The best way to become ‘Power Productive’ is to develop ways of cutting off time drains before they eat into your productive time.  For example – phone call comes in and it’s from someone who is a talker.  Rather than inwardly groan as you know that you’ll still be on the phone 20 minutes later, when they announce themselves, say to them in a really nice voice “Hi – I’m glad you caught me, I’m off into a meeting in 5 minutes” which will force them to focus on the reason they called you and they get to the point.  If they do start to waffle, you have a polite way to interrupt them and end the call by saying that your meeting is starting or your client has arrived.

Another time drain involves all those meetings and events that you don’t want to go to or aren’t very useful but you find it hard to say ‘no’ when asked.  If someone invites you to an event and you don’t really fancy it or are not sure if it will benefit you, just tell them you will check your diary and get back to them which gives you breathing space to make a decision about your attendance in your own time rather than signing up to something that will be a waste of your time.  Putting a bit of distance between the request and your answer allows you to consider if the occasion is going to take you toward your goal or away from them. Our time is the most precious thing we have and it devalues us when we waste it, so don’t just say ‘yes’ automatically if we are asked to attend something.  By all means have fun, go to events that you want to with friends that are not going to move your career or writing goals forward, by doing this you are attending to your personal relationships area from your ‘Wheel of Life’ (remember strategy No 2?), but just don’t end up at those events that you really don’t want to be at just because you felt it impolite to say “No”.

Become a home run hitter – hit those balls out of the park – right back at them!  If you are asked a question and you know someone else who can answer it better than you, tell the person to ask (name).  If you are asked something that you need to deal with but you can’t right now, tell them when you will do it so they are not waiting indefinitely and they know when they can expect a resolve.  This keeps you in control of your time rather than constantly reacting to events.

We all know people who are time drains when they ask you repeatedly for the same information.  In the past I have had people constantly asking me for a certain person’s telephone number as they know I’ll have it to hand, or to tell them how to do something (like mail merge) every time they had to do it.  I plugged this time drain by saying to the number request the second time it was requested “Write this number down so you can store it in your phone as you seem to need this number a lot”.  To the mail merge instruction request, I said “Of course I’ll take you through mail merge but this time you can make notes so that in future you can follow your notes to complete the job”  After that it would be a bit embarrassing for them to have to ask you again and if they do then you have an easy way to deflect them if you cannot help when they ask as you can say “this is why I showed you how because I can’t help you right now, I have to complete this” and you can get them to wait until you are available.

Placing a high value on your time will ensure that there is enough of it left for you when you need to find the time to do some writing or planning out your next book.  Remember, time is a finite commodity – we cannot make more if we waste it.

These are productivity boosting strategies that are difficult to implement but essential to ensure peak productivity.  Think of how you usually start each day – probably with the best of intentions.  Today will be the day you get through your entire ‘to do’ list, get a chapter of your book written and do a few of those niggly jobs that are not urgent but you never seem to have time for!  Does this sound familiar?

We start each day with our ‘to do’ list of what we want to achieve… and then ‘real life’ takes over!  Emails are flying in, post arriving, phone calls, a problem crops up that needs your immediate attention – you get the picture.  It’s easy to fight all these fires and get to the end of the day to find you didn’t do the task that you really wanted to achieve that day, let alone all the other things.  This is where prioritising and avoiding procrastination come in.  These skills are all about discipline and being realistic.

A lot of people under estimate the amount of time that a job actually takes and what they thought was a 10 minute job becomes more involved and takes 1 hour. Sometimes we get distracted whilst on the job, the job takes longer than we’d allowed, it became more complicated than you thought or perhaps you didn’t really want to do the task so you busied yourself with other jobs whilst avoiding the dreaded task and hoped it would go away!  It happens to us all, and the best way to get around this issue of a ‘never ending’ to do list is to pare it down.  Just have just 3 things on your to do list each day – That’s all.

People might start the week with a list of 15 things they want to do that day and it just does not get done.  Perhaps the weight of the list intimidates them, they wake up in a bad mood which hinders their productivity, they get an emergency to deal with and their 15 jobs go out of the window.  To reduce the ‘to do’ list to just three things is more manageable.

