Here are some places with some recommendations:

from the Life of E’s blog:

http://meggin.com/lifeofes/wordpress/2008/06/resources-for-publishing-ghost-writers/

From Speaker Net News (which is absolutely worth subscribing to, free) and they have questions and compilations of answers. This is from 3 years ago, but is still worth perusing:

http://speakernetnews.com/post/selfpublish.html

From LinkedIn

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/marketing-sales/writing-editing/MAR_WED/586989-11003738

Gini Cunningham, who is the person who teaches the 30 Articles in Just 30 Days class with me has used Lulu on several of her latest projects and is really liking that company. I have seen others who have used that service, too and their books turned out well.

My recommendation is to look at some other self-published books and see which ones are well done and which ones aren’t. There are some dreadful examples out there – poor quality, etc. and you don’t want that, of course.

I called in just before 5 pm PDT and waited for twenty minutes but no one called in. I hope that none of you called in later and wondered where on earth I was off to. Well, I have been off to all corners of the west, but I have tentatively (until Monday at least) landed in Winnemucca. All of this travel has been rich and fulfilling but the yard and garden have paid a heavy, dried-out price.

I am going to assume that all of you are equally as busy, hopefully with writing interspersed with swimming, sunning, hiking, and working. We spent 3 weeks at our cabin where internet connections are limited but writing time is unlimited. I arose early (most mornings) and tapped away for a few hours, enjoyed coffee and conversation and cards with the family, and then returned to tap some more. When it came time for connection with the real world, I hopped on my wonderful Dahon folding bike (fits in the trunk in a 2x2x1 bundle and can be carried with one hand) and rode fearlessly/fearfully through wild side-road drivers to Elkins, a resort with picnic tables and WiFi. Here I enjoyed peace, writing, email and phone contact, and huckleberry lemonade or a daiquiri (after noon!).

Sometimes my son rode his bike down to meet me and chat; sometimes my sisters loaded into a car and came to rescue me from my work; sometimes I quietly worked, then loaded laptop into backpack and peddled back to the cabin. Calm enveloped me, words invaded me, tranquility filled me. What a combination. After coolness and lake weather I returned home to heat but I also returned with a sense of accomplishment. Two items that came to fruition were assistance with a book a colleague wrote and I edited and published for her with lulu.com Her work focuses on helping non-deployed spouses and children. Incredible information and I learned so much. We have 2 more projects developing.

I also edited a work on Yosemite and the exploration and promotion of it by James Hutchings – wow. I will never view that marvel in the same way again.

During this time I also procrastinated about writing a year-end report for a school I have worked with in North Las Vegas. Those of you who know me personally realize that procrastination and I are not familiars. But I struggled to write this paper. Finally, on “Due date” I worked frantically to finish. As I typed the last paragraph I confronted my reticence on this project: this group of dedicated administrators and teachers had a school that had not made AYP. With all of their work and determination and the tremendous effort of the students at the school, their CRT scores were woefully “Inadequate”. No wonder I couldn’t write. It hurt.

But I got it done and mailed…sadly. Sad also because funding does not allow me to return as a Support Team Leader.

And so I have launched another project. Remember Meggin’s guest speaker who said that if you had to you could write a book in a week? Well, I have had a book about writing strategies for teachers and students that has been buzzing in my brain and 2 days ago I set it loose onto my screen. With 104 pages in order, 44 strategies are done, 15 strategies are ready to be fleshed out, and 42 are still in outline form (title/idea is there, paragraphs are not) I am determined to complete this by August 9, 10, or 11 and get it to lulu for quick publication. I figured about 200+ pages will do it. No, it is not 7 days but 14 seem all right. Be on the lookout for 101 Strategies to Invigorate Writing for Students and Teachers. I’ll have it for Fresh Start! August 21 in Reno.

Best wishes and happy writing to all. Each of you has made a unique impression on me. Thanks!!

One of the independent contractors that I work with has asked for advice about charging/not charging for training & materials (specifically PowerPoint slides) that she has produced.  In particular, someone who hired her actually said, “Could I get a copy of your PowerPoint because I’d love to do this presentation, too.”  My opinion is that she should charge for them. I just wanted to check with you about it. If someone hires you to conduct a training, the training materials are still your property, correct?

Here is my response:

Unless someone who is hiring her paid A LOT of money, they don’t own the PowerPoint, handouts, or other materials like that. People who do contract training are hired to prepare and present, etc….but they retain their intellectual property.

