Soap Box Preachers: Authors Working Hard Without Making Sales
There is a group of authors I refer to as the “Soap Box Preachers.” Beginning many years ago, people would go into the town square, stand on a wooden crate (an old soap box), and extol their beliefs to whoever would listen. Some were ignored, others gathered small crowds, while a few incited angry mobs. You might say it was the Facebook of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Soap Box Preachers are authors who have published their book and are now trying to promote it. Happily, they will tell you all about it, will keep you up for hours (if you let them), explaining every jot and dot in excruciating detail as to how they wrote the book, researched it, published it, and are now promoting it. And oh, by the way, do you want a copy? (If you don’t buy one, they might give it to you—anything to “get it out there and have it read.”)
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Invisible Magi: Knowledgeable Authors Not Yet Renown
If you're an Invisible Magi archetype, you're probably not reading this (unless someone else has printed it out and given it to you after recognizing you amid its words). That's because Invisible Magi have no platform or knowledge of how to create one.
They have no website. They don't do social media. They have no idea what a blog is. They are basically doing no promotion whatsoever, other than possibly utilizing means which are outmoded, outdated, and (unfortunately) only nominally effective. (A few have a very basic web presence, but have no idea how to utilize or monetize it.) While it may seem impossible that this type of promoter exists, it's really quite common.
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Lone Rangers: Authors Seeking Guidance
Many of my first-time callers are shy at the start of the call. They may have accomplished great things in their lives… overcome adversity to succeed in business or athletics, studied long hours to gain doctorates, fought off disease, struggled through a tough divorce, triumphed over tragedy, yet when it comes to creating a Profitable Print Product, they are unsure where to start. They’ve never done this before, therefore, they may not even know what to ask to get started.
Talking to Lone Rangers, I find one thing they do have is an overpowering sense of independence, determination, and often, sheer will. They are sure that they will find a way to accomplish this task; I am just one stop along the way to their actually doing it. It’s not a question of if they will do it, but when.
Florence Nightingales: Authors Who Want to Heal the World
Mother Teresa walked the streets of Calcutta (and other cities), lending care and aid to “the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.”* Clara Barton, not only braved the dangers of Civil War battlefields as a nurse and humanitarian (eventually initiating the creation of the American Red Cross), but also fought along with other suffragettes, including friend, Susan B. Anthony, to bring equal rights to women. Like Barton, Florence Nightingale walked the battlefields (during the Crimean War) and fought for better conditions for sick and dying soldiers. Known as the “lady with the lamp,” due to her solitude walks through the sick wards late at night, Nightingale brought kindness and compassion to those in her care.
These great women epitomize the humanitarian call to help those who are sick, poor, or otherwise in need. Their heart for helping others lives on amid those writers I refer to as “Florence Nightingales.” Their impassioned calling to help children, animals, the sick, the disabled, and the impoverished, as well as their work to heal the earth and its resources, drives them to fight injustices and other wrongs to which society has turned a blind eye. For some, their results become the makings of a book, while for others, it’s simply something in their nature residing alongside their other life callings.
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I am a publishing professional with over twenty years experience in assisting with a book’s delivery from manuscript to printed book—including interior and cover design, creating files for the printer, guidance with paperwork and filings, ebook creation, market messaging, and more.