88 Flares
88 Flares
×
Go ahead. Read ‘em. Look down for my eBook reviews. Scroll down. Scour my right sidebar. Go ahead. I’ll be here when you get back. Promise…………………….still here. See, I told you so!
Chris Brogan. Yaro Starak. Dino Dogan. Read down. Don Purdum. Kerry Russell. Etc…etc….all respected, experienced, successful bloggers and entrepreneurs in their own right. All endorsing little itty bitty me. RB.
Chris Brogan has been a business advisor for:
Google
Microsoft
GM
Tony Robbins
Richard Branson
Paulo Coelho
Disney
Damn….I am *so* happy I pulled the wool over his eyes. Yaro Starak trains bloggers and marketers how to craft a freeing lifestyle. Not sure how my smoke and mirrors did it, but maybe, just maybe, the 3 pinchfuls of salt I tossed over my shoulder inspired Yaro to endorse me.
Dino Dogan is an accomplished public speaker and entrepreneurial dynamo who’s been featured on Al Jazeera, Yahoo and Forbes.
Then, look a bit lower. More reviews from awesome-sauce bloggers.
You’d think by now I’d be through the roof. That Kelli, my fiancée, would be feeding me grapes as I published the latest and greatest eBook, or brilliant blog post, from some tropical paradise.
Here’s the great secret, the ONE secret, the way, the light, the path, the magical, insightful, tidbit, that all eBook authors, and bloggers, seek….and that I have discovered.
I will share the secret in a bit….and…..for FREE! HA! How about that?
First, I need to speak directly to my blogging audience. We’re the island hopping, jet-setting, pro (and aspiring) blogging crew. You’re my dawgs!
Why Would Bloggers Care About this Post?
Publishing eBooks:
Establishes your blogging authority
Opens passive income streams for you
Helps you to add a feather to your cyber cap (or cyber eCard, wink-wink)
Polishes your writing voice
Opens you up to all types of feedback
Gives your fingers a workout ( words typed by my grateful fingers)
Makes it easier for you to publish 6,000 word posts which do well in search engines and can *possibly* boost your online cash flow
I have retired to paradise. I am free. Largely. Actually I am nowhere near close to free in some aspects of my life yet I am wildly free in many other aspects of my life.
I wake when I want to wake, and work when I want to work, and park my good old home office (laptop, tablet, and my derriere) for months in spots like:
Bali
Costa Rica
Laos
Cambodia
Malaysia
Nepal
India
Fiji
….among other tropical hot spots….and cold spots.
Publishing eBooks frees you and your audience. Aspiring island hopping pro bloggers may find my eBook on Amazon. Others, through Selz. The channels matter not. The vehicles don’t matter as much but let’s face it: if I run a blog, you may give me a “meh”, or even make a wise crack, at the fact that I run a blog.
If I publish an eBook, eyebrows may raise a bit.
If celebrities publish their first blog post, do you note a buzz around the blog? Not really. If celebrities publish their first eBook, or book, you’re damn well sure gonna notice a buzz. Because eBooks or books command more authority than blogs to most folks.
I haven’t noted celebrities doing blog tours or promotional blitzes on talk shows. I have noted celebrities and the like doing book tours or promotional blitzes on talk shows.
Bloggers, you’d be smart to publish eBooks. Establish your authority. Open yourself up to a majority of inspired feedback, and you may attract some contrast too (ahem….contrast means, people who prefer vanilla ice cream, to your chocolate ice cream. More pensive folks call these types “unclear or unhappy with their lives”, and more reactive folks call them “haters”….either way, you get the drill.)
I love publishing eBooks because each eBook is a mini guide explaining how a broke joke went from poor at the port to knocking ‘em dead at NYU. How a NJ vagabond went from virtually homeless to living in Bali villas. All in neat, clear, concise and inspired study manual, to be read, over and over, for your island hopping pleasure.
I did it. Island hopping through smart blogging, that is. My eBooks share how I did it, and how you can do it too. Each is rich with practical advice, along with a nice dose of butt-kicking inspiration. I stand out a bit by offering a suite of 10 eBooks. You can stand out, too, and learn some of the secrets, of a guy who stares at a glowing screen for some of the day, and who strikes squares with his fingers, and lives in paradise, full time, by performing these most mundane of tasks.
Jokes aside, I’ve freed myself to travel the world as a professional, full-time blogger. I wish the same for you. Or, I wish the same for any blogger or author who wishes to free themselves, financially and professionally.
(Don’t worry….I still have that secret to share….coming soon.)
