Dr. Lant Passed Away April 16, 2023
Create an E-Book Today. Publish it on Amazon.com Profit from it the rest of your life!
Copyright 2016
Jeffrey Lant Associates
All rights Reserved
Contents
Preface / Introduction 5
Chapter 1 Well Begun Is Half Done 8
Chapter 2 Anything Goes. 11
Chapter 3 “It’s a thousand pages, give or take a few.” 15
Chapter 4 “Yes, look out world, here I come.” 16
Chapter 5 Ninety five percent. 22
Chapter 6 Order from Writerssecrets.com NOW! 25
About the Author 29
Preface / Introduction
Thomas Dudley Cabot (1895-1995) was the first billionaire I ever met, and as I sat in the waiting room of his wrap-around glass office atop the highest edifice in Boston, his moniker splashed even higher still, I thought I’d gone to Heaven; and that wasn’t a bad deduction either.
No false modesty. No deprecating remarks. No snide comments. I was deeply, seriously impressed and didn’t care who knew it. I am a boy who owns it a privilege to acknowledge merit, especially when it comes packaged in billion dollar installments.
The Great Man didn’t keep me waiting a minute; his handshake was brisk, eyes focused, very, very Bawston where the Dudleys speak only to Cabots and the Cabots speak only to God. “I want you to help me…” I could hardly suppress my curiosity and joy.
I shook his hand the way my God-fearing father shook hands, eyes on the subject, strong grip, no dead fish; proud, never arrogant, as good as the man I was engaging, never better, what can I do for you, sir?
“Beggar on Horseback: The Autobiography of Thomas D. Cabot” (1979).
The lessons of this stellar day began at once, and were not one-sided. “Why do you answer your own phone?” I asked. “Because I know my business and can make a decision. You get one shot with me, and you’d better be prepared, because I’m all business.”
“Why do you have such a small office?” “Because when I set out to impress someone, I want to do it with something more important than the size of my windows or how much glass they contain.” I was getting a billion-dollar education delivered in the clipped Yankee idiom that screamed Mayflower, Harvard College, and Somerset Club. And this gentleman of overflowing means, no nonsense whatsoever, was asking my help because with all his ample resources and a skyscraper full of personnel, he needed it.
You see, having everything there was still one thing he craved and that was the audible, the real and substantial esteem of his fellow citizens and Earth travelers. That is to say, he craved their admiration, their deference, and their affectionate regard and respect. Without these elusive gifts from the demos, from his peers, from old friends and gouty classmates, he was merely a rich dude, and that just wasn’t good enough for such a paragon.
Here entereth the cavalry which bore a distinct resemblance to… me, a man who knew how to clear the venerable but unsung plutocrat’s desk and office of their weighty cargo of unsold books, doing the necessary so they did the most good.
The man who was a notable philanthropist and fund raiser for Harvard, wheedling bucks wherever he happened to be (hence “Beggar on Horseback).” Billionaire he may have been… but I was the genie who could give him what he really wanted, a fact which became more and more obvious with every article published, for one inevitably lead on to the next until the little room in the sky had but one book left, which he autographed for me as deserved reward for a job well done, even if I do say so myself
Now I want to help you…
To celebrate over 6 decades in all aspects of publishing, I decided I would not only cut you into the secrets of publishing but actually give you a free copy of the finished product, one of the 1,000,000 free copies I have guaranteed to give away. I’ve made a couple of bucks over the years and can afford the gift. Just be sure to tell your friends and to study this work seriously to get the serious results you say you want. I have lots of other free books to give away, too. Start with Chapter 6 in this book, or go to www.writerssecrets.com
Chapter 1 Well Begun Is Half Done
I didn’t want to write this book. After all, I have been successfully using these techniques for years. But my friends kept pestering me to spill the beans so they could be rich, too. On this basis I created this e-book and now I have a lot more friends, rich and happy. Things might have gone on this way forever, but…
Cherchez la femme
Then I met a woman and the old saying “cherchez la femme” entered the picture. She had a web site. She needed help yesterday. Her husband had left her. She had three young children. She was just keeping her head above water… yada, yada, yada. “What’s that got to do with the price of apples?” as my father might have bluntly said. “What indeed?”
