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How
Many Years Have You Been a “Future” Published Author?
There’s
a cure … and it begins RIGHT NOW!
 FROM: Lee
Pound, The Write Coach
TO: Future successful authors
Yes, I know. Writing a book
seems like a huge project., too much work, not enough time and who
knows what it will get you anyway. It's so easy to put off starting
until tomorrow and as we all know, tomorrow never comes. And neither
does the book.
If
you're like most people, you've written a few articles, put out an
ezine, maybe even started a blog, just like the gurus tell you to
do, but write a book? No. Most of it is random, not systematic, not planned. It's more
like, "I've gotta get a newsletter out today." So you toss in
whatever you think of in the moment.
That
book? It's way beyond reach, still stuck in your head. You read my
stuff and everyone else's, telling you to write that book, organize
your articles, blogs, videos, and newsletters but nothing happens.
It's just too much.
It doesn't have to be
this way.
For
decades I too was a future published author. I wrote the first page
of my first novel when I was still in college. Twenty years later I
still had only the first page. I asked myself, "Where did all that
time go? Where were all those tomorrows when that book was supposed
to get written? What went wrong?"
Fast
forward to today. I've written and published six books. I've
co-authored, edited and published two multi-author books. I've
edited and published four books for other authors. I'm currently
working on three more books that will be published later this year.
All in the last six years.
What
changed??? What made it possible for me to do all this in so short a
time? Wonder how you could do it too?
It wasn't all that
hard
once I discovered the secret.
And I'm
going to let you in on that secret in just a bit. But first, let's
get a few things straight. People write books for a lot of reasons.
They write articles, blog posts and other materials for a lot of
reasons.
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To make
a lot of money (we'll talk about that one later)
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To tell
a story (this one's a LOT more important than you think)
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To
present information (you'll see how most people do this in
exactly the wrong way)
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To
attract clients and customers (you're leaving money on the table
if you're not doing this)
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To get a
job (never thought of it this way, did you?)
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To
present a political or religious viewpoint (every great leader
has done this)
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To sell
products and services (and there is a specific way you do this)
All
these reasons are important and we'll talk more about them later.
However, the most important reason for anyone in business (or
corporate life or academia) is to become the recognized expert in
your market so that clients seek you out and beg to work with you.
Writing
creates the aura of expertise, writing makes it possible for you to
get found on the Internet (and if you're not there, you might as
well not exist). Your writing skills matter too. The way you write
gives your business a professional aura that is difficult to
establish in any other way (or it can give you a sloppy reputation
that is almost impossible to erase).
For most
people:
Your writing IS the public face of your
business. If it attracts your potential
customers, you will succeed.
If not, you will fail.
The
result is predictable. Most people give up before they ever start.
That book, those articles, that blog that is so important to your
success never gets written and your business languishes.
That
book that will make you the recognized expert in your market stays
in the "future." That blog never gets started. Those articles remain
stuck in your head.
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If
the idea that writing is this important scares you...
If
your pen refuses to crawl across the paper...
If
your fingers refuse to make the keyboard clatter...
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If
your editor told you that your manuscript is worth more as
wallpaper than as a book or article...
If
you are discouraged because your marketing materials sound awful... |
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Take
a deep breath and pay close attention.
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It's not just you.
Even pros face these same scary moments!
Here’s mine:
After 15 years as a newspaper editor, I thought I was pretty hot
stuff. After all, you have to be good to win the California
Newspaper Publishers Association award for Best Newspaper in
California three years in a row. I was a damn good writer and editor
and thought I knew it all.
Then the recession of the early ‘80s hit and the newspaper darn near
went out of business. I was given a stark choice: get laid off or
take a job in accounting. I was pretty good with numbers and needed
to keep food on the table so I gratefully moved over to accounting
and eventually became chief financial officer.
But – I hated accounting. I’d go home at night and stare at the new
computer I’d just bought and think about having to go back to
receivables and payables the next morning. One night about midnight,
I pulled an old box off the shelf and discovered some scribbled
stories I’d written years before. Halfway down the pile was the
first page of a novel. I read the amateurish words and thought,
“I’ve read a lot of novels since then. I can do this!”
Before I went to bed, I typed that first page into the computer.
Every night for the next six weeks, I came home, sat down at the
computer and punched the keys for two to three hours. The words
flowed, creating chapter after chapter. When I finally printed it
out, it ran to two inches thick and 600-pages!
