News Archives - Page 12 of 13

18 June, 2013

Sam Henrie: Why I Started Wheatmark

By Sam Henrie|2023-06-09T11:29:01-07:00June 18, 2013|News, Publishing|Comments Off on Sam Henrie: Why I Started Wheatmark

In the late 1990s I left my position as Director of Logistics at the mid-sized tech company I had worked at for nine years. I left with two great gifts: enough money to take some time off and the entrepreneurial bug. During my nine-year tenure I watched the tech firm grow from a local business with a handful of employees and under $1 million in annual revenues to a global enterprise with nearly a thousand employees and over $100 million in annual revenues. The experience had me hooked: I knew I would to start my own company. Doing what, I did not yet know.

At the time I was investigating the book publishing business; I wanted to understand why some of my relatives (I come from a family of writers) were having trouble getting their books published—books that were exceptional, and ones I was convinced had good chances in the market […]

1 March, 2013

Stephane Hessel, 95-year-old international publishing phenomenon

By Grael Norton|2018-03-29T11:09:33-07:00March 1, 2013|News|Comments Off on Stephane Hessel, 95-year-old international publishing phenomenon

On Tuesday, February 26, 2013, Stephane Hessel died. He was 95 years old. He was not well known outside of France until three years ago when, at the age of 92, he wrote and published a small, 4,000-word pamphlet. The original print run was 8,000 copies. It was 29 pages and bound with two staples.

It took France and Europe by storm. The same defiant spirit that had caused Hessel to be a hero in the French Resistance sixty years ago burned anew with the same vigor and energy. His words were few but they were strong and ignited a crackling flame of resistance.

He urged young people to unite against the injustice of a nation out of control. He called for a peaceful rebellion against what he called the dictatorial forces of international capitalism.

His plea was that the privileged classes must help the less fortunate, not grind them beneath their feet. […]

14 January, 2013

The easy button for building your author platform

By Support@wheatmark.com|2023-06-09T11:33:31-07:00January 14, 2013|Authors Academy, Marketing, News, Social Media|Comments Off on The easy button for building your author platform

Over the years, we’ve probably heard one statement more frequently than any other from our author clients: “I don’t want to market my book, I just want to spend my time writing.”

But as an author—and as an entrepreneur—you have a message for your audience. It’s your duty to let them hear it—and you accomplish this task through marketing.

Naturally, you may just want to write—to focus on crafting your message. You may even wish someone else would take your message to your audience. But the truth is, if you really care about your audience, you’ll want to deliver your message yourself because you are the best possible messenger. Don’t be like the mailman who landed in jail for throwing away all the mail in a dumpster instead of delivering it!

Now, suppose there was a way for you to just “sit and type all day” but still be able to connect with […]

5 December, 2012

It’s the End of the Publishing World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)

By Sam Henrie|2023-06-09T11:34:51-07:00December 5, 2012|News, Publishing|Comments Off on It’s the End of the Publishing World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)

I’m sure most of you are aware of the popular theory that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts the world will end on December 21 of this year—yes, that all life on earth may be extinct shortly.

I’ll make a bold prediction: the Mayans got it wrong . . . or people are misinterpreting their calendar!

I will tell you what is going the way of the dodo, however: big traditional publishing houses. (Could the Mayan calendar be predicting their demise?)

In October, Penguin and Random House announced that they will merge, bringing the number of large global publishing houses from six to five. Give it a couple more years and that number will likely drop even lower as a result of further mergers and acquisitions.

What does this have to do with authors? Nothing if you’ve self-published your book or plan to do so. But if you’re holding out for a call from that […]

3 December, 2012

Zig Ziglar and “See you at the top”

By Support@wheatmark.com|2023-06-09T11:35:20-07:00December 3, 2012|News|Comments Off on Zig Ziglar and “See you at the top”

Zig Ziglar made the final ascent to the “top” when he passed away on November 28. He has left behind a legacy to millions of people who were touched by his messages during his lifetime and to millions more who will continue to follow his books, talks, and life for many years down the road.

Ziglar’s first book, See You at the Top, was rejected by thirty publishers before it was published by Pelican in 1975, when he was 49 years old. The book went on to sell 250,000 copies. His thirtieth book was published this year, at age 86.

Thousands upon thousands have changed their lives through the messages of Zig Ziglar. Whether it was through his books, live events, or media stories around the globe, he touched, encouraged, and sparked an almost irresistible motivation to succeed.

There’s no way to know just how many times his words were quoted but he […]

9 May, 2012

Book Marketing Strategy vs. Tactics

By Grael Norton|2023-06-09T11:36:53-07:00May 9, 2012|Authors Academy, Marketing, News, Resources|Comments Off on Book Marketing Strategy vs. Tactics

It’s one of the most common misconceptions in marketing: that a marketing tactic is the same as a marketing strategy. Not understanding the difference between the two leads to a whole lot of pain and frustration for many authors as well as entrepreneurs, speakers, and other professionals who use the written word to grow their businesses.

