Help with Video, Marketing, Publishing, and Story Productions

Category: Publishing

Think Different about Publishing, Marketing, and Story Productions

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

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?

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

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!

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.

Five Steps To Flow: A Simple System To Put Your Book Together

Betty Withrow presents Five Steps to Flow to get you on the way to writing and publishing your book. Steps to writing your book.

The 30-minute will be live at 1 pm, Monday, September 18th. Watch it live or in replay here:

View on LinkedIn

Betty Withrow and Greg Dixon offer a small group workshop series that takes you from idea through writing, editing, publishing, and marketing your book over four months.

They also offer a Complete Book Writing and Publishing Retainer if you prefer to work one one-on-one with them on your schedule.

Your Complete Book Journey ~ Writing and Publishing Retainer

Where are you in your book writing and publishing journey?

Still pondering ideas and titles?

Have notes and perhaps an outline?

Do you have a fairly complete outline completed?

You have a draft ready for editing and moving to the next step?

Do you have more than one book in mind and are pondering which book to complete first?

We Have You Covered!

Our Complete Book Journey Publishing Retainer can take your books from ideas to books in the hands of readers.

We meet with you weekly to discuss where you are at and the next steps.

We encourage you, offer writing support, provide editing and formatting, and help design a cover and get the book published.

Your Book Journey with Betty Withrow and Greg Dixon

Here is what the journey looks like working with us.

  • Meet with you to explore where you are at with your writing, where you want to go, and what you want to get out of writing one or more books.
  • Create a set of shared folders on Google Drive for collaborating on brainstorming, idea collection, writing, editing, and formatting.
  • Meet weekly to discuss where we can help and the next steps.
  • Collaborate on more than one outline that will grow into the book. We will provide a template with all of the usual sections that go into a book.
  • We provide writing support and editing as we build out the manuscript.
  • At some point, we will move from writing to an editing and review phase.
  • We format and provide review copies in PDF and ePub formats to get feedback from other people.
  • When ready, we help you submit to Amazon Direct Publishing or a platform of your choice such as Ingram Sparks and Book Baby.
  • We can help you approach book agents and publishers if you want a traditional publisher instead of self-publishing.
  • All along, we encourage and support you to premarket your book through various marketing strategies including building a list of people to send excerpts and invite to the book launch.

How Long Does The Process Take?

The time frame depends on where you are at in book development, how complex the book is, and how much time you have for the project.

Betty Withrow’s ghostwriting and coaching projects often take from eight to ten months.

A book project starting with a solid outline could be done in three months or less.

We are very flexible and can work at your pace. If you need to take a break from the project, we can pause the retainer and resume later. tack Or we can move fast to get it done.

Your Complete Book Journey ~ Light Retainer

This is our most affordable offer and perfect if you are comfortable writing and plan to do most of the writing yourself.

Here is what you get:

  • A writing and publishing roadmap customized for your publishing goals.
  • Folders and templates on Google Drive for writing, review, collaboration, editing, and basic formatting.
  • Weekly meetings to review progress and discuss next steps.
  • Light writing coaching and support. We will write some bridge content where appropriate, though you will do the majority of the writing.
    Betty Withrow offers full ghostwriting services if needed.
  • Editing rounds when the writing is complete.
  • Manuscript formatting with review copies.
  • Manuscript submission.
  • Prelaunch, launch, and ongoing marketing support.

$540 per month for as long as you want our support for one or more books.

Standard Retainer

The Standard Retainer includes everything in the Light Retainer, plus:

  • The domain name and website for the book promotion and launch.
  • More writing support.
  • More support for blogging and social media posts, including video clips.

$1080 per month for as long as you want our support for one or more books.

Development and Launch Packages for Your Book

We provide a complete range of book development, publishing, and launch marketing packages to get your book launched in the world.

You can jump in at the beginning or at any point in your book journey.

Your Complete Book Journey Publishing Retainer

We offer a number of packages to handle each of the main phases of your book production journey. Continue to read down this page to learn about those packages.

Our best offer is a monthly retainer designed to take you from wherever you are in your book journey through to the publishing, launch, and marketing of your books for as long as you want to write and publish books.

The retainer includes all of the services listed in the packages delivered over a time frame that works for you.

Starter Package

We meet with you do plan your book development and create a space for you to work and collaborate with us in Google Drive.

The package includes:

  • Planning
  • Roadmap
  • Book Outline (that will develop into the finished book. You can copy to make versions)
  • Place for notes

$400

Writing Development Package

Betty Withrow will work with you as a writing coach and we will help get the writing of your book done.

The package includes support for two months to gain momentum, keep you on track, and develop your book.

Clarity | Focus | Momentum

Your book could take more time to complete.

$800 – $1800

Manuscript Preparation Package

We work with you to make sure all of the components that go into a published book are prepared and edited.

This includes three rounds of editing and review to ensure the book is ready for the next step.

$800 – $1800

Formatting and Launch Package

Now that the writing is done, we get the book formatted and launched.

Includes:

  • Book formatting for print and eBook.
  • Cover design
  • Uploading and publishing

This package assumes publishing with Amazon Direct Publishing using your Amazon account, with you reviewing the settings and pushing the submit button.

Alternatives include submitting to platforms like Ingram Sparks and Book Baby.

Note: Submitting to a traditional publishing house is something we can discuss if that is the best publishing path for your book.

$800 – $1800

Book Launch Marketing Roadmap

We often say the time to start marketing your book is the day you start writing it.

We can outline a strategy and roadmap for that.

