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#5 of Top 10 Mistakes Authors Make

January 27, 2012

Mistake #5: Become Too Attached to a Title

Another mistake I’ve seen authors make is to become too attached to a particular title that they won’t even consider anything else. Sure, it is important to include a catchy or insightful title (and subtitle) with your book proposal. You want to capture that literary agent’s immediate attention. However, chances are that title that you’ve spent so much time creating and soliciting advice about from friends, family, and acquaintances won’t make it past the initial publishing committee. Obviously, your book’s title is going to be one of its first selling points. Because of this, publishers spend hours upon hours in meetings devoted to titling your book. Believe me, I’ve been there. Titling meetings are among the most boring and oftentimes frustrating experiences that any acquisitions editor or publisher has to endure. But it is a very necessary evil.

It typically works like this.  Your acquisitions editor asks you to brainstorm four or five additional titles that might work. He or she then brings your list into the titling meeting, which usually consist of the publisher, the sales directors, marketing and publicity manager, your publicist assigned to your book, and often the cover design team as well. They go back and forth, hem and haw, and come up with some suggestions of their own. Your acquisitions editor then goes back to you with the title options the team has created and solicits your opinion. More often than not, the title of your published book will not be the one you had originally proposed. However, I have seen occasions where after all this work, the team agrees that the initial title will work after all and runs with it.

This can be very frustrating and very time-consuming. Remember, although the material is your own, the publisher reserves the right to make all final decisions about how your book is titled and packaged. If you are adamantly against a particular title, be able to articulate why. It is in your best interests do so without sounding too defensive. Ultimately though, everyone wants you to be happy with any decisions made about your book…including the title. Publishing is a very pseudo-collaborative process and generally, when all is said and done, things work out nicely for all parties involved.

Just remember: the title is one of the most important selling factors for your book. As frustrating as the process often is, the best thing an author can be is flexible. That way, it’s a win/win situation for everyone.

If you missed them…
Jon Malysiak is part of the Networlding Publishing Team. He works with me to support our ongoing efforts to educate thought leaders on the best practices for success in this new world of publishing.

You can also find him at: http://author-on-the-town.blogspot.com


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How Much Time Daily Should We Devote to Social Media?

November 11, 2011

Image representing LinkedIn as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

Being a successful Networlder creates sustainable connections. The social media phenomenon we live in allows us to do that. As this week’s webinar by

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

HubSpot on the “5 steps for Awesome Social Media Lead Generation” simply put it, “Follow. Friend. Connect”. Some people may spend less than 30 minutes a day following these steps that are few mere clicks away. Hootsuite and Buffer allow for excellent staged tweets. Others spend a range of an hour to several hours a day engaging on different platforms that include commenting on blogs, writing their own post, mingling on Twitter and questioning others in LinkedIn groups.

The question is, how much time should we devote on a daily basis to build sustainable connections?

I sent a query to the Networlding Group on LinkedIn earlier this week to have them weigh in.  The answers in fact do vary! (See form if you would like to add your two cents which we will update in the comments section or, share you comments, below):

“2 hours per day: half an hour in the morning to re-invigorate yourself; half an hour at the end of your working hours; one hour after dinner and family time so you can participate in forums with the needed tranquility”

Time: 20 Facebook + 20 Linked in + 30 Own Blog + 50 Other blogs = 2 hours/day

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

-Luís Cochofel of dPe
www.luiscochofel.com
luis @luiscochofel.com

=========

“Maintaining Social Media presence varies based on VALUE Gained from involvement, Business Style and VISION of how you see the importance of your online IMAGE. It’s hard not to spend less than 10 minutes a day leveraging the tools of the internet if you’re trying to Create Powerful Entertainment”

-Deremiah *CPE, Inspirational Speaking Star + Author of “52 GREAT WEEKS”
http://www.deremiahcpe.blogspot.com/
@ Deremiah_CPE

=========

“It is really dependent upon the person and their desired outcomes. You can’t pigeon-hole one set of standards for the masses. Like fitting a square peg into a ROUND hole. Never works! I say for myself, an hour a day is most I could spend. That might change each week, depending on my own personal schedule”

Time: Facebook 10 + Twitter 20 + LinkedIn 30 + Own Blog 15+ Commenting on blogs 5+ Other 5 = 85 minutes/day

-Lisa Day, Physician Financial Liaison, St. Mary’s Hospital
lisaday07 @ comcast.net

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“The goal is provide valuable content to those who would gain value from it, highlight individuals making the world a better place, and help connect individuals who would benefit from knowing one another”

Time: Twitter 10 + LinkedIn 10 + Blog (own) 35 + Commenting on other blogs 5 + Other 5 = 85 minutes/day

-Anita Brick, Director of Career Advancement Programs at University of Chicago
abrick15@gmail.com

=========

“The ideal is whatever makes sense for the individual and the goals he / she has set. But, I would expect that 30 to 60 minutes per day would be reasonable. However, what is ideal for me may or may not be ideal for others.”

