450 – She’s back with great book marketing tips: Tom interviews Judith Briles

Episode 450 – Judith Briles Part 2
[00:00:08] Welcome to Screw the Commute. The entrepreneurial podcast dedicated to getting you out of the car and into the money, with your host, lifelong entrepreneur and multimillionaire, Tom Antion.

[00:00:24] Hey, everybody is Tom here with episode four hundred and fifty. You hear that? Four hundred and fifty of Screw the Commute podcast. And I couldn't think of anybody better to have on a momentous occasion like this that my buddy Judith Briles for part two, she's back by popular demand from last week on Episode 447. And if you missed that, you got to go back and listen to it, because she really gave us a lot of the insider stuff on publishing. And now on part two, she's going to talk about book marketing. And now listen, this talk about walking your talk to date to date. Up to today, her books have been translated into 17 languages, over a million copies sold. She's been featured in over thirteen hundred radio TV shows, repeat appearances on CNN, CNBC, Oprah. I was telling her last week that she better hurry up and get back to CNN before they disappear with poor ratings. They need her really bad. And she's been in Newsweek people Time, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and she survived a mention or I don't know if it was a feature in the National Enquirer.

[00:01:39] So will bring her out in a minute. Hopefully you didn't miss Episode 449 Esther Inman. Now, Esther is not a name you would think on a thirty something young woman, would you? Well, she was named after that chapter in the Bible, but she is really doing biblical things in that she is helping people become virtual assistants and little as 90 days and some of them before that or making money as virtual assistants. She's a military spouse and she's known as the online work queen. So check that out. Episode 49. And if you'd like to, if you like money. All right. You probably listen to this because you like money. Well, I'd be glad to send you some more referrals. That's our affiliate program so you can make big commissions by referring my products and services and you won't get any complaints because I'm a stickler on customer service. So email me at Tom@screwthecommute.com and ask me about it. All right, let's see, I want you to grab a copy of our Free Automation eBook. I'm going to say you're welcome right now, because if you use the tips in this book, I mean, one to just one of the tips is save me seven and a half million keystrokes.

[00:02:56] And people said, are you just making that up? Yeah, I'm kind of making it up because we actually estimated it from all the things that these tips will will automate for you. So you don't have to type like crazy all the time and get carpal tunnel syndrome. So grab a copy of that at screwthecommute.com/automatefree. And since this is the four hundred and fifty eighth episode, we're having a big sale today. So check that out. Screwthecommute.com/bigsale. All right. And you'll see a whole bunch of really super duper deals on that page. Screwthecommute.com/bigsale. Now we're right in the middle. We finally released our super program I'm so proud of to help people with physical disabilities get hired and or start their own business by giving them a full scholarship to my school, the only licensed dedicated Internet and digital marketing school in the country, probably the world. So check out the go fund me thing. We'll probably have it at the top of the big sales page so you can find it easily. And if you'd support it, you really be helping change some lives. These people are really great.

[00:04:06] I can't believe their attitudes with the things that they face every day. It gives me a great dose of gratitude seeing that boy, I don't have to go through that, so I want to help them out.

[00:04:18] All right, let's get to the main event. Judith Briles is an award winning and best selling author of Lascivious 37 books. I mean, 37. That's almost as old as I am. Thirty seven. Yeah. Yeah, about 30 years ago, including over 45 book awards for her publishing and marketing books. Just a couple of them here. Author you. Why are you creating and building your author and book platforms snappy, sassy, salty, wise words for authors and publishers, the crowdfunding guy. That's what I'm doing right now. I'm going to get a copy that says it's going to go on for the next month for authors and writers how to avoid book publishing blunders, bloopers and booboos, and how to create a million dollar speech. She's out of Colorado. She's a founding partner in the book Shepherd, a book and publishing, consulting and project management firm that works with authors at all stages of their book to create a book they never regret. She's here with Part two to talk about book marketing. Hey, Judith, are you ready to screw again?

[00:05:25] Well, why not for the 450 of time?

[00:05:31] Oh, boy. So we had you back last week. We got to have people go listen to that after if they missed it at episode 447. So now we're focusing on the book is is needs marketed. And I was going to say the book is done and needs marketed, but we both know it's it's late. If the book is already done and you're starting marketing.

[00:05:53] Right, why isn't that the truth?

[00:05:55] Tom way late, in fact.

[00:05:57] Yeah. So when did that let's just start with this. When should book marketing start? The day you start writing. Is it you're saying OK

[00:06:04] Or you are born.

[00:06:06] Yeah, I miss that one. All right. I missed that Mark. So when do you start marketing? Today. All right. So if we missed the first opportunity, which is when you started writing, then wherever you are right now in the process, whether you're PubMed or you're already got a book in hand marketing, serious, serious kick butt marketing starts today.