A
friend, one of the reporters at work, asked to read it. I proudly
gave it to her. Two weeks later she handed my masterpiece back and
said, “You should take a class in how to write fiction.”
I
was shocked and devastated. For days I stared at the computer,
unable to write. The words that had flowed so freely stopped dead.
Finally I picked up the manuscript and read a few pages. Something
WAS wrong and I didn’t have a clue as what it was. I tried to fix
it. In fact, I was so determined that I wrote and rewrote and
rewrote, for months, for years, and it still wasn’t fixed. I
attended writer’s conferences, got tips here and there but nothing
worked. I was about ready to give up and resign myself to doing that
distasteful accounting job for the rest of my career.
Are You At a
Crossroads Like This?
Are you, especially if you are a coach, consultant, professional, or
business owner, up at night facing that awful choice: give up your dream career
or go broke?
In
today's highly competitive market, as more and more of us chase fewer and fewer clients,
that stark choice looms: Find a salaried job to put food on the
table or desperately scramble for a way to stand out from that
crowd of competitors and attract the clients you need to succeed.
Take a moment, put aside your worries, and look into the future with
me.
Imagine:
Instead of fighting to get potential clients
interested in your services,
you get calls from people demanding to
be YOUR client.
Imagine:
Instead of ignoring you, reporters
call to interview you about your business.
Imagine:
Your professional association invites you to speak
at its next convention.
These aren't dreams. They're everyday reality for thousands of business owners, professionals, coaches and
consultants.
It doesn't matter if the economy is
racing in high gear or if it's falling on its face. Businesses
that stand out get first claim on the available clients and customers, leaving
everyone else to scramble after the leftovers. They're different
because they use the single most effective way to stand out from the
crowd.
And you can do it too.
It's simple: When
you write
well, whether it's books, articles, or marketing materials, you become the expert.
And people buy from experts!
I didn't always know this. In fact,
for many years I watched the small companies I worked for fail to get new customers and wondered
why. I saw them lose money and wondered how to change that.
The answer was right under my nose and
I never saw it.
Remember my crossroads? That discouraging moment when all seemed
lost? At that moment of deepest frustration, my mentor showed up.
You see, I needed help but I needed it from a mentor who had the big
picture, who knew the ins and outs, the secrets most writers and
business owners will
never learn.
I
found that mentor because I was willing to reach out for help twice,
first
by taking a
ten-week course in
writing dialogue at UC Irvine, second to joining an expensive elite seminar
led by --- my new mentor.
His name is Sol Stein. He owned the New York publishing house Stein
& Day for decades. He came out from New York every winter for ten
weeks and over the next four years, sitting in his living room in
Laguna Beach, California with 15 other writers, I learned how to
write and edit fiction, how to write non-fiction, how to create
characters, plot, suspense, and story lessons. He edited parts of
two novels, used one of my scenes in a video called Stein on
Writing, and taught me how the publishing business works.
Those four years with my mentor changed my life. Not at first but
ultimately, as the chief financial officer job started to fade, when
I again faced the choice of getting another job or going out on my
own, I discovered the key to attracting new clients.
 How I Published My
First Book
Who would guess that volunteering to head a
committee and risking money I never intended to risk would lead to
professionals paying me thousands of dollars to publish their books?
Not me, with two unpublished novels on the shelf and a job as a
Chief Financial Officer taking up most of my time.
Eight years ago, in a desperate effort to turn my career towards my
dream of writing books, I joined Professional Coaches and Mentors as
a writing coach but knew little about how to actually publish a
book. For three years not much happened. I picked up a few clients
and made a few bucks, but not enough to quit the day job.
In a truly dark moment, when I thought I’d have to give up my dream,
I heard a rumor. Someone had proposed that PCMA publish a book, a
collection of articles by members.
I volunteered to head the committee. Now, as I said, I
knew nothing about publishing books. I could have fallen flat on my
face with embarrassing results. About halfway through the process it
seemed like that might happen. The book had to be done for the
annual conference in March and by December I’d just finished
choosing the articles. And the national board was reluctant to
budget any money for printing.
By February I had the book ready but still no money. As time counted
down I made a decision: Risk my own money to print the book and hope
for the best.
The first day of the conference dawned. We set out the freshly printed
books in the book store and waited.