Important Point
I remember Ray Higdon – gazillion dollar earner online, and one of my inspirations – stating how more than a few folks skewer his basic, simple style of writing. Ray took a moment to stop counting his $50 million or goodness knows what he’s made these days, or, he took a moment to move away from inspiring his legions of rabid fans, and addressed the unclear/stuffy/*serious* writing crowd with a smile.
He basically said, “whatever”.
I find him to be a hero of mine. His style is brilliant because it inspires people to crush obstacles. So, since I’m in the obstacle crushing biz myself, his writing works for me.
I have received my fair share of freeing, similar criticism. I am not an academic. I am not a writer. I am an author. I entertain, free myself, free my audience, and do the island hopping bit. I may or may not tell a kick butt story (the heavy hitters may or may not confirm for you, through my….ahem…..reviews….yes look at my sidebar again) but I am authentic, real, and I just plain freestyle my clear, honest thoughts through my eBooks, and through my blog.
SOOOO many would be authors believe publishing an inspired eBook requires a full grip of grammar/writing/textbook style stuff, and it does not.
Publishing an eBook that frees you and your target audience does not require:
A high school degree
A college degree
Any academic degree for that matter
Error-free writing
Publishing an eBook that frees you, and that frees and inspires your audience, requires you to:
*write something that makes your audience’s dreams possible, then probable.*
I kinda like that….hell, I really like it. I mean, figuring out how to write words which inspire people to promote your eBook, and to buy it, takes gobs of practice, writing. But inspiring masses of people to break their bonds, and to make their dreams come true, doesn’t directly correlate to your grasp of grammatical nuances (I did that on purpose, if used poorly, HA!), nor do you need to be a wordsmith to make a ton of dough in the process.
I’m not making that Ray Higdon dough now, and I have a bit of a different audience, anyway, but I am learning that really inspired, happy, uplifting, bright lights, many of whom live a freeing lifestyle – like little old me – well, these people are less concerned with the little picture, and more, with the big picture.
Ray Higdon frees himself and huge masses of people while becoming more wildly successful.
Ryan Biddulph is freeing himself and masses (big or small, who knows?) of people while becoming more free.
The critics who pan Ray’s style are – assuming here, so lash me with a wet noodle if I’m off, OK? – probably not freeing huge masses of people, or raking in that paper, or they weren’t my next door neighbor in Fiji, for 4 months. At least not according to what I saw! Through the coconut trees in Savusavu!
No need to be brilliant, or well-schooled, to write words which inspire people to live their dreams and to tackle their problems head on.
I just see myself as a bright light – with some shadows of course – who may be a bit unclear at times but who largely does best to hold to his intent, to free others. I hold this intent, and all types of successful folks, ranging from some serious higher rollers, online and offline, to inspired, fresh-faced bloggers, well, these guys support me.
Some offer super helpful feedback too that may not align with me or my brand, but I accept it with a smile. Or if I’m in a playful/human/shadowed mood, I may hold the grin while sticking the shiv in!(in parlance, “zinging” critics) But either way I know that publishing a high number of eBooks in a short period of time can help you free yourself and your blogging audience, and if you do this, you better believe:
Blog traffic
Blog income
More subscribers
More lives touched
More branding juice
….and all other good blogging tings (Jamaican accent), will be yours.
One of My Closely Guarded Secrets, that I’m Only Sharing Because I Want this Post to be Longer than 6,000 Words
I finally arrived. To the secret. The great secret, the one secret, which helped me publish 10 eBooks in 4 months.
After receiving the glowing endorsements from icons and uber successful bloggers alike, for my *entire range of eBooks* (no small feat, I reckon!)……I still feel like a fraud sometimes. Not much, but I do.
And guess what?
I’m happy with it! I laugh at my foibles. I feel like a fraud at times. Who am I? What do I know? Who do I think I am, publishing 1 eBook? Let alone 10? The roaring rapids of mental pablum flows through my mind. Sometimes, for seconds a day. Sometimes for minutes. But make no mistake about it: I think, just maybe, I’ve uncovered the secret to being prolific. Even though I doubt myself.
Or maybe, just maybe, I am so delusional, that I have embraced an idea that many prolific people have generated billions of times, from when Cro-Magons counted being prolific in terms of how many mammoths they slayed, all the way up to the current day manifestation of the human being/doing.
This idea, this secret, is that I create a bunch of content despite feeling like a fraud sometimes. I lean into my self doubts as I publish. There you are. If you think this is easy, or comfortable, count how many eBooks you’ve published.
I have some staggeringly prolific authors for buddies, guys like Rob Cubbon, and Steve Scott, but most folks turn around when the fraud/self doubt voices even begin to make a little peep. These guys keep going. I keep going.
