What is an Entrepreneurially Sound book? BookWise Book Writing Contest

September 24, 2007 |

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Don’t you love contests? I sure do. Even though I know that judges’ opinions are just that and I may or may not agree with the results, I can’t resist entering writing contests. Since I am part of BookWise, I am eligible to enter the annual book writing contest.You are too if you sign up this week.

Maybe you have a book that’s done or nearly done and you would like to have an agent review it. Yes agents review all the entries. Tracy Repchuk is also entering the contest. She is a fabulous author, and it is great to have high caliber competition. Go get her book if you enjoy stories that suck you right in!

Both my entries and tracy’s will be entrepreneurially sound. When you come to me for author coaching, you will learn this in great detail. What does that mean? What is entrepreneurial authoring and what makes a book entrepreneurially sound?

Many books go from start to finish and have very little about the author other than an About page and a website. An entrepreneurially sound book invites the reader to participate with the author, perhaps to receive a free CD or enter a contest or take a class or invest in coaching.

Let me show you how I coached one of the entrants to make her book submission entrepreneurially sound. Cat Muldoon, author of Rue the Day: The Undercover Heir, Book 1, showed me a collection of stories. first let me tell you that Cat’s book is a suspenseful fantasy rich with imagery. Her stories are also magical but so real you feel yourself there in the action. She is very good at teaching people about the craft of writing.

We talked about it and she decided to do a writer’s challenge at the end of her stories to encourage people to write and to submit the entries to her. I also suggested a reader challenge that would get people interested in winning prizes and they would sign up on her list. This would let her build both her fan base and potentially people inviting her to speak at writing conferences. You can read chapter 1 of her novel in the book and find out how to purchase it. She also included an offer she makes to her list. Cat will come via phone to your book group to talk about Rue the Day and/or writing. The last thing she added to make her anthology of stories entrepreneurially sound was to start a story of the month club, which she will roll out in October.

One very cool thing about Cat’s book club appearances is that she offers to send you recipes to have a Faerie tea party or feast using recipes from the book. I love that!

So to review, these are the ways Cat’s book is entrepreneurially sound: She appeals to readers and writers and gives them reason to sign up on her list. she offers to speak to your book group (and of course she’ll sell you the books they’ll need!) She includes a chapter of her novel, a monthly story club, and ways to contact her to have her speak to your writer’s group or conference.

Brava, Cat Muldoon! I pronounce your book Entrepreneurially Sound!

You want to have various ways to interact with the author and take another step. The more an author can motivate a reader to be involved, the better for both. Better for the author because you get people on your list who are definitely interested in what you are doing. Better for the reader because when you sign up on the author’s list or buy a product, you are getting a solution to a problem.

Look through 10 books on your shelf and observe whether they have invitations to continue along with the author.

I do hope that if you have a book done/nearly done, you will enter the contest, if only to stretch yourself out of your comfort zone.

Tags: success, Awaken The Author Within, spiritual tradition, I\’ll Push You Steer, story, mentoring

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Ronda Del Boccio, The Story Lady of Storyation.com is an author, dynamic speaker, author coach, story coach.

She is the author of I'll Push, You Steer: The Definitive Guide to Stumbling Through Life with Blinders On

The Kama Sutra of Storytelling: Positioning, Power and Profit

and her upcoming book...
The Geometry of Success: 5 Simple Shapes that Shape Your Life