Today's Topic: Showing Up In Public and A Little Printing Talk.. Speaking Truth and Getting Clear

I know it’s been a minute since I’ve produced a podcast episode, but I could write an entire book on what’s gone on since I last published one. There is so much to be said if you are paying attention to what’s going on in the world. But, how many times have I written a podcast episode only to pull it back and sit on it? I’ve got all kinds of thoughts and opinions I could share about what’s going on in the world and I’ve written a few episodes circling around how we show up in a public space… how it’s hard to sit back and say nothing when you see what’s happening in the world.

Those of us aware of the shifts in the world are a mix of agitated and awe-struck and those of us living life without awareness are going about business as usual. This seems to be where the divide occurs. I thought it might be best to share some observations and stick to writing podcast episodes about writing book...

Today’s Topic: Fire and Fury: The Maui Fires Book That Appeared While Fires Were Still Burning

I had a completely different podcast that I had written and planned to record today, but the truth is that my temper was burning when I saw this book appear while the fires will still burning on Maui. For those that don’t know, I lived on Maui for several years. I ate lunch in Lahaina daily at Choice Health Bar. As many of us did, I watched the events of those days in horror of what was occurring. It was my home! I know that area and I know that this is just not something that occurs there! My dogs and I hiked in the west maui mountains daily. We went up via the jeep trail and made out way to the top for the vast open views over Lahaina. We used to sit up there and watch whales in the distance on occasion. We’ve also been shut out of there from an occasional brush fire. We have also witnessed flames being doused with helicopter water dumps from the ocean, over the highway, and dropped on ...

Today’s Topic: I’m Writing A Book, But Not Sure I Want to Take It to Print… What Other Options Do I Have?

I know it might sound a little bit strange that someone would take the time to compile a manuscript for any other reason than printing it as a book, but there are many reasons my clients come to me unsure whether or not printing their manuscript makes sense. I think the first concern is cost. The cost to print a book has not just doubled, but tripled during covid.

One of my recent clients couldn’t afford to print hard cover books, but he was able to afford what is called an 8-page gate-fold cover. This is a softcover book, but it has a thicker paper and flaps that fold in kind of like a hard cover book. You just can’t remove the jacket. He had a 356 page book and his printing cost for 250 6 x 9 books was $2,500, not including shipping.  He’s selling his books for $29.95. This is a cost of $10/book.

Another recent client produced a 6 x 9 hard cover book with 400 pages and her cos...

Today’s Topic: Book Cover Mistakes & Lessons - There’s Far More to the Cover Than Meets the Eye!

OK first off I’m gonna just spill the beans! I just got fired! I’ve been doing all things book for a long time and I’m fine making myself vulnerable for both of us to learn. I’m good at what I do, but occasionally I’m just not a fit for someone. I have no hard feelings so don’t get me wrong. Not all relationships are bliss.

Since my client fired me I think its pretty safe to say we can talk about what went wrong without doing any harm. In other words, I don’t think she’s tuning into my podcast! And, I can share some lessons she and I both learned in the process so this kind of thing doesn’t happen to you in the future!

It’s been so long I can’t remember the exact date, but I think its safe to say that about 3 years ago this client came to me to let me know she was writing a book and planned to hire me through another coaching system for cover design and interior layout. But, even though ...

Today’s Topic: Why Every Coach Should Write A Book: Establishing Your Authority and Defining Your Center of Expertise

We are going to talk about why a coach should write a book, but before we do let’s talk about why you haven’t. Most people haven’t written a book because of fear… because, let’s be honest… if you want to do something bad enough, your going to find a way to do it.

But, maybe you just don’t know how a book would serve you. I mean, a lot of people think of it like a vanity project. Writing a book has become a bit more common these days than it used to be, but there is still a certain amount of stature a book holds in many circles.

But, putting ego aside, a book is actually not just one of the best things you can do for marketing yourself and your business, but it can also serve as a great platform for setting yourself up as an expert in your field.

