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Is your book title designed to hook your potential reader? It should; titles are one of the most important aspects of your book. Did you know the average reader, publisher or editor only spends about 6 seconds looking at the front cover of any book. They spend not much longer, about 14 seconds, on the back cover. That leaves an author about 20 seconds to make a good impression on a potential reader. How will your title measure up in those few seconds?

Does your title do its job well? I mean does it help explain what’s in your book? Does it capture the interest, engage, or shock the senses of your potential reader? Expert studies show the title may be responsible for up to 90% of your book’s magnetic pulling power. Some even say at least half of your book’s success can be attributed to its title.
Use this top title sizzler and sell more books than you ever dreamed.

Allow reader benefits to drive your title.
A winning non-fiction title immediately communicates the benefit readers will gain after reading your book. Benefit-oriented books often use the problem-solution approach. Master (A) this skill or technique and get (B) this benefit.

Readers buy non-fiction books for a “benefit” for something that will help them, grow them, profit more, less expense, less trouble, gain more time, less stress, better relationships, better health, less drama, less trauma, more energy and vitality and less fatigue.

Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” or Dottie Walter’s “Speak and Grow Rich” both instantly communicate the benefit of reading their book. They used the benefit driven, problem solution approach: Do this and get that.

Psychological studies have proven that there are certain words that can help you connect to your potential readers and motivate them to buy from you. Here’s a list of words that can help you connect:

Free, Sale, How to, Healthy, Love, Now, Discover, Guarantee, Safe, Value, Introduce, Natural, New, Fun, Easy, Fast, Benefits, Save, Your, Precious, Right, Gain, Proven, Secret, You, Money, Penetrate, Solution, Alternative, Happy, Suddenly, Magic, Security, Advice, Proud, Comfortable

Use these words to help express your book’s benefits rather than its features. For example, don’t say “This book has x, y, z features” instead say “This book will save you time and money because it has proven x, y, and z.”

Leave out a benefit in your title and it will not be as effective in hooking your potential reader at first sight. Title your book well to sell well. Offer a solution to your readers. Demonstrate your expertise in your area so that they will move to the next step of buying your product, engaging your services or at least asking for more information.

Notice the two of eight powerful principles we have just covered: “short,” “concept,” “benefit,” or “curiosity” tile followed by a longer sub-title that explains. Notice how often “listing steps,” “numbers,” or “time range” appear in the titles.

Make a note of your favorite titles. You can simply write them on a sheet of paper. Take a break, overnight is best, and allow your sub-conscious mind to mull over what you have learned. You’ll be surprised one day soon after, your best title will emerge.

You owe it to yourself and book’s success to develop your best title. After all, the better your title the more people will reach out and grab your book to read. Develop your title to have marketing appeal for the masses.

Resources: Are you ready to develop a title for your top selling book? Visit here for a FREE report Book Title Mini Tutorial at Book Writing Tips and templates at the http://www.writetowin.org web site From Earma Brown, 14 year author and book writing coach

What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens.

–Benjamin Disraeli

Within weeks of submitting our proposal to business book publishers, we had a contract for our business book, an advance check, and brimming confidence that the worst was past. After all, we had a great idea, a finished manuscript, and a great publisher!

We soon learned that publishers are often very tactful while wooing authors. Their reservations are shared after you cash the advance check.

Our book needed work: It needed a different title, a different structure, and better writing. Other than that, we were all done.

And, by the way, we had insisted that the book come out on a fast schedule, which meant that we had little time to respond; that part was our fault.

We were happy to comply. While Carol Coles and I were off doing other things, Robert Metz began proposing titles and sending over revised chapters. Robert’s ideas for a title went over well; he came up with the idea that was accepted. My own contribution was far more modest: adding the word “exponential” to the subtitle.

But our draft chapters kept coming back with clear encouragement to rewrite the whole thing. We were also falling behind the publication schedule.

Robert, Carol, and I had a meeting with our development editor, and I began to see what she wanted. I started writing the drafts while Robert and Carol improved them. But the process was slow. We fell further behind.

Finally, it became clear that we had two weeks to pull the project out. Robert came to live in a hotel near our offices while the two of us settled in to write night and day.

A difficulty of distance had slowed our earlier progress. Robert had a Mac and we had PCs. The different types of machines didn’t exchange files very well over the Internet in those days.