Three things you can do in one day even with all the distractions that the day will bring.  You can complete your three things for the day, every day and by the end of the week you will have done 15 things without stressing!  The discipline comes in here– you have to create good habits that mean you are not wasting time which will stop you completing your three things.  A great way to avoid procrastination is to keep a clean desk. Do not have piles of paper around you that need dealing with –only have the essentials because you cannot get distracted by all you have ‘to do’ if it is neatly filed somewhere waiting for you to make it one of your ‘three things’ that day.  Get a concertina file and handle each paper once.  Operate by the mantra “file, do, recycle, shred” and put actions to do into your concertina file on the date that you plan to do them.

Another essential way to take the option to procrastinate out of your way is to avoid possible distractions from coming to you in the first place by removing yourself from any mailing lists you don’t need to be on. On emails you can click ‘unsubscribe’, via post you can call the marketing dept of the company who sent it and be removed and also register with mailing Preference Service. (www.mpsonline.org.uk ) to stop junk mail. You can also register with telephone preference service so you don’t get junk marketing cold calls (www.tpsonline.org.uk) – these websites are for domestic customer and you can access the business/ corporate site from there to register any company details.

To stop unwanted marketing calls on your mobile phone, register your mobile number to be removed from the 118 mobile phone directory which launched mid 2009.   www.118800.co.uk This is a directory of everyone’s mobile phone no’s and if you want to choose who your number goes to and not have it given out to anyone who buys a list, opt out here and cut them off at the source!

The Power Productivity series contains 5 top strategies for kick starting your writing activity.  The last article in this series concentrates on avoiding time leaks including how to get out of any event that you don’t want to attend but usually say “yes” to!  Don’t miss it!

2009 © Nadine Hill

Let me tell you a story…

A few years ago I had a client whom I assisted in my business on an administrative basis – doing work for him which was charged by the hour.  I kept a time-sheet of my hours worked and sent him a bill at the month end.  Pretty standard so far.  However this guy never used to pay me on time.  He’d always delay and make promises which weren’t kept and I had to spend valuable time chasing him.  After a couple of months like this I used to dread being given work by this guy, so something had to change.

This was my most extreme case, and I did always get paid in the end, but it left me with a bad taste in my mouth.  It depends what industry you are in, but for me being in the service industry, clients love the work you do when you do it – when you are helping them to meet their objective or getting them out of that hole, but the ‘relief’ feelings they had at the time have faded by ‘bill paying day’ and you are then at their mercy as to when and even if you will have your bill settled.

After much thought and a flash of inspiration on the subject, I decided to charge my time out in ‘Time Bundles’ – clients pay upfront for a 10 hour bundle and I work through the bundle, keeping a time sheet and contact the client when we’re getting low so they can ‘top up’ their bundle.  An interesting thing happened.  Not only did I always get paid, but because the client had already paid for my services in advance, they quite rightly wanted to get the most out of me, giving me the usual ‘immediate’ tasks to do as well as other things they had been sitting on.  Suddenly, I had them ringing me and asking for work to be done, rather than me ringing them and asking if there is anything I can do to help.

I’m a massive fan of anything that makes me more efficient and allowed me to use time more effectively, and so the time I used to spend doing client ringrounds to seek work to do, could now be spent on assisting even more clients and finding new ways to look after the ones I had!

By ‘flipping’ the traditional service payment method, I found a system which is win-win all round.  I had positive cash flow, the client gets a willing, fully focused assistant, I’m keen for them to get their full value, they are keen to get me started on their work, which reduces their ‘to do’ pile, which makes them feel better, which gives me a happy customer and so it goes on!  This is just one way of turning a ‘traditional’ system on its head and it may not work for every situation, but what can you ‘flip’ to work better for you?

One way I get ideas for my business is to look at other industries.  What are other companies doing that you could do?

My local beauty salon creates ‘gift certificates’ for manicures and facials to sell before Christmas as gifts.  Lots of retailers sell gift vouchers.  One Christmas I had an idea to issue ‘Dream PA’ gift vouchers to sell for a ‘one off’ office de-clutter session.  It’s not traditional for a Virtual Assistant like me to sell ‘gift vouchers’ but what the heck!  It gives me sales in December for fulfilment in the early part of the year after – a traditionally quieter time; it is low cost to produce gift cards and makes an unusual present for someone who wants to get organised or who just needs a ‘boost’ rather than regular ongoing assistance.  This is flipping your mindset.

