In this episode of Collaborators Unite, host Chuck Anderson speaks with book launch expert Keren Kilgore about the intricacies of writing, publishing, and marketing a book. They discuss the importance of having a strategic plan for book launches, common mistakes authors make, and how to monetize a book beyond just sales. Keren emphasizes the need for authors to connect energetically with their message and the significance of marketing in ensuring a book's success. The conversation also highlights the importance of timing in launching a book and the support available for authors throughout the process.

GUEST BIO

Keren Kilgore is a publishing and book launch expert with over 25 years of experience helping authors bring powerful messages into the world. She specializes in author coaching, editing, publishing, and strategic book marketing, ensuring writers retain full ownership of their content and royalties. Through her signature Book Launch Blueprint and holistic, energetically aligned approach, Keren helps transformational leaders turn their books into platforms for impact, income, and influence.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest

01:08 The Importance of Book Launching

02:04 Karen's Background in Publishing

03:22 Common Mistakes Authors Make

05:37 The Blueprint for a Successful Book Launch

07:59 The Importance of Timing in Marketing

09:14 Monetizing Your Book Beyond Sales

11:12 Transformational Impact of Books

14:24 When to Start Working with a Publishing Expert

17:16 Energetic Connection in Writing

19:10 Marketing Strategies for Authors

22:25 Final Thoughts and Next Steps

LINKS:

Book Launch Blueprint Program

https://90daybooklaunchblueprint.com/

Free Masterclass: “The 7 Hidden Traps That Sink Book Launches (and How to Avoid Them)”

https://90daybooklaunchblueprint.com/7hiddentraps

Book Assessments / Author Coaching Services

https://quantumshiftmedia.com/book-assessment

Was this episode helpful?

Please leave us a review and subscribe to the show to be notified of future episodes.

Until next time, keep moving forward!

Chuck Anderson,

Affiliate Management Expert + Investor + Mentor

https://AffiliateManagementExpert.com/

Hi everybody, this is uh the Collaborators Unite podcast, Chuck Anderson here, your host,

and this is the show for who we call Big Impact Experts.

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And that's you if you are on a mission to make a big positive difference in the lives of

your clients, your community, and even the world with the transformational work that you

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do and the message that you bring and the way you can serve, the way you can help.

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people and you know, a big part of that mission is getting the word out about what you're

doing and many experts that we know have chosen to write a book and to put their message

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into an impactful book.

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And if that's you, today's episode is going to be great because it's going to be all about

how to launch that book and how to get more people to see that book, right?

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uh Writing is one thing, getting people to uh consume it is another.

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So today I have Keren Kilgore with me who is an expert at launching books and making sure

that you market it correctly.

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Keren, welcome to the show.

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Thank you, Chuck.

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Thank you.

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It's a pleasure to be here.

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It really is.

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Yes, and I am so excited to have you here.

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We've had several conversations about this.

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And I think about when I wrote my first book, uh writing it itself was a huge feat.

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I was very happy when it was done.

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And then you hit the publish button.

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And then for me, I don't know if this is for everybody, I waited and I waited and I

waited.

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And it's like, oh, okay.

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I think there's more to it than just writing the book.

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So I'm so glad that we're going to talk about this today because we want to see this, you

know, this transformational message that our audience has get out there in a big, big way.

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So I think a great place to start is tell everybody a little bit about yourself and how it

came to be that you're, you're, doing this right now.

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And then we'll kind of get into what they need to do.

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Yes, so I have been in the publishing industry for over 25 years and help authors write

books.

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I help them really write a good book.

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I energetically connect to that, to them and their message and really pull the content out

of them and refine it.

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So that's like, yes, that's exactly what I was trying to say.

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And so I do the author coaching, the writing, the editing part with them.

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And then the publishing part, I do book covers, interior design, setting up the whole

book.

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And what's important to me is that the author owns all their content.

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um I don't take royalties.

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don't take, know, all the money comes directly to the author.

