Goodmorning lovely people. This morning, I was on Twitter and came across this fantastic tweet and blog post from former agent and author Nathan Bransford about getting your creative project funded as an independent, and wanted to share the info with you.

The company is called Kickstarter  and in a nut shell, it’s a website where creatives and supporters come together to try to fund a project and make it a reality. Creatives post information about their project, ask for a specific amount of money via pledge levels, and set a deadline for funding. If they meet their funding goal by the deadline, they get the money, if not, no money is exchanged. Very cool, right?

Couple things I noticed: 1) Projects range from books to music, movies, and art installations, and 2) Most people are asking for under $10,000 although I did see a project for $54,743 get funded.

Don’t be shy, but definitely be smart. Read Nathan’s post from independent author Mur Lafferty about how she successfully campaigned to get her book published: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2011/03/how-to-use-kickstarter-to-fund-self.html

Just goes to show, once again, how there’s always more than one way to skin a cat:)

photo: www.lainspiration.com

Happy 2011! I hope you all had a beautiful holiday season and rest, and feel ready for this new year ahead.

I am so stoked I read this article a few days ago: Social Media Breeds Edvertorial, because it is exactly the notion that’s been burgeoning in my brain since last year.

People are drawn to story. Sure you can hit ‘em over the head with pretty pictures, witty one-liners, and clever jingles, but if you really want somebody invested in your brand, get them invested in a storyline that will make them relate, empathize, cheer, jeer, and clamor for more like a really good soap opera.

“It’s taking an editorial approach to telling your brand story, and the social-media space just lends itself so beautifully to that combination”, says Miki Berardelli, chief marketing officer at Tory Burch, in this article, which is exactly the other point I was thinking about last year. If you’re going to be on Facebook or Twitter, or any other social media space, you can’t just post about what sale you’re having or where someone can buy your product(s), you need to find ways to engage your audience; your brand has to be about a broader lifestyle.When I think about why I read a blog, or “like” something on FB, or follow someone on Twitter, it’s that someone’s story behind it that makes me want to.

“You’re telling a story, making it more emotional and getting the consumer to be more interested in that story. You’re entertaining her, and that’s how you’re getting her attention, which is more effective than saying, ‘Go buy this shoe now,’” says James Gardner in this article (founder and chief executive officer of the digital agency Createthe Group), and I couldn’t agree with him more.

If you need help writing and telling that story, contact me; story-telling is my expertise.

My first blog ever happened right here, on my Just Write Blog, in January of 2009. As I wrote on that fateful day, the idea of just posting my thoughts on the internet with no editor to tell me whether I was on the right track or not, kinda freaked me out.  But I did it, and two years later I’m still doing it; in fact I’m doing it on three different blogs.

The voice for this blog came rather easily. By voice, I literally mean, the “sound” of my writing. Voice is the thing that a writer must find to share what is inside, and distinguish him or herself from other writers. And the blogging voice can be one of the toughest predicaments.

Writing as an entrepreneur, small business owner, someone who continues to get schooled as I compete for clients, figure out new ways to make money, and climb the ladder to becoming a New York Times best-selling author, feels quite natural to me. I suspect because this is my daily struggle (with a victory every now and then), when I post on my Just Write blog I feel as though I’m just commiserating, trouble-shooting, and sharing ideas with someone.

I also started a blog earlier this year with my good friend, amazing artist, and book partner, Jerome Prieur: www.darklovebooks.com. I decided to start this blog as a way to motivate myself to finish our next book project, and chronicle our journey as artist and author. This voice too came easily; writing as an independent author, publisher, trying to always find a twist to that creativity, being accountable to someone other than myself on a project–all stuff I am also dealing with on a daily basis.

The blog voice that posed the greatest challenge to me, and at times even dug into my confidence as a writer, was the Sex, Life, & Hannah blog voice.

I started this blog in the fall of ’09 because I began discovering the power of blogging. And as I searched for ways to publicize my Sex, Life, & Hannah book series on basically a zero budget I started to feel that blogging was the answer.

It all seemed so simple when I first began. I was going to write articles about dating, and fashion, and Los Angeles life and gossip; and I would hire writers to help me, so that I could post on a daily basis (I couldn’t fathom the idea of having to do this all myself). The revamped Sex, Life, & Hannah website and blog was going to become THE destination for everything hip and happening in this plastic city:)

At the time all this brilliance was occurring I had hired a girl to help me also get a grasp on social networking. She kept saying to me, “they want Hannah, you need to blog as Hannah,” but somehow this concept was not resonating with me. I still kept thinking, Sex, Life, & Hannah is about dating in L.A., so they want to read stuff about that. It wasn’t until a year later that I finally understood what she meant, and what blogging was really all about.