However as you see, I’m a sucker for a pretty face and a sad story. This is why you see before you a proven formula that can make you over one-million dollars — guaranteed. Read this sentence again. I am as serious as a heart-attack about this… and you’d better be, too. That means following the directions seriously. Don’t even dream of responding to this epochal message unless and until you are.
Take a minute RIGHT NOW and go to www.amazon.com type in my name, Jeffrey Lant.
Then feast your eyes on the publishing equivalent of oil gushers; you know, those oil wells that just keep on pumping black gold 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This is what e-books, properly created, properly used, can do. See for yourself.
Some of these books are as new as yesterday; some are two, three or even four decades old, proven, sure-fire money makers; some indeed having already generated over $1,000,000 each, my personal favorites. Then there are the works in progress, soon (within a month or two) to be joining the money-making repertoire. What’s not to like?
A peep at yesteryear and why the vibrant future not the nostalgic past is my cuppa tea. In the older, pre-Kindle, pre-Amazon days the chances for making money in publishing were decidedly limited to a handful of writers and an even smaller handful of publishers and the media who promoted them with flagrant favoritism.
Researching the subject matter for your book was time consuming and expensive. It could and generally did take years to find what you needed and mould it into a “good read.” If you were lucky you got to keep 10% of the gross; bigger sharks than you got the rest. There wasn’t any point about complaining. The deck was well and truly stacked against you. Too sad.
The way we were.
It took me seven years to create my first book, “Insubstantial Pageant: Ceremony and Confusion At Queen Victoria’s Court” (1979, and I had every advantage:
an ample fellowship from Harvard University, two Harvard degrees, and experts who assisted with technical advice and an ear for the occasional moments I needed to talk. Yes, seven years. Then the shocker….
Despite the fact that I got the dream publisher I wanted — Hamish Hamilton — when my first royalty check arrived, I was shocked, yes shocked — by how small it was. I mean, my book had been on the front pages of virtually every newspaper in the realm, including a major story on the Associated Press international wire.
But the checks, regularly paid, didn’t get any larger; that was left to my swelled head and ebullient ego. So began my search for alternatives. I was willing to try — and to do — just about anything. In short order this lead to the independent publishers’ movement where some of the best people in the world were to be found. They were bright, fun to play with, slavishly complimentary. Remember, I had credentials up the you know what with a sunny disposition that could easily make friends and influence people.
Yes, they had everything but bucks. Attics full of unsold books; basements full of unsold books; kitchen cabinets full of unsold books. What a revolting development… There had to be a better way, and of course there was. And it came about when I did quite probably the most stupid thing of my young life. Certainly conventional opinion (re parents) thought so.
You see, I turned down a two-book contract from publishing behemoth McGraw Hill and a check for $10,000 smackers that sank with the ship. I saw the check. I drooled on the check. I hugged the check… and yet I turned down the desperately needed check, thereby promptly eliciting a chorus of blue notes of which the mildest was, “Lant, moron.” But I had a hunch my future lay elsewhere… and the hunch very soon was box office.
“This book is better than sex.”
I flew back to Boston from the fast-receding dreams of the Big Apple and went home to lick my wounds, applying copious quantities of liniment as I went. And then kismet in the shape of a brawny gym rat…
Instead of crying and dipping deep into demon rum, I printed up more copies of my 103-page book “The Consultant’s Kit: Establishing and Operating Your Successful Consulting Business”, erratically typed, with construction paper for the covers. Importantly, defiantly I also clapped a $35 price tag on it, mine all mine.
Then taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that I went into independent book writing and book publishing not to change the world, but to change my world; specifically by making big bucks ASAP. As Mae West might have said, “Goodness had nothing to do with it.”
So I asked my fetching, kvetching friend if he’d like a career in publishing. “Sure,” he crooned, wiping the greasy spoon vapors on his Italo six-pack. “What do I gotta do?” Just this: make me richer and richer yet. “No problemo, Doctah J.”
