Shared Visions Unlimited

Help with Creation, Marketing, Publishing, and Story Productions

Category: Publishing (Page 1 of 2)

Sample Story Productions with Greg Dixon

December 17, 2024 /
Magic Stories

Here are some sample Story Productions I have created in the past.

Each one is unique for content and media.

Your family or personal story will also be unique to you.

Ruth Townsend’s Musical Journey

Ruth Townsend asked me to put together her musical story from age five to give to her grandchildren.

Shy prepared a short video introduction and we compiled photos, images, clippings, and video to tell her story.

I created a multimedia PDF that I put onto USB thumb drives in the shape of a piano that she put into a nice gift box for each grandchild.

Some of the grandchildren are now at college and have the story pianos with them.

See tellyourstory.productions/ruth_townsend

Felicity Morgan Family Stories

Felicity Morgan wrote a memoir about growing up in Victoria, British Columbia.

We combined video, photos, text from the memoir, and her daughter Ann reading the memoir as a Story Production website.

See felicitymorgan.ca

Robert Hollender Book

Linda Hollender commissioned us to capture her father’s life story. We usually shot videos, but Robert was reluctant to speak on camera.

Instead, we used a microphone and a smartphone to record his story, which we transcribed and assembled into a book with photos that he gave away to friends for his birthday party that year.

Last year, Linda gave away copies at his memorial service.

See tellyourstory.productions/robert-hollander/

The Rocket Norton Vault

I worked with Vancouver musician and author Rocket Norton for decades on many projects, including concert promotions, publishing his books, selling his How to Coach Baseball to Kids video course, and driving a Lincoln Town Car for his driving service.

Much of that I collected into a multimedia portal called The Rocket Norton Vault.

I also helped promote three cancer benefit concerts related to his battle with cancer. Rocket organized and performed at the first two concerts. The one this year served as a memorial.

I had the honour of creating a memorial video shown at the concert.

Preserve Your Personal and Family Stories

My encouragement is for you to capture the stories of your loved ones while they can still share. Our time on earth is fleeting.

You can start with taking photos, video, and audio with your SmartPhone at family gatherings. I have created videos on the process in the past and am working with new resources to help you.

I am also available to craft new and existing content into story productions.

Please make an appointment to discuss.

Consider Creating a Website as a Publishing Destination for Your Book

October 26, 2024 /

Emphasizing the Unlimited part of Shared Visions Unlimited Publishing, I encourage and help you to publish your book in multiple formats on multiple platforms, including:

  • Printed Book and eBook through Amazon and IngramSpark
    Put your book out far and wide forever and possibly make some money.
  • FlipBook
    Easy distribution and support for multimedia elements. Help people, build authority, and increase influence.
  • Digital Experience Edition
    Secure multimedia portal for your book content and support material. Great potential for direct sales.
  • Audiobook
    A market for those who prefer to listen.
  • Video Versions
    Illustrated readings, training, …

Today, I suggest adding a blogging website to the mix and possibly starting by writing and publishing your book on a blogging website.

Why You Would Consider Publishing Your Book As A Website

This is for you if your reasons to write and publish a book are along these lines:

  • You have joy in the creating and writing process itself.
  • You have insights or stories you want to share with the world.
  • You want to increase your authority and influence.
  • You may want to use a book as a lead magnet for your products and services.
  • You want to engage your readers with your content and get feedback to improve the print book.
  • You collaborate with an editor or writing coach.

This is not for you if you are a perfectionist who
wants everything perfect before sharing.

I build high-performing and search-engine-optimized WordPress sites for marketing and various other purposes. Here is why this approach can work for your book and why I am going to use this approach for my own books:

  • WordPress provides a great platform for writing and collaborating on posts and articles.
  • Attention to Search Engine Optimization and submitting to Google Search Console can boost your search presence.
  • The pages can have rich multimedia content and links to related resources.
  • WordPress provides a good search function for the site itself. This is fabulously useful.
  • The Google Translate plugin can translate the site instantly. I still think this is amazing! Check out the language selector at the bottom-right of this window.
  • You can invite feedback and comments for your content as you go.
  • Sharing to social media platforms is easy.
  • Linking back from social media platforms and YouTube is easy.