From what I’ve observed, blogging, is a much more personal style of writing than an article. When a blog becomes flagrantly successful, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s espousing a wealth of knowledge, it means the person writing the blog, has shared enough about themselves for people to want to know what happens to them next; whether they’re writing about food, fashion, or a four-hundred-thousand-year-old fossil specimen. What they’re writing about doesn’t really matter, it’s the way they’re writing about it that does. And sometimes that can mean just posting a really great picture.

Whether some of you are nodding your head, thinking to yourself, isn’t this obvious? The point is in the proof: when I started blogging as Hannah, which was really as me, my Sex, Life, & Hannah website hits went up 30 percent. When I started writing less about dating, and more about my dating (errr…married) life, people started tuning in more. And that’s what my social networking girl was talking about…

If you, like me, have struggled, or are struggling with your blog voice, here are my five suggestions:

1. Be authentic. Blogging is about people getting to know you. Write like you would in your diary, and you’ll start to feel the rhythm.

2. Check your spelling and grammar. Though slang is OK in the blogging world, you should still read over your work once or twice and do a spell check. Yes, it’s kinda like writing in your diary, but remember, the world is reading your diary.

3. The point can be…a picture, or video, or even a one-sentence thought. This is another concept I had a hard time grasping when I first started blogging. As a writer, I wanted to write, but as a blogger, I realized that sharing my thoughts didn’t have to look like a thesis every time. Take a look around at some of the top blogs. People care more that you keep in touch on a regular basis, which is the perfect lead-in for my next point.

4. Regular posting will make your audience NOT forget about you. There is so much truth in this, and yet, this is the thing I struggle with the most. Because blogging is not my full-time job, nor do I make any real money from it (yet), I am often too beat at the end of the day to even think about posting. But we are creatures of habit, and just like so many of us reach for that cup of coffee or tea in the morning, so we reach for your post in our RSS reader or inbox.

5. Write for the medium. Remember you are dealing with computer screens, mobile devices, and people scrolling. Keep your word count low, your paragraphs short, and make your points sooner rather than later. Make sure there’s enough in the previous paragraph to make them want to scroll to the next.

That’s all folks. Happy blogging:)

Good morning world. Keeping up with email can be overwhelming; makes me yearn for the days when I only had one… But I can’t imagine my life without. I’d miss out on email like the one I found this morning: Want to land a book deal with a major publisher? Check out this video.

So I did, and I think it’s worth sharing with you: http://www.howtogetaliteraryagent.com/videopage/.

The video is 40 minutes, and I decided I’d take some notes for those of you that didn’t have the time to view (although I think you should if you’re serious about getting an agent). I also think it’s worthwhile to sign up for Steve Harrison’s e-mail list. He has definitely made me think about the publishing world in new ways, and given me some cool ideas.

My notes from the video:

• Yes it’s true, everything has already been written, but it hasn’t been written in every voice and from every person’s perspective. Your voice, niche, and expertise are what you’re going to capitalize on.
• In today’s book market, you need to be a writer but think like a marketer. Who is your competition? What is going to grab your reader’s attention? Can you get a quote from a celebrity on the cover of your book? Do you have a corporate sponsor that will promote your book? Do you have media relationships?
• Before you approach an agent have these things ready:

1. Query Letter - the hook (e.g. I have the organizing system that Oprah uses.), the cook (I am L.A.’s #1 professional organizer), and the book (I’ll be the first person to tell you how to get your home completely organized in a year). If possible, know the agent you’re sending your letter to, know something about the books they represent, and personalize your letter to them.
2. Book Proposal (if non-fiction) – short idea summary, overview, outline, chapter breakdown, sample material (at least a couple of chapters), and market research (how are similar books doing? check Amazon rankings, publishers’ websites, etc.). A good resource: http://www.jeffherman.com/perfect-proposal/.
3. Manuscript (if fiction) – make sure your content is good, compelling, and looks professional.

Well folks, there’s some stuff for you to mull over. The road to becoming a million-dollar author is not an easy one, but I believe it’s worth the trip.

And now for all you cowboys out there; all you brave, impatient, entrepreneurial souls that want to jump on this wild book ride all by yourselves…

If I had known about WordPress.com and Lulu.com five years ago my whole life would have been different. Seriously. The learning curve I went through…well, let’s just say, if you are reading my blog, you are smart. I wish I had found a blog like this to read when I was getting started.

The best advice I can give you: Unless you have pre-sales that can cover ALL your costs, go through a Lulu.com. Seriously! Do not make the mistake so many people (including myself) have made, and end up with a bunch of books sitting in your garage. It is not worth the money or the stress.