Thus the greatest crusade in world history began. It was beautiful, a-beautiful with a slogan to die for: “This book is better than sex”; then an image of “The Consultant’s Kit” rippling on a bright yellow t-shirt through Harvard Square, turning cleverness and youthful bravado into cash. I little suspected and certainly did not know I was soon to be a millionaire, but this was just around the corner. Hallelujah!
By the way that song you hear in the background is the ever-loving “Saturday Night Fever” released by the Bee Gees (1977) Is that whirring montage Travolta with moves that can scarcely be believed even if seen?
No, that wicked cool cat is me…. Lant CEO, publisher, editor, author, lecturer, promotions director, millionaire, then multi-millionaire, and now your personal publishing advisor… having the time of his life… “laughing all the way to the bank,” not merely a catchy phrase, but God’s honest truth. Turn the page so you can get started now…
Chapter 2 Anything Goes.
Well…. I know what you’re thinking. You’re champing at the bit. Yet before you commence here are some important words.
I want you to think how hard it was for Julius Caesar to produce his military memoirs, “Omnia Gallia est divisa in tres partes…” Capturing the slaves to take dictation was just the first problem. It was hard, hard, hard for Juli… on the Ides of March or any other ides.
Then think how difficult it was for brilliant Johannes Guttenberg despite his invention of movable type. Laying out just one page, one paragraph was hard, hard, hard. “Dummkopf, it’s ‘Deutschland uber alles’, ‘Ach du lieber’!”
Or what about William Randolph Hearst, the richest publisher on terra firma who had to pay for an empire of rent and salaries, thereby dramatically reducing his even still bloated profits. It was hard, hard, hard despite the fact Daddy gave him his first newspaper. . Or what about Doctor J, your faithful author and compatriot and how he started by typing his copy (aged 12 or so) on a Royal Standard upwrite and then printing it on a gelatin press, one page at a time. It was hard, hard, hard. “Mother, the gelatin has dried up, and I need 5 more pages.”
Why bother? Why did so many of the world’s most intelligent, shrewd and competitive people work so hard to write, to publish, and to persuade total strangers about their point of view, determined to succeed despite any, every obstacle?
The answer.
They did it to change minds, to influence, to motivate action, to enthuse, to gain adherents and followers, to make a resounding, eternal reputation for themselves… and to make MONEY as fast as they could. You see, whatever the difficulties of publishing might have been at any stage of human events, the benefits of publishing far, far outweighed them.
You, YOU, right now can do what not a single one of such great and notable worthies could do; your book going worldwide in just weeks, even days. Let’s celebrate for you are about to surpass all the writers and publishers ere now… and that is magnifique indeed.
Don’t you hear the thrilling music in the background? It is Angela Lansbury singing “Open A New Window” from “Mame” (1966), and she’s belting it out just for you. “Open a new window/ Open a new door/ Travel a new highway/ That’s never been tried before/Before you find you’re a dull fellow…” If your blood isn’t surging at this point, this last moment of your isolation and obscurity, not to mention cash shortfalls that rival Niagara Falls, then you need a transfusion, and you need it yesterday.
Want a worldwide reputation? Say e-book.
Want to communicate with your existing customers? Say e-book.
Want to generate new customers everywhere on our Third Rock from the Sun, effectively, inexpensively? Shout “E-book”.
More money for your non-profit? You guessed it, “E-book”.
I know this feeling, and it is glorious. Enjoy! Because your life will never, ever be the same! Thus, we sally forth. “For God, for England, and St. George!” So what now?
The first thing you must do is brainstorm a list of e-books you are capable of creating. This is a list you must have and maintain so long as you wish to profit (in any way) for life.
Select a major category first, like health. Or business development. Or money. Or travel. Or religion. Or education. Or… but you get the picture.
To maximize benefits, select a Big Subject, and mine it for the duration. Developing a reputation for quality content, solid, credible, understandable, and clearly written is what you must aim for. Do so and the money and all other benefits and emoluments must follow.
“Anything Goes.”
In 1934 America’s most sophisticated, cosmopolitan composer, Cole Porter, (1891-1964) released a tune whose title alone might be your guide in this necessary task.
