Hello Susan Tordella, and welcome to Authopublisher.com. It?s nice to have you with us.You are a self published author, tell us what your book is called and what is it about?
My book, ?Raising Able: How chores empower families,? is about how having family meetings and using encouragement can teach children skills, better connect them to their families, and nurture self-esteem and the priceless gift of self-discipline. It is about chores AND how to raise children to make good judgment, be resilient and confident.
?Tell us a little bit about your writing process? What methods do you use to write and how did you make it through the grueling process of writing your book?
?I wrote the book after teaching parenting skills workshops for a decade and seeing the wave of entitlement sweeping over young people, as well as false praise that leads to hollow personalities. I used as many stories as possible to illustrate and make it more interesting, as well as conducted my own survey of 560 people agese 11-90 with a survey on chores.
?When I wrote the first draft, I handed it to an editor [who I paid} and asked for feedback.
He said, ?Susan you have some good information that will help parents. You?re a good writer. But you need to stick to one main idea per chapter.?
?THIS MEANT I had to rewrite the WHOLE BOOK! Because he had given me encouragement, and because I?m determined, I had the strength and self-discipline to go on. I LOVE what I have created. IT has helped many people and opened many doors for me.
Explain to us the process you took to get your book published, from formatting your manuscript to preparing it for print all the way to getting an ISBN and the book cover design.?
I followed Dan Poynter?s Self-Publishing manual.
Created the template in word and made it into a PDF that I sent to Instant publisher.
I hired a graphic designer for the cover and solicited quotes for it.
Dan Poynter is my man!
?Did you use the services of a book coach or a self publishing company to help you though the process or did you do it yourself? Tell us about your experiences.?
DIY. There were some tasks??I called ?The black hole,? that I procrastinated about because I had to force myself beyond my comfort zone. Like the ISBN number. I?m still not registered with the library of congress!
?What would you do differently with the publishing of your next book?
Hire a better editor. I didn?t like my second editor at elance
Do more electronic publications- which I?m doing for my upcoming books. Shorter.
?How did you market your book? Can you share some of your creative/non-conventional ways/secrets on how you sold your book?
?There is no secrete to MARKETING MARKETING MARKETING. The more I market and get out and sell the book and myself and get speaking gigs and mentioned on blogs, the more books I sell.
?Share with us the different platforms you use to sell your book (bookstores, signing, affiliate programs, website etc.).
?Blog, speaking programs, parenting workshops, word of mouth. The 2 bookstore signings I did were a total and complete FLOP! Because I?m an unknown.
?One of the most successful actions I?ve taken is this: Asked?everyone I know to review it on Amazon.com. I have more than 24 reviews there, and sell a steady flow of books on Amazon, to people I haven?t met. Although when I?m doing more workshops, I sell more on Amazon.
?Do you use social media in book promotion, and if so, which platforms work best for you? Can you share some tricks you got making it work for you?
?I blog. Facebook hasn?t been magical for me, nor has linked in or Twitter. I can?t say I use them much. I do have many videos on youtube. Again, the old-fashioned methods work best. Word of mouth. Face-to-face.
?Care to share some numbers? How many books have you sold to date?
About 500
Given away about 200 as ?$5 business cards,? which I consider a worthwhile investment.
?The priceless thing my book has done for me- beyond paying for the publication costs [!] is give me credibility and open doors.
?How was your book initially received? Has it been reviewed? What was your response to the reviews?
?Luke warm. I?m the main publicity agent!
Amazon reviews have been the most useful.
?How do you handle negative feedback from critics?
Didn?t get so many.
My nephew, age 38, gave me only 3 stars. He showed me the review before posting it. I think it gave balance and showed that people were thinking about the reviews and they weren?t all just fluff and buff, or made up by me.
?Where are some of the places where you sell your book besides through book distributors, your website, book stores etc.
?AMAZON, Ebookit- online electronic books, my website. A few local bookstores.
?I?d like to distribute it through distributors but I?m self published and they want to take over my book publishing and have me pay BIG BUCKS for it. No thanks.
?Do have any future projects you?d like to tell us about?
I?m working on four short e-books on specific child rearing problems:
1. The cunning cucumber: how to nurture your kids to eat vegetables
2. ?Watch out!? how to teach your teen to drive without driving yourself crazy.
3.??Sweet endings: how to peacefully lull your 2 to 10 year old to sleep every night.
4.??Did you ever see a dog cry? Why to make space in your heart for a family dog
?Thank you for being on Authopublisher, and I hope to hear from you again!
?Thanks for the opportunity.
For more on Susan, visit:
www.raisingable.com
[1/24/2012 8:58:57 AM] Ivin Viljoen: Click here to hire me.
Get you own blog setup (free videos) Sign up for my feedGo hustle and make your dreams happen!
Source: http://www.authopublisher.com/up-close-and-personal-with-susan-tordella/
magic cube slaughterhouse cypher last man standing jim thorpe pa jim thorpe pa terry francona
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.