Writing Live and Testing Content

I have a few books in mind: The First Book of Lazy, All My Relations, Adventures in Moving, and The Golden Publishing Sales Machine.

I will create a website and start writing at least one of those books live soon.

Here is the plan:

  1. Register a domain name with the working book title.
  2. Create a website with key plugins, including Yoast SEO, Google Site Kit, and Ultimate Blocks.
  3. Create a home page with a book description and a working outline of topics.
  4. Write the first chapter.
  5. Submit the site to Google Search Console for indexing.
  6. Write a chapter regularly. I will aim for at least three a week.
  7. Post a link to each chapter on social media.
  8. Consider doing a broadcast for each chapter.

I use Grammarly to keep my writing somewhat under control!

If I get readers and interest, I will combine and publish in some or all formats such as a print book, eBook, flipbook, audiobook, and Digital Experience Edition.

At the very least, I will have fun writing and publishing the chapters:-)

Want to try it for your book?

Let’s chat about the possibilities.

Greg Dixon, Chief Cheerleader
Shared Visions Unlimited Publishing

Seven Easy Steps to Writing and Publishing Your Book

October 15, 2024 /
Seven Easy Steps to Writing and Publishing Your Book

Do you have a book taking up real estate in your head?

It’s time to get it out of your head and out to the world as a book.

It is not hard. If you have a good idea of what you want to share, the writing and publishing can be done comfortably in a month for most books.

Here are the basic steps:

  1. Choose a topic and a working title.
  2. Create a chapter outline
  3. Write the chapters
  4. Do a few rounds of editing
  5. Format the document for submission
  6. Create a cover
  7. Submit for publishing

The next actions expand on the steps.

You can do it all yourself or have Greg Dixon help you work through the steps.

1. Choose a Topic and a Working Title

In this step, you determine the topic of your book and choose a working title that represents it.

Don’t worry too much about the title. After writing the chapters, you can refine the title, subtitle, and book description to represent your writing.

2. Create a Chapter Outline

The outline creates the overall structure and content organization for your book.

You can write your outline or chapter headlines in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Atticus, or a writing tool of your choice.

Once you have the outline, the rest is filling in the space with content.

3. Write the Chapters

You can write the chapters with content to support the title of the chapter.

The content can be as simple or complex as you want to communicate the subject.

4. Do a Few Rounds of Editing

Read through and edit your manuscript a few times on your own until you are happy with it.

You then have others or a professional editor look through to make suggestions and adjustments for improvement.

I recommend a few rounds of reading and editing.

5. Formatting the Document for Publishing

Amazon and other publishers have specific formatting requirements for submitting your book.

The formatting will change according the trim size, such as 6 x 9 or 5 x 8. 6 x 9 inches is a good size for most books. You can find the details on the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing pages.

This is where I typically jump in the process for our book clients. I use Atticus to format the book for print and eBook.

6. Create a Cover

Creating a cover that meets the print publishing specifications is the trickiest part.

Amazon will generate a cover template based on trim size, page count, and paper type for use designing a cover.

Amazon also has a decent book design feature when you are uploading the book.

This is another area where I can help with the cover design or tweaking an existing cover to meet the specifications.

7. Submitting the Book

We generally submit to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and to IngramSpark for people who want to get their books into bookstores and libraries.

The process is mostly completing forms and uploading files.

Amazon will then provided an online preview and conduct a quality review when you submit.

We usually do this for our clients using their Amazon and IngramSpark accounts.

Your Fun Publishing Journey Retainer

For a modest monthly retainer, I can help you with all parts of your publishing journey, from writing to publishing to marketing.

Writing, Formatting, and Proofing Your Books with Atticus and Heyzine

September 3, 2024 /

The main service I provide for our book publishing is formatting the manuscript for print book and eBook publishing with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and IngramSpark.

The tool I use for that is Attiticus at atticus.io.

Formatting

Atticus supports all popular book trim sizes like 6 x 9 inches.

It includes many book themes that can be customized in many ways.

The platform provides good previews of the formatting of the eBook on various devices and the print format.

Writing

Usually, the manuscripts from our clients come in Microsoft Word format that is imported into Atticus for formatting.

Atticus provides a great writing platform for writing and editing books.