$400

Book Launch Marketing Package

We can help you implement a comprehensive marketing campaign, including:

  • Content for blog posts, social media, and video to create buzz for your book.
  • Landing pages with optin to get launch notices.
  • Book sales page
  • Help with the launch party.
  • Post-launch strategies to keep the momentum going.

$800 – $1600

Your Book Journey From Idea To Launch

Your Book Journey

August 14th Broadcast

Betty Withrow and Greg Dixon can help you take your book from notion to launch.

They can help you every step of the way through the process. If needed, they can recommend specialists to help in specific areas.

This article takes you through the journey that most books take.

Your book may be at the very beginning step.

Or it may be a few steps away from publishing.

Betty Withrow and Greg Dixon can help take you from where you are today to where you want to go.

What Do You Want To Get Out of It?

One of the first questions we ask when discussing your book, is what you want to get out of writing a book.

Some of the following may apply to you:

  • You Want To Write A Book To Simply Write A Book.
    You simply want to create something and go through the creative process of writing a book.
    Often that is the best only reason you will ever need. Simply enjoying the process and finishing is a success.
  • You Have Stories To Tell.
  • You Have Wisdom and Skills to Teach.
  • You Want to Enlighten The World.
  • You Want to Change The World.
  • You Want Influence and Authority.
  • You Want A Lead Magnet
  • Another Calling …

You may not know why you are feeling compelled to write a book and that is okay.

Writing and creating is a human gift and simply taking the writing journey is reason enough.

The true reason may not be clear until you have finished.

Or the reason is clear to you now, which will help clarify the choices you plan on your writing and publishing journey.

Your Book Ideas

Do you know what you want your book to be about?

What titles do you have in mind?

Do you have many ideas and possible titles in mind?

Write them all down.

Brainstorming

Brainstorm you ideas, capture them for building a process. 

You can carry index cards with you, speak into your phone, jot them down in a notebook, or whatever system that appeals to you.  

Set a time each day to sit with your idea and gather more ideas. 

When you begin to build the creative habit, it becomes easier to get the flow going.

Capturing

Put your notes together and see what common threads appear.  Find themes that you want to develop.

Outlining

Outlining is a fabulous tool to plan and expand your book (or plans for almost anything).

Think of the arc of meaning that you want your book to encompass.  

Find a beginning, middle, and end to the topic and put together a series of chapter headings that outline your topics.  

This will be used to give your book a coherent structure and make a creative flow appear naturally as you get clear about exactly what you want to present.  

The outline is like the skeleton of the human body, holding up the muscles of the meaning and the flow of energetic feeling that makes the book have a life of its own.

Google Drive Folders

With Google Drive, it is simple to share information among people on the team and collaborate effectively in real-time.  

Topics, media, chapter materials, each can have its own place in a system built to serve your exact needs.

Author Coaching

Many people find that having a writing coach is good for developing the content of the book, gaining more depth in what is being presented through guidance and focused questions that build the creative momentum.

Betty is experienced in this and finds that when people get focused clarity, the momentum of writing is greatly enhanced.  

Often people do not realize how much knowledge they have to offer the world.  

Gain a perspective that can broaden the appeal of your book and make it more useful for your business application, so you can make the most of your book project.

For fiction, Betty can support character and plot definition, clarify questions about the voice and tone of the book, and give support to make the plot line flow smoothly.

Ghostwriting

For those who don’t have the time to write a book, Betty will work with you to make your book appear with your own voice and showing your expertise to the world.  

Through recorded interviews and collaboration on outlining, themes, and more, Betty’s process will make it simple and easy for you to accomplish your goal of having a book that establishes your authority and brings you the benefits of having your knowledge and experience highlighted for the world to see.

Developmental Editing

An effective editing process is crucial to the success of a book, making it readable and engaging.  Ideas that need to be expressed fully will be brought to your attention and Betty will ask you specific and detailed questions so that you can add depth to your presentation.  

Syntax, flow of ideas, fundamentals of grammar structure, all of these contribute to making your book enjoyable to your reader.  

The goal is to have every idea flow seamlessly into the next, fostering thoughtful reflection and engagement so that your information is simple and easy for your audience to understand and absorb.

Manuscript Preparation

We conduct a careful review of the words and spelling in your book along with a review of the flow of information and copy correction makes your book manuscript reflect your professional approach to your work.

Book Formatting

Greg will format your book using modern software that gives a polished appearance to every page.  

Table of contents, footnotes, other additions to the book, all are put into pages that are pleasing in  layout and draw in the reader. 

You will have different formatting options for different types of platforms.

Cover Design

What kind of cover do you want to have?  

We offer several options at different pricing levels to suit your book’s purpose and your budget.

Publishing

Uploads to online platforms like Amazon, IngramSpark, Lulu, BookBaby, ….  

We will also discuss the route to getting a traditional book publisher if that is your goal.

Launching

Unless you are writing the book for the sheer joy of writing it, you will want to run a book launch with marketing buzz, press releases, and other actions to launch your book.

We can help with that.

Marketing

Betty Withrow Greg Dixon offer a full range of marketing services that could be applied to your book launch and promotion.

Repurposing

The content of your book can be repurposed as online courses, podcasts, blog posts, social media posts, and more.

Our Service Packages

Here are our book publishing services and packages.

Book Writing

We work with you to go from idea to completing the book.

Book Publishing

We provided editing, formatting, and publishing services to get your book launched.

Book Marketing

We help you get your book in front of readers.

Book Repurposing

We help leverage your book for a wide range of media outlets.