I get asked about my PowerPoints ALL the time and I just tell them that I don’t send those out to others although I would be willing to send them a specific slide that they might want. I try to pretend that the person asking is not so unsophisticated as to ask to present my material…but I do get the question your person got all the time…asked pretty much that way.

Once it became a big issue and I didn’t sign the the contract because the person hiring me couldn’t understand that my speaking fee (and a custom-designed presentation for a national group) didn’t include the custom-designed PowerPoint, etc. When I told them the price of what all that would entail, they were outraged (let’s say there were some anger/control issues that this person had!  HA!)

Anyway, hope this helps. Tell her that she needs to be confident and unmoving in what she says.

I am a subscriber to Paulette’s newsletter and recently, she included this information, which really got my attention:

Then there is always the price thing. Some people think anything is too expensive (translation is simply that it’s more money than they view the offer being worth to them). Other people question how valuable something can be if the price is too low. Everyone has a number that they assign to the value they place on anything, whether it’s tips booklets or a year-long round-the-world trip. It is your mission to find out what that number is and to discover how close you are to it. When you ask “what’s your budget?” it can be a circular conversation.  A way I’ve found to break that cycle is to give a silly range – “are we talking $100, $1,000, $10,000, or a million?” That usually prompts them to drop their guard and say “oh, we were thinking $1,500.” Now you know if you’re in the same range or not, rather than playing guessing games in presenting a proposal, like shooting darts on the wall.

If you have been around Paulette for any length of time, you know she uses both humor and a straightforward approach – both of which I can appreciate.  To learn more about her and what she has to offer, you can access her site here (plus you’ll see me along with several other tips booklets authors).

Hi, Meggin,

I’m motivated, focused, and loving life.

I’ll try to keep this short.

I’m writing you this email to let you know where I’m at now and where I want to go. Maybe I’m looking too much at the negative (which I usually don’t do), but my business is struggling. I knew it would take awhile but I was hoping that I would be a little further ahead than I am right now. I know I have what it takes to be successful as a speaker/consultant. But, when is it going to happen? I must be doing something wrong. Can you please help me figure out what it is?

I’m sure my focus will change, but right now I’ve got to figure out a way to MAKE SOME MONEY. If I can’t do that, I’m going to be hurtin’ for certain. I’ve recently taken a part-time job just to bring in some extra income.

Please understand that right now I’m not discouraged at all. I’m more motivated than ever. But, I know some things have got to change.

Let me know what you think.

My response:

I wondered if that was a possibility…and I must say, good for you for getting some extra income coming in. Lots of people, as you know, build their businesses while they have ‘jobs.’ You took the leap so you could focus on this and you stepped, in essence, into something brand new-speaking. So giving yourself a little cushion is not a bad plan while your company keeps growing (and it will, I believe with all my heart).

You aren’t doing anything wrong. There is a LOT to building a business and it may be that what you need to do now is FOCUS (and I’ve had this conversation with 3 members of the Life of E’s in the last few days; imagine that. And it’s one Larry has had with me a time or…2? Or maybe a few more). I know part of your focus is making money, and that’s fine – and within that focus, you need to focus your efforts on fewer things. For example, here is what I currently observe you doing:

1. Marketing to schools by mail
2. Marketing to colleges/businesses by mail (or getting geared up to do so)
3. Marketing to schools by phone
4. Marketing to schools by meeting people
5. Networking at certain events
6. Marketing your booklet
7. Writing articles
8. Putting in proposals to conferences to speak
9. Preparing your speeches & workshops
10. Learning how to maintain your own website
11. Learning how to set up and use a shopping cart
12. Creating products (magnets, signs, etc.)
13. Writing your emails that go out each week
14. Learning by reading, joining in the Life of *E*s & other conversations, listening to teleseminars, etc.

And this is just off the top of my head. Any one of these is actually several parts. That’s the kicker that blows people away as far as how much time goes into setting up a business as a speaker/author, etc. There are A LOT of moving parts, to say the least. And you can’t focus on all of them at any one time.

You have got to get known in your area (and it’s a pretty big area). All of the things you’re doing help that to happen, but you are dispersing your efforts and your time. It’s not scatter shooting by any means, but it is dispersed vs. focusing more laser like on a few things.

Believe me (!!!!) I get the whole thing about wanting to do everything and seeing how everything is going to be useful and I make myself nuts that way.