Churn Out eBooks at a Sick Pace
I feel folks who create more stuff than other folks decide to tolerate both self-criticism and outside-sourced-criticism better than people who don’t create a lot of stuff. I once won an Olympic event, you know? Did I mention it? No? Between being a meteorologist, and former model, and one time security officer, I won an Olympic Gold Medal. I ran away with it. Wasn’t even close. The sport?
“Most Self-Critical Author/Blogger”
Folks may tell me that I’m a natural, or gifted, or talented, and I smile, and may make a wise-crack. Water off of a duck’s back. Unless I’m feeling particularly vulnerable. Then I may accept the compliment, only to be torpedoed the next time someone criticizes me.
A few of my eBook readers genuinely believed the quality of my work diminished as I published more and more eBooks. I got pissed at them. Then, after realizing what I just did, by getting pissed, I laughed at myself, and agreed that it is quite possible, that my eBook quality has diminished, to some folks….while to others, I’m maturing like a fine wine.
Self-Dialog Inside the Mind of Ryan Biddulph
“Maybe the quality of my work has diminished. Maybe not. Oh wait a second; all these rich, successful people, with far more experience then me in some cases, say that my eBooks rock. I must be a darn good author. But, some folks say I’m diminishing the perceived value of my eBooks, by being so prolific. I must be a terrible author. Where am I screwing up? Damn I hate that critic. No, I mean, the feedback is helpful but it hurts. Damn I wish I had a sweet tropical snack now. Maybe a pandan roll. Maybe a hot dog bun filled with strawberry cream. Are the Knicks on tonight? Oh wait a second, back to the critic thing. I am so sick of receiving negative feedback. Wait….I have like 1 critic for every 30 people who vibe with me….what does that mean? This is all so confusing…..I gotta go get a sweet snack to soothe old ego.”
If you’re still around, I salute you. I can barely get through some exhausting self-criticism sessions. Yet, despite hearing the inner talk, some loving, some hating, I published 10 eBooks in 4 months. I had no idea if it was too many in a small time frame, or if I should have promoted 1 with a blitz, before writing the others, or, if I should have published 1 yearly. I have no idea, really, but I wrote, because I something told me to write them.
I wanted to free me and you from the fear of self criticism so I published 10 eBooks in 4 months.
I wanted to free me and you from external criticism so I published 10 eBooks in 4 months.
I wanted you to travel like me, through paradise, so I published 10 eBooks in 4 months.
I wanted to inspire you to retire to a life of island hopping through smart blogging so I published 10 eBooks in 4 months.
I wanted to see if my fingers can become as solid and durable as Bali bamboo, so I wrote 10 eBooks in 4 months.
I wanted to see if I could write 10 eBooks in 4 months, so, I, published 10 eBooks in 4 months.
Despite hearing that internal dialog regularly, and despite having some of my true feelings, verified by folks offering their feedback, and despite wondering if I mucked up the whole eBook thing, from time to time, I published 10 eBooks in 4 months and now I’m on an aggressive promoting/stalking people for reviews/eBook blast world tour, stopping at your local email address, or via your local social networking site.
Authors Who Struggle to Be Prolific
Authors who struggle to be prolific surrender to their negative self talk. Authors who struggle to be prolific surrender to their excuses. Authors who struggle to be prolific write eBooks for the wrong reasons. Authors who struggle to be prolific write not to free themselves, or to free their audiences, but rather, to make money or to become famous.
Is it this way, across the board? Hell no! Some prolific authors write for dough I’m sure, but not the famous ones. Any author who’s sold 1 million copies or more revisits the idea of being passionate about writing, and being passionate about writing for their audience.
Oh yes, “passionate” is code for freeing yourself and freeing your audience, because when you play/write from a passionate space, most of the time, you’ll free your audience in some way, shape or form.
I feel free after reading any of David Sedaris’ books. Ditto with James Patterson. Ditto with Tony Morrison. All brilliant, best-selling, prolific authors who free themselves, breaking the bonds of what they believed to be possible, for them, so they could entertain and free you, for the hours you spend wrapped up in their story lines.
I struggled to write 1 eBook for 4 years because I surrendered to my limiting belief, that nobody would read, let alone buy, what I published.
Hmmm…..after 10 eBooks, I might just be bitch-slapping that excuse around, don’t ya think? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, listening to my negative self talk and publishing books anyway was the only route I could take when my desire to free myself, and to free you, was stronger than my fear of doing uncomfortable stuff. Uncomfortable stuff meaning writing and publishing eBooks.