Each book section and chapter is treated as a separate block, which makes restructuring your book a matter of dragging the section up or down on the list on the left panel.

The formatting within each section or chapter is highly style-driven in the sense that all headings and all paragraph styles will be the same across the entire book.

This is a good practice that will frustrate style hackers who want to vary fonts, styles, and colors paragraph by paragraph.

I use Grammarly for writing style and correctness. Other writing tools could work for you within Atticus.

Proofing

Atticus outputs a PDF file optimized for uploading for printing. This file represents the book formatting with high accuracy.

We have been sending the PDF to authors and editors for feedback. Adobe does support review comments, though it is awkward.

My current practice is to use the PDF to create a flipbook with Heyzine at https://heyzine.com/.

The flipbook provides a great presentation of the formatting and can be the preferred way to share books where your intention is to share rather than make sales of the book. Like a lead magnet:-)

There are dozens of flipbook creators. Heyzine is easy to use, offers a lot with the free plan, and the paid plans are inexpensive. Heyzine can also publish multimedia magazines.

Want help with your publishing journey? Let’s chat!

Let’s Start With Publishing Your Book

June 3, 2024 /
Book images ~ Start With A Book

Do you have ideas for one or more books or books under construction?

I can help you through the book journey from idea to publishing to marketing.

Let’s Get Your Book Published!

What kind of book do you want to publish:

  • Biography
  • Memoirs
  • Short Stories
  • Novels
  • How-To Books
  • Books for Lead Magnets
  • Travel
  • Children’s Books
  • …

Let’s get started!

No matter where you are in your book journey, we can help including:

  • Clarifying the Book Focus
  • Organizing Content
  • Developmental Editing
  • Copy Editing
  • Manuscript Preparation
  • Book Formatting
  • Book Cover Design
  • Book Submission
  • Marketing

My Golden Offer for this is $388 per month until done.

If your book is nearly ready to publish in one month, a one-month retainer could get the job done.

Or we can add other components of the Golden Publishing Sales Machine.

Or start the next book.

Your choice.

You can book a meeting with us on the pricing page.

Think Different about Publishing, Marketing, and Story Productions

February 13, 2024 /

Consider how book publishing, course creation, stories, and marketing can all fit together holistically for you to share your stories and help people.

As humans, we tend to approach things in silos: write a book ~ create a course ~ sell a service ~ tell my story ~ do a broadcast ~ try marketing here ~ and write some stuff.

Me too.

Over the years I have tried a lot of boxes: writer ~ artist ~ musician ~ course creator ~ publisher ~ video creator ~ marketer ~ software engineer ~ driver ~ logger ~ fisher ~ minor ~ literature ~ philosophy ~ traveller …

Sometimes I think my most accurate job description is Chief Enabler to Do Stuff.

The list a variety of projects is vast and diverse!

Shared Visions Unlimited aims to integrate all of that to provide encouragement and services for Publishing, Course Creation, Story Production, and Marketing.

The essential idea is that we are all creative beings constantly exploring life and sharing things like stories, insights, products, and services to grow lives and businesses.

As Marie Forlio says, “The world needs that special gift that only you have.”

The main principle here is that there are many ways to get your message out into the world.

I will explore expanding and integrating media and strategies in the next sections.

Publish Your Book In Multiple Formats

I have helped people publish their books over the decades because they asked for my help. I recently recast Shared Visions Unlimited to include writing, publishing, and marketing services.

Betty Withrow and I have helped many authors complete their books and formatted and submitted the books to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and IngramSpark to get the printed and eBook versions out through the usual channels.

Here is an expanded list of where the content from your book could go:

We offer all of these versions.

  • Printed Book.
  • eBook (Kindle, Amazon Books, …)
  • Audio Books
  • Podcasts and Broadcasts (serial readings like Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and others used to publish their books).
  • Print Publications
  • Video
  • Flipbooks
  • Print Magazines
  • Digital Magazines
  • Digital Experience Editions

Courses and Membership Programs

If you come to me with a book you want published, I will likely suggest that you consider creating a related course or membership program to leverage your content and benefit more people.

If you talk to me with a course in mind, I will suggest you consider creating and publishing companion books as well.

