Listen to this episode of “Get Your Book Done with Christine Kloser” where I talk about how I use the power of audiobooks to help transformational authors tap into the fastest growing sector in publishing today(Podcast on Get Your Book Done with Christine Kloser, February, 2020)
When an entrepreneurial mindset meets a desire to empower authors by using their voice to share their message, you can reach a lot more people with your message. Listen in to see how Tina Dietz helps transformational authors create audiobooks to tap into the fastest growing sector in publishing today.
In this episode, Christine and Tina discuss:
The incredible rise in audiobook consumption and how to get your message in front of this growing audience.
The “intimacy factor” that only audiobooks can deliver to your listeners and why it has a huge impact.
The key differentiators between audiobook 1) production, 2) publishing and 3) distribution.
Understanding royalties across audiobook publishing platforms.
Let me guess…you've got at least 3 book ideas clamoring in your head, but you can't sit down and write ANY of them! Here's the help you need, from publisher and book development expert, Julie Ann Eason.
Let me guess…You’ve got about 3 different books in your head, all clamoring to be written. So why can’t you just sit down and write them?
They’re all important. They all help people. They’ll all position you as the expert in your industry. You just have to figure out the right one. Right?
I see it every day, unfortunately. Would-be authors going around and around in their brains trying to figure out which direction to go.
There’s probably a book you really want to write, one you think you should write but it doesn’t excite you, and then there’s the real book. The gem. The one that’s going to set you apart and truly showcase your unique brilliance. The book of your heart. You may not even know it exists, but it’s there. You just have to uncover it.
The Right Book Will Align With Your Audience, Purpose, and Goal
The mistake most nonfiction authors make is starting from the inside. They think what do I WANT to write about? That’s where they get stuck because they know so much about their topic that they could write ten books! They struggle for months or even years puttering away on a draft, trying to figure out what’s the most important information they can share with their audiences. That’s a lot of pressure. It wastes a LOT of time and often money. And it’s why my clients come to me for book development, even when they’re already great content creators.
Instead of working from the inside-out, we switch it up and think from the outside-in. That means instead of trying to figure out what you want to say, think about your reader and what they need to hear. We start by answering three questions.
1. Who’s your audience?
Who, exactly, will be reading this book? What’s their problem? What’s your solution? This is the starting point for any book, especially a nonfiction book that’s going to attract people to your business.
2. What’s the purpose or promise of your book?
What will those readers be able to do when they finish your book? How will they be changed? What will they believe? If this isn’t clear from the start, no one’s going to read your book. It won’t even get noticed.
3. What’s the goal for you as the author?
What do you want the reader to do when they’re finished reading? Do you want them to hire you? Buy a product? Donate to a cause? Change their life? Feel better about themselves? Vote a certain way? Writing and publishing a book is a major investment of time, energy, and money. There should be an ROI for you as the author.
These three questions form the foundation of your book development. They must align, if you’re going to have a successful book. Think of your book the missing link between you and your reader. If the book is aligned with what they need and what you want, you have a direct connection and they will likely want to know more about you and what you do. If your book is completely off-base and misaligned, well, that connection may never happen.
I recently consulted with a well-regarded public speaking coach. She wanted to grow her business helping people feel more comfortable delivering value from the stage. When she came to me, she wanted to write a book on women’s empowerment. She told me she had no idea how to get her book out of her head and onto the page. She just couldn’t understand why she was having so much trouble getting started. The reason was simple: her business goals and her book topic didn’t align with what her readers needed. She needed to write a book like How To Nail Your Next Presentation, not one about women’s issues. Once we worked through her book development, she changed direction to align with her clients’ needs and all the pieces just naturally fell into place. The actual writing flowed easily after that.
If you’re not sure where to start or you’re struggling to get the words down on the page, you might be trying to write the wrong book. Remember, work from the outside-in. Once you’ve got your book subject, target audience, and overall business goals in alignment, things tend to move along more smoothly.
Good luck, and I can’t wait to read your book!
Julie Anne Eason is a book development expert and the author of The Profitable Business Author and The Work At Home Success Guide. She had ghostwritten New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling books for industry leaders like Russell Brunson, Annie Grace, and Cristy “Code Red” Nickel. Her publishing company Thanet House Books offers a variety of writing and publishing services for nonfiction authors. She also founded The Nonfiction Book Academy to help people write and publish their books on their own. Want some help with your book? Click here to tell us about your project.