In our offices, we kept PCs humming. At first, Robert would rewrite what I wrote, then I would rewrite what he wrote, while Carol improved both of our work. But time grew short, and the last 30,000 words were written by me in a period of about a day and a half with no time for anyone to edit or rewrite them.

Exhausted, we turned the manuscript in and crossed our fingers. Our publisher kindly agreed to accept the manuscript if we didn’t mind a heavy editing. We welcomed a heavy editing!

The book went into production. Carol and I headed off for a much needed vacation. As a last minute thought, we shipped off a copy to Peter Drucker for his comments.

It would take several books to describe all of the mistakes we authors made that are contained in that history. Let me list a few steps you can take that will help you avoid our mistakes:

1. Have someone who is a savvy business editor edit your material before you send it to any publisher.

2. If you don’t know how to write in the style that your publisher seeks, keep rewriting a brief selection until the publisher smiles with joy.

3. Write and rewrite material ahead of whatever schedule you have.

4. Negotiate for the longest possible schedule to prepare the manuscript.

5. Tell your publisher that you would like to have all of the development help and editing that the company would like to provide.

6. Have experts (especially best selling business book authors like Peter Drucker) look over the manuscript before you turn it in to your publisher.

Good luck!

Resources: Donald Mitchell is an author of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist, The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage. Read about creating breakthroughs through and receive tips by e-mail through registering for free at http://www.fastforward400.com

When you are starting of as a writer, many people just don’t think of the importance of making a good first impression with potential publishers. Ensuring your cover letter and article proposal for your manuscript is very important.

Keeping it short and sweet
The purpose of a covering letter is to let the editor know your name, address, telephone number, the title and length of the piece you are submitting. It is also a matter of common courtesy to include a polite introductory paragraph when you are contacting someone you have probably never met. You should, however, bear in mind that no matter how gentle and kind your editor’s disposition, he or she will not be the slightest bit interested in your personal life. A lengthy discourse on your home, family and the reasons which led you to take up a career is of no consequence. All that the editor wants to know about is what you have submitted, and whether you have any relevant experience in the publishing world.

You should certainly tell an editor if you have had any other pieces published and where they appeared. Keep it short and to the point and the editor will take you seriously.

Setting out a proposal
Proposals for articles and series should be set out in a similar manner to the outlines for the articles themselves and include the following points:

* The subject - what the article is about
* The content - a brief resume
* Background - if necessary, reference to your credentials and source material substantiating the facts
* Details of the illustrations
* Reader appeal - what makes you think it is suitable for readership?
* Topicality - is it current or intended to coincide with a specific event?

Selling the idea
Before you begin, think what the proposal is for. It is a ’selling statement’, a method of capturing an editor’s interest. It is up to you to convince an editor that once they agree to a feature, the article you produce will be written exactly to their specification. Don’t be obscure here in your writing here, as causing confusion at this stage will mean that the editor may even stop reading your proposal at this stage.

Resubmitting after rejection
Because the short story market is so limited, once a magazine has rejected your story, it may be difficult to place it elsewhere. Initially it is worth trying a similar publication, but if the same story has been rejected by any more than four magazines, then you need to take a long hard look at the manuscript before you send it again to any other magazine. Never be tempted to rewrite and resubmit to an editor who has already rejected it.

However, you could:
* Rewrite it completely in a different style for another market.
* Rework the characters and rewrite the ending to suit a gentler or a tougher format.

For better results though, you are best to have your work proofread and copyedited by an experienced editor who works on similar pieces day after day. Using a professional editor to read through your work could mean the chance between securing your first published piece and it ending up in the bin. Get it write first time.

Resources: Nick Sanders is the owner and founder of Supaproofread.com, an online proofreading and editing services company, specialising in book author proofreading and editing services. You should visit them if you are looking for a professional proofreading service

Why would anyone buy your non-fiction book over another in your category? Will your book stand out in the crowd of books on your subject? Does it solve any problems in your field easily? Think about it, most readers are looking for non-fiction books to solve problems.

For example, when I started speaking professionally I bought a couple of books about speaking. Looking in the bookstore, there were lots of books to choose from. I chose Lilyan Wilder’s book “7 Steps to Fearless Speaking.” I read the back cover. I noticed she could help with 7 easy steps. I scanned the table of contents, read a few lines and immediately liked her easy style. It went in my buy basket.

