By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio
www.yourbookisyourhook.com
As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences. Today let’s talk about the power of participation when making your book your hook.
An author succeeds the most when a team is formed around him or her. Those with a team go farther, it seems, than others. Enrolling experts in areas not so familiar or strong is a common practice for people in all professions and walks of life.
There is a poignant distinction, though, that cannot be denied between hiring someone to delegate a task to and collaborating with a hired helper. Whichever way you choose to support your project, the core component that will determine your success is not related to the people you hire. It hinges on how powerful your own participation is in the process.
When you hire help, experts and assistants require information, direction and a clear understanding of your purpose and goals for your project. Without this, each individual you want to hire could be the top in their field, yet it is next to impossible for them to do their best work for you and your book when they don’t have this essential guidance and input from you, the creator and originator of the work.
It is not about whether or not you have the money to hire an expert to help you, but rather what you prepare and bring forth to the process on your own that counts.
In the interview I did this week with Renee Giroux on the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show, Renee talked about how it is not enough for an author to hire her to create and craft an amazing website for them as an author and also for their book. The author must provide input and feedback during the course of its development so that it resonates with the author’s intentions, good feelings about the project and their personal presentation style.
During last week’s show, I had this same conversation with Penny Sansevieri of Author Marketing Experts, who clearly stated that one cannot hire her and her team and then disappear without providing input and direction for their book marketing and publicity activities. They have to be a willing participant in order for the strategies chosen to truly work.
The power of an author’s participation is greater than you think. You must provide the heart, passion and purpose of your project to those you hire to help you get your message out. These are the same qualities and points of information that only YOU can provide to your reading audience who are scattered throughout the general public and want to know why they should read your book.
Without you, your book cannot be your hook because you are needed to put forth the fuel and fire required to make it hook your reader, vendors and collaborators.
People and experts, by our very nature, want to work with someone who is excited about their own project. When the author is psyched up and ready to take their project to greatness, experts line up to get on board with it because the enthusiasm of the author becomes contagious. They want to be a part of it because the project has momentum, joy and excitement wrapped up around it. When the author falls in love with their own project, it’s easy for others to jump right into the love fest and fan the flames of project’s energy and attraction to more people.
But that juice for your project has to stem from you and your vision, purpose and passion for what you wrote about and what you intend to do with it.
Marilyn Perlyn, a mother of a young daughter at the time she experienced the life events that she eventually wrote about in her book, continues today, more than twenty years later, to joyfully promote and praise her book project as her hook for helping children, parents, grandparents and teachers learn how important encouraging empathy in our children really is. She is passionate about her own experience that changed her life and the lives of her whole family. She speaks lovingly of her own transformation caused by the unanticipated response and actions her own daughter took at the moment of someone else’s pain – someone not even related to her yet so much a part of her life – the pain she saw in her first grade teacher when her daughter died as a result of an illness.
Marilyn, as the author, has spoken inspirationally to schoolchildren, community organizations, parents and teachers about the premise of her project and why it’s important to acknowledge and, furthermore, encourage this behavior in our kids. She has been recognized with awards and imparted her perspective to her own children who have also been recognized for their own efforts to make a difference in other’s lives. They have been interviewed on Oprah! and as a family, they have received more than 30 awards including the National Daily Points of Light Award.
Marilyn’s book was published in 2004. Since then she has been a willing participant in every step of the process of writing, publishing and promoting her book. She continues to seek out advice and guidance from experts for how she can further promote her project and expand its message so it can continue to be heard by new audiences. She is an amazing example of the success the author of one story can enjoy. And joy is the right word for Marilyn. Her investment is way more than money. Her investment in her project is love – love for all those who benefit from the message of her book – and she does everything in her power to bring that message home to the hearts of everyone she meets.
When you as an author invest your participation, love and passion into your project, you too will enjoy amazing results from the team of experts you hire to help you and you’ll achieve greater success with using your book as your hook.
For more information on this Education Corner topic and others, please refer to www.YourBookIsYourHook.com/blog for more articles and resources to help you with your books.
When you start seeing your book as your hook for your brand, you’ll find it is so much more than just a book.