Julie Anne Eason– Book development and self-publishing expert
Recently I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Dale L. Roberts. We talked about how the audiobook publishing business can make you more money this year
Recently I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Dale L. Roberts, an accomplished indie author, self-publishing expert, and host of the very, VERY excellent Self-Publishing with Dale on YouTube. Seriously, his channel is a treasure trove of how-to, super timely and up-to-date info on everything a self-published author could possibly want to know.
In this interview, we talked about how the audiobook publishing business can make you more money this year. I invite you to check it out, and learn more about:
Emerging trends in the Audiobook Publishing Industry
Some of the best ways to market and advertise your audiobook
How to self-promote without feeling uncomfortable
Creating emotional safety for yourself when you’re putting your work out into the world
Common mistakes indie authors are making today
The importance of falling in love with your work over and over again
Dealing with the ‘shelf life’ of your books
What about podcasting: Is it something you should do? Is it worth it? Is it going to be hard?
Where to begin when you want to get into podcasting
Bonus gift for the “Self-Publishing with Dale on YouTube” viewers
How to Be a Guest On More Podcasts
Vocal Leadership Workout
Check out Dale’s and my interview
Interested in learning more about audiobooks and how audio contentcan help your business and career?
Tina Dietz is an award-winning and internationally acclaimed speaker, audiobook publisher, podcast producer, and influence marketing expert who has been featured on media outlets including ABC, Inc.com, Huffington Post and Forbes. Tina’s first podcast, The StartSomething Show, was named by INC magazine as one of the top 35 podcasts for entrepreneurs.
In 2016, Tina was the recipient of the Evolutionary Business Council MORE award and in 2017 she received the award for Outstanding Audio Company from The Winner’s Circle. She is also a member of the EBC leadership body and a founding member of the Forbes Coaches Council. Tina was also the lead interviewer in the podcasting documentary “The Messengers” and featured in the film.
Tina splits her time between the US and Costa Rica where she’s part of the leadership team building a community of conscious leaders called Vista Mundo.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
How are you doing? [01:01]
What’s the latest with you? [01:52]
Is the StartSomething Show podcast in hiatus? [03:11]
Where is the best place to connect with you? [04:04]
On being a stem from an entrepreneurial family. [05:04]
Is David in the picture still? [07:13]
In closing, is there anything else you’d like to share with our amazing audience? [11:58]
Join My Orgasmic Life Podcast on Spreaker or Spotify or Apple podcast or Google Podcast or iHeartRadioThere is a whole world of playful, educational, healing and safe experiences to be discovered at www.succulentliving.com and come frolic with Gaia on Social Media under Gaia MorrissetteHere is a great course to support your online discovery of how Pleasure Leads to ProfitTo learn more about my EPIC Co-Host Tina Dietz: Tina Dietz is an award-winning and internationally acclaimed speaker, audiobook publisher, podcast producer, influence and vocal leadership expert who has been featured on media outlets including ABC, Inc.com, Huffington Post, and Forbes. Tina's podcast, The StartSomething Show, was named by INC magazine as one of the top 35 podcasts for entrepreneurs. Tina’s company, Twin Flames Studios, amplifies the messages of leaders, experts and companies around the globe. Tina divides her time between the US and Costa Rica, where she’s part of a leadership team building a conscious community called Vista Mundo.
Your voice is your livelihood. You spend a great deal of time and effort using it to communicate with the masses. It is vital to your success. But examining the self-care movement reveals that the topic of caring for your voice gets very little attention.
As a physical therapist with an extensive background treating patients who did not respond to other interventions, I learned that the fastest path to healing and optimizing function is in treating nerves.
Nerves control everything and sometimes they get pinched between bones, muscles, ligaments, and more. If you change the nerve input to the body, the pain and mobility immediately changes.
The nerve that I have found yields the most profound effects on the body is the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is a major parasympathetic pathway that comes out of your brainstem. It is outside of your spinal cord. Ideally the vagus nerve has an optimal tone, or range in which it fires. The gold standard measurement is heart rate variability (HRV).
Everyone has an optimal HRV range based on their age. Someone who is anxious or stressed has a high HRV, exceeding the boundaries of this optimal range.
Trauma sometimes shuts down the vagus nerve to the point where we go into freeze mode.
Someone who is traumatized to the point of freeze or severely depressed may have a flattened HRV, not filling the optimal range.
The feeling of having a high HRV is easily identifiable. When you get stressed and get that lump in your throat, your heart races, your palms sweat, and you get constipated or have diarrhea, that all happens because your vagus nerve is suppressed.
This is the same as being in “fight or flight” mode. It can be induced by stress or trauma. Many people live constantly in an elevated state of fight or flight. In this state our sympathetic nervous system dominates, and the calming parasympathetic pathways don’t always recover to a point of balance.