“Good authors too who once knew better words/ Now only use four letter words Writing prose/
Anything goes.”
Yes, anything. And that just happens to be superb news for you. We live in the Information Age and people who control access to and use of content make money beyond their dreams. Consider the following. My nephew Kyle had a hard time getting his first post-collegiate job. It was hard work, he moaned, laborious, thankless work he complained; no one appreciated the genius he so clearly saw in his looking glass each morning. Uncle Jeffrey to the rescue.
I looked through my existing repertoire on how to get your first job, how to help your boss, and how to move up to where the big bucks are waiting for you. A little snip here; a little rearranging there and before you could say “Unemployment Office”, I had a marvelous and timely e-book that any exasperated parent could tattoo on the errant offspring. So much more satisfying than the vulgar and distasteful versions they so casually select for themselves nowadays.
I’ve been expecting you.
I was not surprised when thousands worldwide grabbed this report, the cost a few bucks; the pay-off a lifetime of income. Thus does a sensible e-book allow me to do well by doing good, just the way business should be.
Indeed I’d go even farther. I predict that sensible e-book, helping to motivate and instruct so many, will gross me a million plus over time with occasional promotion. And remember: in the e-book game a million gross is very close to a million net. You begin to see wither my Cheshire cat smile cometh.
Now let’s dig further into this incredibly interesting subject, for as I see on the lady’s placard in the back row, “Doctor J, you do something to me…. so do do that voo do that you do so well”. With pleasure, madam, and my hat tipped (again) to tres chic Cole, who was no mean shakes about raising bucks that proved so useful in financing his ridiculously gilded life style. After all, living well is the best revenge, but of course you knew that. That’s why you’re here.
It is 4:27 a.m., and I am at my Command Post in the Blue Room, a place of unparalleled beauty and utility. One of its many unique features is sure to grasp your attention and imagination. Its electrical outlets are not plastic as in many offices and homes, but rather solid gold. Yes solid.
Why?
Because this is a place of destiny and such a place calls for the opulence you deserve. And so, to turn each minute of this day into specie I turn on the theme song from “King of Kings” (1961) written by that composer of brilliance Miklos Rozsa (1907-1995).
Bolstered by soaring music, I approach my desk and another installment of my earthly destiny. Yes, today will be up to my standards and soon that world will know it… and the words coming so slowly before the dawn are dancing now… yes, they are dancing. Now is the perfect time to draw exquisite truth from your brain, packaged and puissant for a world in need.
You are already on the road of giants. Here’s how…
Decide how long your opus will be. 12-30 pages gives you a broad length.
Conceive a working title. You may well alter it as you go, but you need this directional signal now.
Outline the sections of your oeuvre.
Cover title and author
Inside title page including dedication (that special person whose help was vital)
Inside author designation All Rights Reserved Year of publication Name of organization or entity publishing this e-book Table of contents
Preface. A very personal introduction by the author… you!
Introduction. Informs readers what they may expect.
Chapter 1, 2, 3 etc. Afterward
About the Author
Order form for your products and services.
Back cover with author photo and price. Make sure that photo is gorgeous, a knock-out. You’re capering now on the world stage, after all.
Kick up your heels and cavort. It’s a jubilant part of what we authors get, and to spare!
Chapter 3 “It’s a thousand pages, give or take a few.”
In 1966 the Beatles recorded Paul McCartney’s latest tune “Paperback Writer.” It was, I assure you, composed for me and you.
“Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book/ It took me years to write, will you take a look?”
To ensure that your e-book is read, each section must do its part, thereby creating a unified masterpiece. To achieve this result, let’s put each under a microscope, starting with length.
One reason e-books do so well is their strictly controlled length. When you’re writing online (or “typewriting” as best-selling and ultra- meticulous author Truman Capote once sneered), it’s easy to keep going, piling one unnecessary page on another. This tendency must be fought and rigidly controlled.