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I even give them all their original files so that if they want to change anything, they've

got access to everything.

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So that's really important to me that the owner keeps all the intellectual property and

all the files and has all rights to it.

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ah So that's what I've been doing.

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Then I found that, and I love doing that.

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I love the publishing and the coaching to get a really good book out there.

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But then I found that they have a really great book, but they don't know what to do with

it.

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They're stuck.

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People really think it's just gonna sell itself.

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They honestly think, I'm just gonna let a few people know and then the book's just gonna

sell itself.

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And it doesn't, it really, really doesn't.

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uh It takes a really strategic plan to get a book into the marketplace.

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And I call it a good plan so that you can take right action.

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And if you have a good plan, you can take it.

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But a lot of people try shotgun approaches on it and it doesn't work.

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You try a few social media posts, um you tell a few people, you talk about it a few times,

but there's no cohesive strategy and they get frustrated.

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people get very frustrated and rightly so, rightly so.

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Yeah.

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anything, makes a lot of sense to be working from a game plan, a playbook, at least a

strategy.

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And it's not just, I'm going to click on this today and I'm going to do this thing or,

yeah, I really should do that and really sort of winging it.

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And I remember that when I wrote my first book, was a lot of that.

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The mission was writing the book.

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I had no idea, you know, how I was going to market it.

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And...

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which was ironic because I actually do write marketing plans for people.

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I just didn't write one for myself.

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ah What are you hearing from your authors?

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How are they describing their experience right now?

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They've written the book, they're trying to get it out there.

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What are some of the things you're hearing from?

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ah I'm hearing, uh I really don't, I'm not a marketer.

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I don't know.

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And they're an expert in their field, absolutely.

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The message that they're delivering is absolutely they're the expert.

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But they're not a marketing expert.

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They don't know what to do.

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And they don't know what to do when, that's one.

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And then the frustration, well, I tried that and it didn't work.

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And I tried that and it didn't work.

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And so they're, you know, they feel like giving up.

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ah And that's all because they don't really have a good plan.

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So they can't take the right action.

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They don't know what to do and when to do it.

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ah So that's probably the biggest.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, and that lack of a plan, like, where does that come from?

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Like, when you talk to them, was the mission kind of similar to mine?

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Like, it was all about writing the book and not necessarily thinking about, you know, and

that sounds like a mistake.

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Describe that and if there's any other mistakes that authors make while they are on this

journey.

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Yeah, they know their message can really have an impact on people in their business, in

their personal relationships, spiritually, whatever their message is.

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And they're right.

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It really can.

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And a book changes lives.

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I talk about it all the time.

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You read a book at the right moment, and it's like, wow, I really needed to hear that.

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That's exactly on time.

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ah So getting your book into the hands of the right readers is really a skill.

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It's a, you know, the whole marketing part is really important.

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ah And so what uh I have, I call it the blueprint, a book launch blueprint, and it

literally guides people what to do, how to do it, when to do it.

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Another issue is they're like, well, do I send this first or that second?

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What do I do when?

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um They're confused on exactly what to do.

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And so I start with a literal timeline and it's customized.

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And you put in your launch date and it literally calculates every single thing you need to

do and tells you when to do it.

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So you don't have to worry about anything in the future.

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You just do what's on this week and then you do next week and then you do the next week.

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And literally you don't have to worry about anything in future.

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You just do what's in front of you.

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And I can't tell you how many authors that have used that.

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It has relieved so much pressure, so the overwhelm, because it's a lot.

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Launching a book is a lot.

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And it just alleviates the overwhelm, which has been huge.

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So they'll print out the sheet and it's customized and you can, you know, it's perfect for

you.

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They'll print it out and put it on their desk in front of them.

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And they just check off the boxes, did that, did that, did that.

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And then they're on time.

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The book launch is good and on time and very successful.

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So that's probably the biggest thing to eliminate the overwhelm that they're experiencing.

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That timeline is like the backbone.

