In my corporate and estate planning practice, I represent a number of authors who write everything from non-fiction to science fiction, from children’s books to political books. Amazon published a new author’s (M.C. Lewis) first book on Amazon this week. “Spin Doctor” is Lewis’ fictional accountant of a press secretary, Jack Abbot. The book is about how Jack faces the truth in both his personal and professional life. As a quick review comment, I loved it and gave it five stars in an Amazon review. You should check it out, and if you have an e-reader Kindle or IPAD, buy a copy. (You won’t be the first; I bought the first one when it came out so that will make my IPAD worth something in 50 years, provided the battery still works!)
I am not a critical reader, but refer to myself as a train station bookstore shopper. I am looking to be entertained for the next two and a half hours while I ride somewhere. This book does that as it takes an inside-baseball look at the world of “staffers,” people who work for elected officials in Washington. It walks you through their perspectives as they move from one Capitol Hill hearing, backroom meeting, or political election to the next without weighing you down with today’s issues or politicians.
(OK, this is where I confess that I used to be a press secretary to a politician. I’ve gone through the same types of back-room meetings and issues discussions. Because of that, I was asked to be a test subject for Lewis in the book’s final editing stages; that’s how I knew to look for it on Amazon.)
What is interesting about the launch of this book is that it presents a whole second world of taking a product to market. Another author client, Michael Hicks, wrote about it in his book, “The Path to Self-Publishing Success.” The book talks about social media, networking, using a blog and linking it all to a web site. It also talks about the mechanics of publishing and the contract issues that surround those mechanics. The irony of Mike’s book is that he first wrote it all in a blog in several parts. He had such a clamoring for repeating the blog posts that he finally just wrapped it all into a book and published it.
The book becomes a must-read for everyone either going into or already in business. While Mike speaks to authors, it works for everything from lawyers to pastry chefs. The issue isn’t service or products, the issue is promotion and how that world is changing. So it becomes a must-read on multiple fronts, as well. In my own world, I am a member of a number of professional societies. Most notable among them are Wealth Counsel and the Advisors Forum. Matt McClintock and Jonathan Mintz, Executive Directors of those respective organizations, are always preaching variations of this same form of promotion, but their comments always are aimed at lawyers. Michael’s approach is the same, but just lift out the words “author” and “publish” and insert anything from lawyer to pastry chef and you have a good working roadmap to promoting your industry.
So today I am offering you a good roadmap for promotion and something to read while you relax when you are taking a break from all the hard work you will be doing with all this new business. If you have questions, give us a call. You can find out how to reach us at our website: TheFisherLawOffice.com. You can also find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FisherLawOffice and Twitter @thefisherlawoffice. If you would like to keep updated. Subscribe to the blog so that you will receive additional suggestions.
As always, good luck and good hunting.