We had another great show titled “Pursue Your Publishing Dreams,” with author and publisher Marc Allen.

Image via Wikipedia

To kick things off, we consulted Search Engine Marketing Expert Susan Gilbert for a tip. Although Google docs have been around for a while now, Susan said there may be people who don’t realize what a useful set of tools these are. They are available for free. All you need is a Gmail account and then you have access to Google docs, which allow users in different locations to share their work. (Once you have Gmail you’ll see the documents label in the top left corner of your Gmail page). You can create documents, presentations, spreadsheets, forms and drawings. You can invite other Gmail users to share the documents with you and decide if each user can edit, revise or update those documents.

Google docs also offers all kinds of templates – for budgeting, tracking schedules, invoices and much more – there’s a lot of functionality.

Susan says anyone in business world, which includes authors, would benefit from Google docs.

For additional resources and tips check Susan Gilbert’s website, www.susangilbert.com.

*************************

About our guest: Publisher Marc Allen believes in encouraging people to go for their dreams, and daring to do what they love – and then showing them how they can get wonderfully rewarded for it. Publishing for him has always been a vehicle to realize his greatest dreams. Books have completely changed his life, and can change the world. He is an internationally renowned author and president and publisher of New World Library, which he co-founded (with Shakti Gawain) in 1977. He has guided the company from a small start-up with no capital to its current position as one of the leading independent publishers in the country. His latest book is The Greatest Secret of All. It may be Marc’s most important book, because it gives us not only one of the clearest explanations of the “secret” of creating what you want in life, but also the far greater secrets of a life well-lived, a life of happiness, inner peace, ease, and fulfillment, where you contribute to making the world a better place for all. Learn more at http://www.newworldlibrary.com/ and http://www.marcallen.com/.

By the time Marc turned 30 he was ready to get serious about his life. The previous year, an incredible opportunity dropped into his lap and provided the template for his future. Originally asked to help at a seminar along with Shakti Gawain, Marc had to fill in when the speaker had a breakdown. Things went so well the pair was invited to do another seminar, and that launched their careers.

They put together a book and self published – although Marc is quick to say self publishers shouldn’t call themselves self-published because they do everything any publisher does – they are really independent publishers.

Image via Wikipedia

As Marc and Shakti started writing and publishing, everything grew from there, the books were getting distribution. Their shoestring operation really took off when one of their first books, Shakti’s Creative Visualization became a word of mouth phenomenon that put them on the map. Today, Creative Visualization has sold more than 3 million copies and has been translated into more than 30 foreign editions.

Now New World Library has a large roster of bestselling authors, including Joseph Campbell, Eckhart Tolle, Jennifer Louden, Brother Wayne Teasdale, Riane Eisler, Echo Bodine, Mother Teresa, Richard Carlson, Alan Watts, Kent Nerburn, Christina Baldwin, Brad Warner, Daphne Rose Kingma, and, of course, Shakti and Marc.

Although the publishing world has been in turmoil, and some industry insiders don’t see a bright future, Marc disagrees. There are more opportunities now than ever, he says, because it’s never been cheaper or easier to self publish.

Digital books are only increasing opportunities for authors. Marc predicts that half of their income will eventually derive from digital books. All of their titles are on Kindle and most are already on the iPad. There are about 400 books in their catalog and they publish about 40 books a year. Now they can keep everything in print thanks to the small print runs that are available now, and they can also have e-book versions too, so that their books are always available in some form.

Image via Wikipedia

Publishers now have so many ways to market and sell their books, they can have a multi-pronged strategy. Speaking, seminars, tele-seminars, social media – there are a lot of methods available to reach the public.

For instance, New World Library is now doing audio courses to deliver online – there’s no manufacturing involved and it’s a great way to reach their audience.

Although there is a lot of competition for authors, Marc says authors shouldn’t worry about it. With 320 million people in the US and over 6 billion in the world, it’s possible to find some segment that will resonate with what you say.

“You have to have a unique take on it, actually write it and create it and get it out there,” he says.

Even with all the changes to the corporate publishing model, Marc says there are still selling opportunities because people want traditional books. It’s all in the management. Similarly, he believes chain stores should be doing great but they have been badly managed; for example, Borders got into trouble after getting into expensive store leases.

Marc does think the need for bookstores will continue. “I think print books will be treasured for hundreds of years more,” he says.

One of best parts of being a publisher is the feedback. Marc says he gets a lot of letters, such as the one from a violent offender, imprisoned for his crimes, who got a copy of As You Think by James Allen while in prison. He wrote to Marc and said the book changed his life; now he’s a model prisoner who teaches courses based on the book.

It all boils down to belief: “We can do every technique in the world, but if your beliefs underneath are that you don’t have what it takes to succeed, you won’t,” he says.

Marc will appear on a panel at the 21 Century Book Marketing event Sept. 25 in San Diego – where he’ll discuss marketing in the 21st century. You can learn more at http://mixiv.com/vp/60394/19173.

***************************

Upcoming Episodes – Please join us Sept. 21 for How to Make Money on Twitter (No, Really)

For many of us, Twitter is a good news/bad news social networking site. The good news is it’s super popular and it seems like everyone is using it. The bad news is that for the newbie Twitter person (and even if you’ve been on this site for a while) it can be confusing to know what is working, what isn’t and what’s actually making a difference. After almost two years on Twitter, we’ve learned a lot of lessons – both in using Twitter to maximize your marketing goals as well as learning how to turn your Twitter tribe into engaged Twitter buyers. Now we’ll show you how to monetize Twitter and maximize it towards your Twitter efforts. Learn more at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/how-to-maximize-the-value_b_477641.html.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Publishing Insiders Wrap-up: It’s Getting Hot in Here – Erotica Equals Hot Books and Even Hotter Sales (amarketingexpert.com)
• Publishing Insiders Wrap-Up: What Van Halen Can Teach You About Book Marketing (amarketingexpert.com)
• Publishing Insiders Wrap-Up: Powerful Promotion with Marci Shimoff (amarketingexpert.com)