Now You Can Be A Published Author

Posted on September 17, 2012 by shumfp

AirAsia says “Now Everyone Can Fly“

AuthorpreneurAsia says “Now Everyone Can Be A Published Author“

Yes, anyone and everyone who wants to, can now tell their story and get it published and I will show you how.

I believe…we have a story inside us, a story that somewhere someone would love to know about it, or even be willing to pay for it.

You can be a professional speaker, trainer, lawyer or a doctor, or you can be a successful businessman or an experienced banker…or you can even be a grandmother or a father or just a teenager…it does not matter, we all have a story to tell and to share. It can be ours or it can be someone’s story, as long as you are willing to tell, and invest in it, someone out there will be willing to listen or even pay for it.

Your story can be from your passion or a hobby that you have, which without realising it, you have  accumulated so much information on the subject matter over the years.  Won’t it be nice if you can package what you know and leverage on it to create new income source? Someone would love to pay you for what you know.

Or your story can be the experiences that you have accumulated, the knowledge that you have gained or the information that you have gathered. It can also be fiction…stories from heart and mind, stories that your granny told you, stories that you have weaved and now would like to share.

Why not?

Why not realise your dreams to be a published author? Why not leave a legacy behind for better of mankind.

You can help make a difference

Your story can help make a big difference to a person’s life. If your story can have good and positive impact on a person, whether it is knowledge gained, or pure entertainment, you know that you have made a difference.

What is stopping you?

We know many of us think that it is not easy to get published…that it is beyond many of us or that we need to get a publisher first. Yes, traditionally it may seems that way but there are alternative ways now to get published. If I can show you a possible way to be a published author, will you do it? Will you be committed to put in the time, effort and resources to realise your lifelong dream to be a Published Author? If yes, get started now.

Not sure why you want to be a Published Author?

Some of us want to be a published author for many different reasons. You may fall within one of the following reasons and if yes, then we strongly encourage you to get started.

  1. To enhance your credibility on the subject matter. This is especially beneficial for professionals, including trainers, speakers, consultants, subject experts etc. By establishing a stronger credentials in the area, the book can help you enhance your professional career or business.
  2. To leave a legacy behind. Especially if you have proprietary information or knowledge that you wish to share with others. You feel that by leaving this legacy behind, people will remember you for what you have done or achieved or simply that the knowledge will help make a difference to mankind, somehow.
  3. Create new income source. You know that you have information that you can leverage on to create new income source, that others would be willing to pay for it.
  4. You have compiled and collected many stories, yours or other people’s, and you wish to package them and sell. Example, your grandma’s secret recipe or A,B,C of collecting stamps, etc
  5. You have gain valuable knowledge, skills and experience in certain field or expertise and it would be a waste if you cant pass them on to those who are new. Why not leverage and create additional income for yourself?
  6. Passion…simply a passion to be known or to have authored a book, to be a published author or a passion for books or the publishing process! You can even help publish for others.
  7. Vanity – for some vanity reasons, you wish to have your name on a book as the author and this has always been your dream.
  8. Business decisions, you know you can create multiple sources of income through infopreneuring, i.e. information marketing (information + entrepreneur) and one of the best ways to get started is to be a published author or to help publish for others.
  9. Help make a difference to the society. Help gather and process information into useful knowledge and productize that knowledge in to a transferable format that others can use.
  10. You still need more reasons….come talk to me.

Not sure how to get started?

There are few ways to get published:

  1. Find a publisher (this is a standard traditional way and many of us still think this is the only way! While this is the honourable and still workable way to get published, the sad news is probably only 1-3% of manuscripts submitted <slush piles> get to see the light! We understand why…unless you are a celebrity, politician, have the right contacts, have a hot story or if you are commissioned by them…publishers need to survive, they need to make profit!)

  2. Find an agent (probably easier than option 1 provided that they exist and can be found…seriously, not many such agents in this part of the world and they too will be looking for the cream…after all for them, it is about making profits)

  3.  Be your own publisher (this is also what we call self-publishing and my preferred way to get published. In the past, authors self-publish out of necessity but today people self-publish out of choice. You can Publish-It-Yourself <PIY- do-it-yourself kind of publishing> or PIY with help from outsourced experts)

Once you decide on which option to get published, I will help you get started. I can also help you to make the decision on which option, once we understand more about yourself, your objectives of getting published and what are your skills set or background.

Contact me at info@authorpreneur.asia or read on for more information on how to get started.

ShumFP

Posted in General/ Resources, Publishing Industry, Self-Publishing, Writing/Editing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Have a little faith by Mitch Albom

Posted on July 9, 2012 by shumfp

My last blog reminds me of the book “Have a little faith” by Mitch Albom

A good and easy read.
…………………….

OMG I was just checking my blogs n saw this draft blog written back in 2010.
I can’t believe 2011 has passed me by n now we are in 2nd half of 2012
What have I done
Where have I been

Maybe I need to find my faith back
Have a little more faith

And yes I will be back more often to share on new happenings
Thanks to wonder of mobile technology

Posted in Books Review, My thoughts | Leave a comment

Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal

Posted on November 21, 2011 by shumfp

Share your thoughts…What do you think of this?

Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal

SEATTLE — Amazon.com has taught readers that they do not need bookstores. Now it is encouraging writers to cast aside their publishers.

Read more from the link here

Cheers

Shum

Posted in Publishing Industry, Self-Publishing | Leave a comment

Book of Eli

Posted on March 21, 2010 by shumfp

Sometimes i feel bad for neglecting this site…all the work and rush and activities that we let ourselves get into…all the excuses we give for not doing something. We tend to lose touch with things that really matters to us, to our heart. We tend to lose touch with nature, with the people who care for us, with our dreams and hopes that we once had and the promises we made or gave.

And in our weakness to face what we fear, we let life drives us, we let the environment drives us and then we start to complain why life is unfair, we may begin to lose hope in ourselves, in the people around us, in the promises given to us and in what we once dreamt of. What happened to faith, hope and charity…not forgetting love.

There is no excuse for not writing in my blog, there is no excuse for not doing what i dream of, there is no excuse for things that don’t go right in our lives. If only we still have that little faith and hope in us, …the “hope” that we been brainwashed not to believe in any more as we been told “hoping” does not make dreams come through.

Yes…but having hope and faith and believing in them…is what makes us do the things we fear to take action on. The courage to take a step that seems so wrong, the courage to step into the unknown, the courage to face our fear and walk on an invisible plank that we once believe to exist but cant see it now…

Book of Eli made me realised 2 things – 1) we must continue to have faith and hope and have the courage to follow our heart, do what we believe in and face our fear of unknown

and 2) when it does ends…like in the show…it is not the technology that matters, but the books that we leave behind. Our computers and all the memories in the computer or all the information in the “space” is unreachable without electricity or power and the technology that we so depend on now…What survived all the years and make us continue to exist and have an identity and a “rich” mind is all the information that we have in our books…we know this is true from history…all that makes us who we are today lies in those old hidden scrolls …that survived thousands of years. What makes us think otherwise? How much can we depend on what we live on or survive on today? Not the high tech machines but good old printing press!

So my friends…while we leverage on all the technology available that makes this blog possible and that made it possible for us to communicate electronically in real time over thousand of miles apart….we must not forget the good old “books” as ways to leave behind what we know in our time for the future generations to come…we must not forget the good old ways of communicating and of living in a community. We must not forget nature or how to survive when all is gone….both nature and technology!

We must learn to embrace the new and appreciate the old…appreciate what we have and able to do now. As Eli means in the show (not in his words) …in the old world before the flash, we had more that what we need and those things that people would kill for…we waste them …as insignificant things as a small bottle of free shampoo

why…? is there still hope? I must have faith…must have faith…must have faith

Posted in Publishing Industry, Writing/Editing | Leave a comment

Hear what my mentor, Bruce Batchelor, says which i totally agree…change the publishing business model and all parties can benefit

Posted on July 24, 2009 by shumfp

Change the publishing business model – abolish returnables/ no consignments….all parties can benefit from this …read more

Posted in Publishing Industry, Self-Publishing | 2 Comments

Creating Wealth from Infopreneurship

Posted on June 24, 2009 by shumfp

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We discussed whether if we can make money from what we know…and briefly explained what is infopreneurship. However to be able to make money from it, you need to put what you know into something that you can sell.

So what kind of products or format that you can turn your information into?

The idea is to be able to convert these information into a format that you can share, distribute and thus create income from them.

Examples of the different types of products that you can convert to and make money from:
– Books, Workbooks, Booklets, Audio & Video CDs
– E-books, E-zines, E-learning, Online Reports
– Teleseminars, Training, Teaching, Workshops, Coaching, Public Speaking, Mentoring, Computer –Based Learning Systems, etc.
– Articles, Special Reports, Magazines, Games and many more

Creating Wealth from Infopreneurship

To make millions from being an infopreneur, you need to turn it into a Money-Making-Machine (M.M.M.). Making money and creating wealth is very different. Most of us are making money but not necessarily creating wealth. To make money is easy but to create wealth needs a totally different mindset. You need to work smart and one of the best ways to create wealth is to create these M.M.M.

You will probably need to spend some time and effort initially to build this machine and once it is built well, it will produce long term revenue for you even when you stop working on the machine. For example, if you are selling e-products, you can easily automate the system so that you can be sleeping and making money at the same time!

Infopreneurship can be a good M.M.M. as it fulfills the criteria. Compile your information once and turn them into a product, then convert them into many other formats that can generate more income.

The System
Many people are already successful infopreneurs although they may not know it. You probably can name a few, especially world-class speakers who not only speak, train and teach, but also sells a whole range of products in all different formats. Sound familiar? Yes you can do it too. As I said in the beginning, all of us have some stories within us or around us… so learn to leverage on it to create new income.

I am working and sharing with others on a simple system that i have created to help those who are keen to start their infopreneurship….will share more in my next blog…

Meanwhile….hope to get some feedback and sharings especially from those who have done it…

Cheers
Shum FP

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Can you make money from your knowledge, experience and expertise?