And a comprehensive plan to develop and market the books, courses, and related stuff all at the same time using my Publishing Sales Machine.

Digital Experience Editions

I use the Kartra Membership platform to create a multimedia repository for books, audio, video, downloadable resources, exercises, and more to create a rich digital version of your book and any related course creation elements.

I marry a course creation platform with multimedia publishing.

Here are some examples:

Marketing Differently 

We often say the time to start marketing your book course or product is when you have the main idea and a working title.

Further than that, you can develop the content as part of your marketing campaign.

Let’s say you have an outline for a course and book. You can present each topic on your outline in live sessions and posts, all leading back to a landing page with an opt-in for a mailing list and a membership that grows over time.

You can start selling access right away, build engagement, and get feedback on your content.

Here are some related articles:

What Is Your Dream Project?

I can help implement the many components to take your books, courses, and story productions from concept to launch.

I can also help you repurpose the golden nuggets in your existing books, courses, and content. You likely have more resources than you think.

Or simply help you market existing products and services.

Let’s chat!

My Golden Offer

Let’s take a look at your publishing and marketing project and find a way to create a win for everyone.

One possibility is a modest retainer plus profit sharing for your offer.

I create the framework and marketing campaigns for success.

How To Sell Books Published Through IngramSpark and Amazon KDP

November 13, 2023 /

Most authors who self-publish themselves or through a book consultant make few or no sales.

Part of the problem is that they upload the formatted files and covers to IngramSpark or Amazon KDP and expect sales to roll in without fully understanding how the books get sold.

IngramSpark

IngramSpark is a great choice for many authors because it puts your book into a very large distribution channel including most book retailers, libraries, Apple Books and Amazon.

So. How do you sell your book through IngramSpark?

IngramSpark does not provide a way for your fans to buy your book directly through them.

You sell by doing one or all of the following:

  1. Buy print copies yourself and sell them.
  2. Take payments yourself and order the books from your author link to IngramSpark to be printed and delivered to the client by IngramSpark.
  3. Convince book retailers to order through IngramSpark and promote your books.
  4. Send them to Apple Books and Amazon to buy them.

The bottom line is:

No One Will Buy Your Books If You Don’t Market Them

And selling the books yourself may required and recommended. We can help with that.

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)

Understanding how your books sell on Amazon is easier to understand.

  1. Upload your book.
  2. Send people to Amazon to buy printed books or Kindle books.
  3. Order copies to give away or sell in person.

Since IngramSpark submits to Amazon KDP, IngramSpark is a good way to get on Amazon and also have a wider distribution through the IngramSpark distribution network.

Our Book Journey Marketing Plan

Betty Withrow and Greg Dixon offer a Complete Book Journey service that takes a book through development, writing, editing, formatting, and publishing through IngramSpark, Amazon KDP, or a book publishing company if you can secure a publishing deal.

Our marketing plan includes:

  • Sales Landing Page.
  • Blog Posts.
  • Social Media Posts.
  • YouTube Support.
  • Book Brigade.
  • Publicity Strategy.

We can also help with the sales and drop-ship model that works well with IngramSpark.

They can also help with direct sales of a digital version of your book Greg Dixon calls a Digital Experience Edition.

The Digital Experience Edition

Greg Dixon creates a multimedia version of your book that includes the text as well as images, audio and video components that enrich the reader experience.

We can create a Digital Experience Edition of your book and make digital sales as soon as the final editing is completed and while the book is being formatted and submitted for publishing.

Generate sales AND create a buzz for the printed book

Let’s talk about what would work for your book ready to be published.

And a Digital Experience Edition may create some life and cash flow to books you have already published that are getting little or no sales.

Let’s talk about your books.

The Best Choice For You ~ Book Journey? Publishing Sales Machine?

October 10, 2023 /
Woman on blackboard. What is the best choice for you?

Betty Withrow and Greg Dixon offer two programs for book authors and course creators: Your Book Journey and Publishing Sales Machine.

The primary focus of Your Book Journey is to take you through all of the steps of writing and publishing a book from idea through launch.

The Publishing Sales Machine combines the book journey with course development and marketing done from the start of the project to attract interest, clients, and sales.

What is best for you?