If a writer finds a way to sell their services to people as a ‘wedding gift’ for another couple – this would be going after a market that isn’t immediately obvious.  It’s unusual, but by flipping their mindset they could capitalise on the fact that marriage nullifies any former wills so there is a need there – and perhaps older family members would rather buy a useful gift for the young couple who have already been living together, rather than another towel bale?!  Travel agents have been doing this for years – allowing different family members to pay into a ‘pot’ for the honeymoon fund!

A PR Exec or Event Manager could look to the mobile phone industry and borrow their ‘Pay as you Go’ idea?  If they market to small businesses who are more wary of paying for retained services than larger clients, the savvy PR could charge clients for PAYG opportunities where there is no monthly ongoing commitment rather than a ‘retained’ fee.

These are business ideas not book ideas but you get the principle.  Be open to seeing opportunities wherever you are because in reality there are no ‘new’ ideas!

Even the most ‘workaholic’ of us needs a break from time to time, and having a balance can be great for your writing.  When you are ‘doing the do’, living day to day life, managing a family and squeezing in your writing, it can be easy to forget that there is a whole world out there – outside your office door!  Being amongst other people and in different situations widens your perspective which can be excellent for your creativity and stop you from becoming too ‘blinkered’.

Having focus is a key writing skill but sometimes your best ideas can come to you when you are not actually working or thinking about work.  Have you ever been on a beach or on a bike ride and had a ‘eureka’ moment?

There was once a story about a professor who filled a jam jar with pebbles and asked the class, “Is this jar full?”

One of the students confirmed that it was, so the professor poured sand into the jar, allowing the sand to fill the small gaps between the pebbles.  He then asked if the jar was full? One of the students decided that it was so the professor poured a jug of water into the jar, taking the contents to the brim.

The jar was now full.

The professor asked, “If this jar represents your life, what is the lesson here?”.  A student answered that no matter how full you think your day is, you can always get more in there.

The professor disagreed.  He said that the lesson was actually to make sure that the ‘big rocks’ (ie: your priorities) are put in place first, otherwise the space will be taken up by the little things.  This is so true when writing.  You need to make time for it amongst your other priorities.

To achieve a good balance, make sure that you schedule regular time to work on your writing – preferably at a time of day when you are operating at your peak.  Get your ‘big rocks’ in place first.  But then do make sure that you have some time to relax too and do whatever you love to do outside of work.  Even ‘ring fence’ the time out of your diary.  Remember the saying about ‘all work and no play…’!

If you are going to get the book that is inside of you – out, you will need to develop certain habits to not only capture the thoughts and ideas that you have, but also to set aside regular time to get these streams of consciousness onto paper (or computer!) which will eventually form your book.

Managing yourself can be quite tricky – especially as “we” know ourselves very well!  We have all our information filed in our brains and sometimes don’t feel we need to commit them to paper – we’ll ‘remember’ all these great ideas, but this often doesn’t happen.

As a writer, you need to ensure that you get your ideas and random thoughts down, so that you make room for more ideas to come in.  As Einstein once said – “I never bother to remember anything I can look up” – great philosophy for keeping a clear mind but remember that as an author – your ideas are original and cannot be looked up!

So to avoid ‘cranial overload’, consider the easy to implement advice below…

1. Use a Diary
Procrastination paralyses many people and getting started is the hardest part of many tasks. When words are committed to paper a magical thing occurs, the event actually happens!  Use your diary to keep a record of tasks ‘to do’, appointments and even schedule in your personal time such as a regular swim or massage so you have a life as well as work.  It may take willpower to stick with your diary but it will help clear up some head space!  My diary is a beautiful Italian leather organiser in cherry red. It’s so soft and tactile I have to carry it everywhere.  Having such an attractive accessory makes it easy for me to want to use it, so use whatever turns you on – a PDA, personal organiser, beaded notebook, your Blackberry, anything that excites you to organise yourself!

2. List Your life
Your ‘To Do’ list is your best friend.  Keep a record of your tasks, crossing them off as they are done.  You get the satisfaction of seeing a list of ‘jobs done’ at the end of the day and a list will help you prioritise your day.  If you take this list with you everywhere you go, idle time need never be wasted because you can spend it doing odd jobs, such as making calls.

