| Promote Your Book: Telling Stories |
| The following is courtesy of Rosalind Miller, author of The Great Success Manual: "How many of us can look back as to the source of motivation that sparked off that initial direction we took in our careers? Who acted as mentors, friends, inspirators, pastors and teachers--that individual who you could look back and say thank you for that break you gave me, the confidence and love you had for me? Sadly, not all past experiences are positive. "Well the story goes: An alter boy during Mass, made a mistake and was severely ostracized by the priest, warning the boy he would grow up as a failure. Across the ocean, another boy made an error at Mass, but he was gently told that mistakes do happen and that he would someday grow up to be successful. The first boy was Stalin, and the second was Bishop Fulton Sheen." John's Comments: What stories to you have to tell? Stories are an essential part of writing any book -- and an even more important part of promoting your book. Learn to tell stories that make a difference. It's not hard. And, as you can see from the above story, it doesn't take many words to make a point. |
posted by John Kremer @
7:56 AM
7 comments |
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Open Horizons, P.O. Box 2887, Taos NM 87571 Phone: 575-751-3398 Email: John Kremer Copyright © 2008 by John Kremer. All Rights Reserved |
7 Comments:
Telling your story would be easy.
I spent 17 winters sailing on our "Glory B" in the Caribbean. I loved it so that I wrote, "Cruising is a Breeze" and then "Caribbean Capers". In between there were lots of short stories and adventures. But where does one send them or post them. I'm sure there are plenty of folks out there wanting to enjoy the experience...but how do they get to see/hear them?
I enjoy your newsletter..Thanks
Joan Santomenna
John, I so agree with telling a story and selling a book. All four of my books came out of stories about "Lucille Ball type" things I've done. And my latest book, FLYING BY THE SEAT OF MY PANTS: Flight attendant adventures on a wing and a prayer, is all stories from my Flight Attendant career. www.flyingbytheseatofmypants.net
Joan . . .
Send your short stories to the webmasters at web sites related to sailing or the Caribbean. Such sites would undoubtedly love the additional content you could provide their site. In return, you ask for a link back to your web site describing your book.
There are also magazines such as Caribbean Life (or something like that) and many travel magazines that are always interested in good stories. In addition, if you are near retirement age, there are magazines aimed at that audience that would be interested in your stories. Similarly, women's magazines often have travel articles. Many newspaper travel sections feature individual travel stories. The list goes on...
John, as you say, telling stories to sell books can go well beyond the stories printed between their covers! As an author and editor, I promote my books and my clients' books by telling the story behind the story. In a few months, Sacred Visitations: Gifts of Grace that Transform the Heart and Awaken the Soul, a story-filled guide for ordinary folks, will be released. I'll tell even more stories to our online community members on www.SacredVisitations.com (soon to go live!) In the meantime, I'm telling behind-the-book stories to folks who subscribe to my author ezine, OPIE . . . Thanks for your fabulous work to level the playing field for self-publishers! I'm a longtime fan, Ceci Miller www.CeciBooks.com
A friend published a children's manual. I made a contact and within 60 days sold over 1000 copies to two school systems. One system promises the same reorder next year. The author who self-published and I have come to a verbal agreement on a commission scale for the sale and reorder. How do I seek for a listed comparable commission scale?
“Genius is one percent inspiration
and 99 percent perspiration.”
Thomas Edison
Day in and day out, hundreds of different airplanes take off
from John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, to places far and
wide, exotic and ordinary. Airline baggage handler Stan
Brown has seen them all—Delta, Aer Lingus, Cathay
Pacific, Continental, Kuwaiti Air, Quantas, Aero Mexico.
For every flight he’s assigned to, there are tens and hundreds
of passengers, each with their own baggage.
For most travelers, the last-minute frenzy of packing and
preparing for time away from home makes them want to just “check
it all in.”
Stan knows this, and he takes their prized personal
possessions seriously. He feels that it is his solemn duty
and privilege to be entrusted with these travelers’ suitcases,
animals, strollers, surfboards, appliances, trunks, golf clubs,
crates of purchased goods, skis—and all the other various
belongings that people pack for a trip.
Outside on the tarmac, Stan braves whatever weather each
season brings—torrid heat in the summer, frigid winds and
snowstorms in the winter, pelting rain in the spring and
fall—and never takes his coal-black eyes off the luggage
that passes through his large, calloused hands.
His tall, darkmuscular frame enables him to lift and load quickly, placing every piece of baggage carefully into the belly of the plane.
At the same time, he is attentive to each parcel—in particular
the ones that have “FRAGILE” stamped on them in big
red letters. Drowning out the deafening sounds of the roaring
engines that surround him, Stan is also highly focused.
He must make sure that each item he loads goes onto the
correct flight. The planes’ destinations change often
enough, so precision is critical to Stan. He always remembers
to wear his glasses, recommended
by his doctor for reading, so that he can easily make out the numbers
on the white flight identification labels wrapped around the handles
of each bag.
Stan’s care with each package is further motivated by his
own experiences: Two years ago, flying to Dublin to visit
his parents, his luggage not only did not arrive till three
days later—he later learned that
it wound up in Delhi—butit showed up ripped, with half of its contents missing.
Then, only six months later, he flew to California to visit an
ailing friend, only to discover that his suitcase was sitting in
St. Louis instead of Sacramento.
Basically, the way Stan sees it, every bit of stuff packed for a
journey is valuable to someone, so it’s also important to him.
He simply knows all too well that nothing is more satisfying
to a weary traveler, standing at the baggage claim terminal,
who can’t wait to get home and take a shower, than to see
the crate containing her beloved, barking golden retriever
emerge on the turnstile, soon followed by her favorite
maroon suitcase, stuffed to the gills perhaps, but intact!
That is why Stan and all the other airline baggage handlers are
worthwhile persons in more ways than a million!
-Simeon W. Johnson
Author: swjenterprises.com
rich
is easy. rich
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