Being Prolific
I enjoy laughing at myself, and putting myself in situations where I can easily laugh at myself. This post is going live while I’m in New Jersey but I’m writing these words from Ubud, Bali.
We lived in a Balinese neighborhood. A compound actually. No, not a David Koresh type compound, but rather a little village/commune of sleeping rooms/bedrooms and kitchens with plenty of open air in between. Kelli and I see a number of older Balinese women from da ‘hood every day, when we head into Ubud proper.
After throwing up our signs – Klebang Moding, repping to the fullest – I say a word or 2 in Indonesian to the village people. Oh yes, forgot to mention, the women speak about 1 word of English because we’re living in a Balinese village 20 minutes from the nearest tourist trap.
I feel like an awkward idiot sometimes when shouting out a “Selamat Sore!” or “Selamat Pagi” or “Apa Kabar?”, but I do it. I actually have fun with feeling like an idiot. After tiring of using the same word, on some days I flash a Thumbs Up sign and grin like the Chesire Cat. Wouldn’t you know some of these old women smile back and flash the Thumbs Up sign? Then, laughing, a few speak in rapid fire Indonesian and really let out a holler at times.
Are they having fun, or making fun of me? Who knows? Who cares? I went out on a limb to make a connection but MORE than that I just plain was at peace with having a good laugh at myself, by not taking myself too seriously.
I make freeing but uncomfortable choices daily to connect with women who speak a different language.
Aha! Here’s a nice little analogy for you, all of you aspiring prolific authors…..you too, will need to make freeing but uncomfortable choices daily to connect with readers who speak a different language, but in the reader’s case, it’s not about English versus Indonesian…..it’s more about connecting with new readers who may laud you, or pan you.
Prolific authors ride a roller coaster of emotions to become prolific. Prolific authors reach new readers, and build bonds with established readers, because even if they are afraid to write a new book, or, to tackle a new topic, they still write the new book or tackle the new topic.
Prolific authors can be dropped in the middle of a Balinese neighborhood, and even if they fear awkward interactions with sometimes topless, older Balinese women, they do the uncomfortable but freeing thing of chatting a few words in the native tongue – averting eyes to ground, in the name of keeping things decent due to Western shame – and tossing in more Thumbs Up than a Roman emperor, and Chesire-cat grin smiles, in the process.
OK, we’re going to tackle a few practical tips, and guess what? I even have an eBook to promote eventually. Some time this year. We’ll get to that point but I wanted to lay the mental groundwork effectively because hey: I mean, despite feeling like a fraud sometimes, I do feel inspired much of the time. Despite feeling sensitive to critics sometimes, I do agree with them, and have fun with any mistakes/errors/flubs, much of the time.
Despite feeling like I may have went over the top, a handful of successful entrepreneurs wrote glowing endorsements in response to the money I paid them in response to each one of my eBooks. J/k folks!
I really, genuinely, want you to be here with me. I want you to blog from paradise. Today, we’ll discuss a few practical tips for publishing a handful of eBooks in a short time frame.
If you want the Full Monty – clean version – or the whole enchilada, or the whole shebang, check out my eBook. I’ll link to it. OK, I’ll not just like to it, I’ll slap you upside of the head, with a big old, impossible to miss advertisement, at the post’s end. If it’s too big of an advertisement, lash me with a wet noodle. I’m a big boy. I can take it.
1. Why?
Why do you want to publish 10 eBooks in 4 months? I’ll tell you what I did: I decided to publish 100 eBooks 5 months ago. That was it! I was dead set on the number. Why? To free me, and to free you. To bring you to paradise.
I scaled down the number after writing a handful of eBooks because unlike an octopus, I have 2 arms. If I had 8 arms to work with and the mind of a savant maybe, just maybe, I could publish 2 to 3 eBooks simultaneously. Maybe.
But alas, I am human, flawed, but somewhat inspired Ryan Biddulph.
RB likes living in paradise, but more than that, he really, really, really intends to free his audience, too.
(By the way, I snapped this image in Bali, at the world famous rice terraces about a 5 minute motorbike ride from where we lived.)
I see eBooks as easy, affordable products for just about anybody to buy, for their betterment. Anybody can drop a few duckats to purchase a study guide. I liken my eBooks to study guides. They’re longer versions of these 6,000 word posts – about 15K words – that can be study, digested, and used to help you accelerate your blogging growth.
I had to set a somewhat pure intent to create at that pace. Now I’ve since changed course; time for my promotional blitzkrieg. But I went through a prolific phase, writing 2,000 words daily, to publish eBooks every 2 to 3 weeks.