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Yeah, it's the backbone.

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oh

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amazing.

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And especially for someone who didn't have a plan and they're wondering, what do I do?

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I know I did not have a plan when I launched my first book.

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uh I also wanna ask you too, for those who are not working with a plan, is there a

downside to doing the wrong things in the wrong order?

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Can it hurt you and hurt the chances of your book getting?

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Yes, absolutely, because um they are, you're telling something that isn't, you're not

ready for it yet.

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m And so you're, know, and it's important to create buzz and conversations about your

book, but there's a certain time to do it.

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And if you do it too soon or too late, then you're gonna miss your launch date uh and all

the social media buzz that comes with it.

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So yes, absolutely.

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um And then in the,

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I break it up into basically three parts.

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The first part is planning.

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The first part of your launch is literally planning.

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So we're going to take about two weeks or so, maybe three, two weeks basically, and you're

going to be doing all the planning.

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What do you want the book to do?

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How much money do you want to make on it?

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I have a whole strategic plan, and that's a really big one.

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People don't know, well, it's just going to sell.

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We're just going to sell as many as we can.

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Well, how many do you want to sell because you have to have a good plan to be able to

accomplish it and so if it means you need to get on five podcasts in the next two months

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or how many speaking platforms do you need and how many book signings do you need to be

able to accomplish that and So it tell it gives you the plan to be able to do it now It's

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up to the author to do it.

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I can't guarantee if you're not going to do the work ah the results, but the but

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A good plan is absolutely the first thing to taking right action and having it be

successful.

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So the, um, I call it the, and, and in that I can show you how to make $10,000 on your

book launch by doing these things, but then it's up to you to do it.

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That's the key.

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You got to do it.

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So if you want to be on five podcasts, then you got to get the platform.

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got to book it and all that's involved.

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You know how that goes.

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ah So I show you how you can make 10,000 or more.

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I had one author that could make 500,000 on his book launch ah because I showed him the

plan, how to do it.

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And he said, yes, I can do that.

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So you can make quite a bit on your book.

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Your book is not just a product, it's a platform.

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It's a platform to getting you out ah into many different uh arenas, many different areas.

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So it's the platform that I'm working with, not just the book.

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that make sense?

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Yeah.

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sounds amazing.

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And I have talked to so many people who have written a book, they're marketing it.

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uh They had assumed that they really weren't going to make a whole lot of money from the

book.

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In fact, they were approaching it as that it would be a great lead generator for whatever.

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other thing that they do, maybe their coaching program or their masterminds or in the

transformational industry, there's all sorts of different kinds of programs.

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I'm intrigued to hear from you just about the kind of money you can make just from the

book itself.

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And so, yeah.

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Yeah, from the book itself.

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um Yes, you can make you have to have you have to sell a lot of copies.

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uh But like I just said, the book is is also a platform.

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It's not just the book itself.

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And when I'm working with authors, I recommend get your business into the book itself,

your call to actions, how people can work with you in the content itself.

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And I'm really focused on that when I'm working with authors, because

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your book is like the door to everything else you're doing.

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And I recommend that when they, um like they're telling a story about something and a

problem they're solving in the book, uh how can somebody, you know, how can you solve

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their problem faster if they read that one chapter before they come work with you, like a

consultant?

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So have them read chapter four, and it can save you two hours of consulting time and get

better results quicker.

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By reading that one chapter.

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So that's one way that your book can really serve you but in sales um It's just numbers

sales is just numbers.

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So the biggest way to sell it is speaking speaking platforms um Live speaking platforms

and you sell your book.

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That is the number one way to sell a book um And then when you become more known um People

start buying it.

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Also one book sells another

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um The synergy between two books, three books, start selling, know, one book starts

selling another.

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um But your book is a portal to uh working with you.

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It opens your business, not just the book sale.

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Yeah, and that's so many people I know that have approached their book that way.

