, since it is not back lit, if you want to read at night, you will need a light that snaps on top to see. E-readers like the iPad are back lit so they do not need a light, however, then it is sometimes difficult when reading outside in bright sunlight. Recently, they have now come out with solar lighted cases. Who knows what may be out there in just the next year!

The other accessory that I absolutely needed was an attachable keyboard. From the basic Kindle with a tiny keyboard on up to touch screens with larger touch keyboards, I knew that I needed actual keys. This is one accessory that I am very grateful to have gotten as it makes imputing information so much easier- whether taking notes on the books I’m reading, or moving around the e-reader. Other similar accessories might be a stylus pen which you would use if you would rather not use your fingers directly on a touch screen. Finally, if you do a lot of reading in bed, there are floor or bed stands that ‘float’ the readers for hands-free use.

Basically, no matter what you get to accessorize your e-reader, it is an inexpensive way to protect your investment, enhance your reading pleasure and show some individuality!

Photo by Michael Porter via Flickr

Connectivity. The content (books or whatever else you are reading) of your e-reader is downloaded via the internet, so you have to consider how you connect to the internet. Most e-readers offer the option to either connect via WiFi or 3G. If you have WiFi then you have to consider where and when you can connect. You don’t want to be stuck without a connection when you want to read your morning newspaper. If you have 3G, that won’t be an issue but you probably will have to pay a monthly fee to have access to your 3G. Some e-readers offer free 3G (Kindle and Nook for example).

What do you want to read? Amazon (maker of the Kindle) has the largest library, PDFs and available documents, but again, because of the proprietary formatting, you will only be able to read their content on your Kindle. Most of the other e-readers can access most of what Amazon offers, as long as the content is also available in .epub. Depending on what you read, check the availability and that may determine which e-reader you get.

Other stuff. Do you want to listen to music on your e-reader? See movies. Take pictures. Store pictures or any other multi-media stuff. Do you want to access the web, write documents. If so, then a basic Kindle will not do it for you and tablets may be a better option.

How fast? With a basic e-reader, speed goes to how fast you want your page to turn over. Probably that won’t make a huge difference to your reading pleasure. However, if you want some of that other stuff mentioned above, then speed will make a difference, especially if you want to watch movies.

Size. This can be an issue for more mature people whose eyes are changing. How big do you want your screen. Or, in the alternative, do you have the ability to adjust the type and make it bigger even if you have a smaller screen. But if you have a bigger screen, then the device itself will be bigger and you may lose the ease of carrying around a smaller device. Also, what is the size of your storage. How many books do you want to store. If you have pictures or music or movies, then your storage size needs to be bigger. Size does matter…

How often do I have to charge the battery? If you don’t mind hooking up to an outlet on a frequent basis, then having a tablet like the iPad which does everything else as well as being an e-reader will not be a problem. However, if you want a battery life that can literally last for a month if you are not using WiFi and just reading books, then you will be happy with a basic Kindle.

And of course, cost. Obviously, if you want to or can only spend $80.00, then none of the above really matters. You will be very happy with a basic Kindle or something like a Kobo device. However, if price is not a huge issue and you want more features, then you can spend up to $800 on a top of the line, all bells and whistles included device.  

Bottom line? As pointed out in yesterday’s post, you really have to know what you want to do with your device before you go out looking. Once you know what you want to do with your device, then all of the above choices should fall into place and the decision should be easy!

As we talked about yesterday, formatting is a big issue. Even though .epub is the most recognized formatting around and many e-readers use it, Amazon.com came out with the Kindle first, and so their proprietary .mobi formatting fits just for the Kindle. Many of the smaller e-readers might display .epub but not have the extensions to be able to read charts, graphs or see pictures. So it really depends on what you want to do with your e-reader, especially if you want to do more than just read books.

There are dedicated e-readers, which (surprise, surprise) are dedicated to pretty much reading books. The basic Kindle is a great example of that and started the whole e-reader craze. Since then, it’s been interesting to watch the development of the e-readers as each new one leap-frogs the last one with increased abilities. Now, some of the e-readers are actually mini-computers (tablets). After the basic Kindle, the Barnes and Nobel Nook came out with color and the ability to lend to other Nook owners (you couldn’t share with a Kindle). Then the iPad came out that not only read books, but could be used to access the internet, your email, draft documents, etc. Amazon caught up and the Kindle Fire does the same thing. In between, many different e-readers came on the scene, but never gained enough attention to overtake the leaders. Again, it all depends on what you want to do with your e-reader as to whether you want to get caught up in needing “all the best and newest”.

Deciding which one is best for you is actually a difficult decision because there are so many different options on each e-reader; from screens to resolution to size and weight to cost. Your neighbor has one and so does your brother-in-law and they both swear by the one they have. A recommendation? Don’t let anyone recommend one for you without understanding what your needs are. What is great for your neighbor, may not satisfy your brother-in-law, and at the same time, may be way more than you need. So do your due diligence in first deciding what are your needs and what you want an e-reader for. Then stick to that, and find one that is perfect for you. Tomorrow, I will discuss some of the different options so that you can take your needs and wants and see how they fit with what is available in the different e-readers.