Freedom. Imagine being fitted with a straightjacket. Author limiting beliefs are the straightjacket.
The:
I have no time to publish an eBook
I couldn’t publish more than 1 eBook a year
I don’t know how to promote an eBook
Where do I start? (The Blogging from Paradise eBook series, silly!!!)
It’s impossible to write an eBook on my topic
I don’t think people will buy an eBook related to my topic
I think my topic’s been covered already (yep, just like every eBook in creation lol)
I think Ryan’s lucky/talented/stupid/driven/focused/obsessed to publish 10 eBooks in 4 months, and I’m just not lucky or talented or foolish enough or focused enough or obsessed enough to do it (guilty as charged on the stupidity thing)
I don’t live in an inspired enough environment to create an eBook (buy a plane ticket)…..I can’t afford a plane ticket (you can afford anything you really, really want….hey, why did you whine about 2 limiting beliefs in this single bullet point? I don’t know….it seemed appropriate for continuity purposes….ok)
I don’t know a good designer (hire Phillip Dews)
People are going to criticize me (yes, they will….and you may even….gasp….live through the experience!)
Geez and crackers. Here I am, opening up this post. I’m one point in. I’ve written 2450 words. Or something like that. We’ll see what makes the chopping block.
My eBooks are all about 15,000 words in length. Do you get it? Can you see, why, if you know why, you want to publish eBooks, and if you tie that reason to being free, and if you want to be free more than you fear challenging your limiting beliefs, that you may just become an eBook publishing machine?
Or, that you may just publish your first eBook if your desire to free yourself and your audience is greater than your fear of doing uncomfortable things?
I hope you do.
Practical Tip
I kinda have my reason why – freeing me and you – tattooed to my mind. If you can tattoo, something inanimate. Anyway, I am good. But other folks may not wish to pay a visit to your local mental tattoo parlor. Or, you may be developing the awareness to carry your freeing reason why with you, mentally. Goodness knows I lose my way at times, and get a bit flustered when uncomfortable situations arise, but I kinda guess I’m doing OK in this department. Kinda. Guess.
You my fellow eBook author – or prospective eBook author – and/or blogger, you may want to use this practical tip.
Write your freeing reason why you want to publish eBooks (Caveman Style) on a piece of paper. Make that paper your best friend. Carry the paper around with you. Make that paper your compass.
If the Knicks are about ready to lose play against the Cavs and you just know that you need to write the first chapter of your eBook, that trusty little, annoying little piece of paper can inspire you to drop the remote and pick up the laptop.
I’m all for watching the Knicks. I have been for 33 years. But I sometimes make freeing yet uncomfortable choices because I’d rather be a bit freer than bound.
Think of the straightjacket analogy. The excuses/limiting beliefs/lazy activities are the straight jacket and your freeing reason why, well, that’s both the key to the lock AND the good old struggling and squirming required to release yourself from the jacket.
Being a one-time resident of the Loony Bin, I know how it works. Joking. But I do understand how that nice little tipping point occurs. Be free more than you want to be comfortable. Be free, to free your audience, more than you want to be comfortable, and you’ll get why I published 10 eBooks in 4 months.
Goodness knows, you know my reason why. Look up. Look down. Damn. Island hopping doesn’t suck. I think at least. But island hopping requires you to do uncomfortable/freeing/sucky things at times. Not really sucky, but, well, slightly scary, but freeing, things.
2. Make Your Point and Get off of the Stage
Disclosure: this is the name of a chapter from the eBook.
Disclosure: said, with irony, by the guy who writes 6,000 word posts. Pelt me with tomatoes, ha! I can take it.
I see a general trend online. I hope it sticks. Long form blog posts, are growing in popularity. At least in my cyber corner of the Universe. While, good old eBooks on the other hand, are becoming shorter. I believe this is a good thing because most long eBooks NOT covering some type of intriguing, page-turning fiction tend to be as dry as the Sahara Desert.
I know, I know; I can be dry as hell too at times. All part of being human. Largely though, like any human being with a somewhat clear intent, and a sharp focus, I do my best job and tend to inspire my ideal readers.
Talk to them. Not me. I.e., check some of my reviews. Just not the negative ones, ok? Thanks, ha!
I pretty much say what I gotta say then I get the hell off of the stage. Anymore, and I envision myself the victim of a Vaudevillian style cane job, being yanked off of the stage neck first.
Showtime at the Apollo
Did any of your New York/ New Jersey folks – or Americans for that matter – watch Showtime at the Apollo? Imagine a variety type talent show/deal showcasing talented singers, rappers and comedians. Now, imagine the same show, showcasing not too talented singers, rappers and comedians.