Because I wanted to hear from several authorities on the subject, I picked up another book by Nido R. Qubein, “How to Be a Great Communicator: In Person on Paper, and on the Podium.” His cover design was white with clean lines and a personable picture of him on the front. His style of writing was not as easy to read but it still went in my buy basket as well. Which brings us back to my original point; people buy non-fiction books to solve problems. To identify your targeted market, pinpoint a problem they have and the solution of course.

Problems come in all shapes and sizes. Usually a general category problem applies to all types of markets.

1. Special Interest. Is your golf game, card game, tennis game as good as you’d like? Are you considering taking up racket ball? Want to improve your computer skills? What ever the case may be, your need to improve or change your level of performance is considered the problem.

2. Physical Fitness. What’s the first thing you do when your doctor diagnose you are diabetic and you need to lose 20 pounds? You go look for a book that will walk you through step by step to lose weight or change your eating habits to control diabetes. You turn to an expert; someone that has solved the problem to learn from their experience.

3. Mental Condition. Are you feeling stressful about a recession? Are you noticing more unexplained physical symptoms probably related to stress? Once again, you have a problem and you most likely look for a solution in book form. You are happy to find someone has outlined easy steps to de-stress in our society. You gladly purchase the book outlining easy ways to bullet proof your business during a recession.

4. Personal Economics. Are you worried about the economic downturn? Perhaps, you have experienced corporate merges, lay-offs, downsizing, or retirement and lived through it? Books that present financial solutions to economic problems during shaky times are guaranteed to succeed.

5. Business Marketing. We live in a competitive society. Consultants, coaches, solopreneurs, professionals, small business owners and managers everywhere need a growing database of customers and clients. Consequently, there’s always a group of people actively looking for: how to books that offer solutions on improving their advertising copy, improving their business image or building an effective website in their field.

Each of the problem types describes a problem and the readers need for a solution. The main goal of your book promotion plan is to identify the problem your book solves for your targeted reader and then present the solution. The more intense the problem and the easier you can make your solution, the more readers will seek out your book.

Your job becomes to reorganize your knowledge into bite-size reader solutions. Appeal to your reader, by letting them know what’s in it for them and how easy the solution is explained in your book. For example, let’s consider the book title I mentioned earlier about speaking. The title could have been: “How to Conquer Your Fear of Speaking” instead of “7 Steps to Fearless Speaking” The latter is more appealing because it tells the potential reader there are only 7 steps to their solution.

Don’t hesitate any longer. If you wait, you can be this time next year without fulfilling your dream of writing a successful book. You have the solution. Now target your book reader and write it down. While you’re at it, use the tips above and write a book that sells way more than your competition. Make it different. Make it count. Make it yours.

Resources: Are you ready to get started writing your very own book? Go get my free 7 lesson mini-course Jumpstart Writing Your Book! You can get instant access to this ecourse and other Book Writing Coach tips at the http://www.writetowin.org web site From Earma Brown, 14 year author and book writing coach

When you are writing, having a strategy in mind is rather useful, especially when you are wanting your reader to commit to something or someone. You will want to lead the reader in the direction you intend to finish upon and don’t want to cause confusion and misdirection in your writing. Here are a few tips on the carrot and stick strategy of writing that is good to use in a time of need.

I firmly believe in a process that I have named the carrot and stick process. I have seen that it can prove quite effective in a few situations. The process is simple: these five components should be present in all attempts to convince your readers:

1. A clear account of the reader’s predicament.

2. A clear account of the outcomes in case the reader does not solve the problem.

3. A clear account of the solution you propose to this problem.

4. A clear account of the advantages that solving the problem has to the reader.

5. A clear demand for a particular action; e.g. “Please sign on the copy and submit this application”.

1. The Reader’s Predicament
If you have to wake up a sleeping teenager instantly, just telling them to get up might not always work. Pointing out to them that the reason you are trying to wake them up is that their house is on fire is much more likely to wake them up faster. Why? The first time round the kid thought that it was just an annoying instruction to follow. The second time, though, points to a problem: their problem. So, if you want to convince someone to do anything, the first part of the carrot and stick process is to persuade the person that they have a problem which needs to be resolved.

2. The Consequences of Not Solving the Problem
Having informed your reader (in whichever depth you feel is necessary) that they seem to have a problem, the next step in our carrot and stick process is to emphasize the seriousness of the consequences that await them if they do not act in a timely fashion.