President Dwight Eisenhower, a 5-star general remember, taking orders only from my distant cousin General George C. Marshall, then finally from the President, once told his Cabinet that all memos, reports, and documents to him must be no longer than one page; failure to adhere to this strict length requirement ensured return to sender and/or the circular file. Official Washington laughed first, but Eisenhower laughed last.
If you want your e-book read and actioned, keep the length to an ultra-thin 12 pages to a chunkier 30. Less is definitely more.
Next, give yourself a working title. A title is a directional signal for you. Quo vadis? Whither your title goeth, there goeth your e-book… only you discover after a few chapters that your original title is inadequate and obsolete. Don’t fret. Just invent a better, more appropriate title.
Personally, I prefer two-part titles, the first part snap, crackle, and pop (like “Cash Copy”); the second part longer and more descriptive (like “How to offer your products and services so your prospects buy them… NOW!”).
Now add your name as author (what a moment!), the name of your publishing company (if you have one) and your address, e-mail address, and telephone. Be sure to include a line like this: “All rights reserved.” Your book is valuable property. Make sure you protect it.
Outline the sections of your oeuvre.
Next comes the first inside page which reiterates your title and author. Be sure to add, too, your dedication. While adding a dedication is, of course, entirely your decision, there is no greater gift by any author, especially if the volume be your first. Don’t forego this gracious act.
Then add your table of contents. This should make it very clear exactly what’s in your book.
The next section is the Preface. This lets your readers know why you’ve written your book and what you’d like the reader to know what’s particularly important.
The next section, the Introduction, should be brief but pointed. Reading it will make it clear to your readers why you have taken valuable time and resources. One of my professors at Harvard used to say a book should have only one point, no matter how long and detailed the work. This is where you inform your readers what that point is and commences your argument.
Chapter 1 etc.
Now it’s time for the meat and potatoes, your chapters. As stated above, here is where e-books have a tremendous advantage. Short, sweet, to the point should always be your objective. Personally, I prefer 3-5 chapters of 3-5 single-spaced pages in length. You should know your subject sufficiently to achieve this goal with smoothness and clarity.
Afterword
The Introduction tells your readers what you intend to tell them with particular reference to your major point.
The chapters tell them what you want them to learn in detail.
And the Afterword tells them what you’ve told them. The Afterward is your last opportunity for striking home with your major point. Make it personal, personable, punchy, and persuasive. Here is where the pen is truly mightier than the sword. Never forego this advantage.
What follows is the “About the Author” section. Make sure it includes all the relevant details about who you are and what makes you eminently qualified to write this book and address your readers. Include follow-up details here, too.
Remember, a book is what I call a sophisticated brochure. People throw away marketing materials with nonchalance, without thought. On the other hand, they may keep your e-books forever.
Consider that and make sure you have given them the necessary means to contact you.
Where is it? The Index.
There are several commercial indexing products which enable you to easily index your work. You can get them online.
Finally, it’s time to add your back cover. This includes another ebullient picture of you, along with the title, subtitle, author, and follow up details.
A Note on Price.
Whether you plan to sell your e-book or give it away to grow a list and make sales is a judgement call. Both methods can work. However, either way you must decide on a price and print it on your e-book, on the front and page covers and on the title page. Perceived value increases your response rate.
$9.99 is a good retail price. That is because Amazon.com allows author to keep 70% of prices under $9.99, while they retain 65% above $9.99. For this fee, Amazon.com gives you the world enough and time to profit. And that I say is worth every penny.
Chapter 4 “Yes, look out world, here I come.”
Our ancestors, particularly those of noble birth, entrepreneurial aspiration, or literary obsession, called them encriers in Paris, ink stands in London, desk stands in New York.
What so ever called, they were essential in a world where communication being the more difficult was the more prized, holding as they did ink, sand, candles and their snuffers, quill pen and a knife which was constantly needed to keep the edge as lean and sharp as necessary.
Ink stands and me.
More so than perhaps anyone else on Earth, I can imagine the owners of these ink stands at their pressing labors; ecstatic, for instance, about his lordship’s step up in the peerage of the Empire on which the sun never set, anxious and exigent that all the world should know; and at once, splashing ink on fine watermarked paper the symbol of his happy elevation.