When somebody really stank up the joint, a colorful, raggedy, bum-type character called the “Sandman” would jump out with a push broom and sweep these jokers off of the stage while a siren sounded in the background.
More than a few eBook authors create without the Sandman clause in place. After 10,000, or 12,000, or 15,000, or maybe, 20,000 words, they should have exited stage left. Now, the filler starts, as does anxiety, tension and lack of self worth.
Some authors are struggling to get through Chapter 3 of eBook 1 – already at 10,000 words – while I just published eBook #10 in a 4 month stretch. Quality counts. Which is EXACTLY why you should say what you need to say, and get the hell off of the stage, before the Sandman pops up to push broom you off of the stage.
You’ll know when it’s Filler Time (note the play on words, Miller Time, for all folks in the 37 year old, and older, sports-watching set!). Creating an eBook will feel stressful, harrowing and flat out frustrating. Believe it or not, people will pay $12.97 cents for 15,000 words of value, practical tips, entertainment, and a bit of Ryan Biddulph jocularity. I see some seriously restricting mental blocks out there: some eBook authors feel that when you hit some magical word count, that your eBooks will stop being “expensive” and will start being a “bargain.”
Endorsement Break
I guess this guy likes my eBooks
(back to your regularly scheduled programming.)
Could I be off base? Of course! I know a few hyper successful authors or bloggers who publish 30,000 or 50,000 word eBooks. They rock. I admire them. I don’t necessarily disagree with them. I just cannot tell a lie. Not that they’re lying. No way. They’re truth-tellers, for sure. It’s just that I’d be lying if I told that you stretching eBooks out beyond 15,000 words because you’re hell bent on reaching a word count, is a smart, effective practice for becoming prolific.
I Am Not a Talented Writer, But Damn It I Will Tell You a Fun Story
I’m under no allusions. I don’t have the writing talent of Hemmingway’s left pinkie. I can tell a somewhat entertaining, practical, helpful story to a set of folks who wish to blog or publish eBooks from paradise, in 15,000 words. After that, it’s a drag for both me and my audience. That’s my niche. I got that. I am clear on that most of the time, so I understand that, unless I wish to lock myself in a room, for weeks on end, while living in some exotic tropical paradise, I ain’t writing an enthralling, riveting, colorful, vivid story, in 50,000 words or more, because I’m also a:
Blogger
Freelance writer
Blogging coach
World traveler
Southeast Asian snack lover
Friend to street animals
Friend to captive humans
Frequent flier
Workout nut
Serial meditator
I am not ONLY an eBook author. I wear many hats. All I need to do is to free myself and my audience by solving some pressing blogging or eBook writing problem in a direct, clear and entertaining fashion.
I also publish shorter eBook-sized posts weekly here – and some shorter 2,500 word posts from a while back – so I am priming the abundance pump by giving you oodles of free information via my blog. All it costs you to read and use this helpful stuff is finding an internet connection.
I am no idiot; these posts may or may not be nice little previews of my eBooks. So putting pure altruism aside, you can see I’m a dark mastermind, with devious, selfish motives….oh yeah, toss in, freeing you forever so you can retire to a life of island hopping through smart blogging, and I guess we have a little balance.
Anyway, I wear a few hats. Related to blogging, and to living a freeing internet lifestyle, so it is not practical to create something that is longer, more time-consuming, and fully contradicting the prospering internet lifestyle I’m promising you.
So, if 10 eBooks in 4 months sounds impossible to you, or 4 eBooks, for that matter, take a more resonant route, or be honest with yourself. Maybe you can say what you gotta say, and get the hell off of the stage more quickly? Maybe?
15,000 words? 12,000 words? 18,000 words? You make the call. Just make sure you say what you gotta say, and exit stage left, before the Sandman comes a knocking with his push broom!
3. Let Go the Blitz (Brilliant Piece of Advice and Terrible Mistake, Depending on Your Goals)
I have something funny to share with you. I made a booboo. I did so to showcase my brilliance and stupidity. First we’ll start with stupidity.
In my pursuit of becoming wildly prolific I wrote 10 eBooks in 4 months with a largely ineffective promotional strategy in place. I felt an intuitive nudge twinged with some greed, and, here we are. So I allowed some stupid little ideas to push me to crank out eBooks every 2-3 weeks, which was an error.
The same error was one of my most brilliant accomplishments. Or so, I think. Publishing 10, 15,000 word eBooks in a 16 week span is no joke. My cyber resume ain’t hurting, by adding this feature/feather to my cap. So I allowed a bit of inspiration to push me to crank out eBooks every 2-3 weeks, which was a brilliant, brand-building, game-changing move.
