I'm looking for 30 partners. 30 authors to take to the next level of success. A pod of publishers who are willing to prioritize time each month to give their books the attention they deserve.
You invested a huge amount of time writing your book. Why wouldn't you spend more time marketing it?
I am overwhelmed and not sure where to start.
You are not alone. Action builds confidence and knowledge drive action. 5-4-3-2-1 Go. If not now, when?
We are too close to our own work to see the opportunity. We are drilled at a young age not to boast about ourselves. Not to be self-centered.
The pod of authors you will be part of share the vision of growth and progress. What are the metrics you are tracking on a weekly basis? What are your needle movers? Needle movers are gauges of progress.
With a few exceptions, the majority of my clients fail to build momentum. How do you build momentum? Consistent and sustained effort. Doing something now and then isn't going to build any momentum. Momentum will be built when you commit time on your calendar every week to do something to promote your books.
The orchid finally bloomed. My wife was about to throw out an orchid that failed to flower. It had lay dormant for more than 6 months. Then she noticed the start of a new flower. Don't give up yourself. Like that orchid, this is your year to bloom.
We have a friend who we call the orchid whisper. She has a room full of orchids from friends who have given up home. She runs an rescue center for orchids. She nurtures them back to life. In time, most will bloom again.
What are the orchids you've given up on in your life?
In 2018, I want to help your orchids flower.
The seeds you plant this year will pay dividends for years to come.
AuthorDock VIP is a pod of authors committed to doing what it takes to grow their visibility (and thus profits).
How many gym memberships do you think go unused? People are reluctant to cancel their membership because many see the monthly investment as a commitment to actually go to the gym. It's skin in the game.
If I pay a monthly fee to one studio, why would I spend money elsewhere? The studio provides all I need. In part, my practice of Yoga 4x/week (which keeps me grounded, more empathetic, and focused) is driven by the financial commitment I have made. Going to class is already paid for - eliminating one more obstacle to me showing up.
The pod model gives us leverage. Leverage to hire consultants who would be too expensive one-on-one. Leverage of 'collective wisdom' to see the results of a campaign. Similar to how a large company can negotiate better rates from an insurance provider, we as a collective can leverage better rates (and service) from partners.
Is there someone you wish you could have a conversation with?
Real life example:
I wanted to meet Jay Asher (author of 13 Reasons Why). I had reached out through mutual contacts without success. Since the release of his book on Netflix, he is in high demand.
In September, I finally got the opportunity to meet him and ask him some questions. How? By leveraging the power of a pod. Our local writers group has about 100 members. When I invited him to be part a program I was planning with the group, he agreed. The meeting only occurred because I was part of the pod.
Here's someone that For example, it might be helpful to get a coach like Natalie Houston on the phone for an hour. At $150/hour, it's unlikely that one of us would hire her one-on-one. But as a group, we can bring her on a conf. call and all benefit.
I know (or can find) credible experts in many areas that I know we'd all benefit from. Subject matter experts (SMEs) in Facebook advertising, Adwords, Amazon Ads, Twitter, and LinkedIn just to name a few.
The stronger pod, the more leverage we'll have to hire consultants to teach us what we need to know. We'll be able to hire successful authors and publishers to share their best practices.
Unlike the numerous free webinars all over the web, these experts will be banned from selling any services. I've found that when someone is willing to pay for my time (through a service like Clarity), then I am willing to share what I know and not hold anything back. Because they've already paid me to tell them! To often, experts hold back what they know until they've been paid to reveal it.
Each VIP is allocated up to two one-on-one 30 minute calls with me each month. We'll review and update your plan in AuthorDock. Every action we discuss will be logged into AuthorDock and assigned a priority of Could, Should, or Must. The 3 priorities will allow you to quickly hone in on what's most important.
VIPs will also get dedicated 'think' time from your truly each month. I'll zoom out and take a high level view of your portfolio. And I'll zoom in and provide strategic direction based on the opportunities I see. I'll advise on recommended course corrections and identify new opportunities. I know from experience because I've got an eye for opportunities.
We will review the health your publishing business, metrics and discuss next actions. Including, but not limited to contacting reviewers, updating existing marketing campaigns, or optimization of your current titles.
While new and existing projects still require a scope of work and invoice, the VIP retainer is for strategic 'think' - something we hardly ever carve out enough time for. I'm a firm believer in the priority matrix, which forces us to discern the importance and urgency of a task. The critical but less urgent tasks often provide the greatest return on investment. To succeed in publishing in 2018 and beyond, creativity is key.
As your partner in publishing, rather than taking the lion share of your royalties for life as publishers typically do, you compensate me through a smaller monthly stipend for a period of time.
With this change, I will to be freed up to address all your needs and establish momentum. The challenge with a transactional engagement alone is that I rarely budget time to look at the bigger picture. This is a move away from transactional engagements and towards partner engagements.
Through our retainer, you can rest easier knowing you have a set of expert eyes on the publishing aspect of your business.
This is similar to a fee experienced lawyers and doctors in demand charge. They can't spend their time with everyone who wants it, and they clients they do work with pay for that access. The concierge model allows us to keep our focus on needs of our clients.
I can also better tailor your scopes of work to a larger strategy that we've discussed and you on in agreement with. It's similar to revisiting a blueprint if you were building a house.
What's been missing is an architect and a project engineer who checks the work against the blueprint.
It's easy to run into different non-productive directions that become dead ends or lack vision with the bigger picture.
In the past, I have left it up to my clients to do project engineering, but I've found it's an unfair expectation given they are less familiar with all the various aspects of publishing (which is why they came to me in the first place). You can't know what you don't know and without the experience, you are learning as you go.
Participation in the VIP program includes:
AuthorDock VIP will help position you to sell more books in 2018!
The calls every 2 weeks are intended to maintain continuity. What gets done is what we choose to focus on. If you are unable to attend a call, then I allocate the time to work on the milestones in your AuthorDock which will reflect items we likely discussed on a prior call.
While I am asking for a year commitment (as strategic actions take time to take effect), you may cancel anytime (in writing with a 30-day notice).
Publishers are super pods.