3. Formalise Your Thoughts
As a writer you need somewhere to store your ideas – whether they be book concepts, bits to add in to your existing chapters or just certain words you like the sound of!  I keep a notebook by my bed because I often get ideas whilst I’m trying to nod off plus I have a Dictaphone in the car so I can record thoughts whilst I’m driving! My brain seems to get more creative when it is relaxed!  Have a special place to record your ideas – a notebook or a file on your computer but add to it whenever you get a brainwave as this could form a concept in your next book!

4. Avoid Interruption
When you are sitting down to write the last thing you need when you are getting into the flow is an unexpected visitor or a ringing phone!  Interruptions like this can be a real time stealer, eating into your day and preventing you from getting fully immersed in the job at hand.  Divert your calls to a telephone answering service and turn off your email so you aren’t distracted by the ‘new mail’ icon.  Be firm with visitors and plan time to see them when your writing time for the day is done.  Prioritise your writing and you’ll soon get into the habit of doing a bit regularly.

5. Don’t Say “Yes” To Everything
Meetings can drain your time (and energy) if you’re not careful.  Other people can take advantage if they know you always try to be compliant.  Only attend meetings you really need to be at, and politely decline others.  Learn how to be ruthless when people make demands on your time.  Ask yourself; will doing this task get me nearer to completing my book?  If it will, do it, if not – don’t.

Poor self management can destroy your dreams of becoming a published author.  To have a best-selling book, you have to get on and write it first – no one will do it for you!   If you have too much to handle, streamline your life a bit to make room for this ambition and remember what you are working so hard for.  It’ll all be worth it when you are selling on Amazon!

To do this, take a stack of small squares of paper / index cards.

• Write one thought / problem that is whirring round your head on each piece of paper
• Also write your book ideas on a piece of paper and highlight these so you can find them easily.
• Doing this action will free up your headspace

THEN:

• Place all the paper in a goldfish bowl or similar
• Each day, take out 1 piece and the deal is you have to sort it that day (or at least take the first step to sorting it)
• You cannot put the paper back – once it comes out of the bowl it needs dealing with
• Do not remove another piece until you have completed the one before
• Completion on a task can mean actually seeing it through or simply evaluating it and deciding to reject it for a particular reason (but NOT a time related reason). Either way you will have assessed each idea and done something about it.
• If the paper you pull out is a book idea or possible book content, concentrate on solely that concept for a few days until you pull out another piece of paper.  Chewing the fat over just one idea will allow you to truly evaluate if the idea is workable for your book and accept or reject it as appropriate.
• It may take a couple of months to get through everything in the bowl but at least you are actively doing something about your brain clutter and not just using ‘a lot on your mind’ as an excuse to procrastinate.
• With a bit of headspace clear, you may find that book ideas come flowing freely – good luck!

2009 © Nadine Hill

“The nicest thing about NOT planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise and is not preceded by a period of worry and depression”

We’ve all heard that if we fail to plan, we plan to fail and this is never more-true than when you are creating a book that you want to sell and earn plenty of money from!

Let’s start with the end in mind here and look at our intended result: to make money.

Now we can backtrack – to do that we need to sell loads of books.  To do that we have to market our book well to the right audience (maybe we have a publisher backing us, maybe not, but marketing your book is essential to generate sales).

So now we know that marketing is essential, but who shall we market TO?  This is where your earlier planning comes in!  If you didn’t do any pre-planning when writing your book you are likely to have wasted more time than necessary.  Your book can still be knocked into shape ready to be marketed and sold but if you have a clear idea of who is going to buy your book from the outset, then you will have more direction when creating the book, greater focus, and the conviction needed to keep going and finish the work when you hit a plateau along the way where the end seems so far off.

Planning takes thought and time and it’s tempting to want to rush in and ‘get on’ with your book rather than spend this careful time in the planning stage, but the clarity that planning gives you will be worth the time spent and you will most likely accelerate your book further, faster for the time spent planning, so a proposition for your book is a must at the early stages of writing.

To write something that will sell, and not just something for your own enjoyment, you will need to address your readers’ number one concern: “what’s in it for me?”  This means you will have to put some structure around your thoughts, to answer their possible questions and this requires some thinking about.  But not only that, you will need to create content that your market will want so that they buy, and to do that you need to know who your market is.