Betty Withrow has a question she always asks new and potential book clients:

What Do You Want To Get Out Of This?

Today Betty and Greg discuss a fun activity to help you explore the question for yourself.

Your Book Journey With Betty Withrow and Greg Dixon

October 3, 2023 /
View on LinkeIn

Betty Withrow and Greg Dixon talk about what they mean by a Book Journey and how it could look for Your Book Journey.

Betty and Greg can help you with your book from idea to publishing and marketing by either teaching you the steps or by working with you.

Typical Book Journey

  • You decide you want to write a book.
  • Brainstorm topics and themes for a book.
  • Brainstorm titles and descriptions.
  • Collect ideas for the book content.
  • Create an outline.
  • Expand the outline.
  • Developmental Editing
  • Copy Editing
  • Proofreading.
  • Formatting.
  • Final reviews and edits.
  • Submit for publishing
  • Marketing (which we will encourage you to start at the beginning of the book journey).

Your book journey may look a little different, though these are the main steps.

Betty Withrow and Greg Dixon can help you with your book journey from where you are in the process now.

Maybe you are at step one or you could be ready for editing and formatting,

Let’s discuss.

Book Journey Offers

Betty Withrow and Greg Dixon can help you in various ways, including a retainer to take the journey with you.

Publishing Sales Machine

A great path for you could be their Publishing Sales Machine where they combine creating a book, a continuity program, and sales during the development process.

The main idea is that the content that would go into a book can also go into an online course or program as well as be used for marketing to boost your authority and attract clients and sales.

Betty and Greg offer a low-cost workshop program as well as a personal retainer.

Publishing, Marketing, and Membership Sales Machine ~ Great for Authors!

September 24, 2023 /

When clients ask us to help them write and publish a book, we suggest also creating a course and starting the marketing early on the journey.

If clients start with creating an online course or membership, we ask if they have considered writing a book.

And of course, we suggest starting the marketing right away!

We often suggest to clients who want pure marketing services that they consider writing a book and creating a course.

Leveraging Content Immediately

In most cases, the content that goes into a non-fiction book can also be used for an online course and in marketing campaigns to create buzz.

Group Workshops and Presentations ~ More Appealing than AI Content and Marketing

Your content can also be used for workshops and presentations, both to create interest and as part of a paid membership program.

We think it is important to do live presentations and workshops with time for group discussion and questions to stand out from the rising flood of AI content and marketing.

People will pay to engage with you.

Your Membership Continuity Program

There are many advantages to creating a monthly membership program rather than an online course:

  • A great way to test if there is interest in your subject matter.
    If people do not try the membership for something like $1 for the first month, there may not be an interest in the book or course as presented. Back to planning.
  • You can test the content and get valuable feedback. Weekly group training sessions are fabulous for this.
  • You can start generating revenue early to fund the development of the book and online.
  • The content presented weekly can be used for marketing.
  • More people will subscribe to a low-cost subscription than a higher-priced course. You can create stand-alone courses out of the membership content later.
  • Ongoing subscription revenue can grow considerably.
    $20 a month starts looking quite substantial when you grow to have thousands of subscribers. And your only subscription could be higher.
    $97 is quite common.

The Publishing, Marketing, and Membership Sales Machine

Here it is in a nutshell:

  • Create an outline for your content
  • Create a title, description, and first sections
  • Create a landing page for people to sign up for a mailing list.
  • Establish a membership area using a platform such as Kartra (we can provide those components).
  • Plan to create content for a section in your outline each week.
  • Present that content in an online workshop each week. You can offer the workshop for free, with supporting resources and recordings going into the paid membership area.
  • Offer the monthly subscription at a low trial rate for the first month.
  • Continue until the book and program are completed and published.
  • Start the next book and program.

Our Publishing Sales Machine Retainer

We also offer a monthly retainer to help you implement all the steps of your Publishing, Marketing, and Membership Sales Machine.

Our goal is to generate revenues as early as possible to pay for the retainer.

$540 per month until cancelled

Meanwhile, book an appointment with us to learn more.

Our Publishing Sales Machine Membership Program

Walking our talk, we will offer a membership and workshop series to teach you how to implement the Publishing, Marketing, and Membership Sales Machine yourself.

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