Publish Your New Book Better than a Billionaire

Good morning, Live Better than a Billionaire-a-Holics!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Have you ever dreamed of being a published author?

Do you want to autograph your books for adoring fans?

Are you practicing your interview for Oprah?

If so, this blog post is for you.

A billionaire can use many resources to become a published author.

He or she can buy a publisher. Someone else will take the book just out of courtesy. The billionaire can hire a top ghost writer to craft a gem, engage the finest editors, poll potential readers about various versions, retain the best public relations agents, make large donations to gather publicity and ask their billionaire friends to buy lots of copies to give away.

It's entirely possible to spend millions.

The billionaire process has some drawbacks:

1. It is costly.

2. It takes a lot of time and effort.

3. The book will take two years before it reaches the public.

4. The author will know that he or she didn't really contribute much other than writing checks.

The opportunity for you is radically different . . . and much more rewarding.

You can have a book published in just a few days for no more than $1,000 ($5 a day for less 7 months). When you do, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you did it all!

I thought of this subject because my co-author, Carol Coles, and I just submitted our newest book, The 2,000 Percent Solution Handbook, to our print-on-demand publisher yesterday. It was great to upload the file and receive the confirmation that the book was now in a 60 day publishing process. Copies will be available before Christmas.

Let me share what we did as a potential model for you.

Here's what we did.

1. We began teaching a course based on our Amazon-com best-seller, The 2,000 Percent Solution, several years ago.

Students give you lots of feedback on what they understand and need help with when they take a course based on a book. From this experience we learned about many adjustments that were needed to that book for people to apply what we had described.

You can similarly test out a new book by sharing it with others and using what you wrote to teach readers something based on the book. You can simply print out your Word file or send them an unformatted e-book to do this.

2. We began drafting a revised version of a workbook to help people take this course.

We went through four drafts before we sent this to any students. We let the book lie for a few weeks between drafts so we could come back to it with a fresh eye.

3. We shared the fourth draft with our students and began studying how their papers improved.

We then made small adjustments from time to time as we worked with more students. Since we get paid to teach, this meant we made money from improving our materials rather than having to pay people to help us.

4. We checked with our past publishers and our agent to see if they wanted to take on this workbook.

When none did, we decided to self-publish.

5. Since we had reissued The 2,000 Percent Solution via self-publishing in 2003, we thought it made sense to publish The 2,000 Percent Solution Handbook with the same publishing service.

In this way, the jacket designs, cover copy and promotional materials will be complementary.

6. We pulled up the publisher's Web site and read the manuscript preparation directions.

Publishing software takes a Word file and makes it look like the printed page. But to do that, you have to format the file with page breaks, proper use of inserts, and the right spacing to go from an 8 1/2 by 11 page to a 6 by 9 page in a book.

7. Reformatting the Word file took 15 hours.

This was tedious, but exciting work as the pages started to look more and more like a final book.

If you learn how to format your manuscript correctly in the beginning by checking out your publisher's directions on-line, you can save this work.

8. Yesterday, we submitted the material to the publisher, were assigned ISBN numbers and an production coordinator.

This step required picking a production package (we selected having three versions - an e-book for our students in faraway places, a soft cover for those who want something inexpensive and a hard cover for people who want to keep their notes and use them again), entering jacket copy, making cover suggestions, uploading the file and paying for the process (approximately $600).

There are several other services we could have purchased including editing, proof reading, publicity and advertising. We felt that we could skip those steps because we have an established reputation, have had many people review the material for errors, had carefully proof read the material many times and have many ways to sell the book on our own. You may want to purchase some of those services if you are a first-time author.

We also became aware recently that there are courses to help you learn how to write an e-book in two weeks or less.

What are you waiting for? Start writing!

Can any billionaire do better? I don't think so!

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N.B. As you can tell, I'm experimenting with color. Let me know what you like and what I should change about my use of color. Many thanks to Linda Grace for her suggestions which I am following!

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Here are some upcoming subjects:

Tomorrow, I will begin to share my preparations for attending the Michigan-Penn State game in Ann Arbor on October 15 as a way to show you how to enjoy a college game more.

Sunday, we'll consider together the potential benefits of developing a strategic plan for your spiritual development.

On Monday, let's look at how you can turn your collections into valuable ways to meet celebrities.

Tuesday, you and I will visit the newly expanded and renovated Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts for a remarkable look at America's and China's pasts. This will give you a choice in case you decide to visit Salem for pre-Halloween festivities.

Wednesday, take a thrilling ride on the world's best theme park attractions!

Thursday, I will describe the life-changing experience I had in hearing Dr. Masaru Emoto describe on October 6, 2005 what he has learned about the nature of human thought from photographing water crystals.

If you are new to this blog, be sure to check out the updated table of contents entry that I posted on October 5. It will help you find earlier entries that may be of interest. I'll update this table of contents every week or so for your convenience.

August 31 was the most frequently read blog entry to date. Be sure to check it out!

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Check out the latest index at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005/10/latest-table-of-contents-to-this-blogs.html to pick out your choice.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Be More Successful than a Billionaire at http://bemoresuccessfulthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on living better than a billionaire on five dollars extra a day, creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.
May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell