Speech002

Wouldn't it be nice for you to be an author?
Wouldn't it be nice for you to have a book...that you've written, that's got your name on it?
Wouldn't it be nice to always keep it out on the coffee table so when new guests come over and sit down on the couch they'd say, "Oh my goodness...did you write that?"
And you modestly say, "Yes, in my spare time."

I've just finished writing my 4th book,
But this is actually the first one which is going to be published, printed and sold.

In fact I should have copies in a couple of weeks,
so start saving your money for the new best seller....
The Ten Commandments of Butterfly Gardening.
I know everyone wants at least 4 or 5 copies....right?

I thought tonight I'd give you a quick synopsis of what it takes to be an author, and what it takes to write, publish, print and sell a book.

Step #1. You've got to have something to say...

Now I know that's not a problem for Toastmasters, because we're speakers. We always have to come up with new topics and ideas for our speeches. And a book is just an extended speech.

And probably most everyone here has a book they could write, if they follow this process.

Let me give you a couple of examples....

Look at Howard Brandt....what sort of book would Howard Brandt write?
I'm not a tightwad,,,,I'm just thrifty...
18,249 ways to save money.

Dave Domian's book might be.....
The St. Louis guide to perfect bbq.

Steve Winheims new book might be titled what...
If Steve can do it ....anyone can do it.

Max Kaiser can do a book..
If I don't know it, it's not worth knowing.

So Step #1. You've got to have something to say...

What do you want to say,?
What stories do you have to share?
What are you passionate about?
That would usually make a good book.

I recently met a man at a Kiwanis club meeting
and he and his buddies were putting together a book of their stories from WW2.....Each one was doing one chapter....
That could make for some interesting reading

Just about everyone has a story to tell. What's your story?

Step #2.
Is B2C......
That stand for Butt to chair.

Repeat after me...B2c B2C
I don't feel like it ...b2c
It's sunny outside...B2C
B2CB2CB2C

Put your butt in the chair and write
put your butt in the chair and write...over and over and over,,,
Everyday I work on a book.
Now, I'm exaggerating a bit. I usually take weekends off, but
Mon-Friday, I'm working on a book.

You need to be disciplined,
you need to have a plan and you need to work the plan.

Now different writers have different methods,
and frankly I can't sit at the computer and work and write all day long, like some people.

That's not my style, but what I've found that works for me is to work on the book one hour per day....M-Friday.

Even when I was delivering the mail...
I would get up at 5 AM....and write or work on my latest book.

For me that's the best time...if you're a night person...maybe later at night is best for you, but you've got to be disciplined enough to follow the B2C formula 5 days a week.

If you don't have the discipline....it won't get done.

Now I'm sure some of you would like to answer...
oh I'd like to do that, but I'm just too busy. I don't have the time.

Well let me tell you how to find the time...
Turn off the TV, quit surfing the Internet, quit doing all those time wasting activities, and go to bed..1 hour early....
If you normally go to bed a 11pm...go to bed at 10 PM...
If you go to bed one hour early...you can get up an hour early
If you normally wake up at 7 am.....start getting up at 6 AM and write.....

This is not rocket science.
If you want it, and your disciplined and you follow the formula....you can be an author.

Step #3.
There's no such thing as good writing, only good REWRITING.

You know I didn't make that up...
someone else wrote that, but it' such a good line, and it's so true.

Your first draft...is just that a draft.
You need to go through it, correct it, spell check it and fix it up to the best of your ability and then get some of your friends, a spouse , some people you admire, to go through it and give it an honest red pen evaluation. Tell them you want total honesty . Don't be their typical nice self. They can't help you if they don't give you the truth.

And I can guarantee, that in that first draft...
you are going to have lots of mistakes,
you're going to have lots of inconsistencies,
they'll find material that is poorly organized,
they might suggest topics you've left out and that you should add
and your evaluations will come back and hopefully they will spot most of those problems.

So you go onto your 2nd draft, your 3rd draft,
and you get another evaluation back and you get a 4th draft,
until you feel, it's about as good as you and your friends can make it.

Then you send it to a professional.
Someone who does this for a living....maybe an English teacher, maybe a writer friend. Get some professional advise. And rewrite again...

Until you finally come up with you 5th or 6th or 7th or 8th draft and it's finally looking pretty good.

Step# 4.
Be wiling to learn or be willing to earn some money to pay for formatting.

What do you need to learn?
You need to learn how to format your book.

Now most of you probably use Microsoft Word.
I'm actually a WordPerfect person, but it's all about the same
Well believe it or not, that's all you need to use to format your book.

Now that means you'll probably have to get out the manual and look up things like headers and footers, and page number and chapter heading etc.
But that's all learnable.

The same goes with the book cover.
You can either learn how to use a graphics program to make a cover or you can pay a designer to design your book cover.
It's all up to you, but it's all learnable.

Step# 4. Be wiling to Learn or
or be willing to spend some $$$$$$

Step #5
Find a publisher.

Now you could try to peddle your book to Random House, or one of the other big publishing houses, but the odds of your manuscript being picked up are minuscule.

In fact they receive 2 million manuscripts a year
You've got better odds of being struck by lightening than being picked up by a publishing house.

So how do you get published?
You become the publisher.
You've already done a lot of the work.
Formatting the book, getting a cover, you might as well do the rest.

Browit and Coffman is my Publisher.
That's actually my wife's mother's maiden name and my mothers maiden name. Browit and Coffman is my Publisher
Nobody knows, nobody cares,

The Browitt and Coffman publishing company...that's me.

Step #6
Find a printer.

Now we're not talking about going down to Kinkos, or Office Max.

You want to deal with a real printer who can produce a real book which looks just like the books you'd buy at B Dalton or Barnes and Noble.

You've actually got a number of options these days, but one of the best is Deharts. They are located in California and they specialize in short run printing. That's who I'm using.

What do I mean by short run?
Well in the past you'd have to print 1000 to 5000 books to get the cost down to a manageable level.

The problem with that, is that it's still a large investment.
You still may spend $5,000 to $10,000 and then you've got your basement filled with books for years.

Today they can print book in quantities as small as 50.

My first print run is just 100 books.
The cost is $4.35/book + shipping.

So for less than $500 I can have a 100 books to sell.

Step $7
Sell your book.

Now you may or may not be able to get in the local book stores,
but you're certainly NOT going to get in the national chains,
and you're not going to be featured on Oprah.
Don't even go there.

But don't despair...
You're a speaker! You can give speeches and sell your book in the back of the room.
You can get on local radio and TV and sell your book.
You can get in the local newspapers and sell your book
You can even sell your book on your website....it's not that hard.

In conclusion....

Each and everyone of you has a story to tell
A passion to share...
An expertise gained from years of experience.

Why not share it with the world?

You can write, publish, print and sell your book.
Let's get started today !