In
honor of Stephen Covey, who published The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People 30 years ago, I give you The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Authors.
Covey,
whom I had the honor to promote briefly, years ago, delivered a breakthrough
book that has sold at least 25 million copies worldwide. The audio version was the first non-fiction
audiobook in U.S. publishing history to sell over a million copies. It has spawned imitators and influenced two
generations. So what are these seven
habits that will transform one’s life?
1.
Be
proactive.
2.
Begin
with the end in mind.
3.
Put
first things first – prioritize.
4.
Think
win-win.
5.
Seek
first to understand, then to be understood.
6.
Synergize
and combine strengths with other collaborators.
7.
Grow -- physically,
spiritually and intellectually.
Authors
would serve themselves well to adopt the principles of leaders like Covey and
other self-help gurus of the past century, including Dale Carnegie, Norman
Vincent Peale, Tony Robbins, Echhart Tolle, Earl Nightingale, Zig Ziglar, and
Og Mandino. But if we had to synthesize
the habits, skills, or mind frame of authors who want to be successful, look no
further than these seven principles:
1. Make
marketing your brand as high a priority as writing books. Your words will be wasted if no one reads
them. Write for impact – then call
attention to your work. This means you
either promote to the news media or perish.
It means you need to execute on social media, too. It means you need to make public appearances
and speak. It means you need to
creatively and consistently market your voice, persona and books. Act with a
sense of urgency and conviction. There are no barriers. If you can’t do something, hire someone to
help. Barter with people who can help
you.
2. Don’t
forget to actually write a really good book.
Don’t put your ego or greed before your book. You can’t expect fame,
riches, or even to influence some readers unless you actually invest your time
and money to writing, researching, and editing a book that meets a
high-standards test for quality. Good
enough is not enough. Strive for
greatness.
3. Act
as if. Act as if your book is great and
helpful. Act as if people should want to
talk to you and buy your book. Act as if
you will be successful. But always act
and not get drawn into endless planning, fantasizing, or hoping. Action beats
any idea. Action is what leads to more
action.
4. Understand
the landscape today. You are competing –
daily – with 4,000 new books published.
You also compete with the millions of books in print and available to
consumers. You compete with free content
and at libraries online. You compete
with other forms of entertainment (plays, TV, movies, etc.) and sources of
information (seminars, news media, professionals). You compete for the attention, funds, and
interest of others who could be doing a thousand things other than read a book
(games, play a sport, travel, work, chores, exercise, walk the dog, tend to a
sick child, help a parent, see a doctor get a new car…you get the point). So, don’t let the world overwhelm or burden
you – there’s still room for enough people to buy and read your book. Figure out how to navigate through the
competition and maze of life – there is a marketplace for your book, but you
need to carve it out. Readers and
consumers won’t seek you out or even know to look for you. But they do have needs, desires, and emotions
to fill – and they are open and receptive to those who can deliver a solution.
5. Network. The only way you truly grow is when you have
advocates – people who can do something for you. The more people you meet and get to know, the
better chance you’ll find people who are willing to help you. You ‘ll find people who are willing to help
you. You might not even have to ask
them, but many you will. So, don’t be
shy and remain isolated on the sidelines.
Get out there. There are free
gatherings all over. There are paid events
and seminars, too. Of course, you can network online endlessly.
6. Remain
open and receptive to new ideas and different ways of doing things. Keep educating yourself and improving
whatever skills you’ll need to be a better writer, marketer, speaker, and
networker. School is just the beginning
of your education, not the conclusion. You don’t get a degree for the learning
you do beyond high school, college, or graduate school, but it is the most
important learning that you will do.
7. The
last principle is luck. This has two
sides – one is yes, you may get lucky and there’s no harm from benefiting from
that! The other side is be
opportunistic. Luck comes to those who expose themselves to others and try new
things and to those who convert every situation into an opportunity. What does this mean? It means you never stop
thinking and asking: How can this person help me? You meet someone on a food line? Find out what they do. Talk to your uber driver-maybe he knows
someone who can help you. Ask your network
of friends and family for specific favors such as introductions to other
people. Even when you have a good
opportunity, such as someone being willing to give you a testimonial, don’t
stop there. Ask for more: Can they email or tweet to their network? Will they introduce you to someone who can
market you? Could they give you the lucky break that you need? You won’t get
lucky unless you ask and put yourself out there.
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
How authors get their book marketing mojo – and avoid
failure
Authors cannot succeed
without the right attitude
So what is needed to be a
champion book marketer?
Should You Promote Your
Book By Yourself?
The Book Marketing Strategies Of Best-Sellers
How authors can sell more books
No. 1 Book Publicity Resource: 2019 Toolkit For Authors
-- FREE
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