[00:06:33] And we know that this is the downfall of many authors. Right?

[00:06:37] It's the number one downfall, I think Tom. Besides, here's the other one. Everyone will love my book and my book is for everyone. No, it's not. It is not for everyone. And in fact, I learned long ago that the more you nesh yourself, the bigger your market is. The more you drill down and be so myopic and focused, you have a better opportunity to becoming the king or queen pin in a topic, a subject. It doesn't matter if you're the pioneer in it or you're just jumping on board that if you just just myopic is the right word, be focused and go after that. But the next question is, do you really know who your market is? And that's Tom so many people screw up on that. They really don't know who their reader book buyer should be. Well, they're

[00:07:35] Stuck in that mentality that their books for everybody. But I have to correct you one second. There is a market that any. Could work well, and that is the market, and I could I'll take your book right now if you have it, because I need to raise my monitor up about six inches and I need some books this thick under because there's no more Yellow Pages anymore. So or is no stock market. That's also a market that you can dominate.

[00:08:05] Ok, so don't stop. OK, I will go with that. But most of us don't visualize our books being used as Hold-Up. Other thing, props or for doorstops. We really think that, oh, it's going to change their lives or it's going to be that the the story of the year, you know, the hot story of the year. And the reality is that it could be the hot story of the year for a specific group. The thing is, you got to know who your group is.

[00:08:38] Yeah, and and that takes some thought and research, it's just not, you know, hope you cross your fingers.

[00:08:46] Years ago I was well, I do these all the time. You know why people are listening to this? I have an event going on in my home that I do once a month, and it's called The Author, You Salons. And it's kind of a pick my brain. And it's there's no agenda. People are invited over. I have coffee and tea ready.

[00:09:07] I get a facial to synthesis one.

[00:09:11] Well, you know, I used to do that. I used those kind of things anyway.

[00:09:15] I got the the the thing everybody says, how come you look so young? Because if you keep your weight up really high, it makes takes all the wrinkles out.

[00:09:23] I don't know if you. Well, yes, it does. Of her skin. Yeah. It fills up your skin. But anyway, I have these things. I call the salons and I have coffee and tea ready people bring. They've always been told to bring a healthy snack to share when we eat. Course we couldn't meet in person during the pandemic, but we're you know, we opened up this month and that and I also made it available for the consumers. They could still participate. But all I have is a flip chart, Tom a flip chart, and that they can put any question up on that flip chart and they will leave with an answer. Now in ninety nine percent of the cases. I know the answer very quickly for this. One of the question is, but you know, when you have 20, 30 people in the room, there's other answers, which is very cool. So at one of the salons that one of my clients was working on his book cover and he had done all this research, this was his marketing, pre marketing research on what would be the right one. And he I said, you know, just do a focus group is take it out, we'll spread it. And he created questions and ratings and all that. And he came back. And this is a huge mistake, especially newbie authors make on book covers, is they think they should put every element of their book story or their solutions or whatever their theme is about an image on the cover. And the answer is no. It's just confusion that what you end up with. And he had pulled all these elements out and then and all that. And these people all loved it for whatever reason. And I'm going, oh, my God, I am going to lose. This is the first time I'm going to lose my cover recommendations. And so finally, I said to Courtney, So now tell me who was in your focus group? Because he had like 120 people. He brought in spreadsheets, Tom. He he he he's trying.

[00:11:32] At least he's trying.

[00:11:33] Absolutely. And I and I just said before I threw in the towel because I was going to call the designer and say, OK, it's, you know, option B that I said so. Courtney, who was in your focus group? Oh, well, my wife and my brother and my next door neighbor and I had a few friends in and all that. And I said, none of them count, right? None of them count. The only person who belongs in your focus group is the person who reads this genre and is your potential the buyer. So who in this focus group reads this mystical stuff about the Native American? Nobody reads, OK, so we threw it out. We went with Plan A. which was the book was called The Raven Marker. And it was this brilliant red cover that popped, but just the black raven marker on there and just a few other elements in it. And it was the book that when you saw cover, because the cover of the cover of this is marketing, everybody, your cover is so essential. It is. The lighthouse is the beacon that says come to. Come to me, pick me up.

[00:12:53] Is there any truth to the figures you hear bandied about of how much time a person spends on the front cover and back?

[00:13:01] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Three to five seconds, three seven seconds max on a cover.