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What a nice bonus to be able to make money from the sales of the book and then also have

it lead to, you know, uh getting more clients, more customers for your programs.

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And, you know, when I think about my audience, so many of them are in the transformational

industry.

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Their mission, if you ask them, is I want to make a big impact.

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Mm-hmm.

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And you know, so a lot of them, their book has started as that sort of that labor of love

is like, I have something I want to say, I have this thing or this, this, this, this

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message that can help other people's lives.

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And that's about, that's about the amount of planning that that goes into it.

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true, yeah.

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And it's really true.

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That's about all they think about.

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So how do you actually accomplish that?

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And that's really what I focus very strongly on that when I'm helping an author write the

book.

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Because what do you want somebody to do?

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What's the application?

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What do you want them to know or feel or be when they're done reading a section?

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And then how can they work with you?

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How can you move the book into an actual client?

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Because the book is not going to solve the problem most of the time it's going to give

them information that they really need But it's not necessarily going to solve the problem

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like like it is working with you In a one-to-one, you know or even a group setting ah So

books are the portal to many many different things credibility speaking that you know

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speaking opportunities and I can't if they're

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A book is really important.

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It's really important.

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And launching it correctly, launching it successfully is equally as important as writing

it.

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It really is.

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You can write the book, but if somebody doesn't know about it, it's not going to do much

good.

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I'm thinking right now about what stage in this authoring and publishing journey is ideal.

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When should they start talking to you or working with someone like you in terms of is it

before they start writing?

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Is it after they've written it and they're ready to get it out there?

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Like what's ideal from your experience?

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Where should someone start working with someone?

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that's a great.

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ah I have had people send me their books.

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I do book assessments for people who have already written their book and I'll do an

assessment on it.

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It's a high level health check.

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And so I'll point out things that are missing or uh holes, assumptions that the author has

made that the reader isn't gonna get.

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ah But ideally, it's better to start before you even start writing.

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Because as we're working together, there's editing, developmental editing, coaching at the

very, very beginning.

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And so you're gonna write it smoother, easier.

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You're gonna have a first draft done instead of writing the whole thing and then rewriting

it and rewriting it again.

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ah So at the very beginning when you're just starting a book is ideal to start working.

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Um, and I, love doing that because I connect energetically to their message and I can say,

well, I'm feels like it's wants to go this way.

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And this is, is this what you're really trying to say?

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And we start honing it.

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I'm working with a, um, a therapist now on a book and he's at the very, very beginning

stage.

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And so he's probably written five pages.

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He knows exactly what he wants to say.

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And he's a great storyteller.

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And so we're outlining it and he's like, I know what I gotta do.

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I can do this now.

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And so it's gonna be an excellent book because he is doing it the right way the first time

and we're gonna have a really good first draft in probably a month.

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I would say maybe six weeks.

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We'll have the whole book done.

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I'm working with somebody else and she's writing her first book and doing the same thing.

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So she's pulling a lot from her journals.

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um So I'm working with her on the application.

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And the book is excellent.

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It's gonna be really good.

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It's a transformational book.

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It's called The Power of And, and that's gonna be a beautiful one.

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And the other one I'm working on is called Fear Less.

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It's about having less fear in your life.

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And both of them are really beautiful.

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I love it when books like that come because it just lights me up.

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I love working on the content of that.

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And then after they've got it written, then we're going to do the marketing part.

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The marketing part is just as important as writing.

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Just as important.

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And the cover, the way the book looks, needs to be really competitive.

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I've seen so many self-published books that just could be up-leveled and be more

competitive just with a better cover.

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Even just the way the cover looks could make the book have more value, more credibility.

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Hmm.

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It sounds like there's, it's never really too early in the journey to reach out to you or

have a conversation with you.

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And so I would imagine you're able to be proactive with a lot of things if you get them

early enough in the journey, but it's not too late either, right?

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And so, yeah.

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not too late either.

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One thing that I um one thing that kind of sets me apart from other other people in the

publishing industry is the energetic part of working with somebody.