Posted on March 26, 2009 by shumfp

 

I believe the reply is YES…. 

All of us have a story within… and it is through your years of experience that you may have a kind of expertise, knowledge or know-how that others may want to know about. These can be information that you may wish to share or it may even be something that may benefit others so that they can learn from what you have gone through. We often share these with our friends, family members or close associates but have you not considered that maybe we can actually convert this information into a format or product that we can sell and make some money from? For example, you may have worked for many years in a certain industry or in certain type of work and have built up your expertise in the area. At work, sometimes you train new colleagues or your protégé, coaching them on the work process, mistakes to avoid, how best to get the work done, etc. There may be others out there in the market place who is keen to leverage from your expertise in the area, or who are keen to engage your services to coach or train them.

What are your potential sources of information
You will be surprised at how or where you can get your sources of information. Ideally these information can be derived from your own learning, work or life experience. Or information  can be gleaned from your own passions, hobbies, interests, or talents. When you have such passion or interest in a subject matter, you tend to collect and compile information on these hobbies or talents of yours, consciously or unconsciously. At times, you may not realise the high pile of information that you have collected over the years, whether physically or mentally. Dig for them and you will be surprised! Your amount of knowledge on these areas can be of great interest to other people with similar interest or passion. 

Even if you do not have the above information to share, you may have heard of some interesting stories, or dreamt of some crazy ideas, or have knowledge of some information that are not available publicly. Remember these may not necessarily be your own information but can be derived from somebody’s expertise, experience or knowledge.

So can you be an infopreneur and make some money from it?
That brings us to how you can make money from using this information. This is what we term as “infopreneurship”. Infopreneurs can be business person who collects information from several sources, and combines it into novel ways to serve the readers’ needs and making some money from it in the process.

According to H. Skip Weitzen (author of the book ‘Infopreneur’), he describes an infopreneur as  “a person who gathers, organizes, and disseminates information as a business venture or as a value-added service.”

So it is basically “information” + entrepreneurs” = infopreneurs; or in simple terms, information marketing.

Will People Buy?
People will want to pay for expert advice. People will want to pay for a good story or idea. People will want to pay for information and knowledge and people want to pay to learn from others. It can all start with a good idea or a core expertise. What do you know that people do not. Even if you do not have a core expertise, if you know what the market needs, you can find the information to feed market needs and fill the gaps. You can look for undermarketed experts and take his or her idea to the market place.
Basically as infopreneur…you need to also put on the “entrepreneur” hat and think what sells! Once you have decided what core information or expertise, or what the market needs…crack the codes! Test and test until you know how and what irresistible baits to use to make the sale. 

I hope to share more information on infopreneurship in my next article….and in the meantime, if you have any comments, experience as infopreneurs or any advice, please do share with us….

Cheers

Shum
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How long have you been sitting on your book ideas?

Posted on March 4, 2009 by shumfp

When I give talks on self-publishing…I often ask this question and you will be surprised at some of the answers I get… So recently I did a research  on LinkedIn Polls and asked this same question…one of the results is 16% sat on their ideas for over 10 years and did nothing about it!…Is that sad or what?

You can view that poll results from here.

Well I started the same post here at my blog…Please join my poll at the sidebar.

I guess there are thousands and one reasons why we sit on our ideas and not do anything about them…Why we do not believe that we can write and author a book. Some of the reasons I can think of includes:

–Fear of unknown
–Fear of failure
–Fear of consequences
–Concern if you can do it
–Don’t know how to do it
–Not sure if this is the option
–Lastly….pure laziness or lack of focus

I believe these are just excuses and if you really have the passion and determination and you know what you want (what is your objectives or what you want to achieve)… you can make it possible. What we fear and concern about can be taken care of if we can learn to conquer those fears and face the concerns or challenges. For example we can educate ourselves, do more research, learn or work with others and what we can or cannot do is not a challenge at all. If you cannot do it, get help or outsource or work in partnerships. Or learn to do it yourself. 

Just as there can be thousand and one reasons, there can be thousand and two solutions. With determination, passion, commitment and a strong objective…nothing can stop you if you wish to write and author a book.

Any thoughts or feedback on this? Anyone manage to take action and want to share their experience. Would love to hear your stories.

Cheers
ShumFP
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Hello Book Lovers

Posted on February 24, 2009 by shumfp

Hello…Welcome to my new blog on books….and anything related to it..be it about books that i have read, or how to become an author or how to get your books published…or even marketing tips, especially using social media marketing tools.

Would also love to share any ideas or offers related to books…and would love to hear from others:
– who wants to share or comments on books that they have read, especially business books;
– from writers, authors, infopreneurs, self-publishers who want to share their experience, learnings and success stories;
– anyone who knows of where to get best discounted books or any tips on how to market books etc

Looking forward to writing more and to hear from others

ShumFP

Author, Publish It Yourself

About the Book, Publish It Yourself

Authorworks – Publishing Services

Recommended Infopreneur Application Tool

Posted in General/ Resources, Self-Publishing | 2 Comments