[00:13:05] Front cover. You mean

[00:13:07] Max? Max yeah. That cover is it is 20, 30 seconds in there. But and and you're back. Cover is such a rich, rich piece of real estate, Facebook marketing and that one of my one of my covers that I when I wrote the back cover for my book called Stabotage and we should talk about titles, too, because it's part of marketing, but titles. And you could have a you know, an oddball, you know, maybe a kick ass word for the main title. But does that really tell people what's going on on inside? So you have to remember on the title that the subtitle at for non-fiction, your subtitle is Your Promise for what's between the covers. That's your promise. So you better have a good emotional pull to bring people in and your key words, at least in that, especially if you go for a weirdo word that you think is the lure for the title. The back cover is Rich for marketing and so on. My book called Stabotage, which was just, you know, a variation of sabotage and women stabbing other women in the back as roustabouts came from that. The subtitle and this was specifically written for the health care industry. So the subtitle was to, you know, how to deal with the pit bull skunk snakes, scorpions and sluts, see how to deal with the pit bull snakes, scorpions, snakes and slugs.

[00:14:49] When that book was on display at my tables at a speaking gig, people would just it you know, they knew exactly who I was talking about, exactly who I was like that. Now, the back cover had the headline, and I'm a big believer even for fiction books to do headlines. So the headline on that one was, Ah, you know, our saboteurs in your mitts, big question mark. And then it I had a few bullet points. You know it, dude. Does anyone ever take credit for your work? Do you have to deal with pit bulls with lipstick? You know, I had these kind of things and by the third bullet point, the book was sold. It was sold. It was sold. But you have to understand, this is it's not a namby pamby. They don't want to hear about your dog Fluffy, unless that's what the story's about, Fluffy, that you have to really get to the point and understand the power of bullets, the power of space and the power of key words that grab in to solve. I've always said it's not money that makes the world go around. It is problems. And we authors are problem solvers, whether it's in our storytelling. And we're going to we're going to solve your problem of I need to escape. I can I can give you escapism. I can give you fantasy. I can give you rich storytelling. Or if it's nonfiction, it's delivering solutions or, you know, moving a career ahead or insights, AHA's cetera. But understanding that will make all the difference in marketing, which is your book cover does count both the back in the front.

[00:16:33] Well, I love that title because it kind of reminds me of the joke. Is that your your your friends or your good friends will only stab you in the chest?

[00:16:47] Well, you know, when I did the study for that book, what I found out Tom was that. And then this is how I pitched it to the media. This is how I got on every media show. I said this Contrary to popular belief, women don't discriminate.

[00:17:06] Yeah, you busted a myth.

[00:17:08] And then I shut up because. Because then they have to say something. Well, what do you mean they don't discriminate? Are women do if they are going to be a saboteur, they are likely to target their own gender where men don't discriminate, they'll take anybody on. So yeah,

[00:17:28] Is a great media hook. Basically, it's

[00:17:30] This huge media hook. Yeah. Yeah. Huge media hook. And and I will do. The ad on the National Enquirer was a feature on me and the book, my first book, Woman to Woman From Sabotage to Support. And they they actually treated me very well. Tom. They called me and read the story and what did I approve of it? Wow, I wasn't a celebrity per say. I mean, I wasn't, you know, someone doing naughty stuff.

[00:18:02] Well, we'll try to work on that with you. So. So you know me. I'm the Internet guy. So part of marketing is websites. But you think there's two specific things a website has to have when it comes to book marketing. What are they?

[00:18:20] Well, your book. How's that? OK, I want to have your book. I want you to have a speaking tab. And you and I mentioned this, I think, last last week when we were on together, speaking to the number one way to sell your book. So you need to be very rich in there and you need to have also on that Web site and a author, one sheet, a book, one sheep. And this is a bold, bold brag of why you're the hot one, why this book is the hot one. And this is where you really need to listen in on my one sheet. And I can tell everyone you can go to thebookShepherd.com and and click. It'll be on either the media page or down the media page. It's on two pages to two tabs of media as well as the speaking tab. But that so everything everyone needs to know about me as someone who is an expert in and working with authors about books is done in five and a half sentences. That's it. And you see a lot of these things Tom go on in perpetuity.

[00:19:31] Yeah, nobody's going to read that stuff and

[00:19:33] They don't read it. There is a couple of testimonials right there. There will be a testimonial from event planner, a couple of clients, but it really will go along the line. And I use numbers like when you introduced me, that I've had 17 foreign rights in 17 countries. It says it's one seven. We don't spell it out that I've, you know, given over fifteen hundred two thousand. Who knows at this point presentations that that we don't we're just will next time we do, it will bring in my podcast, which is had and we will spell out seven comma oh comma oh downloads. Mm hmm. Or that because but you understand I understand from marketing is people remember numbers, numerical numbers. They don't remember them written out,

[00:20:27] And especially if it's the number as the first part of a bullet. Always the numeral for sure.