Or the dutiful young lady declining marriage at her father’s insistence, sobbing through a message that was hardly legible for the tears; the missive that condemned her to a ‘lifetime of “might have beens” that started here with this blunt quill that was kept as a souvenir, never used again, but never forgotten.
Or the ebullient “Yes!” Master John scrawled across his acceptance letter to the ‘Varsity. The Dean smiled as he perused it. It made him remember the day he opened and scrawled on his letter to Fair Harvard so many years ago. He smiled again and made a mental note that he must ask this Kindred Spirit to tea at the earliest moment.
Ink stands (or desk sets as I like to call them) were so much an essential part of life that they are easily overlooked and taken for granted. But that is wrong.
So important at important times of our life, they should hold a special place in our hearts, for they have been present at all the events that mattered, happy and bleak; joyous and unbearably painful and all the rest, every time a message must be sent; using the tools to write that message we hoped would make all the difference and come in time. And sometimes it did. “Vite! A message on the
King’s Service. Make way!”
Why am I telling you about ink stands? Because from this tool, authors, who remember had to make their home made ink and sharpen the quill which came from a fat goose tended by the “goose girl”, who at age 5 or so was adept at shepherding her hissing charges, often with a peacock feather. It was oh-so-picturesque… each step more tedious than the last. (“Did you forget the lamp black?”) His Begging Highness.
My love affair with encriers began with a painting of HRH Prince Ernest Duke of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the father-in-law of one of the greatest royal personages ever; Queen Victoria, wife of Prince Albert, the Prince Consort.
Because the Queen was besotted, obsessed with beautiful Albert, and because Albert detested the father who had hounded his adored mother to an early grave, this stunning swagger portrait hangs here in my Red Drawing Room in Cambridge rather than amidst the pomp and glory of Buckingham Palace.
Thus, there, there on the front, you see on Ernest’s cluttered desk (think dozens of unpaid bills awaiting transport to his exasperated daughter-in-law) an ink stand.
Immediately you also see, and I trust understand, an error only a minor duke always obsessed with his place would make. You see, His Highness’ quill is inaccurate, showing as it does the wrong feathers for a practical, actually used tool. Such pens rely on the flight feathers, not the ornamental tail feathers. But,of course, the grand ducal popinjay would want something eye-catching and ornamental, not useful. And he would get it, or else.
Custom made.
I feel I must remind you that virtually all ink stands are custom made and as such cat nip to a connoisseur like me. I have a couple of dozen, and all reflect the fastidious customer’s wit, whimsy, and particular wishes. There is no “one size fits all” about these puppies. I have one, for instance, shaped like a pyramid (where the ink is stored) and features two grave robbers preparing for the grand larceny. only the Beloved of the Gods can deliver.
Then there is a lovely number, tasteful, restrained, fashioned in crystal and solid silver. It was given by Queen Victoria to her 4th daughter, Princess Louise, later Duchess of Argyll and wife of Canada’s Governor General; thence (for all these items of a certain date always have a “thence” attached); thence to the Duke of Kent, the most charming of George V”s children.
Can you imagine as I can, this party boy at this ink stand (“so thoughtful of Auntie”) trying, yet again, to explain to Papa King what he did in gay Paris, a mixture of boys, absinthe, cocaine, and toujour l’amour of the kinds certain to outrage and dismay His Majesty. No doubt many explanatory notes were necessary such was the riot of l’amour the Prince of Kent had always at the ready, ready to be explained away with the assistance of this tool.
You see, encriers are always there. No wonder the servants held them to the light to gain the very latest intelligence on their betters, always embarrassing… always delicious..
Probably, sadly, Greek Princess Marina, Kent’s chic Duchess, may well have written letters of acknowledgement and appreciation from it when the glamorous Duke crashed while on active duty and died (1942).
I bought it from the second Duke of Kent, (born 1935) his eldest son. Perhaps he needed the money; perhaps it reminded him too much of the father he hardly knew. In any event it’s here. There are no demons in it for me; just the satisfaction that always accompanies a beautiful object, a joy forever, and this encrier is surely that.