Time: Facebook 10 + Twitter 10 + LinkedIn 10 + Blog (own) 10 + Commenting on blogs (10) + Other 10 = 1 hr/day

-Gerry Parran, Partner, The Material Source LP
gparran@aol.com
www.thematerialsource.com

==========

“I frequently commit several hours per day to maintain my presence and follow others; however, this is atypical (as I am currently an expat trailing spouse) and would not recommend it as ideal, unless it’s to support your work. Realistically, I think you can/should spend 1-2 hours per day with a focused message and only 2-3 apps to manage (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.). The more applications you use and the less focused your message, the more time you’ll need! It also depends on the number of friends / connections – and their average number of posts. If you write a blog, add at least 1-2 hours or more per week per post.”

-Shawn Haugen, DOX Communications, Independent Consultant/Senior Technical Writer/Editor & Business Analyst
shawnhaugen@hotmail.com

http://ch.linkedin.com/in/shawnhaugen

===========

“When you really want to be present, it is a full time job, engaging everywhere, anytime”

Facebook 30 + Twitter 30 + LinkedIn 30 + Own blog 90 + Other 20 = 3.5 hours/day

-Henk Overbeek, Accountants Bulgaria
http://aidosbg,com
henk  @  aidosbg.com

============

“I view social media as an aspect of continuing education with a dose of personal and professional marketing. Using that approach, 15-30 minutes daily is ideal with a more intense session one time per week.”

Time: LinkedIn 60 + Other 120 = 3 hours

-Steve Silvey, Managing Partner at Athena Attorneys at Law, LLC
www.athena1.com
stevesilvey @ athena1.com

============

Time: Facebook = 30 + Twitter = 20 + LinkedIn = 20 + Blog (own) = 0 + Commenting on blogs = 15 = 85 minutes/day

-Barbara Bentley, Owner, Bentley Business Solutions
barbara _ bentley @ comcast.net

=============

If you or someone you know would be interested in contributing to timely questions I ask in the future, please join the Networlding group here on LinkedIn!

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Networking Versus Networlding Contest: Join Us!

July 23, 2011

Networking connections are flimsy because they lack support. Networking relationships are often one-sided, transactional verus relational, opportunity limiting versus opportunity expansive. One particular situation binds you together, and as soon as this situation disintegrates or disappears, there’s nothing left of the relationship to keep it strong enough to survive. Networlding, on the other hand, start you connecting authentically with [...]

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I Dreaming of a . . .

December 25, 2010

In this big networked world, I just wanted to take a moment and recognize the very basics in life–a yearning to be connected. We are losing connection, most of all, with ourselves that, often, we don’t even recognize what is happening. What does this picture to the right say to you? I see a dog [...]

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Networlding and Oprah: Building a Power-of-Ten Circle

December 20, 2010

Many people who don’t really understand the power of networks and Networlding get insight when I share with them that Oprah has built a great Networld. When Malcolm Gladwell wrote The Tipping Point he referenced the scientific reality that we can’t communicate with more than 15 people regularly at any one time. In Networlding I [...]

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A Dynamic Speaking Duo

December 16, 2010

Look no further to find two great speakers who truly can change the lives of a audience in one day. From Jobbies to Businesses: Strategies for Irresistible Success In this inspirational and educational interactive hybrid panel-presentation-“tv talk show” format, Liz Strauss and Carol Roth will discuss what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, explore [...]

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Where Is Your Company’s G-Point?

November 22, 2010

In “The Failure of Marketing” author Jack Trytten helped companies learn what, for whatever reason, they were missing around what they were doing wrong in their marketing efforts. Now he is back with an even more provocative and spot on analysis of what companies can do to get to the “G-Point.” That’s the “Growth Point.” [...]

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Social Media, The Good Karma Network and Creating Trust in 30 Minutes or Less

January 15, 2010

When Christian Gray and I spoke this week I had no idea that we would be having a very rich, deep, purposeful conversation. This was the first time we spoke and within 30 minutes we were able to get to a place of trust. In fact on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being a [...]

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What Do Your Values Reflect?

December 11, 2009

What does it mean to have a system for networking? I  created a method to change random, “one-shot”  networking into mutually beneficial and consistently productive Networlding. There are seven steps in total that once mastered will allow you to be an effortless Networlder. The steps will be presented individually because each step must be completed [...]

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Four Best Networking Tools for Inbound and Outbound Marketing: The 20% that Yields an 80% Return

November 22, 2009

Wondering what works and what doesn ‘t when it comes to “push” or outbound marketing or “pull” or inbound marketing? As Malcolm Gladwell mentions in his third book, Outliers an expert is someone who has had more than 10,000 hours of study in one particular area. Online marketing is my area and there really are [...]

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