[00:20:36] Always. Yes, always. And so what you want to do is on your website, you need to have one sheet about you. You know, you need to have that for a speaker. You need to make sure this is my preference. As someone who hires speakers for some of the events that I do, I want to know what you do. I want to know when to sentence whatever he whatever he talks about. Sum it up for me, baby, and that I want to have three to five bullet points of what my participants will take away. I can make a decision in seconds of whether or not I'm going to reach out to someone based on what they have. And, you know, if I've seen them or I have other things that I have to do. But every website needs that, every website also. This is a button pusher for me for marketing. Why why do people insist on their contact page it put in say, what's your name, what's your last name, what's your email. And here's a box and you can fill in what you want.

[00:21:39] Nobody fills ever

[00:21:41] It. It takes me when I'm on the search for someone I will. I'm looking for a phone number. All right. So your contact page better have a phone number that you are reachable at it better have an email. I would like a snail mail address. I mean, I like to send notes to people.

[00:22:00] Yeah. And even even that tells you what time zone you're in.

[00:22:04] Exactly. And you might want to say that now my my contact page really opens up. It goes, you know, sets it up but says if you're an impatient person, here's my phone number, here's my snail mail. I mean I go through all of it on that that's so complete that there's no question and I'm reachable. I think what what everyone needs to understand about their Web sites is that their purpose is to be findable, that people can find you, and the purpose is to collect emails. That purpose of your Web site is to connect email. So what goodies are you offering to people to extract that? That they will get that in, you start building a relationship and it does that you're not pitching them, you're sharing information, I mean, what do you get? What are you giveaways? Tom gives away a lot of stuff. I give away a lot of stuff. That's what you want to do. So whether you call it a lead magnet or an opt in, every website should have one.

[00:23:12] Yeah. And I got to tell people, you know, I've been doing this since at the beginning with all the stuff that's out there nowadays. Still, the big money is because of email is absolutely.

[00:23:24] Because if I don't know if you noticed this past week, though, there was a little little thing came out that the websites of from Amazon to so many were actually out of commission for several hours. Did you see that? Yeah. All right. So that when you own an email that's, you know, that's your is it's gold for you. So and and I'm just amazed that people don't get it. Tom I am I'm amazed that they don't get it. How important it is to collect them.

[00:24:00] Well, that's what we're fighting against here. And the ones that do get it are the ones, the authors that are going to be very successful and the ones that don't get it are going to be the authors that have a garage full of books. So now let's get off of websites for a moment, because when the necessary evil came around called social media, tell them what you think about that and the platforms that authors should use.

[00:24:28] And it's you know, it's a love, hate, love it or hate it. It truly is. And but also get over it. It's a town hall and there's different different platforms that if you are if you got a business related book, non-fiction, business related book that you need to be on LinkedIn and Twitter and you can basically say screw the rest. That's that's where the players are. If your objective is to do a publicity campaign to go after and get the attention of the media. Twitter is the player. So one of the marketing tips you all should be doing is that wherever your state, your location, your region, you start with certainly the national four. But you just want to go into Twitter and put key names of whether it's it's a Fox News, whether it's CNN, whether it's ABC, NBC, blah, blah, blah, blah. Good Morning America. Today, they all have handles. And then you think about other people that that would be important to you and your local what's going on in your state and your region, because I always think in marketing you ought to be a lot of authors make a fatal error thinking. Of course I should be on the Today show. Of course I should be on this as well. Maybe, maybe. But one of the things I learned when I had I was very fortunate with my book on sabotage, I ended up getting a four page spread in People magazine, and they came to me because of the publicity I was getting right there. Interested post. They were interested in post and that if you build up your power in your region, your state, your city, spread it out this way. So who are the players in the media? Find out what their handles are. And a lot of times and in print, they have them in their columns, you know, in their little signature at the bottom of it. But you can post things and then you start learning the power of coat tailing them. Newsjacking, where you will add in a post that that, you know, assign whatever it is that they all these all these big people have folks who read those streams to see what's there. And, you know, you may have you know, I remember when The Yumba years ago when the the toddler fell into the gorilla pit. Yeah.

[00:27:05] Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh.

[00:27:06] Right. So if I was an author and I was writing the books on on parenting. I would be all over that. I, I would be all over that on that and I would have been using also, you know, hashtag parenting, but I would going after and I would be writing up lines how to keep track of your toddler at the zoo, you know. You know, how do you how do you keep track of a toddler? And if any of us have been around toddlers, you know, they can move like lightning. And how do you keep track of your toddler so you don't find them at the bottom of a gorilla pit?

