We are living in a day of huge sweeping changes in the publishing industry. With all the new technology that seems to sprout up almost on a weekly basis, the old playing field has been leveled. A new day for writers and authors has been born.

One of the elements I have found most frustrating is how to find credible information on this change without having to devote my entire day to researching. As I began to read, study, and research the new changes, I was overrun with way too much information. Information overload is a daily issue for many of us. Then do you navigate past the old information on publishing and find the new, and how do you know if what you are reading is still new and working?

After much pondering and prayer, I was lead to look in a way I call from the inside-out. I have been reading large tomes written by authors of their ideas and experiences. However, none of them seemed to give me the meat of the issues. What do publishers need and want from their nonfiction authors today? How do you learn to give it to them while maintaining your writing voice and style.

Years ago, as a fledgling entrepreneur, I was lead to learn about small independent newspaper publishing. At the time, I did not understand the impact it would have on my life.

At first, I gravitated to seminars put on by franchise selling companies. Fortunately I did not have tens of thousands of dollars to plunk down. So I kept searching for information on how to start and publish a small independent paper. I looked in libraries and throughout endless bookstores. Finally, I found some freebie and low cost independent papers laying about so I pick them up and started to read.

As I looked at the content and purpose of these renegade publications, I realized they could teach me many important things. First, I needed to understand advertising. Then, writing for this niche audience. Not to mention the logistics of delivering such papers.

Not being able to find information on how to start my own independent small newspaper, I did the next best thing. I applied for a job at one of the freebie papers I had picked up called PennySaver.

At first, I worked selling advertising and then through millions of questions and research I learned from the inside out. I was learning from people who had started these independent papers and were also very successful at running them. I learned the pitfalls and what worked. That is what has given me a huge advantage through the years. Learning to research from what I call the “inside-out.” Learning from those who paved the way, the pioneers of new entrepreneurial businesses.

It is not surprising for me to seek out people in the book publishing industry that are working successfully in the changing tides. As I was reviewing writing books for my readers here at BellaOnline.com, I started to realize a lot of the standard books on writing and selling nonfiction were no longer what I needed. They were too long and much of their information was either outdated or simply regurgitated information I had already gleaned elsewhere.

In an effort to make this site useful to writers and authors of all experience levels, I desired to start learning about the new changes in the book publishing industry. As I reviewed some books for Linden Publishing's Quill Driver Book label, I found something new and refreshing. The books they publish for writers each tackle a specific niche area of writing today. They are not just timely and well written, they are also to the point, quick to read and easy to follow.

After reviewing one of my favorites: The Author's Guide to Building an Online Platform
One of the biggest changes in book publishing today is that authors now have to do the marketing for their books. The biggest step in doing this is to set up your author's platform. It is essential in creating a strong audience for your books that you can communicate with. Today book publishers ask prospective authors two questions. What genre is your book? What is your platform?

Imagine hearing the second question for the first time? What is my what? To help you walk past this hurdle unabated, I have taken this inside information and broken it down into a series of articles on the basics of building an author's platform. Next, I will have a free course here at BellaOnline.com to teach you in easy steps what is involved and how to build one without taking a lot of time out of your already busy schedule.

I will link the series of articles I have done from this interview below as I publish them. I will also add the link to my new free course called: Let's Build an Author's Platform, when I have it published in the next week.

As an added bonus, I will offer, for free, an MP3 recording of the interview so you can listen to it while you are on the go. I will also offer a PDF file that will contain all of the articles in this series so you can read them on your own computer in your own time frame.

Watch for my newsletter updates for this series of articles on: Author Platform Basics

Part 8: Author's Platform Interview Final Thoughts




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