3. The Solution You Propose
Now that you’ve got your client’s complete attention, he or she should be reasonably receptive and eager to listen. So you talk to them and tell them how you are going to solve the problem they face.

4. How Your Solution Will Help The Reader
Now that you have put forth your proposal about how you are going to solve the issue at hand, you now bring out and dangle the proverbial carrot we have been talking about by waxing lyrical about how this solution will benefit and help the reader. Here, you must remember to accurately describe all of the positive attributes of your solution, be it financial, natural, sales based, social, I.T. - anything and everything you can think of.

So, are you beginning to see what we have managed to do in the first four steps of the carrot and stick process? We have successfully established a problem, elaborated on a solution to that problem, and then mentioned how that particular idea will benefit the reader. You will soon see that the carrot and stick process is a very effective method of convincing readers to say yes.

5. The Final Request For Action
A lot of ads tend to use phrases like “Call us now! Just Do It!” and “Special Offer!”. You will see many used-car salesmen use phrases like “This is a one-time offer just for today”. All these are nothing but examples of closers: closers are lines which want you to act immediately on a particular proposal which lays in front of you.

The final part of the carrot and stick process is to close your case with a particular request for an action. After all, you have put your case in front of your reader, and the reader is already primed for action. All you need is a gentle push (or a shove) in the right direction!

Additionally, you should always have your work checked by a professional editor, to make sure that your work is being read in the way you intend it. Also, you will need to ensure that your work is mistake free as this usually puts off the reader from reading further.

Resources: Nick Sanders is the owner and founder of Supaproofread.com, an online proofreading and editing services company, specialising in book author proofreading and editing services. You should visit them if you are looking for a professional proofreading service

Have you been guilty of putting your book dream on the back burner? If so, don’t feel bad; many writers get hung up with wrong thinking about writing and completing their books.

In fact, you can get excited. For I’m about to help you take easy steps that will destroy the power of procrastination over your book dream. Using the amazingly easy steps below any aspiring author can conquer the giant procrastination and speedily write their book now. Here’s what you should do:

1. Maintain your momentum.

Don’t give in to writers block. Move on to work on the chapter you feel passion bubbling for at that moment. Unseasoned writers may play the martyr and push through just to put something on paper or give up and try again another day. We would never get it done like that. When you get stuck simply close that chapter; pull out your chapter outline and choose another chapter.

2. Rewrite and Re-organize.

Concentrate on finishing each chapter then use your tracking time to self-edit: Check your ideas for flow, grammar, spelling, and chapter endings. Work on your chapter titles and lead in introductions.

Be a professional. Don’t be lazy and save all the editing for your editor. Make your manuscript the best it can be. My advice is to avoid re-writing during your first draft.

3. Learn to Delegate.

Learn to use your skills at the highest level possible. Some of the mechanical tasks of proofreading ask a family member, part-time employee or again a friend to help. Let go faster and profit sooner.

Don’t succumb to the idea that you have to do it all yourself if you want it done right. Discern your talents and delegate the rest. Know when to let go of your chapters and book. Don’t self-edit and pick your book apart word by word.

4. Work Efficiently.

Welcome to the new millennium! Remember, don’t run from technology; make your software work efficiently for you. Embrace technology. If you don’t know how something works, find out. Take a class. Read articles. Learn how to use your software to make things easier and faster. At least take the time to learn about the shortcuts in your current software.

5. Print Out and Back Up Daily.

Make a hard copy of your manuscript. Print out changes as you work. Many believe a computer crash could never happen to them. Don’t be silly; a computer crash can happen to anyone. Be smart; save your work somewhere besides your computer hard drive. Put it on a floppy disk, flash drive, CD or second hard drive.

Don’t let another opportunity go past you. Get started now; nothing can happen until that first draft is completed. Most, procrastination is ultimately based on fear of failure. It has stopped countless of book projects and stolen the vision of many more.

Don’t allow procrastination to become a giant towering over your book dreams. Go now; sign-up for a course, pin-point your topic, target your reader, write your table of contents or simply write your first draft.

Whatever you do, do it now and release your important message to the world. Best wishes for your greatest success yet.

Resources: Are you ready to get started writing your book in next 100 days or less? Go get my free 7 lesson mini-course Jumpstart Writing Your Book! You can get instant access to this ecourse and other Book Writing Coach tips at the http://www.writetowin.org web site From Earma Brown, 14 year author and book writing coach