Say you were a vegetarian and you recently purchased a book on friendly vegetarian recipes. When you get home, you crack open the book for the first time and a handful of postcards and marketing material fall out of the pages advertising meat packer associations and where to find the best steak. Although good for your iron intake, these kind of pictures and campaigns would be poorly received by the reader, potentially damaging the loyalty the reader has to that particular author and/or publisher.

This is an extreme example, however you would be surprised to find out how much time many authors and publishers spend on considering the right artwork for their publications. Let's take a look at understanding matching concept with content.

Most of the time, the artwork chosen for a particular project is left to the designer and he or she is given a brief outline of the content of the book. The designer can then utilize their resources to choose or create their own artwork that matches the particular content. However, what the designer sees as "fresh" and "edgy" may not be effective for a book that is targeting a more traditional and conservative audience. When choosing artwork for your book or publication it is important to keep in mind the ideas discussed in the Targeting Your Audience post. Zero in on the culture that you plan to target and learn to see past your opinions on what kind of pictures can most effectively reach your audience.

Walt Disney once said, "Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language." Often, ideas can be communicated in one picture that words struggle to describe in an entire paragraph. It is vital to choose artwork that digs into your ideas that wraps itself around the essentials of what you are trying to communicate. The better your artwork describes your thoughts, the better impact you can have on your readers (and the more memorable your project becomes).

Now all of this may seem abstract and lofty, but the good news is that you already have access to the people that can handle this for you. "Sure..." you say, "for a fee!" Not necessarily. That is one option and below I have included some links of some very well established and trusted designers and firms that have proven their success within the publishing marketplace. However, you can also utilize royalty-free image galleries such as iStockPhoto.com or GettyImages.com among others. Here you will find a myriad of illustrations, images and photographs of practically any idea you have to communicate. (Tip: if you find yourself searching hours on end to find the "perfect" photograph, consider using more specific search terminology. For example, to find a photo of a beach, be more specific and use terms like "white sand," "footprints," or "coastal sunset" to hone in on your idea.)

For the more technical user, many professional designers use desktop publishing software such as InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop as their creative platform. These programs are not cheap and have a steep learning curve, however they are incredibly useful in creating high-end customized artwork.

While we have discussed artwork that is found within the body of your book, pay special attention to any artwork you choose for the cover. There is a concept among book publishers that states the 3 points of sale. #1 The customer first sees the title and cover. #2 If the customer grabs the book they turn it over to read the back, and #3 they look at the price. By this reasoning you have 3 chances to engage the potential reader and the FIRST chance you get is by the cover title and artwork so be sure to make a great impression.

Lastly, I highly recommend doing your homework and being thoughtful about the ways you consider matching your concept with your content because in the end, you can either choose a steak on a vegetarian cookbook or a mouth-watering french dish in front of the Eiffel Tower. Although you may not receive any free tickets to France, you will end up with a much better chance of laying the foundation for a truly engaged and loyal audience.

Recommended Professional Designers:

Mike Deitsch - The Vine Collective
Linda Bourdeaux - The Design Desk
Susanna Parrish - Texasus Design
Chase Carter - Revelation Interactive


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Goal setting is a powerful tool that, when used effectively, becomes an extraordinary way to increase your self confidence and help turn your ideas into reality. Setting realistic goals gives you a sense of accomplishment of which, in turn, motivates you to achieve more goals. Carelessly creating unrealistic goals is like saying, "My goal is to travel to the moon for dinner tonight." Although a beautiful thought, it may serve you well to set a goal to first, research which airline has flights departing to the moon. Tip: make sure you have an extra $25 to pay for your checked baggage!

Let's look at a few key things to get you started.

"Realistic" Goal Setting
It is good to be ambitious, but keep your goals realistic. Being realistic means to find a way to practically measure your progress. Think of something you would like to accomplish. Then apply a practical way or unit of measure to gauge your success. Ex: "Complete the Targeting Your Audience exercise by this Friday." Now you have an actual DAY to keep yourself accountable to. Including these practical elements are an effective way to not only see your progress but also lower your frustration levels along the way.

Learn to Love Revision
I know "change" might be a scary word, but in this context, changing or revising your goals can be an asset and work to your own advantage. Talk to any hit songwriter and they'll say, "You have to learn to love to rewrite." That is because when you initially start down the path of achieving a goal, you may find other things you may need to do before you can check it off. Additionally, if you think your goals are set in stone, they are not. Just because you wrote them down once doesn't mean you have to stick to your initial way of achieving them. Keep the long term goal in mind and don't worry about how you initially thought you would get there. Be patient with yourself and keep on revising until you hit your goal. Your sense of accomplishment will be well worth your time!

The next two things I will discuss are the hidden secrets behind creating powerful goals.

Accountability
Accountability simply means being willing to accept the responsibility for your actions. In regard to goal setting, you could tell a trusted friend about your goals and ask them to hold you accountable to accomplish them. They in turn could call or email you about how your progress is coming along. This does two things: (1) having a friend keep you accountable informs them of your idea/direction and demonstrates your commitment to them and (2) promotes the motivation within you to achieve more goals. There is a reason why health/fitness personal training is a multi-million dollar industry. People want to be held accountable to help keep themselves on target.