My first book is called “The Virtual Assistant Handbook: insider secrets for starting and running your own profitable VA business” and my intended audience is existing Virtual Assistants and people who are thinking of starting up a VA business.  Because I had an idea of who would be buying the end result, I could ‘chunk down’ further to address their concerns.  I knew that many VAs who enter this profession do so from a career background as a PA, Secretary, Office Manager or Administrator so they would most likely come from a corporate background.  My book contains references to corporates and how the style of communication within them may not necessarily be the right way to speak to their new small business customers.  This is just one example of an area where planning out my end market helped to shape the content of my book.

To plan your book out and find the market that will eventually buy it, you will need to set aside some dedicated time to really think about the issues facing your readers, which direction you want the book to take and how you will get there.  Look at some books with similar content – your ‘competition’ and see who they are marketing to.  Would this audience work for you too?  If there are already books on ‘your’ desired subject, this isn’t a bad thing, it means that there must be a market for this kind of book.  You just have to make yours sufficiently different enough and address something that the others don’t or have a unique angle on the subject to motivate your readers to buy.

By taking time to work on the big picture, you can get on with creating the ‘little picture’ – your creative work.  The time spent planning and researching your end market will be recouped many times over when your book is a best seller!

2009 © Nadine Hill

Some writers may believe that the sales process has nothing to do with them.  That they can sit and create their masterpiece and that it is up to someone else to do the selling.  This is not true!  If they want to get published in the first place, they need to be able to list their books’ unique selling points. Why is it different from the other books in the same genre on the market, and why should anyone part with their hard earned cash to buy it?  In other words – they have to treat their book like a business in itself and do a business plan for it!

The first thing to consider when looking to cash in on your work is to identify who your books’ audience is.  Who will buy from you? What problem are you solving for them?  Then after that, identify why they should choose YOUR book over another writers who is also talking about the same issue with their book.  The thing to consider is that your customers are the ones who ultimately make the choice to buy your book over your competitor, so the buying decision rests in their minds.  It doesn’t really matter if your book is the most fantastic book that the world has ever seen, if you cannot communicate that directly into the minds of your customers, they won’t buy from you.
So how can you be sure to speak to the reader (buyer) ‘in their language’?  Well, next time you are in a situation where
someone is trying to sell something to you, notice what thoughts are running through your mind?  I’m willing to bet that the phrase “what’s in it for me?” or words to this effect sum up what you are thinking, and you won’t be convinced about whether to buy or not until they address this question.  So to make sure that people buy from you, think of the best ways to communicate to your readers ‘what’s in it for them?’ if they buy from you.  What do your
readers really care about?  What is the need that you can address with your book?  Once you have got something written down, think about how you would ‘frame’ that if you were speaking directly to your reader.  When you are creating a book, ultimately your publisher will facilitate the sales process.  They will get your book into stores and on Amazon, they will market your book so that the intended reader knows that this book is a ‘must read’ for them.  However first you have to get a publisher, and if you have given some thought to the ‘end process’ of cashing in, you will find it much easier to do that in the first place.  Plus if you decide to self publish your work, it is essential that you address these questions as you will be doing all your own marketing and selling of the book.

So pretend you are sat in front of your ideal reader. What words will sum up what they will get as a result of buying from you?   If you can find the key phrases that will turn on a light-bulb in their minds, you will make a sale.  To give you an example, I remember the key phrase that ’sold’ my BNI (business networking) Membership to me, was that by joining I’d be able to ‘lock my competitors out’ of my business category (and therefore be the only Virtual Assistant in that group to accept business from the other members).  This simple phrase was enough to get me to part with an initial £500 to join plus ongoing subs of about £500 for the year but I’m pleased to say that the investment re-paid itself, so it was well worth it!

In my core business, The Dream PA, one of the services I offer is a Virtual Receptionist service, and to sell this service to clients when I am talking to prospective clients, my key phrase is that my service will stop them losing potential business through missed phone calls.  It’s absolutely true, but I find that this phrase has a better client conversion rate than telling them about the great impression that callers will have of their business, how I can help their business  appear ‘larger’ than it is or that they can work free of interruption by having my service in place.  All of these
‘extra’ benefits are also true but it is the thought of losing potential business that motivates smart business owners to try out my service.  So think of what words you can use to get people to buy your book – treat your book like a business.

Ultimately, whether you get a publishing deal or not and how many books you eventually sell will reflect the hard work that you put into this question so do spend some time on it.