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And I do uh it's called mastery of self coaching.

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I coach people through being a master of yourself.

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There's 28 principles.

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And the way this applies is that when people are writing stories, they get stuck in the

story.

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Sometimes the emotions

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of what they're writing, they really get stuck in it, starts coming back.

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And I guide them in a transformational meditation, I take them into their subconscious, I

connect them to their higher power, and beautifully resolve the issue in their

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subconscious.

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That's where the issue lives, in the subconscious.

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And ah it's the most amazing thing.

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So I do that a lot when I'm working with authors, is help resolve issues that they've been

carrying, stuck places.

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that they've been carrying for years.

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And so that's, I love doing that.

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I love helping people ah get over that.

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And it probably takes 10 or 15 minutes.

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It's not a big long therapy session.

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It's just a subconscious connecting to your higher power and literally shifting it.

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And ah I do it all the time.

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And it's, I love it.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, especially if you're writing a transformational work, how important it is to be

connected energetically when you're writing.

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And there's a vibe that comes, it's not just about getting the words out.

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It's about what, you said it earlier, what feeling does it...

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does it generate in the reader?

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And we talk about that in marketing all the time.

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I work with a lot of people on their webinars and their workshops.

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And I always tell people, it's not about the content, it's about how you make them feel.

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Because when you make them feel something, they will do something afterwards.

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And so that's the true transformational work.

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And then when the author is stuck in that and they can't get past that, where the

meditation process that I guide them through is really very effective, very efficient and

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permanent.

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It really works.

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So that's a beautiful part that I enjoy doing with authors.

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And then when they have their book, the marketing, and as we mentioned earlier, oh

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um They are really experts at what they're doing, but they don't know the marketing part.

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ah And the blueprint will help them know what to do.

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And uh part of it is what to say to people and when.

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When do you say it?

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When do you mail it?

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When do you, you know, all that.

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So in that timeline that I mentioned, ah I give them templates for everything.

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I give them templates for emails on how to build a launch team.

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how to say what they need to say, how to get reviews, to get um testimonials,

endorsements, I have templates for everything.

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And then also um the social media.

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So that's a big thing.

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What do you say on social media and when do you say it?

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Do you announce the book or do you create buzz?

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Do you say it's for sale?

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And there's a certain process in the social media, the whole.

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It's two months of social media that you need to be posting before the book comes.

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So the first part is going to be creating the buzz and then building your launch team and

then announcing it.

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You don't want to announce your book too early and then it's not available.

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And you don't want to announce it too late and then they miss the launch.

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So there's a real timing in that.

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And the Blueprint walks you through every step of that, gives you all the templates you

need for it.

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Amazing.

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Yeah.

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Yep.

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If you want a successful launch, I haven't seen anything that works like the Blueprint.

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ah It gives you everything you need.

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And I support it.

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I have a weekly open hours.

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And so there's live support if you're stuck or have questions about any part of your

launch.

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I have a weekly open hours.

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Come to the Zoom call and ask any question you want.

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And I'll help point you in the right direction, give you the tool you need.

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A lot of times they'll come and they'll say, this a good book cover?

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Or ah can you look over this email?

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Is this the right email?

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And I'll say, yeah, tweak it a little bit here.

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ah They'll show me some of the social media they're creating, and I can say, this is

really good.

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Put more pain points in it on these posts.

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ah And so it's really hands-on coaching through their launch.

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So they're not alone in it.

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They've got support the whole time.

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That's big.

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Yeah, and just having that that reassurance that you're not alone and and and where

someone who knows what they're doing can look at your stuff and say, is this right?

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And I think that, you know, in just in some of the work that we do and I get some of those

questions as well, it's like they want to know that they're on the right track.

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Exactly.

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avoiding mistakes.

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And we talked about avoiding mistakes earlier in this episode.

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It's like, yes, you can do the wrong things in the wrong order if you're not following a

plan.