WRITE OUT YOUR GOALS
Did you get that...in all CAPITAL letters? If you don't get anything else from this posting, get this...WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS. It may seem silly at first, but once you start seeing your progress you will soon realize the hidden gems within this exercise. Write down your goals anywhere, on a notepad, a napkin, a post-it note and...here's the second piece of this powerful technique...place it somewhere you will look everyday (preferably multiple times a day). Places you could post these notes are on your bathroom mirror, on the refrigerator door, on the dash of your car, or my favorite-type your goals into your computer's screensaver. By doing this, you will be subliminally saying to your brain "accomplish this task" and it will start directing your thoughts and your actions towards accomplishing your goals. This is a powerful technique and I guarantee you will see results.

Keep the goal setting process in mind throughout your entire project. Again, goals are not set in stone and if you should start out too ambitious, don't worry, learn to love to revise and adjust accordingly. Soon you will experience the joy of accomplishing your goals and you will have a created a strong foundation for your book to become a reality!

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If you have ever purchased a house or wanted to start a restaurant, undoubtedly you have heard the timeless wisdom of "Location, location, location." Although this adage may be cliche, it still has a lot of weight when it comes to convenience and marketing to your customer.

James Montgomery Bailey jokes, "A blunderer is a man who starts a meat market during Lent." This rings true for the countless ideas that maintain their place on their dusty shelves due to poor marketing. Bailey hints to a similar philosophy which states, "You can't hit a target that you can't see." Although cliche, it is good to keep this in mind to avoid aimlessly casting your nets and waiting to see what you catch.

Targeting your audience is vitally important in enjoying the success of your idea or product. I'm not speaking of targeting your audience in terms of finding potential victims of pushy high-dollar sales campaigns. Instead, I'm talking about tried-and-true effective marketing efforts where you can create the best possible product for your readers, or simply stated, "Get the most bang for your buck!" How's that for cliche!

So what is marketing and what does it entail? Marketing, simply put, is the technique of promoting and distributing your idea or work. It is important to know who you are targeting your product to during the beginning of the process so that, by the completion of your product, you are not basing your success on luck. Let's run through a general list of things to think about when exploring the characteristics of your audience/readers and how to market to them.

First off, identify the Who, What, When, Where, How and Action points. (Action points are the "actions" that encourage the buyer to buy).

Below is a list of other questions to think about:

Identify the Content
-What is your idea or product about?
Identify the Buyer
-Who would buy this product? What age group? What gender?
What activities does the Buyer participate in?
-Does the Buyer enjoy the outdoors? Does the Buyer play indoor/outdoor sports? An activity could also be cooking, handywork, taking care of the home, health/fitness, etc.
Does the Buyer shop at retail or online stores?
-Does the Buyer shop at specialty stores or all-in-one stores?
What purchasing habits do they have?
-Does the Buyer purchase based on convenience, service, brand name, quality, etc.?
What other books does the Buyer read?
-If there are similar books to yours on the market, go out and do some in-store market research. Take note of their use of artwork on the cover, fonts, words on the back cover, etc. If you can't find a product that exists like yours...congratulations, you may have stumbled upon a goldmine. (and if you do, call me...ha!)

The more you zero in on your audience the better you can tailor your product to meet their needs. Take a moment to write down your own list of questions and answers. The more creative your questions are, the better chances you have at successfully launching your efforts in the right direction.

Remember that although you are trying to reach as many people as you can, you do not want to target your audience so specifically that the only person you end up developing your product for is your neighbor Joe. Have fun with this exercise and find someone you can show your list to that believes in your idea as much as you do. Often times, the saying, "Two heads are better than one," is a cliche you can count on benefiting from!

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So you have decided to tell the world your story but don't know where to begin. This weekly series of blog posts will explore the "real-world" information you need to get your story or information in print today.

As with most creative endeavors, it starts with a vision. You have a dream and a 60,000 ft. view of what your vision entails, but where do you start? In the words of T.S. Eliot, "What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." Let's take a look at what you will have accomplished by breaking the process down to begin with the end in mind.

You will have accomplished:

• Targeting Your Audience
• Setting Realistic Goals
• Conceptualizing the Layout
• Writing the Book
• Creating the Artwork
• Choosing Media Components
• Proofing the Project
• Deciding upon Agents
• Marketing and Promotion
• Printing the Book
• Distributing Your Work

Seem overwhelming? You're right. The process can be very overwhelming...if you attack the process alone. Walt Disney has stated, "It takes people to make the dream a reality." That is why you need to be confident about your vision so you can mobilize the people you need to produce it.

Remember, creativity rides with patience and patience can be an asset or a stumbling block. So be sensitive to your creative process but maintain the determination required to accomplish your goals. The best thing you can do is believe in your idea and start doing it, instead of talking about it.

Feel free to contact me with any questions about these articles. I truly hope you find this "How To Make A Book Series" helpful and I look forward to hearing about your success!

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