What if I told you that you are sitting on profits that you haven’t tapped into yet?  Would you believe me?  Now you have your book written, the readers that buy it may be willing to buy something else from you too.  You could perhaps sell another book to them if you have more than one, or an extra service or product.  The Kings of the upsell have to be McDonalds with their “would you like fries with that?” This sentence alone has earned them millions!

I want to tell you a story that really made me think about the upsell – and how most things can be upsold!  Last December I needed to get my cat booked into the cattery.  It was just before Christmas at the time and my family and I were going to visit my mother for New Years.  I needed to get Jet booked in for about 5 days, which included New Years Day – we’d collect her on the 2nd January.

When I was making the booking, the lady asked if I wanted the special ‘Christmas Package’?  I asked what this was and she told me that as my cat would be in on one of the formal ‘Bank Holidays’ that she’d be eligible for the Christmas Package for “Only £11″ for that day!  The standard day rate was £7.50, but I was told that “For just £3.50 more, my cat would get extra cuddles that day, meat with gravy on it for her dinner and a Christmas stocking with some toys in it!”

Normally I can spot an upsell from a mile away and I steer clear!  I never take the extended warranty on electrical products or buy the shoe cream cleaner with the new shoes.  However this place knew that they had me this time – playing on my ’sympathy’!  I mean, how could I deprive my cat of ‘extra cuddles’ and gravy on her meat?!  I’d feel heartless to refuse, so the cattery successfully got an extra £3.50 out of me for this one day and the cat was back on the standard day rate the next day!

To be honest, I had to admire them!  They had found a way of upselling their service, even when it appears at first glance that it couldn’t be upsold!  A night in a cattery is a night in a cattery – no more no less, but this place had been a bit creative and found a technique that got another £3.50 from me, and who knows how many other pet loving owners that holiday period?!

So what around your book could possibly be upsold?  Could you offer your version of ‘extra cuddles’ to your readers?  Could you produce a special report based around themes from your book to sell to readers?  Could you narrate your book and sell an audio CD?  Do you ever give presentations?  If so, maybe you could record one and sell the resulting CD ‘live and unleashed!’  What will your readers willingly pay for?  Have a brainstorm and see what else you can offer that would be a premium service.

If you have written a non fiction book around your business subject area, you could use your book as a ‘hook’ to increase interest in your short courses, or sell them the book at a discount if they buy one of your other services.  The options are endless, be as creative as you like!  The worst that can happen is they don’t take the upsell, and if that happens you have still sold a book!

Observe other authors, businesses and products and notice how they tackle the upsell.  It might give you some ideas for your own book.  Good luck!

So how can you take a savvy approach to marketing your book and make sure that its message is received, heard and understood?  The first thing to consider is to look at the audience that your book is intended for and observe where they ‘hang out’.  For example, if your book is about music, you could contribute to music forums and become active in that community.  Then you can leave your web URL under your comment.  Perhaps the URL is for your own website or it could be the link to your book on Amazon or another internet retail site.  This kind of ‘hanging around’ marketing means that over time your potential readers will come to recognise your name and seek you out.  Maybe they will go check out your website or be motivated to discuss your book.  This leads to an increased ‘brand’ recognition and basically warms the reader up.  The warmer they are the more motivated they will be to buy.

We are all selective about who we listen to and uninvited marketing just will not be entertained.  The less intrusive you can be, the more likely you are to get your message across.  The most effective way to have new people learn about your book is through ‘Word of Mouth’ marketing, or recommendation.  However this kind of promotion does take time.

Another way to get a message to your potential audience is targeted PR.  Approach the media in your specialist area to see if you can give them a news story that is of interest.  The media could include trade magazines for your subject area, radio stations that broadcast to your target audience or even just the local ‘rag’ but they will need something quirky, unusual or gigantic to write about, so think about what business milestones you have recently passed  – maybe the first 1000 books sold?

These days authors are taking a grassroots approach to marketing – gone are the days of expensive ad campaigns and book tours by large publishing houses.  You will probably find that the onus is on you to drive any activity whether it be book signings or a launch party.  But as the author of the work, you have the most passion  for the project anyway.  If you become proactive in marketing your work, you can get to audiences quicker and in a more relevant way than a marketing exec from a publishing house who also has 20 other authors to look after.  You are ideally placed to be faster, leaner and more concise with your marketing messages – ‘on the ground’, at the front line to catch the consumer spend!  Be excited when speaking about your book, be consistent and keep putting yourself ‘out there’ and your message is more likely to be heard.