[00:27:47] Yeah, and that's a tragic story. But it is tragic. But the thing is, is I teach my folks to use Google now shoot. I can't alerts. And so they put keywords like I have a guy that's a martial arts expert and they sell this special kind of pepper spray stuff. So and he's also an active shooter expert. So he's got all these keywords in Google Alerts as soon as an active shooter or some incident happens anywhere in the in the world. He's on the phone to the local media because he gets it instantly from Google Alerts as soon as it shows up in the news.

[00:28:25] So exactly. I had a client who wrote a book that I thought was a I thought it was a terrific book. And the title was something like it dealt with crises, whatever, whether it was a, you know, a shooting, whether it was a fire, whether it was a flood fill in the blank. And it was, you know, what to do, what to say, how to connect it, to reach out and help someone else. And I could not get them to do this. Just exactly what you said. Put in four alerts when something comes out that they immediately reach out the media. I can give five tips for every listener when this kind of, you know, drama happens in their neighborhood or whatever it is they they couldn't they couldn't market, which is one of the biggest problems. Tom going back to where we started is I just want to write, I want to market and I want you to get frickin over that.

[00:29:31] Stabotage.

[00:29:32] Yeah, you got to get that in the dictionary because news jacking was invented by David Meerman Scott.

[00:29:39] I have it.

[00:29:40] Yeah, I have been on here and his daughter was on here, too, but he got that in the dictionary and he's working on one now to get in there called fan ocracy. So. So that's Stav I keep thinking establishes.

[00:29:57] Oh no. When you're being stabbed Tage it abolishes it. Avaricious it is. And and there's just so many things in female dominated environments, but that's a whole nother topic Tom. But I think that what's important you mentioned Google Alerts. Let me give our listeners another, I think, fabulous alert system. And I think it's more effective than Google Alerts. I'll talk Walker talk or talk Walker and that every time we you know, we put our blogs out like their press releases. And by the way, I'm going to that's a good marketing tool for all of you that you just turned it into. You can go PRlog.com look with their guidelines are morphia your blog a little bit. And voila, you've got a press release on something here that ties into your expertise and that that every day I get things on from Talkwalker with my name in them faster than Google. Wow. That's so that's just sharin just sharing with our listeners. That's awesome.

[00:31:11] Let me see here now. Is there any bookstores left? I mean, do you have to even fool with them anymore?

[00:31:18] Well, I think that yes, there are. In fact, I just set up for book fairs with Barnes and Noble that Barnes & Noble has been very kind to a project that I've been involved in, like you are with so many in the author's Hall of Fame. And they do. And all of you who have an event, of course, Tom, you should know about this for you. Yeah. That approach your Barnes and Noble asked them if they're open to any book fairs mind. Actually, one of them reached out to me that we couldn't get any sniffin from an independent bookstore. And I always want to support the independent Barnes and Noble, said, Judith, we're ready to do some book fairs to support the hall. Here are dates available. I bring in authors from my community and I give them two hour slots to sign their books. Barnes and Noble brings in their books BNN in turn, and we have these coupons. They actually make them for us and we give them to customers as they come through anything that that that customer of Barnes and Noble buys within the store that we're at anything. I don't care if it's socks or books. Puzzles fill in the blank that they will donate 10 percent back to the authors Hall of Fame. And and we did a couple of those. They actually raised all the money to build our website. Now, how cool is that?

[00:32:53] That's awesome.

[00:32:54] Yeah, it's making cool. So I want to support those kind of things. And that I think I think I'm glad you brought up bookstores. Are bookstores good to be around? Sure they are. They're viable in a lot of different ways. But you have to if if your goal is to get your book into the the bookstore, whatever the bookstore is, and bookstore, you know, the managers, the people in your divisions, whether it's kiddo's or it could be cookbooks or could be fantasy, you know, they have buyers or people who manage that those shelves. I think that probably in a bookstore today, that's a major chain like BNN, you would say managers of that section, several sections. And that's where I would go down in pre marketing and show them my covers. What I'm thinking about. What do you think? Would this be, Attracta? I would ask them to even look at the back cover copy. You'd be surprised how helpful they could be. With that said, if your goal is to get into a bookstore, here's what you must do. And there is no exceptions. You, dear author, must be driving butts into that bookstore to buy books. And if you are not going to put the time and energy in to do that, then you need to address your ego, which is saying, I want my book in the bookstore

[00:34:17] Two seconds until they damage and return it.

[00:34:19] So let me give you some some other ideas. OK, we're in summertime. We're in the hot days of summer. Right. Come in. There are book fairs, fairs of all sorts, crafts, fairs. There are festivals. There are and things are all opening up now. There are farmer's markets. That I have one client that just from the months of May through September three, whatever that is, May, June, July, August, September, five months for three years in a row, sold ten thousand books this way. Wow.