Have you ever heard someone say “I’m going to use Twitter to market my book,” or “I’m going to use the Internet to market my business?”

This sort of statement rarely leads to success.

This is because most of the time, the speaker is already talking about marketing tactics but has skipped not just one but two critical steps: setting a specific, measurable goal and developing a strategy for reaching that goal.

(If you’ve ever said this sort of thing yourself, don’t worry, practically everyone has at one time or another. I’ve made this same mistake myself; multiple […]

8 May, 2012

How to Create a Strategic Marketing Plan for Your Book

By Grael Norton|2023-06-09T11:36:58-07:00May 8, 2012|Authors Academy, Marketing, News|Comments Off on How to Create a Strategic Marketing Plan for Your Book

It’s one of the most common misconceptions in marketing: that a marketing tactic is the same as a marketing strategy.

Not understanding the difference between the two leads to a whole lot of pain and frustration for many authors as well as entrepreneurs, speakers, and other professionals who use the written word to grow their businesses.

The blueprint for your book’s marketing strategy is your book’s marketing plan.

This is the single most important piece of marketing collateral for your book you will create – besides the actual book itself!

Join us on Friday, May 11 as marketing plan expert Echo Surina walks us through “How to Create a Strategic Marketing Plan for Your Book.”

During this LIVE online presentation, you’ll learn the secrets to:

Creating your big picture
Applying SWOT analysis to your project
Identifying your target audience
Crafting your key messages
Selecting your outreach methods
Evaluating your […]

1 February, 2012

Get Motivated!

By Sam Henrie|2023-06-09T11:37:20-07:00February 1, 2012|Authors Academy, Marketing, News|Comments Off on Get Motivated!

Recently, I attended the all-day Get Motivated! seminar when it came to Tucson. I didn’t actually go to get motivated—an entrepreneur for many years now, I’m plenty motivated as it is. I also didn’t go to buy any of the stuff they were selling—they didn’t have anything I need right now. I went to hear the celebrity presenters, and to study one of most successful marketing processes in the world. First, for $2.95 (essentially free) Get Motivated! attracts nearly 10,000 attendees with the promise of seeing celebrity presenters like Colin Powell, Terry Bradshaw, Steve Forbes, Rudy Giuliani, Kurt Warner, and many more. (Pictured: Terry Bradshaw getting ready to motivate.)

In between celebrity speeches were presentations from companies with something to sell. One such company was Ameritrade, a major discount brokerage firm, whose representative gave an exceptional sales presentation demonstrating the impressive array of online tools Ameritrade now offers to help clients […]

6 December, 2011

7 Writing Mistakes Editors Constantly Fix to Make Your Book Saleable

By Grael Norton|2023-06-09T11:37:33-07:00December 6, 2011|Authors Academy, News, Writing|Comments Off on 7 Writing Mistakes Editors Constantly Fix to Make Your Book Saleable

Do mistakes that authors commonly make keep your writing from being powerful—and saleable?

How can you fix them before you hand over your manuscript for editing?

Barbara McNichol presents an hour-long teleclass on Wednesday, December 7 that addresses seven writing problems you might not easily recognize on your own—and how to fix them.

By participating in this teleclass, you’ll learn how to avoid these seven writing mistakes so your editor won’t have to fix them:

Losing awareness of what your reader experiences.
Addressing readers as readers, not as a single important person.
Skimming the surface, not going deep enough.
Having no rhyme or reason to the order of the paragraphs.
Overusing weak verbs, extraneous phrases, and wobbly words.
Using multi-word noun phrases when one active verb will do.
Writing sentences that ramble on and on and on and on.

Don’t miss this opportunity to “go deep” and learn what fixes can strengthen your writing!

About […]

18 March, 2008

Ebooks…Will They Work for You?

By Support@wheatmark.com|2023-06-09T11:40:52-07:00March 18, 2008|News, Publishing|Comments Off on Ebooks…Will They Work for You?

We’ve been publishing books for eight years now and converting to and distributing our titles as ebooks has always been in the back of our minds. (We were even fortunate to register the domains ebookpublishing.com and ipublisher.com in time!) Yet the big ebook invasion promised in 2000 never really happened. There are still too many competing ebook platforms and formats to choose from. (See the recently resolved battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD for high-definition DVD formats.) Digital rights management (DRM) is also a mess. Besides, we already offer superior book publishing services and distribution of paper books, and we will do the same with electronic books only if it benefits our authors and the sales of their books.

Having said that, this may be the time to reevaluate launching our ebook services and I need your help! Amazon has recently introduced its ebook reader, the Kindle. This device breaks away from […]