I think you have got to build your list so you have more people to contact about your products. List building has lots of parts, so we need to talk about which ones will get you out there the fastest.

I think you have got to get principals & counselors to KNOW what it is you have to offer. You may have to put yourself in front of some people for free in order to get known. I told you all in the Make a Diff class that I did scores and by now, hundreds of free things, and that’s part of how people know me. I can help you think about how to offer free workshops, talks, teleseminars, etc. so that you keep your fee integrity but you also have people see who you are and what you have to offer. You know I’ve told you over and over (and I think you know this) that once people meet you and see what you do, they can’t resist trying to figure out how to bring you back.

So, this may be more than you needed right now…but there you have it…

I just answered a question this morning from a Life of E’s member (today is one of our *E*mail *E*xtravaganzas) and she had written in about my recent recommendation I’d sent her about Tom Antion’s ecourse on WordPress wanting to know more about what she would learn and why I had bought it.  Here’s my answer (sort of stream of consciousness but you get the drift): 

I have had WordPress for the Life of E’s blog and for my articles blog for awhile but I paid my webhosting company to set them up and then paid my webhosting company when I need certain things and have just felt like it was pretty limited and frustrating. I know that I have just paid another pile of money to my webhosting company to set up another website (not on a blog platform).  If I had waited a week and gotten Tom’s announcement, I wouldn’t have done that, but now that I have already paid it, I’ll keep working with that site.   However….

….I really see that from now on, I’m going to figure out whether I can go with a WordPress platform. Since I own a boatload of domain names, I want to have some one-page sites or pretty minimal sites (compared to www.meggin.com) and I can do that through WP.

What Tom gives you is 65 pages of info – pretty detailed and then at least 20 or so videos that he has created (you don’t see him, just his computer) where he is showing how to do things. I like his teaching style and sure enough, I’ve watched the video and then done just what he showed. The later videos which are about how to actually post, etc., I already knew. What I really lacked was the set up, the basics that, for some reason, scared me so I kept paying someone else to do it.

You can use either of these links to access Tom’s info on the product and to order.

http://tinyurl.com/2exjdu6  – these are my affiliate links to the product.  If you’re going to go check it out, you might use one of these links since I get the “thank you dollars,” but it costs you the same.  Totally up to you, of course.

http://snipurl.com/xmmd9

I think the reason he sells it for so little ($97) is because his list is so huge that he knows he’ll make a jillion dollars either way.

I bought the program last Friday, read through the 65 pages on Saturday, thought…wow. I can do this. Then started watching the videos later on Saturday (they range from about 3 minutes to about 12 minutes or so). I have continued to watch a few videos and do a few things each day so it doesn’t feel overwhelming. I worked on the http://thirtyarticlesinjustthirtydays.com/ site yesterday for about an hour to 90” to start getting more content and also to try out adding the tabs and different things. This weekend, I’m going to start setting up another site that will be a much simpler one for right now…just a page or two.

Roger Mellott speaks about stress management for professionals. He discusses the idea of having an “energy pie” and posits that some people wake up with an energy pie the size of a dinner mint and others wake up with an energy pie that is the size of a child’s swimming pool.

The lessons we can take from this are:

• We need to have the biggest energy pie possible;
• We need to be aware of where our energy pie goes;
• We need to avoid what I call “pie suckers.” You know what I mean….those people who just suck the life right out of you. There’s a sucking sound that you hear whenever they approach.

So, today’s post addresses how to deal with ‘pie suckers,” i.e., those people who are thieves of your energy.

1. Under no circumstances should you share a meal with your pie sucker. Even if it means sitting alone in your office at lunch, don’t chance it. (And a private lunch with you and your thoughts sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?)
2. Do not feel obligated to give your pie sucker birthday or holiday cards or gifts. If your pie sucker gives these items to you, thank him/her. Refer to item #5.
3. If you share office space with your pie sucker, rearrange the furniture so you don’t have to face him/her. Put up a partition if possible.
4. Remember that pie suckers are stealing from you. This isn’t nice.
5. High blood pressure is expensive. Is your pie sucker worth the price?

Please note: The moniker “pie sucker” applies *only* to one or two people in your life (at least I hope so). This isn’t the person who just sort of irritates you now and then or someone you just don’t care for. This is for the person that just drains your energy in ways that distinguish them from others. It’s sad to say, but usually when I talk about this in workshops, people know exactly what I’m talking about. If you have more than one or two pie-suckers, you may need to do some seriously re-thinking about your work or personal life and how this is happening.