Due to the size of the vagus nerve and far-reaching effects, removing mechanical trauma to give it more room to move has a seeming “magic wand” effect on a myriad of problems in the body.
I have very specific exercises that I teach to my clients based on my examination findings and their goals. Often where a patient is experiencing symptoms is not where the problem is. Keeping the vagus nerve free to move at all of its major choke points goes a long way toward preventing everything from hoarseness to back pain.
How does vagus nerve compression show up in your body? Here’s some general info and what can you do about it! These exercises do not have any known precautions or contraindications. If you have any questions or concerns, please consult with your healthcare team before proceeding.
Side effects may include calming your pre-show jitters, making you sound smooth on the airwaves, improving your interview skills, prevention of voice disorders, normalized digestion, decreased pain and inflammation, resolution of trauma, healing of heart issues, reduced anxiety, and experiencing more pleasure.
Voice: Trauma and stress always shows up in the breath and the voice. The vagus nerve innervates muscles of speech and swallowing. One of the exciting developments in my profession has been the use of vocalization exercises for patients with incontinence. These patients are literally causing excess downward pressure causing them to pee on themselves because their voices are all bottled up, mechanically and spiritually. Keep your throat chakra open. Remedy: Chant. You can chant “Om”, vowels, Sanskrit, even curse words. Just chant.
Breath: Again, trauma always affects the voice and the breath. In the midst of stress and trauma, our diaphragms go from being a nice round dome, to a flattened one. Remedy: Exhale. The major exhalation muscle, the transversus thoracis, sits under the breast bone and is often tight, keeping us breathing shallowly. You can stretch it out by inhaling for a count of five, holding for a count of eight, and exhaling like you are blowing up a balloon for a count of thirteen. The voice exercise will help with this, too.
Heart: Our vagus nerve innervates our heart, and thus generates the electromagnetic fields of heart, which is what connects us to others. Some interesting research has found that our electromagnetic fields synchronize with the electromagnetic field of the earth, and that when space weather disrupts the earth’s field, it also shows up as a disruption in ours. The severity to which it disrupts appears to be dependent on the strength of our interpersonal connections. This connection is 360-degrees, yet most of us only pay attention to the 180 degrees in front of us. Remedy: Inhale in to the back side of your heart for five repetitions. Bonus: Amplify the benefit by using the 5-8-13 breathing pattern.
Head: When you have a forward head posture, you are pinching your vagus nerve at the base of your skull. Remedy: First, identify the tragus of your ear. It is the tab that you would use to cover the opening to your ear to dampen sound or otherwise avoid hearing. Gently grab the tragus of each ear between your thumb and index finger, and pull each one sideways, like your head is a piece of taffy and you are unwrapping it. Hold for one minute. Bonus: Do the 5-8-13 breathing while you are holding this stretch to amplify the benefits.
Pelvis: Most of us sit way too much. Our pelvic floor gets weak because of the convenience of chairs and seated toilets. Many people don’t get in and out of squatting positions often, taking their joints through a full range of motion and keeping the pelvic floor strong and flexible. Remedy: Guided imagery often works well with the pelvic floor. Bring your attention to your lower abdomen. If you are familiar with chakras, you can bring your attention to your second chakra. Imagine breathing in and out of your pelvic floor and gradually extending the breath up to the top of your head to clear a channel between your pelvic floor and the top of your head. Bonus: This activity addresses all five compression points!
Melanie Weller spent over 25 years in the field of physical health as an athletic trainer and Physical Therapist. she is a board-certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist, a Certified Exercise Expert for Aging Adults, and a Certified Athletic Trainer.Though Melanie spent most of her career in an outpatient orthopedic setting, she also has worked in hospitals, schools, and home health. Melanie's practice and teachings now looks beyond basic bodywork to the imprint of culture, society, ancestry (and more) on our ability to understand and access our greater intelligence.
Melanie Weller– Physical Therapist, Board-Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist, Certified Athletic Trainer and Certified Exercise Expert for Aging Adults
Great easy tips by Shel Horowitz, book marketing copywriter and strategic marketer, about how to write your book press releases.
Which would you rather read: “Electronic Privacy Expert Releases New Book” OR “It’s 10 O’Clock—Do You Know Where Your Credit History Is?”
If you follow most advice about how to write a press release for a book, you’d end up with something like the first example. You’ll put all the 5Ws in the first paragraph. And you’ll put your readers to sleep.
But when a client hired me to write a press release for a book on electronic privacy, I turned in the second example. The main text repeated the headline and continued: “It's 10 O'clock—Do you know where your credit history is? How about your employment records? Your confidential medical information?