 Two days later, the books were all gone. Coaching for the New
Century was the best-selling book ever at a PCMA conference. I was
suddenly a hero.
Doors opened.
Suddenly I stood out from the crowd of coaches. I served
several years on the conference committee. I got editing and
coaching jobs from members of the association, some of which
continue to this day. The book has been selected as a textbook in
college coaching classes and still sells from the PCMA web site.
And as a side benefit, I now owned a publishing
company that I'd set up just to publish that volunteer book project.
I followed the same procedure to publish my two novels, then wrote a
book on writing. Along the way I picked up editing clients, then got
asked to publish other people’s books. Today, I have ten book
projects worth thousands of dollars under way with many more to
come.
I learned that the best way to succeed is to take action to make my
dreams happen. I became a publishing expert because I finally
finally applied (years later) what I learned from my mentor by publishing my own books.
Don't wait like I did. Make your dream of
being the expert in your market come true by taking action now to
get the ongoing support you need to write your book.
We all have moments of truth, moments
when the right set of circumstances arises. Mine came with the book
I wrote for PCMA. As a direct result of that project:
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I
learned about commercial publishers and met literary agents. I
discovered vanity presses and avoided them at all costs. I
discovered self-publishing along with the myriad of programs,
editors, publishers, and coaches who supported that industry.
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I discovered that it didn't
cost a fortune to publish my books. I discovered that it was easy to set up
my own publishing house. I learned how to design books and covers
and how to find printers.
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Today I am a
writer, novelist, editor, speaker and publisher. I've worked as a
chief financial officer in the publishing business so I have faced
the same business
challenges many of you have faced.
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I became co-producer of the
phenomenally successful seminar company, Speak Your Way to Wealth,
which has attracted speakers like Mark Victor Hansen, Joel Bauer, Eric Lofholm,
Adam Urbanski, Dave Lakhani, Ken Foster, and many others.
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I've written and published seven books and counting.
Through
Solutions Press I have edited and published authors writing about
subjects ranging from management and leadership to sales strategies.
And most important,
I learned that the skills I learned by writing novels and
non-fiction books also apply to writing powerful marketing materials
that sell your products and services.
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"...took my book to a whole new level of
professionalism."
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 I want to acknowledge and thank
you for the enormous contribution you made to my new book,
Unshackled Leadership. While the previous edition had also been
professionally edited and I sent the new manuscript to you for
what I thought would be some "fine tuning," what you did was so
much more. As a result of your editing, the book know reads in a
way I can be truly proud of. I have also implemented all of the
suggestions you made which took the book up to a whole new level
of professionalism. You clearly know your stuff and I happily
recommend your services to anyone wanting first class editing.
Scott Hunter, Speaker, Coach, Consultant |
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Today I am living my dream because
I reached out for help, because I invested time and money in my mentor, because I took risks when I
needed to, because I studied my craft and applied it.
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The Secret to
Becoming the Expert
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People unconsciously
associate publishing books and articles with expertise.
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People automatically assume that the
writer must be different
from the rest of us, must be better at what they do, must know more than
us, must be more trustworthy and must be THE EXPERT.
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Successful professionals know this. They write
to separate themselves from the crowd. They do it
deliberately.
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Anyone can write a book or an article. Anyone can become an expert in their market. Anyone. You
just have to know how to do it. And the good news is, you can learn these
skills, just like I did.
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How does this apply
to you?
Think back to the last service club or
professional meeting you attended. What attracted you to that
meeting? Certainly not the business part. The published author who
was speaking attracted you, the professional who promised to give you new information that you
needed, who promised to inspire you. Maybe you even bought the
book at the end of the meeting.
That author/speaker had one purpose
for appearing at that meeting. He or she didn't get paid to speak
and doesn't make money off selling the book. That speaker wants
to convince you to become a client. The book is the marketing tool
that makes this happen!
By writing the book, they've learned
to write other marketing materials in a way that attracts potential
clients and persuades them to buy your products and services.
Such authors are just like you. They started in the same place you did. They
don't know that much more than you.
However, they've done one thing very
few in their market have done.
They've tweaked their marketing
strategy by writing quality books that attract clients and
customers, a powerful technique that
gives them instant celebrity status, makes them stand out from the
crowd and creates the instant perception that they are the go-to
experts in their markets.
There is nothing preventing you from
doing exactly the same thing.