[00:34:59] Farmers market,

[00:35:01] Farmers markets, farmer's market. And this was a cookbook. She always took something to nibble on. OK, so that could be chancy right now. But there's other things you could do. And I have a blog actually I put out this past week, the book Shepherd, which really deals with 26 things to enhance your selling at book fairs, festivals and farmers markets, including please make sure you bring a couple of bowls, empty bowls and lots of water to keep them full for the pooches.

[00:35:39] Yep, yep.

[00:35:40] That makes sense. People always have their dogs, right? If they got a dog, that dog is going walking through that event and sunscreen. Well, you could give those samples of sunscreen. But, you know, there are things that do you need a chair for yourself. You need maybe some ice, bring an ice cooler in there. In fact, I would get one of those. I've got one. I've got a wagon, flyer wagon. But you can get Costco and Sam's have these wagons or whatever the knockoff in your neck of the country is that that you could actually collapse, but you could haul everything in nice wheels, haul everything. And I use them for my events. Your boxes of books, if you have if you have Kitto books, this is a great way to hustle and sell a lot of books and you need to have props. And one of the props is guess what, your smartphone, because you're going to offer to take a picture of Sue or Joe and send it to mom holding your book or or something like that. So those are great ways, alternative ways to be out and enjoy the outdoors, enjoy the outdoors. I would get a a canopy of some sort. You can have a table, but, you know, sometimes it gets frickin hot. And I would get a canopy that that is absolutely guaranteed. One person can put it up. You don't need a PhD to put this thing up, which I've seen those and have those. And I think that you should have a huge banner, you know, that shouts out this is marketing, shouts out your books. If you've got multiple books, God, get them all over there.

[00:37:27] You know, everybody wants to be an Amazon best seller. Now, you could be a farmer's market best seller.

[00:37:32] Absolutely.

[00:37:34] That's not a competition either.

[00:37:37] No, no. You just have to, you know, buy the bloody table.

[00:37:41] Yeah, you'll be the only one there.

[00:37:42] Yeah, you could be. You could very well be.

[00:37:45] Well, I've been to a lot of farmer's markets. I've never, ever seen a book said that one.

[00:37:51] All right. And have you seen kids at a farmer's

[00:37:54] Market seeing kids and dogs and all kinds of people, but never. Right. Anybody selling books?

[00:37:59] This is the market, mom and dad. Right. Right. Yeah, if this is you. But also, you know, there's other things that here you are. It's a beautiful day. Farmer's markets are almost always in the morning hours, in my recollection. I mean, sometimes they go longer, but they're usually over by one o'clock. And where you part of your pitch could be? Hey, which I'd love to have a great read on this beautiful day. Discover, you know. Jim's Mars fantasy, I mean, I don't know what your book is, but where you can deep dive into this and I'll bet you you'll sell books

[00:38:35] That cooking a cookbook, maybe a lot of sense, that's for sure.

[00:38:38] Oh, no cookbook for sure. Oh, for sure on that.

[00:38:42] All right. Let's jump out of the farmer's market, because that's an absolutely killer idea. Thank you. If you like that kind of stuff. And back to the old standby Amazon. What do we do with Amazon?

[00:38:54] Oh, what do we do about Amazon? First of all, I think you all should think Amazon, if Amazon hadn't come along, which is only objective at that time, was to sell books. If Amazon hadn't come along the independent market, the self publishing market would be sell at the vanity press arena. And so I'm not going to beat up on Amazon on that. They keep changing, as any organization does. I'm fortunate enough to be in on the old advantage program with Amazon that they they stopped bringing on new players, I guess, about two years ago, and that they're just like any other wholesaler. They take 55 percent, I get forty five percent. And we run it through and we ship books to them and it's all good. The Dow, they have their other programs. And of course, what Amazon would like everyone to do is to be on print, on demand. I mean, that's really what the KDP self published models about and pushing it forward. And that, you know, if you're getting your feet wet and you don't want to go through a full blown print run and you're not picky about what paper you use or the let's say the the quality or beltless, say, bells and whistles that you could have on your cover, like embossing or debossing or spot coding or foil printed or anything like that, that you just matter or glassworks for you, that I think it's a great avenue to go in and you're not, you know, sitting with thousands and thousands of dollars plus books that now have cobwebs on them in your basement or your garage, why you start getting your toes wet to figure out what this thing is all about, called book marketing and selling and, you know, in my in my right market type thing.