When my client Ross Jeffries came to me a few weeks back and told me he wanted me to design and publish his book through Lulu.com I was skeptical. I had thought about print-on-demand in the past, and checked it out a bit, but honestly, my biggest concern was always quality. And to be fair, my first book was an elaborate, over-sized, full-color coffee-table book, and from what I could tell, print-on-demand was not going to cut it. But for a basic paperback, OMG, it is totally the way to go!

I designed Ross’s book and cover in InDesign, turned it into a PDF, and uploaded it to Lulu. Then I bought a book (a proof copy), so that I could give it the once over, and approve it for distribution. The book arrived 5 business days later and looked fantastic. I approved it, paid $87 for Global Distribution via Lulu and voila! Ross’s book: Secrets of Speed Seduction Mastery, was available for sale.

Here’s the best part: No worrying about distribution, no worrying about ISBN numbers or bar codes, no worrying about how many books to print, and no worrying about shipping. People can order Ross’s book directly from Lulu.com (which looks a lot like ordering from Amazon.com), or they can order his book from anywhere else they want: Barnes & Noble, Chapters, Amazon, or their favorite local bookstore. Pretty sweet, eh? His book is also available for download as an ebook. As far as whether it’s also available on Kindle and the iPad…not sure yet. I’m checking into it, and for those of you that want to know, send me an email: Dorota@aohwrite.com.

During this project Ross had a question about copyright when publishing through Lulu.com, but no need to worry about that either. You own the copyright to your book, not Lulu. As far as going through a formal copyright process, you don’t have to, but can:

“In general, copyright registration is a legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. However, registration is not a condition of copyright protection. Even though registration is not a requirement for protection, the copyright law provides several inducements or advantages to encourage copyright owners to make registration.”

“Online registration through the electronic Copyright Office (eCO) is the preferred way to register basic claims for literary works; visual arts works; performing arts works, including motion pictures; sound recordings; and single serials.”

To do this, go here: http://www.copyright.gov/.

As far as profiteering from Lulu.com. Let me give you Ross’s example. His book costs $16.99. If people buy it on Lulu, he makes about $6.50 on the sale; if people buy it from somewhere outside of Lulu, he makes about $2.50. That’s a pretty decent profit for NO worries.

One last thing I want to say about all this. You can definitely do it all yourself through Lulu.com. No editors or designers, just you and your trusty Microsoft Word. However, I do not suggest working in a box. Your book represents you, and you definitely want to make it the best that it can be. At the very least, hire an editor, so that when people read your book it’s not full of grammatical errors. Also note, Lulu.com will not accept your book for Global Distribution if it doesn’t meet their design criteria. You can hire them, or someone like me to make sure your design is correct. I’m not sure what they charge, but I’m happy to give you a quote for your book project.

P.s. Amazon has an equivalent called CreateSpace. I don’t know a lot about it yet, but will be finding out shortly and am happy to brainstorm this option with you as well.

I remember the mad rush to garner “friends” on MySpace. It reminded me of how I used to make lists of everyone I hung out with in junior high school, and then swapped school pictures with as evidence that there were two photo album pages worth of people that cared about my existence. Although I had tired of this by the time I hit 16, at 30 I found myself paying an assistant to convince people that they needed to care about my existence and become friends on my book’s MySpace page. It’s funny how life seems to always come full circle…

When Facebook and Twitter came along shortly thereafter and seemed to blow MySpace out of the water, I went through similar drills in hopes that my brand would become the next Twitter phenom, like Shit My Dad Says that’s now being turned into a sitcom starring William Shatner. Unfortunatley that hasn’t happened yet, because just like putting up a website doesn’t instantly garner you business success, tweeting about your every move doesn’t instantly make CBS drool and throw money at you. It still all comes down to how popular you are. As Malcolm Gladwell writes in The Tipping Point, “…it is safe to say that word of mouth is—even in this age of mass communications and multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns—still the most important form of human communication.”  

Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Do it. Just because I haven’t turned into a seventy-something-blunt-old-man overnight success doesn’t mean I’m giving up. The greatest part about all these social networking tools is that they’re free. Aside from a little time, you have nothing to lose.

2. Start Conversations. If you don’t know what the point of social networking is, remember that word I told you to keep thinking about earlier: Community. How do you start a community around your brand? You get people talking about things that pertain to your brand. This has nothing to do with sales and everything to do with life in general. For example, my Facebook fan page for Sex, Life, & Hannah doesn’t just discuss where I’m signing next, or when the next book is coming out. I have links to relationship articles, ask people what they think about various dating scenarios, offer romantic date ideas, etc. A good converstaion goes both ways so do what you can to engage.