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Take a moment,
close your eyes, imagine your future ---
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You are
standing on stage, holding your book, absorbing the applause as you finish your
speech.
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You are
standing at a table at the back of the room, your books
spread out on the table, a line of eager fans holding
out their credit cards, eager to buy your book. And some of
them ask how they can work with YOU.
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You are in a
meeting in a potential client's executive office. On the
desk you see a flyer from one of your competitors. You smile
as you hand the potential client a copy of your book. He or
she pages thoughtfully through it, looks up and says, "When
shall we begin?"
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You get an
email from Amazon.com requesting more copies of your book.
The current supply has sold out.
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YOU are now
the recognized expert in your market.
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So why don't more
people write?
People avoid writing books and
articles for many reasons. See
if any of these sound familiar:
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It's too hard.
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I don't know how to write.
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There are a lot of book programs out
there. Who do I trust?
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It costs thousands of dollars to get
published.
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I hear so much contradictory
information. Where do I start?
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They all want to get my money and
control my book.
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I have no idea whether my writing is any
good.
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I started in the same place. I had
many of the same excuses. Granted, I'd been a newspaper editor for years. But
write a book? That was a
dream that had lurked in the back of my mind for decades. And I was
no better than anyone else at getting that book out of my head and
onto paper.
Now that I know how to write and
publish books, I want to share that knowledge with you. My
goal is to help you break through the negative thinking so many
people have about writing, to show you how false those beliefs about
writing are.
You can get all of
this powerful information
and it won't cost you a fortune.
I too have an expensive book
publishing program. I coach
authors one on one and edit and publish books for them through
Solutions Press, my publishing company. Because of the time
involved, I limit the few
projects I take on to less than 10 a year and charge thousands of
dollars. I have a waiting list
for whatever spots open up from time to time. I've included
testimonials from a few of
my clients in this section so you see what they say about working with me.
However, my goal is to reach a far
larger number of people than I can reach working one on one. Looking
back, it's clear to me that working with my mentor, Sol Stein, made
everything that followed possible. That's why I decided to set up a
mentoring program in addition to my book publishing business.
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"...was the guiding force..." |
 Lee
helped me publish my first book, Precision Selling: 21 Winning
Strategies to Achieve Peak Performance. Not only did he give me
some terrific advice, he did my editing, proofreading,
publishing, and was the guiding force behind the entire process.
I've hired him to edit and publish my second book. If you want
to publish a book, this is the guy to hire!
Patrick McClure, Connexia Group |
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My Writing Excellence Group
Coaching Program will help you cut through the
hype in the marketplace and to give you straight answers
to your questions.
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My first goal is to help you create a
quality product that will represent you well in your market.
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My second goal is that you publish
your book, articles and sales materials in the way that best suits you.
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My third goal is to give you powerful
secrets and insights into the writing and publishing industry.
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The Writing Excellence Group
Coaching Program
allows many more authors to get high level coaching than I could ever
reach through my publishing program. In addition,
many of my current
publishing program authors also participate in the Group Coaching Program
calls so you will hear and benefit from some of the high level
coaching I give them.
You will learn:
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Three secrets to overcoming writer’s block (one will shock
you so much it will forever change they way you write)
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The four steps you must take before you even consider writing a word
(without these you’ll struggle to get just one page written)
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The super-secret method the pros use to make their book
practically write itself (It’s so simple you'll be kicking
yourself that you didn’t think of it)
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The secret to persuading fence-sitters to become your clients (Just
getting one sale with this technique will return your
investment many times over)
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How to make sure you finish your book on schedule (You'll wish you'd
thought of this one)
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Professional editing secrets (Your English teacher never
taught you these)
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My
seven-step guide to creating powerful stories (You need an expert
to teach you these)
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What you do with your book once it is published (and it's not about
selling a few books, it's about making you the expert in your
market)
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Finally, this is my way to encourage
you to stay in the conversation about writing and publishing long
term, to continue inspiring you to write and publish, and to
reinforce the information you need to be successful in your writing
and in your business.
Here are some of the questions we've
covered on recent calls:
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Why a new writer can feel exhausted
after just a few hours of writing and what you can do about it.