“How would you feel if you found out this sensitive and should-be-private material is “vacationing” in computer databanks around the world—accessible to corporate interests who can afford to track down and purchase it, but not necessarily open to your own inspection?”
The book and author weren’t even mentioned until the third paragraph.
Any book has multiple angles—news hooks you can use to gain media and reader attention. I chose to focus on data privacy that time. If I were writing that press release today, I might focus on identity theft, hacking, or the influence of fake news on elections. But NEVER on “expert releases book.” Publishing a book, by itself, is not news. Just in the US, it happens about a million times a year. That’s 2740 books published every day! You want to stand out in that crowd.
So if you’d rather not imitate a snooze button, try something different. Tell “the story behind the story” and create a press release that people will read (and act on). For nonfiction: What problem does your book solve, what pain does it alleviate, what success does it lead to (financial, relationship, career, personal growth, etc.) Ask yourself who needs the information, and why.
For fiction or memoir, what kinds of people will identify with your main character? What exotic situation or fascinating career fills in the backstory? For either—what seasonal or charity tie-ins, awards, or superstar endorsements make your book newsworthy? If your press release is fun and exciting, readers will realize that your book is also going to be fun and exciting.
As a book marketing copywriter and strategic marketer who writes a lot of press releases and book covers for books, I do this constantly. Here are some actual press release headlines I’ve written for clients (starting with one for my own tenth book):
At 54, He Moved Across the World—Because It’s Never Too Late for Dreams
Missing for 400 Years, Mercator’s Atlas Is Now Available in North America for the First Time
FICTION:
If Romeo and Juliet Had THIS Magical Parrot, Things Would Have Been Different: Romeo and Juliet Meets Robinson Crusoe Meets House of the Spirits—in Africa
Kidnapping…Terrorists…A Foreign Land: Carinci’s Latest Suspense Thriller Chases Danger Across the Emerald Isle
A Children’s Picture Book Where the Good Guys Don’t Win? Yes, Really!
Still More Honors for Debut Novel, “The Dark Dreamweaver”—Named an iParenting Media “Greatest Product”
In spite of their “just the facts, Ma’am” training, journalists love these kinds of press releases. And in today’s world where readers can find press releases in search results, you might even capture reader interest directly.
Shel Horowitz writes press releases and book covers and develops strategic marketing for authors, green and social entrepreneur businesses, and nonprofits. His 7th book, Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers (2007), was endorsed by Dan Poynter, Fern Reiss, and other publishing gurus. His 10th book, Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World, is endorsed by Seth Godin and Chicken Soup’s Jack Canfield. Discuss your next marketing project with Shel: 413-586-2388 (8 a.m. to 10 p.m.US Eastern) or https://goingbeyondsustainability.com/contact/ – and pick up his free gifts for you at https://goingbeyondsustainability.com/freebies/
Shel Horowitz– Book Marketing Copywriter, Strategic Marketer & Book Publishing Consultant
Coming to you live from the B2B Marketing Exchange in Scottsdale, AZ! Tune in to listen to this episode as I sit down with Tina Dietz of StartSomething Creative Business Solutions at the event.(Podcast on DemandGen Radio, February 27, 2019)
Interested in learning more about audiobooks and howyou can be using audio in your business and career ?
Creating happiness can cause a lot of problems. Achieving your dreams can sometimes feel like a letdown. You spend months and years working toward a goal–like a climber ascending Mount Everest. But when you achieve it and reach the summit, that moment right after you feel the triumph, there is an emptiness.
“What now?” You start to think.
This is the plight of the high achiever and the pitfall of the pursuit of happiness.
When we (my family and myself) first moved to Costa Rica 5+ years ago, it was a triumph. We accomplished a 5-year goal in 3 years, paying off our debts and finding ourselves in a tropical country with oodles of time and resources at hand. Do you know what I did first thing when we got here?
I slept. A lot.
About two weeks later, I found myself waking up early in the morning with a knot in my stomach, and I couldn’t figure out why. I was restless, picking up doing one thing and putting it down again, dissatisfied and unsettled. One night after dinner, I stood up from the table, exclaiming, “Holy crap!” (I didn’t say crap) “I know what this is!”
“WHAT?” said my startled and confused family.
I threw my hands up and said, “I’m bored.”
Thinking about it that evening, I realized that I hadn’t probably felt boredom since I was in my early 20s, which is more than nunyabizness years ago. I had been too damn busy pursuing my Perfect Day. Now that the dream had been realized, I was at a loss.
