Learning while delivering talks related to The Worthy Organization

As a result of giving the talk to groups, I’ve learned a few things from the people I’m addressing. And I think that is enriching the process of giving these talks.

  • At one of the talks was a publisher who made reference to the old maxim: There is at least one book in everyone. She commented that book publishers (of paper books) are not likely to be interested in authors who are going to write only one book. For that first book the publisher spends a great deal of effort and resources to make both the author and the book known. The real money is made from from future sales with authors who are going to produce many books. Interesting.
  • This business of writing an ebook that purchasers can download again at anytime in the future marks a new relationship that can, and should, exist between writer and reader. Since the ebook can be easily be updated when a reader makes a worthy suggestion, now we should have writers harvesting good ideas from their readers and adding value to existing titles.
  • An book might never produce a volume of readers that makes it worthy of shelf-space at a local bookseller; but an ebook might find its niche market in the english-speaking world that still represents a large number of buyers.

A talk for groups about e-publishing

While experimenting with and fine-tuning my talk to small groups about my e-book, The Worthy Organization, I discovered that while in any group of people there are a few who really want to know about how my book will help them inspire a cadre of volunteers and need this book — most people are more interested in hearing about the process of publishing online.

It seems that almost everyone has a book they’d like to write, or knows someone with a good idea for a book.

In response to this interest, I have developed a short talk (20-minute or less) talk about e-publishing your book.

I would be happy to present it to your group, in person or online. Your feedback will help me fine-tune the talk.

Here is the outline of the talk:

Title: Now nothing stands in the way of writing and publishing your own book

  • Why people don’t self-publish (even though they have a good idea)
  • Writing strategies and tips (adapted to your group)
  • No obstacles, no excuses — not any more!
  • Self Publishing, the new process for an e-book (working with Leanpub)
  • The Happiness Guarantee
  • Future downloads forever — a new relationship between writer and reader
  • No risk with e-publishing
  • Formats: ePub, Mobi, and PDF
  • Collaboration with fellow authors: Leanpub/Dropbox
  • Book launch — pricing models (for example, buyer chooses what to pay)
  • Booksellers and specialty niche markets – which is right for you?
  • Low cost promotion & word-of-mouth

Contact me here to explore the idea – no obligation: Robert Ballantyne

McKinnon on frequently asked fundraising questions

Harvey McKinnon

Harvey McKinnon

The extraordinary fundraiser, Harvey McKinnon, has just published an article that answers the questions that are most often posed when he gives talks.

Harvey’s experience in the field of fundraising is vast, and his advice is always valuable. I know you will enjoy the article, Fundraising Questions I’m Most Often Asked. << click this link to read Harvey’s article at the Guidestar site.

Harvey guided our fundraising when we worked together to save the Vancouver Island marmot from extinction.

 

New button for Worthy on Ballantyne.com

I (Robert) just added a clickable button on the home page of Ballantyne.com that is a link to The Worthy Organization’s page at Leanpub. I’ve been creating web pages with WordPress so often lately that I’d forgotten how to position a linked graphic with CSS (a cascading style sheet).

The modified home page of Ballantyne and Associates

The modified home page of Ballantyne and Associates

Almost time for the real book cover

Old cover page for The Worthy Organization

The first cover page for The Worthy Organization

When I (Robert) created the landing page at Leanpub.com for the draft of The Worthy Organization, I realized that a book needs a cover page. So, one afternoon I created this book cover from an image I had on my computer. The original was a snapshot taken during the annual late-summer festival on Bowen Island, Bowfest. Sometime this week I will replace that with the real cover for the book.

Setting up a new web site for
The Worthy Organization

Does anyone ever read the first post at a blog? I (Robert) do. When I find that I’m enjoying the articles at someone’s blog, I’ll go back to the very beginning to see what dreams and ideas prompted the author to set up the blog. Often the style changes as the blogger experiments with the process. Well, here I am at the first post of a new blog.

It is now in the last days May of 2014. We are making the final adjustments to the book, The Worthy Organization, and I hope that we are now only days away from making it available for sale online. One of the items on my todo list was to buy this domain, and set up a web site. That’s what I’m doing right now.

Since I mentioned the business of looking at the start of a blog, you might be interested in how I started my first blog. You can find it here:

http://howesound.wordpress.com/2006/06/30/so-this-is-our-new-web-space/

If you know how to navigate a blog, you might discover that there are articles at the blog that were posted before the date of the first blog article. Those were experiments in time-travel. I’ll leave you to go there and explore how that is possible — if you are interested.