I was at an amazing salon in Betsy Burroughs‘ SF loft last Thursday, and spoke with Jeff Saperstein about his latest book, “Breaking the Silos.” (Video length: 3:24)

Jeff Saperstein – Author from Joel Orr on Vimeo.

Last year, I posted about having interviewed 88-year-old Bronia Bronkesh about her life, her escape from the Ukraine, the death of her relatives that remained behind in Sarni, and more. I promised a follow-up.

I didn’t know her daughter Sheryl was preparing a very complete one, with videos, audio recordings, pictures, and more. Here it is. (Thanks to Annette Jaffe, Sheryl’s sister.)

Why is this here, in Joel Trains Authors? First, because I am a Jew, and Bronia’s story is mine, too. Second, because writing a book can serve many purposes–marketing; professional promotion; and remembering and honoring our past and our ancestors. This website is the modern equivalent of a book, taking advantage of all that current technology offers for sharing sound and images.

Write a Book: Structure from Joel Orr on Vimeo.

“Ten” is “net” backwards

Ben Terrett, noisydecentgraphics.typepad.com

1. You’ve always wanted to do it, and it’s time.
2. You have something important to say to the world–or to some specific piece of the world. (In marketing terms, the more specific, the better.)
3. You want people–clients, prospects, and others–to understand what’s special about what you do and the way you do it.
4. You know a great deal about your subject, but it’s not organized in your head. Writing a book is an opportunity to lay it all out clearly.
5. You want to establish yourself as an authority, so that you can charge more as a speaker, a consultant, a coach, a financial adviser, an architect, or almost anything.
6. You feel inferior to people with PhDs, and you want to even the score a bit.
7. You don’t like any of the books in your field, and you know you can write a better one.
8. You know you can sell a bunch of them and make lots of money.
9. You want to get more respect from your employer and in your profession
10. You know that a book can be the key to monetizing your expertise, to creating additional products, such as ebooks, podcasts, courses, reports, and more.

Questions? Comments? Add them below, or write to me.

I just listened to a recording of Alex Mandossian speaking about talking to people with different listening styles. Based on David Kolb’s theory of experiential learning, Alex suggests (in the context of his Teleseminar Secrets course) that you address, in your teleseminars, these 4 types of learner–people who ask:

1. Why?
2. What?
3. How?
4. What if?

In other words, first explain why do or learn whatever you’re speaking about; then, details about what it is; follow with words about how it works; and finally, consider contingencies, alternatives, “plan b,” etc.

In my BookProgram approach to writing books, I discuss the power of completing your structure before starting on your content. I’ve found that structuring is an obstacle to many authors, so I’ve been looking for ways to help authors create their structure. Alex’s interpretation of Kolb’s styles sounds like one approach that can be useful for authors, too. I’ll be trying it on my next book.

Let me know what you think about this approach: joel@joelorrcoaching.com

There are really two separate sets of reasons for writing a book. One set has to do with having a book:

• As a product to sell or give away
• To credentialize you to your clients and prospects
• As a kind of brochure or business card that is relatively inexpensive and won’t get thrown away

The other has to do with the fruits of the book-writing process, whether or not an actual book results from it:

• In the first stages of creating your book, you are forced to structure your expertise. You know a lot, but it may not be well-organized. When you create the structure of your book (in Joel’s BookProgram, structure must precede content), you find out what all the big pieces and the little pieces are, and how they fit together. You may learn that you have several discrete areas of expertise, that can become sources of products and services you never thought of.
• The chapters of your book can become separate products–ebooks; reports; courses; and so on. You can read them, or have them read, and record the reading. You can append them to video recordings.
• You can create a course around the whole book, with text, video, and audio. Use a service like Prfessor.com ($50/month) or build around a WordPress installation using the Wishlist Member plug-in ($97 for the plug-in).

So–consider writing a book, even if you don’t care about having a book.

Questions? Write me.

Microphone: Gary Olson, Radio Dubuque

One way to become known as an expert in your field is to interview other experts and publish the transcripts. Benefits:

• You are known by the company you keep. By merely appearing in print with known experts, you cause your name to be associated with theirs.
• When you publish information from several experts, that positions you as a kind of “meta-expert”–someone who, in a sense, stands above the experts and brokers their information to the reader.
• Regardless of how expert you are in the field when you begin your interviews, you will learn a great deal from the experts in the course of interviewing them–especially if you prepare for each interview. Research each expert and determine what most people would want to know from them.

Access to experts may seem like an issue, but in general, it is not. Most experts appreciate any additional exposure they can get. Many will ask for you to include a link to their website, and you should be happy to provide it.

If the expert wants to promote a particular product to the readers of the interview, consider signing up as an affiliate for the product. That way, if your readers buy the product, you will get a commission. (Of course, if you do this, it is important not to mislead readers by claiming, say, that your comments on the interviewee and their product are disinterested.)

When you contact your interview candidates, it is best to reach them through mutual acquaintances. Conferences and industry events may present opportunities to both meet experts and actually interview them. If they don’t have time to be interviewed, at least you will be able to make a personal impression on them and find out how to schedule time for an interview.

Have your pitch written out clearly, and have a copy you can hand directly to the interview candidate. You can use the same text when you email experts.

In the pitch, your focus should be on the benefit to them. You should also say if they will be able to review the transcript before it is published. Of course, you’ll get more agreement if you do allow for review and approval.

If possible, buy the expert’s book or other product before approaching them.

You should promise a free copy of the book to all participants, and special pricing for quantity purchases.

Interview length will depend on how large a volume you intend to produce; how many experts you plan to interview; and the prominence you want to give to any particular expert.

Get a good-quality digital recorder; they are available for under $100. You can use a smart phone with recording capabilities, but test it first; phones do not usually have the best microphones.

If you are interviewing on the phone, you can use FreeConferenceCall.com or other services that record the call. When I do this, I use a good-quality speaker-phone, and also make my own digital recording locally, as back-up. (Court reporters use duplicate recording systems in depositions, with good reason. Technology can fail.)

When you design your book, don’t forget the “diamond.” Have a clear question that the book will answer for the reader, and make sure you keep that promise.

Questions? joel@joeltrainsauthors.com

Skinny books can be more effective
Joel Orr

If you are writing a book, or thinking of writing one, you are probably at least somewhat aware of average book sizes in your field. In non-fiction, 220 pages is a common size.

But if your goal is for your book to be your “large business card,” your “credentializer,” or to replace your color brochure, it can be much smaller. In fact, it probably should be much smaller.

Excuse me if this sounds brutal, but most people who receive or buy your book won’t read it. They may scan it; they may start to read it; or they might not even crack it open.

Now, that sounds like very bad news, but it isn’t. The book itself establishes your authority, serves as your credential, and will probably not get thrown out. It will hang around, read or unread, and remind the owner of you. That’s much more than any brochure will do.

However, if you have important information to share with people–say, about the uniqueness of your approach to your profession, or simple things the reader can do to alleviate some pain, and so on–put it in a small book. 64 – 128 pages are plenty.

And although some might accuse you of “padding” if you use large type and lots of white space, your older readers will be grateful.

I love Copyblogger! Here’s some more great stuff:

Anyone can write a paragraph, but not everyone knows how to write one that other people want to read.

You’ve seen it:

You open a book, and the whole page is one long block of text.

Each sentence in the paragraph makes exactly the same point, said in a slightly different way, and you wonder why they didn’t just say it once and be done with it.

Click to continue…