Where I personally find a book to be the most useful is when it comes to repurposing content. Once you’ve told someone you...

Today’s Topic: We Are the Expert of Our Greatest Wounds - Writing an Impactful Book That Leads the Healing Journey…

I talked a bit about sitting with our greatest challenges in a blog post over on my personal page (nicolekristingabriel.com). It’s a work in progress over there, but ultimately, I want to begin opening up about some of the challenges I’ve faced in my life and how those obstacles I’ve learned to overcome have turned into my life’s greatest strengths.

For many years I have watched how authors use a book to tell the story of what they’ve learned…on the other side of something they have come through. Many are cancer survivors, some have lost loved ones and are restructuring their lives, some are business leaders that have stepped up after many years of bootcamp in lower ranks, some have healed their sick children, and I’ve even had some authors that have been through sex changes and have had to say goodbye to their former selves.
Generally people that write books have come...

Today’s Topic: Self Publishing Vendor Agreements - Rights, File and Design Ownership, and Correcting Something That’s Gone Wrong…

It was recently brought to my attention by a new client wishing to hire me for services that perhaps there are some misunderstandings with ownership of files and rights in the book publishing process. I thought this might be a good topic for discussion for the self-published author. I think we can easily cut through some of the red tape with a pretty quick episode to help you gain an understanding of how to protect yourself and move forward as a self-published author.

What I learned in conversations with the gal, that did eventually hire me, was that there is more than likely a breakdown in the understanding of processes more than anything else. You see, if you’ve never done this before you just don’t know what you don’t know. And knowing the process will clear up a lot of misunderstanding. You still need to have a certain level of protection, but once yo...

Today’s Topic: Bella’s Utah Mountain Rescue - The Little Dog That Brought the Globe to Prayer

I’ve recently been through something that has forever altered me. I wanted to tell you the story of what happened but, since this is a podcast about writing a book, I wanted to keep it in alignment with the theme of book publishing. Everyone that witnessed the event told me I have the next book and I have to write about it. But, you know… its hard to think about that at the moment as I’m still digesting what happened out there on that mountain last Monday night.

It’s always my goal to try to keep topics in alignment with the topic of writing a book for this podcast. I’ve mentioned it before that my life seems to always be a bit too grand to keep that focus and I’ve talked about developing a completely new podcast, but because there are so many dynamics always in great flux in my life it’s hard to know how to position everything under one functional umbrella. I have books on a variety of to...

Today’s Topic: Self-Publishing Chatter - Continuing to Clear Up the Myths

This episode is kinda a hodgepodge of topics floating around in the publishing world, so lets see if I can bring coherence to any of it. Several times a week I receive messages from a variety of different book publishing coaches and businesses. I often laugh when I see how they are selling their services and then I get upset that people are buying what they are selling. I also get upset that I continue to tell my listeners the truth and I don’t know if they believe me yet.

I’m all about being positive, but I’m also unable to sell a lie. I’m a realist and a practical person and the way I see it, there is going to come a point where you’re book will be compiled, printed, and produced and you’re going to be out trying to market and sell it. It’s unfortunate that at completion is likely where you will see that many of these organizations are selling false promises.

Truth eventually comes to the surface. However, ...

Today’s Topic: I Didn’t Know About eBook Pirating - Digital Designers, Protections & Self Publishing Mistakes…

Where do we start with today’s episode? I’ve been in the marketing, advertising, and book business for most of my career and the one thing that gets under the skin as a professional in any industry is when someone has a quick fix solution or work around for the thing you do professionally with great pride.

Now, it’s not something to get agitated about, because business people need quick solutions and that’s why services like Canva or Fiverr or some of the others are so successful. You have a need and there is a quick fix solution to keep rolling along in your business. But, there’s a huge difference between digital and print that is a bit challenging to explain to someone that doesn’t have a background in it.

Print is nearly obsolete these days outside of the book industry. Most things go into a system and output digitally or you create digitally and it arrives in your mai...