Depending on your motives, take or leave this 3rd piece of advice. If you want more than anything to publish 1 eBook, then, do a 1-2 month promotional blitz on the eBook, then by all means, go for it. This is the most traditional method used by virtually every successful author. Scrap the 3rd piece of advice all together. It’s not for you.
Just mosey on down to the comments section to leave your thoughts, if you’d oblige me?
But if you want to publish 10 eBooks in 4 months without being a demi-god, you’ll need to follow this piece of advice to a T. Because you’ll run out of time, or go mad, otherwise.
You’ll largely need to keep writing eBooks without any massive, promotional blitzes spaced between releases if you want to hit these numbers. Remember, you can always promote later. That’s what I’m doing now.
All the free giveaways offered in exchange for reviews on my blog, and on Amazon, and all the kind bloggers who’re reviewing my eBooks on their blogs (without little old me even asking them to do so), well, all that’s happening as we speak. I am doing blitzes now, and I gotta admit; it doesn’t hurt to have 10 eBooks in your arsenal, to promote to a few audiences at once. Spreads your brand awareness, quite quickly.
However, some authors may see this as kind of setting up some confusing “promotional blitz crosscurrents”, the whole promoting multiple eBooks at once bit. I’ll let ya know a few months down the road, how this shakes out, promoting-wise. So far, so good, though.
Feedback on this One
When I published this eBook, and the 9 prior, here’s some of the feedback I received:
You are a god Ryan…..I’ve no clue how you do it! (only on the weekends, and please kiddies, accentuate the lowercase ”g”)
Releasing so many eBooks in such a short time frame dilutes the perceived value of your eBooks (this may be the case…and yes, gods get this criticism quite a bit, compared to mere mortals)
Can I have your autograph?
What’s your secret?
Your eBook quality has lessened from eBook to eBook; slow down, stop rushing (may be some truth to that, you truth telling sticks in the mud!!)
Each eBook is brilliant (wait a second I lied; nobody has bought all to the best of my knowledge…I added this one myself lol)
As you can see, I intend to keep things light. I’m self-deprecating, and I actually, laugh and smile as I write these words – you can ask Kelli – yet I genuinely intend to free you and me, by being prolific, and by publishing 10 of these suckas in 4 months.
Some evidence of my intent can be divined through my celebrity endorsements and customers reviews….if of course you trust these folks.
Overall though, you have to listen to your heart on this one. If I am remaining true to the title of this post I gotta offer you this piece of advice. So run with it, to publish multiple eBooks in a short stretch. Remember, you can always promote the eBooks at a later date.
If however this idea sounds too daunting, and you feel it wiser for you to go a more traditional route, by publishing 1 eBook and doing a promotional blitz for 1-2 months before publishing your next eBook, run with it. You’re right. Or more importantly, you’re doing what vibes with you, and what vibes with your predominant intent.
I Do Not Live a Normal or Traditional Life
I began writing this post in Ubud, Bali. As I type these words, I’m 40,000 feet over Malaysia, flying to Bangkok, Thailand. When this post goes live I’ll be spending time with my family and friends in New Jersey, before we head out to some tropical paradise where the temperature exceeds 75 degrees on most days of the year (Kelli’s requirement not mine).
I do not live a normal or traditional life.
So I can’t offer normal or traditional advice.
I’ll offer advice on how to publish 10 eBooks in 4 months. Other folks far more brilliant and successful than me, will gladly offer opposing advice. Feel free to follow their advice unless you want to become a full time, professional island hopping blogger. Then you may want to give my advice a second thought.
If you want to become a professional blogger, ya know, the fulltime variety, you’ll want to think through my advice too.
Hell, some of the heavies who supported me may offer different advice but they believe in my advice, for becoming a full-time island hopping blogger, or for becoming a full time blogger, that they support me enough to endorse me, for what I do.
I genuinely believe that creating in wickedly prolific spurts and bringing your creation to the masses is the most direct way to inspire a large, targeted audience. My intuition largely told me so.
I also believe that you can do this. I know you can publish 10 eBooks in 4 months or you can publish 1 eBook in 4 months if you want to be free and you want to free your audience more than you fear doing uncomfortable stuff.
Heck, I’ve only written about 6,000 words and I feel like I’m just getting started. This is the short version. The preview, for figuring out how to publish 10 eBooks in 4 months. The meat and potatoes are inside the eBook at the post’s end.
This post was about giving you a free foundation with which you can go to market. You can start playing the mental gymnastics now. You can pick a title, and topic, and build your outline, now. That’s all covered in the eBook.