[00:40:55] So Amazon is a portal and I think you need to use it. And here's what I've also found, because I've Tom and I will talk about doing a program for all his followers, but I've created an unbelievable Amazon bestseller program that I'm going to keep you in number one in every category that you're in. And I'll do it for 72 hours minimum. And on the domino when you come off, this is on a free e-book and you come off, you'll find that, oh my God, your regular e-book is selling at its regular price and so are print books.

[00:41:28] Yeah. Let me jump in here, because a lot of them have heard me bragging about these really pitiful Amazon bestseller programs. So, yeah. Where you're you can be brain dead and you're two seconds. You're a best seller and you sold one book a month.

[00:41:45] That's nonsense. You know, that's nonsense. And Amazon actually doesn't love that. What Amazon wants to see is that you are building momentum, that you're starting to sell a few books like every day that makes them much happier. That means that you've got some legs to you. You're rooting in. You're developing a following.

[00:42:09] Yeah, it's like I said, if you do it right, it's worthwhile, but don't don't get sucked into the people that are trying to sell this business for lots of money, I might add.

[00:42:20] No, no, no. I've got a client who has done extraordinary well on Amazon. He printed. He did. And he finally went to a paper edition. It was a hardback book book was called Shut Down. And his market was military World War Two. That was his market where his he sold his books has come back to not at the farmer's market, but not at the farmer's market military. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. He is sold. He is now with over a thousand reviews on Amazon. Amazon. Oh, he said we were you know, we reprint 5000 books that are crack. He goes out and and the Air Force brings him in to talk. This is about his father, who was a pilot, and it was shot down over Belgium. And he ended up, you know, that the townspeople hid these guys, seven of the eight crew members survived and that they were underground in a variety of ways. And his father decided he would be a mute. And he joined the Belgium underground to fight with them. And he never spoke a word. So the Nazis didn't know he was an American. And so he he is the hero. There are museums to his father. There are monuments to his father. And when they heard that Steve was starting to work on his memoirs stories, all of a sudden these letters and these notes started being sent to him that these people in the town had kept from these crew people. Wow. Is that not

[00:44:02] Cool? It's crazy, crazy, crazy, awesome.

[00:44:04] But what Amazon did, you're talking about Amazon when the book started getting traction and pushing out that and he just, you know, doing these air shows, he went to these military museums. He just found that this was his market. And that's why I'm going back to what I said when we first started. The more you need yourself, the bigger your market is.

[00:44:28] Yeah. And just if you talk to the guy, he probably knows this. But if you reach out to Martha MacCallum on Fox News, she's doing a daytime show now, but she's crazy into this crazy into military and and highlighting the people from the war and stuff. So there's a lead need for it.

[00:44:49] Yeah. So we got to take a response or break. When we come back, we're going to get Judith to tell you the kinds of things you can participate in with her. And she's the one that you want to do. Not all these shysters out here, just all of a sudden they they wrote some schlocky book and then and they want to tell you how to do it. So, so so, folks, I usually tell you about my mentor program, but today is different because I'm really, really, really right in the middle of this great program, pilot program we're doing for people with persons with disabilities, putting them through my school. And the reason I'm doing it, because it's perfect for them where they can legitimately learn from home without all the burdens they go through of travel and all the stuff. And the book purchases nothing, no expenses. And then they can legitimately work at home or start their own business or both. So we're doing a go fund me or go fund me campaign to finance this. We're going to hire several people with disabilities to help run the program. And so we're going to put about five people through there and we have a Go Fund Me campaign.

[00:46:02] It will be at the the big sale page because this is episode 450. So it's kind of a momentous time for our podcast. But right at the top, we'll have that. And if you could support it in any way and share it, I mean, any little bit helps. And we have anything you're comfortable with certainly helps. And if you could share it around, you'd be really helping out the people and changing their lives. So thank you for that. So that would be screwthecommute.com/bigsale if you're listening to this podcast.

[00:46:36] Let's get back to the main event. Judith Briles is here. She is the real deal on if you want to get stabbed in the back or you don't want to get stabbed. Oh, no, no, no. She'll show you how not to help. So it doesn't happen to you say so. But I keep thinking establishes though it's what is it, what is it against. Stab sabotage. Sabotage. That's right. That's got to get into the dictionary. There's no question about it. So. So tell him all the things you have that they can work with you.