3. Be Real. When I first started out on the social networking adventure I got a few different opinions about how much posting and tweeting I should be doing to get popular. There is definitely a school of thought that the more you post and tweet the more fans and followers and friends you will acquire because people check their social networks at varying times and you’re competing with other posts and tweets. But…what I’ve concluded is that it needs to be real; it needs to come from your heart. Don’t post or tweet just for the sake of doing it. If you have nothing to say, save it for another day or another time of day. Remember, you’re trying to engage people in conversation, you are the face of your brand, and you’re trying to build a community; don’t blow it by being the person who doesn’t know how to stop talking or keeps talking about things that aren’t relevant.

4. Align With People Who Know People. Remember the quote above about word-of-mouth communication? Getting popular depends on it, so start making allies with people who know people. If you see a blog that is relevant to your brand and has 3000 subscribers, try to set up a relationship with that blogger. If you have a friend who has 500 friends, ask them to suggest your fan page to any of their friends that may enjoy it as much as they do. You’re not going to make yourself popular, people are, so get out there and start building relationships.

5. Get Help If Lost. If you have a little bit of a marketing budget it might not be a bad idea to sign up for a seminar or two, or get a dedicated approach for your business from people that do social networking for a living. Ladies Who Launch offer really informative seminars about various aspects of social networking. Social Networking Girls created my Facebook fan page and gave me a lot of great tips about getting started. Genius Effect Media Group also gave me great social networking strategies and introduced me to Hootsuite, a free service that allows you to pre-program tweets and posts.

I want to end on one last note: Social networking is not a silver bullet answer to anything. I know people with 2,000 fans that still can’t get their product off the ground. But it is a great additional element that can get you more exposure to more people that know more people who know other people, and that’s the only way you’re going to get popular.

Let me give you a little back story and then get to the point of why I’m writing today. When I first delved into the world of writing and publishing things were pretty status quo. You wrote a manuscript, and either self-published or got a publisher or agent to tackle the details. If you self-published you went through the sometimes arduous process of finding an editor, designer, and printer; and then, the truly arduous task of finding distribution (a.k.a. how the heck to move your books out of your garage). And then, things started changing–very quickly. 

The storm clouds of what the music industry went through with Napster and mp3 files were rolling over books and the publishing world and by last year things were very clear: the amount of people paying for printed material was dwindling, newspapers were going out of business, and publishers wouldn’t touch newbie writers with a ten-foot-pole unless…they were already celebrities. Enter MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and the likes, also known as social networking.

What’s really funny about all of this is that I never really believed your popularity meter mattered all that much. I believed your smarts would ultimately determine your fate, and that celebrity-ism was more of a freak show than a path to success. Throughout junior high and high school, I was ”alternative”. While this gave me a lot of leeway in the types of groups I was able to fit in with, I was never a “popular girl”. I could hang out with the popular girls every now and then, even end up at some “cool” kid parties, but I wasn’t in their inner circle, and I knew it. And up until last year, I didn’t care all that much. So what changed?

In December, 2006 Time ran a feature about Tila Tequila. A girl not known for any one particular talent except garnering 1.5 million MySpace friends. If we didn’t see the writing on the wall then, we probably did two years later when Barack Obama swept the young American vote. Nearly 70 percent of Americans under age 25 voted for him–the highest in US history–as evidenced by his 7.5 million Facebook fans. The pettiness and superficiality that we thought we had left behind after senior prom was smacking us right back in the face. Perhaps I should have tried harder to be one of the popular girls in high school…

Welcome to the “me” generation or the “you” generation depending on what side of the fence you’re sitting on. You seem to be more interested in telling the world what you’re eating for breakfast, and they seem to be more interested in finding out more about you; what you buy, where you eat, what movies you watch, what coffee you drink, your favorite color, and…how many friends you have. And this has everything to do with how many books you will sell, whether or not you will get a six-figure publishing contract, and then be able to option the rights for a movie, about you.

When we next meet in cyberspace: How to get involved and leverage The Great Popularity Contest.

Until then, I am happy to answer any questions, for you, about me, at www.aohwrite.com

Organization comes in a many different shapes and sizes; but, it should always include a little research, a little brainstorming, a little soul searching, and maybe even an outside eye to take a look at what you are trying to accomplish. It might even go by the name of: project assessment.

My project assessment is a bit of a throw-back to my corporate managerial days; spawned from years of dissecting how to get a project done on time, within budget, and meet all its goals. It has become a great tool for me when I need to estimate the effort required to take a client’s project from concept to completion; but,  also a great tool for showing my clients how to kick start their idea.