But now…..the 2nd most important factor – after picking a freeing reason why you want to publish eBooks – needs to be discussed. Here we go.
4. Publish Only What You Love Writing About
Wow……this section is a blog post topic, on its own. Publish only what you love writing about. I find eBooks flow gradually from my mind to Word Doc to PDF to Selz or Amazon if I publish eBooks I enjoy writing.
Not so with dry, boring topics….at least to me.
\
I am no bookworm. I enjoy reading the odd crime novel and gotta admit, I’m a tad bit obsessed with James Patterson novels but I don’t necessarily love reading.
Again, look up top. Re-read the post’s title, kiddies. How to publish 10 eBooks in 4 months. We’re talking quality and volume here. Words flow when you let go, and you let go when you publish your passion.
How can you find eBook topics you feel passionate about?
Well:
Cover topics you could gab about all day long
Cover topics you know inside-out
Write eBooks about fascinating stories from your life
Publish what makes you come alive
Stay away from numbers/stats/research based posts
Stop it! All of you! I can hear you already. You’ve placed my head on a platter. Or you want my noggin on a platter. Hey I don’t blame ya. The last bullet point may influence some heavily fact based, research-driven, bookwork type authors, to point bullets in my direction.
I get it.
Some authors genuinely enjoy writing heavily-researched, in-depth, thorough, numbers and stats and facts heavy books.
More power to you.
Go for it.
I personally find these eBooks/books to be boring as hell. If I want dry, I’ll go spend time in the halls of academia. My audience prefers to blog from Bali, not from a lecture room. We like to publish from Phuket.
10 eBooks in 4 months. Doing something epic. Or worthy. Few have the self esteem, confidence and clarity to do it – I sure as heck didn’t, and fell into my prolific nature by accident, kinda – but the few that do will find deep reservoirs of talent and a steely resolve which inspires their audience, and which also opens a nice steady passive income stream.
I am not arguing *against* heavy research, I’m supporting good old fashioned storytelling, and publishing your passion, to enjoy the ride and to become prolific.
Caveat
OK, guilty as charged. Here’s Mr. RB eating crow. Or at least, snacking on a wing. I did research over a period of years, collecting experience in the school of life. Now, I could have backed much of what I discussed in these eBooks with stats, facts, studies, but I just decided to say:
“I’m a professional blogger who’s lived in Fiji for 4 months. If you find that remarkable, and want to know how I did it, lemme tell ya a few fun stories, and lemme share a few practical tips with you, to explain what I did to become successful and to explain how you can blog from paradise, too.”
That approach has inspired me to free myself and to free you. That’s my intent. That’s how we do in these paradise parts.
Oh Yeah, the eBook Thing
Enough already. My fingers are screaming for mercy. Can you hear my digits?
I gave you a healthy taste of what it takes to publish 10 eBooks in 5 months. Right here in this blog post. But if you want the whole shebang I’ve published an eBook covering the same topic.
I lay out, step by step, what I did to build the eBook publishing side of my Blogging from Paradise empire. Or, my fiefdom. Or, my small collection of folks who see some value in a guy who shares what he did to go from pier guard to Peru. Or from Jersey, to Jimbaran.
I did it. I know you can do it too. Being a prolific author builds your expertise, establishes your authority and helps you inspire a growing number of aspiring bloggers and authors.
I recalled 4 years ago. I piddled in my pants at the prospect of creating a product. Yet here I am. If I can do it, so can you, and by holding my freeing intent for the both of us I done went out and published 10 eBooks in 4 months (I’m *really* watching too much “Justified”).
We do practical tips and stories here. I find that a delish combo, as do my blog and eBook readers.
So if this sounds like something that vibes with you and if you don’t believe I put a gun to the head of my generous reviewers, well, check out my eBook here.
How I Published 10 eBooks in 4 Months (and How You Can too!)
Your Turn
Do you publish eBooks to build your blogging brand?
How many eBooks have you published?
What tips would you add to this list?
Do you fall slave to your fear of being labeled a fraud instead of churning out eBooks?
Call to Action
Ummm….I think you get it, by now. My audience is sharp.
The next step – if you vibed with this post –is to pick up the eBook to learn how to publish inspired eBooks at a machine-like pace.
Buy this on SelzSelz powering ecommerce websites
88 Flares
Twitter
38
Facebook
16
Google+
14
StumbleUpon
18
Pin It Share
1
LinkedIn
1
88 Flares
×
The post How to Publish 10 eBooks in 4 Months appeared first on Blogging From Paradise.