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And, you know, and so that we want you to try to avoid those kinds of those kind of

pitfalls.

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And that can get in the way of the impact you want to make.

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um

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This has been amazing and we're almost out of time, but I wanna make sure that we give

people a next step in working with you or even just learning more from you.

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And so I know you do master classes regularly on this.

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Tell everybody about your master class and we'll make sure that we put the link beneath

this video so that they can go sign up for it.

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Yeah, that's great.

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do monthly, it's called the seven hidden traps that sink book launches and how to avoid

them.

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And in it, I go over the seven things that most authors get stuck in.

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One is isolation, like we just talked about.

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um They're doing it all on their own.

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And so in the masterclass, I uh talk about all those points.

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I also give tips on book marketing things.

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So everyone is a little bit different.

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um And so come join us.

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It's only an hour.

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I keep it to one hour so that we can have the most value in it and it's completely free

and would love to have people come and just and ask questions if you you're stuck on

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something come and ask a question because that's that's the biggest thing the unknown what

you don't know you don't know is probably the biggest thing um and so come and ask

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questions and I'm happy to answer anything and help point you in the right direction

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I've been doing this a long time, so 25 years in publishing.

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so I can help point you where you need to go.

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Yeah, that sounds great.

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Well, if you want to be pointed in the right direction, uh then highly recommend that you

sign up for it.

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And it's free, right?

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This is a free masterclass that you do.

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So the link to this is right beneath this video.

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If you're watching this on video and if you're listening to this on your podcast, just

open up your phone, the player that you're on, I put all of Keren's links there as well.

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So.

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Yeah, that sounds like a great next step.

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And I know we've just scratched the surface and just even as we were discussing this, I

had so many other questions, but of course, knowing that the scope of a 30 minute

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interview, we could literally launch into a full day workshop very, very easily, which,

know.

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this is where we wanna connect the dots.

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If you resonate with what Keren has been sharing and you wanna make sure that your book

makes the biggest possible impact it can, think reaching out to Keren for sure, uh go

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attend the masterclass because you'll learn what you should avoid and then what do you do

about it, right?

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And I think you're gonna guide them towards the blueprint.

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that will really just lay it out for them.

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So that's wonderful.

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Keren, this has been great.

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And I so appreciate you and your generosity with your content and your tips and just

really just pulling back the curtain on what it takes to be successful with a book launch.

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And so thank you for that.

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And I'm just wondering if there's any final piece of advice or words of wisdom that you

want to leave?

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with our audience here today.

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Yeah, I want to say that your voice matters.

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It really matters what you have to say.

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Really matters.

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People need to hear it.

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And there might be, you know, even just a handful of people who's like, that's exactly

what I needed right now.

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And they can only hear it from you.

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So get your voice out there.

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Be brave.

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Be courageous.

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Get right your books and get them launched.

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Get them launched.

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Get them out there into the world.

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The world needs what you have to say.

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It does, the world does need what you have to say and that is beautiful message to end

this episode by.

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So Keren, thank you so much.

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And to our audience, thank you for being here as well.

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And the fact that you're still listening to our voices right now means that this topic

resonated with you.

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And I want this time to be meaningful and impactful for you.

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One of the things that I'm always on my soapbox about is taking action.

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I want you to take an action step, something that you heard us talk about here today that

reminded you, yeah, I need to do that, or I've been putting this off, or whatever that is.

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Go do that thing today.

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And if you don't know what the action step is, and you should do this anyways, go register

for Keren's masterclass because that is a great next step as well.

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And you don't know what you don't know.

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So go and...

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and learn about that.

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And remember that, uh like Keren said, your message does matter and your voice does

matter.

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And the big impact that you want to make uh is possible.

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And you might be one collaboration away from the big breakthrough that helps you to make

that big positive impact.

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And Keren might be that person to collaborate with.

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So go and reach out.

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So uh until next time, everybody, keep moving forward.

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and we'll see you on the next one.

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Thank you.