Five years have passed since that first dinner table exclamation, and here is what I’d love for you to know as you bring your dreams into reality:
We are more familiar with the feelings associated with failure than we are with the ones related to success. As a result, having what you want can take some getting used to. Contentment, happiness, satisfaction, and fulfillment are all muscles you need to flex in order to continue to create and have a life you love (and not sabotage yourself). The more you stop to appreciate your little successes and acknowledge yourself on a daily and weekly basis, the more you “exercise” those muscles.
You may be so used to having a long to-do list, constantly doing things for others, always working under a deadline, etc., that when all of that disappears and you have an open space before you, it can feel like a chasm. Create a daily practice of being quiet and listening to your thoughts to get your mind used to being calmer and quieter. Use any kind of meditation or relaxation practice you like, or even go for a quiet walk or swim. A daily practice of this kind also results in getting amazing ideas and insights in my experience.
When you find yourself feeling guilty or placeless because you don’t know what your next step is and you can choose anything you want, remember to breathe into giving yourself permission. Take 3-5 deep “letting go” breaths (add a sigh if you'd like; it deepens the relaxation response), and tell yourself something loving like: “Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.” Or, “All I need to do today is what I get done today.”
Make a “dream list” of all the things you'd love to learn or do or try or experience. Would you like to learn a new language? Have you always wanted to take dance lessons or learn to paint? Volunteer to work with animals, children, or a cause that’s near and dear to your heart? What are all the books you’ve always wanted to read? As you create more time and money freedom, start choosing items off this list to put into your life, rather than creating more busy-ness. Pleasure makes us more productive, not less.
Do you feel like you have a “fear of success” or find yourself overwhelmed, at loose ends, or not sure where your next priority is? Are you taking tons of action, but not getting the results you want? Reach out for a discovery session, and let’s create the life and business of your dreams.
When you gather people together, you are helping them get connected with one another. Let's talk about collaboration in your business.
How To Achieve Successful Collaboration In Your Business
The Small Business Collaboration talks with Tina Dietz, international speaker and owner of Start Something Creative Business Solutions, about how to create immediate trust and confidence in business collaborations. Tina discusses how communication is the heart of business and advocates for good communication, as it is critical to ensuring effective collaborations. Good leaders and business owners must have communication to run a successful business and to achieve the best collaboration (which can also help personal growth). When you gather people together, you are helping them get connected with one another. They get to see who you are deep down and connect on a level that isn’t based on small talk.
During the interview, Tina explains and touches on many collaboration key factors such as:
The main ways that entrepreneurs are getting communication wrong and strategies to establish trust to build confidence
How to recognize “Happy Puppy Syndrome,” which is when entrepreneurs get so excited and passionate about something their message can be overwhelming. You can get too excited and come at someone too strong with too much information, rather than letting them come to you
Learning how to get a sense of non-attachment
Learn how to trust yourself
Have a system in place
Trust and build relationships with colleagues without getting attached
Tina also brings in personal experience and excitedly talks about the collaboration that she is most proud of, which is the Evolutionary Business Council, a global organization of thought leaders, teachers, and people looking to make a difference in the world. The idea of the organization is to achieve shared influence and collaboration. She has been a part of this organization for a little over six years and has gained a number of amazing things from it, some which include:
Collaborations
Clients
Friendships
Media Attention
Emotional support
She also talks about the keys to a successful collaboration:
Use your inner and outer voice as a tool — The mechanics of it can be used to make people really want to learn more about who you really are, your credibility, and your trustworthiness
Understand and align on a personal level with your own values
Create company and brand that is based off of and aligned with your values
Never force a connection
Build a relationship that works for both parties
Establish trust
Communication structure: have a relationship where you feel safe communicating about all aspects of business
Shared values, dreams, and goals between yourself and business partners
Get things in writing, which falls under the category of clear communication
Learn how to deal and flow with the unexpected
Collaborations aren’t always going to be successful; this goes for anyone. Sometimes on the surface, things can appear perfect, even with a friend. Intellectually, someone may have great ideas but not always follow through with those ideas. While this is harmful, it teaches you to count on yourself first and start smaller, to earn that trust and to ensure you are in alignment, not only verbally but also in reality. This is huge with not getting attached. Tina emphasizes multiple times how you are more successful when you aren’t attached to an outcome, which allows for you to communicate openly and freely. It’s okay if something doesn’t work out because there are other opportunities out there.
Being an entrepreneur can be a lonely journey, but collaborations are all about strength in numbers. Remember to always put yourself out there and ask for help, build relationships. When you put out an idea, you can quickly start to create collaborations that aren’t part of your core business that can take you in different directions that are equally exiting. There is unlimited growth in so many different areas and directions that you never even knew existed.
Want to learn more about how we can help you develop successful collaborations in your business?