Additional note: In all honesty, we are likely to be someone’s pie sucker, too. We should take a look at what people might find about us that just drains the life out of them. There’s room for growth in all of us.

I take several lessons from this:

• We need to have the biggest energy pie possible;
• We need to be aware of where our energy pie goes;
• We need to avoid what I call “pie suckers.” You know what I mean….those people who just suck the life right out of you. There’s a sucking sound that you hear whenever they approach.

This post addresses how to deal with ‘pie suckers,” i.e., those people who are thieves of your energy.

1. Know who your “pie suckers” are. Don’t make a list to post in your office, but know who they are.
2. Avoid pie suckers whenever possible. Practice saying “Hello!” instead of “How are you?”
3. Walk past pie suckers quickly (fast walking burns more calories, anyway).
4. When asked if you “Have a minute?” the answer is “No.” You may smile and shake your head, but don’t give an inch.
5. Be polite but distant. Don’t learn about your pie sucker’s illnesses, pets, in-laws, children, or work-out routine. Similarly, don’t share your own private information.

Please note: The moniker “pie sucker” applies *only* to one or two people in your life (at least I hope so). This isn’t the person who just sort of irritates you now and then or someone you just don’t care for. This is for the person that just drains your energy in ways that distinguish them from others. It’s sad to say, but usually when I talk about this in workshops, people know exactly what I’m talking about. If you have more than one or two pie-suckers, you may need to do some seriously re-thinking about your work or personal life and how this is happening.

Additional note: In all honesty, we are likely to be someone’s pie sucker, too. We should take a look at what people might find about us that just drains the life out of them. There’s room for growth in all of us.

We ALL need to enhance our leadership skills – and some of the books that I find extremely useful are annotated below. 

Take a few moments to read about the books I’ve listed below to see if any of the books sound interesting to you and see if they would be helpful to you, too.  Everyone around you needs you to be at your best.  These books help you do that. 

Marcus Buckingham is the face of the strengths movement.  His earlier books written while with the Gallup Organization helped propel him to rock star status.  Plus, he’s a fabulous speaker and communicator and thinker (and yes, he’s handsome, too).  Now that he’s started his own company, he is building an empire to keep propelling the strengths movement ahead.  This book is an excellent read, you get to take a strengths assessment, and it has super nifty tools included (Love it and Loathe it cards, for example).  HIGHLY recommended to be part of your library.

I cannot recommend this book enough and even though it’s not a time/paper management book per se, it is because of their research-based philosophy that we need to spend our time, energy, efforts, and lives doing what we do best and helping those around us do the same. This is probably the book I have recommended to more people for a longer period of time than any other book I’ve ever read. It’s life changing.

After Marcus Buckingham left the Gallup Organization to start his own company (and write his own book….GO Put Your Strengths to Work:  6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance), then it was important for Gallup to publish a new book on the Strengths work that they have continued to do.  And this is that book.  For some reason, I was poised not to like it (who knows why), but I like it VERY much.  It’s clear, provides excellent action suggestions for each of the 34 strengths, and of course, has the magic code in it so you can take the StrengthsFinder assessment.  This is the book I now use when I’m teaching Strengths workshops.  Order it today if you haven’t already.

Just the title alone intrigued me…and then when I read the Seven Principles of Fierce Conversations, I was hooked. For example, Principle 6 is “Take Responsibility for Your Emotional Wake.” Scott points out that for leaders, there are no “trivial comments.” Since reading this book, I have highly recommended it in my leadership training seminars, and am using it as a core text in an upcoming year long training. Reading it will have an impact on your professional and personal life–even if you don’t do anything. If you DO follow some of her suggestions, your personal and professional lives will be “fiercely” affected.

Now just tell me that this title doesn’t make you want to read the book – or at least talk to someone who HAS read the book. I have read the book and have recommended it to hundreds of people because, unfortunately, many workplaces don’t seem to have implemented the ‘no asshole rule.’  In this time of toxicity in the workplace, which is a horrendous impediment to productivity, this book is worth reading and worth buying for others to read.  Unfortunately, the real a-holes won’t get it, so don’t waste your money on them.  Get your colleagues to read it and then discuss it in a faculty meeting.