[00:47:09] Well, there's lots you know, I'm going to tell everyone that as an author, you want to let people know you have a book, there's a couple of books that you should get your hands on that. And Tom mentioned how to avoid one hundred one book publishing blunders, bloopers and booboos, get it. And the other one, which ties into our marketing and the reinforcement of speaking is the number one way to sell your books is my book How to Create a Million Dollar Speech. And that's one comma Okarma in the title. Those books, the Chapter 14 is gold in that book because I give you my speaking contract that I paid a thousand dollars for an attorney to put together for me. And I tell you every reason why that this sentence or this paragraph is here, why you want to include this kind of thing. All right. So I would absolutely get by. Now, I have a couple of programs. I do have a mentor program where I work with you for six months. There's two slots available this coming month to work with it. And it is really hands on time with me. You know, people in Colorado sometimes show up at my and my offices to work, but usually it's all over, you know, in the Zoom arena and a variety of things. But it all starts with what are your five key goals that we need to solve within the next six months and they will be solved. Right. So that's the mentor program. I have a speaking unplugs. I do several events through the year and they're all called Unplugs Ones, book publishing one social media, one is book marketing and one is speaking unplugged.

[00:48:56] In June, we're finally live in person. There's three spots left speaking unplugged here in Denver. It's a two day intensive with me and other people. I mean, we're not talking hundreds. We have to limit it to thirty this year. But that will work and you will be hot seated. So hot seated is you tell me, you know, I'm trying to work on this closing. I will just say, get up here. We will do it in front of everybody and get it done. So that's what that thing is like. And the and then we do a variety of other things where you can participate one on one. If you if there's a book in you and you can't get it out, I can pull it out. If you need help in in making a book that you have no regrets about, the book shepherding program where you were a monthly client. Until we get it done and depending on where you are, if you are in the very beginning rough stages, then it's going to take, you know, maybe four months to really get it done. I am not a believer. You cannot write a book in a weekend that is not a polished book, not professionally all done. Not having your editing done. Can you do a draft if it's assurity? Sure. I've written a book in six days, but then there's several more months of work that has to be done. So those are the things I'm working on. Tom.

[00:50:27] That's beautiful. Now what she just said doesn't count for ebooks. You can make me. Oh, that's

[00:50:34] A great animal.

[00:50:35] Yeah. Yeah. Different animal altogether. So she's talking about some real, you know, serious books you can not regret. Right.

[00:50:44] Well, I mean, I actually of the 37 books that I published and then I'm working on, my next book is The Author's Guide to the Savvy Author's Guide, the book marketing that 17 of them were with New York. There is only two books with New York. That I didn't have regrets about only two.

[00:51:10] Are you saying 16 of them you regretted in certain ways,

[00:51:14] In some way? Yeah, the cover sucked.

[00:51:16] Oh, OK. Yeah, because they control a lot of it.

[00:51:19] It's totally it's totally. Well, this is one thing you all need to understand in New York. They don't care about your opinion.

[00:51:30] Oh, you know Cindy Cashman. I don't. Oh, she's she's the best author ever to hit the world. She wrote the book, What Men Know About Women, and the whole book was blank, blank. There you go. She sold four million.

[00:51:47] Oh, I wish I could come up with something like that.

[00:51:50] Oh, man. Yeah. She was kind of a semi literate single mom when she went totally broke when that she came up with that. So I think you could write that one in less than a week.

[00:52:04] Well, wait a minute. Hey, this say what the majority authors know about book marketing pages.

[00:52:11] Yeah, yeah. There's there's some spinoffs. She was the original. It's just had its 25th anniversary. She sold, I think, four million of them and then sold the company out and they sold millions. And she sent me one last year for the 25th anniversary.

[00:52:26] I think that I think that's great. Right. So, Tom, why do we brainstorm one of those little black girl? I mean, I'm serious. I'm game.

[00:52:37] Well, we'll have to get it on your next appearance here because we're running out of time and tell them how they actually find all this stuff you just told them about.

[00:52:47] I just go to the website. ThebookShepherd.com. It also, you know, if you put in JudithBriles.com, it'll go to it. If you put thebookShepherd.com, it'll go to it if you put it. I think my last name, Briles.com it goes to it. And by the way, Tom, that's all part of marketing. You have to have variables. Try to think of how people are going to go searching for you and lead them to the main event, but give them the opportunity to find you without needing a PhD.

[00:53:26] Exactly. And misspelling common misspellings and things like that. And like, if you do anything with a number in your domain name, you need to get both the spelling and the numeral and then let somebody else have it, because then part of your marketing will go to the other guy. So there are lots of details and this is the one. I'll fill you in on him. So thanks so much for coming on again. This part two is this full of great tips, just like Part one, folks, episode 447. So go back and listen to that and then go see go see Judith and get in one of her programs. The thanks to you for coming on.

[00:54:03] Thank you for having me again, Tom.

[00:54:05] Okey dokey, folks. We'll catch y'all on the next episode. Remember hit Judith's site at thebookShepherd.com and also screwthecommute.com/bigsale where we'll have a big sale for you because of the four hundred fifty episode and the link to the Go Fund Me campaign to help out those folks that are in the school. Okay everybody we’ll catch you later.

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