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The advantages of hard-cover
publishing vs. soft-cover publishing and how each one works in
different situations
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Whether you should self publish or find a commercial publisher and the advantages and disadvantages
of each
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The optimum size for your book and for
your market so you maximize readership
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How you organize your book so that it
draws the reader in and keeps him or her reading
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Why stories are so important in
writing (and speaking), how to create them, and how to use them to
gain maximum emotional impact
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The importance of including your
personal experience with your subject in your book so the reader can
identify with you emotionally
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How to narrow your topic so that you
do not confuse the reader with too much information
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How to create a powerful call to
action that your reader will follow
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How to create a theme for your book so
you have a guideline for your writing
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How to outline everything you write in a way that
makes it easy to write
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The Writing Excellence Group
Coaching Program
will give you the same accountability, ongoing support, and
mentoring in a committed community of writers that you can only
get from far more expensive programs.
My clients tell me they have learned
how to write a book effectively, how to use stories to create emotional
impact, and how to publish and sell their books. I will teach you the
same powerful techniques.
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"...a
considerably better book..." |
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Lee did a wonderful job strengthening my voice throughout the
manuscript. 'You are the Show' is a considerably better book due
to Lee's touch.
David Eldon Gustafson
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Here's how it works
Every Monday at 4 p.m. you will join me on a
conference call where we will discuss a wide range of topics related to
writing skills, persuasive techniques, publishing, editing, storytelling, and speaking to
sell your book. Each session is packed with useful information you can use immediately. During the call, you can ask questions and
will get immediate personal coaching.
All call recordings are posted on a secure
web site for protégé members only. You as a member will receive a
password and can access the calls anytime you wish. Over 80 hours
of recordings are available there now. I'll even
post other items from time to time that I believe will help you grow
as a writer. These might include interviews on writing or
storytelling, speeches I've given on subjects related to growing
your business, or e-books with important information you need to
know.
You will learn the writing and
publishing process from A to Z. Through this program, you will learn
how to start your book, how to write it, how to promote it, how to use stories effectively,
how to publish your book, how to write articles and marketing
materials, in short, how to make yourself the expert in your market.
You will get coaching on request on the calls. You will be able to
ask questions and get immediate answers.
Even more, you will learn:
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How the publishing industry works
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How to organize your book
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Getting past blocks to writing
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Using stories to illustrate your
points
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Using speaking to market your book
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How to write powerful sales copy
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How to create an emotional experience
that sells
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Effective editing tips
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Story Structure
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How to create your story
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Differences between commercial and
self publishing
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How not to publish your book
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"... helped
bring my presentation to life..." |
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"I recently asked Lee
Pound to help me with a speech I was giving for our company
convention. An associate of mine had recommended him because
of his expertise in storytelling. I not only received help
presenting my stories, but Mr. Pound recommended ways of
improving my entire speech from start to finish. He helped
bring my presentation to life with the addition of voice
inflection, gestures and the knack for knowing just when to
pause and just when to punch. He found words that could be
eliminated, honing my message sharply. And he presented ideas
for adding more descriptive phrases that brought my word
images to life. Lee gave me the
confidence to deliver my speech before an enthusiastic
audience, with great success. Because of him, I was able to
truly connect with my listeners."
Julie Wells,
President,
Spectrum Financial Group
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When you join the
Writing Excellence Group Coaching Program, you get the same mentoring I
gratefully accepted from Sol Stein, the same mentoring that changed
my life forever.
Are you willing to
admit you need help with writing, just as I admitted I needed
help? Think about how many years you've thought about starting your
book or using writing to market yourself but never did it because life got in the way. Think about how
tired you are of seeing a competitor hand you the book they just
wrote and thinking to yourself, "Why don't I have the discipline to
write my book?"
Isn't it time to say,
"Yes, give me the tools to write powerful books and articles."?
If you never write
that book or those articles or sales materials, in the end what will you have to show for your lifetime
of expertise? Imagine how neat it would be to have your grandchild
give your book to a friend a college and say, "Look at what my
grandpa (or grandma) wrote!"
Great writers always
get feedback and coaching from their colleagues. Athletes like Tiger
Woods and business leaders like Donald Trump have coaches and
mentors to make sure they become successful and to maintain that
success. Even those with natural talent need help to make it to the
next level and create the change they want to see.
You have a choice:
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Keep going to your
professional meetings and watch those who use their writing skills
as marketing tools make
their mark and leave a legacy or
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Make a minimal
investment in yourself and become part of a community that will help
you ensure that at this time next year you are the one proudly
handing out copies of your book, writing articles, blogs and letters
that sell your services.
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