The project assessment is not a business plan, or a Pocket Plan (see my 01.30.09 post), it is a big picture snapshot of the situation at hand, and I feel an essential first step for any project. So how do you go about doing one? Well…you came to the right place.

Step 1: The Concept.

Write one descriptive sentence about your project, a.k.a your pitch, your log line, the thing that’s going to keep you excited. And it has to be more than this: I want to write a book.  Dig deeper. Pick colorful words that describe your project and answer the question, why? Your concept should sound more like this: A coming-of-age book about a troubled kid that overcomes adversity and becomes an olympic athlete, written to inspire the kid in every classroom.

Step 2: Project Goals.

Start writing a list of everything, big and small, that you hope to achieve with your project. Maybe you want to market a new product as a way to branch out into a higher-end clientele. Maybe this idea is going to get you on Oprah? Or maybe you just want to increase your revenue by 20% in 2010. You’ll find the longer your list of goals, the more ideas you’ll start to have about how to bring your project to life.

Step 3: Challenges.

This is another list–that hopefully isn’t longer than the one above. Be honest with yourself about what you don’t have. I don’t know a kick butt PR person, I don’t know how to effectively market to my customers, I have no extra money…you get the drift. Being honest with yourself about what your challenges may be will help you plan out a realistic budget, schedule, and tasks for getting your project done. Everything is possible, but nothing comes without some struggle.

Step 4: Current Status.

Where are you at right now? Have you started writing that manuscript? Have you researched the competition?

Describe where you are at and what you have right now that can help you take that baby step past the start line. If it’s just a twinkle in your eye–write that down. But don’t forget to look around. Maybe you a have a solid few hundred friends on Facebook that you know would love that in-call mani/pedi service you want to start offering. Maybe you know someone who is hosting a personal development event that needs speakers, life yourself, with all that  life coaching experience. Taking inventory of what you have within reach and who you know can start opening doors for your project very quickly.

Step 5: Approach.

This is your plan for getting from A to Z. It can be as broad-brush or as detailed as you need it to be (or have energy for); but, it has to give you some idea of how to get your project off the ground. If you’ve done your due diligence with steps 1 through 4, you’ll find you have a lot of it there already. Take your time and think about the action you need to take.

Here is an example of an approach I wrote for a client of mine that wanted me to come up with a design and content for his medical billing website:

Research

• Examine the competition; what are other medical billing websites doing right and wrong.  

Website Layout and Design

• Create a strategic design; a brand. Colors, graphics, layout, and logo that represent the company and its message.
• Must be able to capture visitor’s name and e-mail on the home page.
• Can we offer a free trial? Can we offer a newsletter?
• Must be visually easy to navigate.
• Consider links and advertising on website.

 Content Writing

• The process of medical billing is similar and is governed by insurance companies. How do we differentiate ourselves? What is our strategy? What are doctor’s complaints about other medical billing companies? The content should answer all these questions.
• Emphasizes the benefits of out-sourcing, the benefits of using Dr. America Billing, how we help doctors save time and money, and get money for their services efficiently.
• Content must be simple, easy to understand, and powerful.
• Consider linking to, or writing industry articles.
• Use Google keyword tool to improve SEO.

 Content Editing

• Edit all copy for structure, voice, grammar.
• Is our brand’s message coming across in all copy?
• Final copyedit on website.

Step 6: Schedule.

The best laid plan will fall apart without deadlines because we as humans  have a tendency to fall into the rut of procrastination. In fact, I just emailed my editor a schedule to make sure I stop procrastinating and finish the second draft of my next book.

Look at everything you have written down so far and open up your calendar, daytimer or blackberry. Plot how long it’s going to take to get to where you want to be. Be realistic, don’t think you’re going to finish a 500-page manuscript in a week; but, crack the whip a little on yourself too, because thinking about offering that new $100/hour coaching session is not going to get the bills paid.

Step 7: Budget.

Once you have a realistic schedule, it’s time to start thinking about the financial investment your project will require–because ALL projects will cost you something. Even if you’re starting a blog on WordPress.com, you still may want to consider advertising, or hiring a social networking expert to get your blog the attention you want it to get.

Got a huge dream? Don’t get discouraged. Remember, the whole purpose of this project assessment is to take the baby step past the start line. Move forward, think crafty, and you’ll get there–via a small or large budget.

Now here’s the best part, I offer all of my potential client’s a FREE project assessment. Just like it says on my website, that is a $400 value, at absolutely no cost to you. So if you want that outside eye to analyze what you’ve got, and crack the whip a little, contact me at: dorota@aohwrite.com.

Enjoy the cooling weather…