One of a kind.
I could go on and on about my encriers and encriers in general, but just one more story must suffice. To begin with, search any search engine for the film score to the 1966 movie “Khartoum”. Its music by Frank Cordell is a crazy quilt of British royal marches, regimental brass and bombast, and the strange, haunting sounds which blew over a million square miles of the Sudan; sounds that drove Her Majesty’s officers and other ranks to dismay, distraction and death.
In this kingdom The Mahdi (“the Expected One”) ruled, his goal a murderous theocracy, living high as only the Viceroy of God could live; the only one who understood the enigma from which everything else emerged.
General Charles George Gordon (1833-26 January, 1885), the British commander, looked for the answer to this enigma, too. But The Mahdi stepped smartly forward with the gros battalions Gordon did not have and thereby discovered that crack soldiers in overwhelming numbers explain such enigmas best of all.
Thus “The Expected One” became on 01/26/1885 “The Victorious One” and, for the moment, his vision of God provided the answer to the enigma that is eternity.
He boiled Gordon’s head with its confused and muddled ponderations until the flesh was gone, and the scull shined with a luster all its own. He then turned it into perhaps the most notorious encrier ever known; an object of derision, jibes and insult. Vanitas vanitatem.
There are those who may cavil with this assessment, but collectors, each one obsessed, will go to any length to secure a unique object… and there was nothing quite as unique as this… I aim to find it and again know a connoisseur’s quiet, protective, secret, and profound joy.
8:01 a.m.
I have been writing some time now today, each word another thrust into the long history of encrier beauty and usefulness. “Et tu, Brute?”. I should be happy. It is, after all, difficult to write when the encrier and its attendant parts constitute the cutting edge of productivity.
By contrast, the encrier’s successor was the fountain pen, a nib pen that, unlike its predecessor, contains an internal reservoir of liquid ink. The pen draws ink from the reservoir through a feed to the nib and deposits it on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action. You may well believe this to be a superior system to chasing a recalcitrant goose around the farm yard for a feather, hoping the fowl is more cooperative and less enraged than it looks.
This device first became popular in about 1850 in Birmingham, England. There are to be sure those (particularly members of the family) who believe that a Moslem brother should get the credit for first invention in the 10th century. But the case of these advocates is severely weakened by the lack of any examples whereas Birmingham offers ample evidence to prove its point.
In record speed, encriers, with their quills, knives, candles and sand became just so much ancient history, whilst every boy on Earth (including this one) became accustomed to receiving a fountain pen (in suitably elegant box) on each and every birthday, graduation, confirmation, college triumph, etc. However its hegemony did not last, and previous users were nearly unanimous in agreeing that one small bottle of “White Out” easily outdistanced fountain pens. I was lukewarm in my feelings about fountain pens, whereas my ardor for “White Out” was real, unfeigned… but short.
And so it went, from decorative encrier to practical fountain pen, to the sturdy upright typewriter, to White Out, to the self-correcting IBM Selectric II (the love of my young incarnation) It all helped make the physical drudgery of writing more bearable than it had been… it all helped us make deadlines and avoid going Postal. It was not yet good, but it was “good enough”, the condition of affairs that Sir Percival Blakeney, Baronet assured us (in “The Scarlet Pimpernel”, published 1905) was not good enough at all.
Thus so we made do year after year, article after article, book after book, impatiently reminding ourselves “There is nothing quite so bad as that which is good enough.” However, now I cannot bear to dispense with even a single one. I even fret at who shall have them when I am buried deep on the lone prairie. You are a connoisseur like I am. You know how I feel.
And then the Game Changers that were e-mail and the Internet, arriving along with this sage book that is telling you just what you must do to make millions; a topic, an eventuality so thrilling you cannot stop hugging yourself in the shower and singing marvellously off key. You ship is coming home at last. This is bliss indeed.
10 Things you must do to produce not one e-book but dozens, bringing home the bacon with each and every one. “Hey, look me over.”
It’s 4:27 a.m., and grim outside. I’d rather be tousling with my bed clothes than enlightening you (hey, it is what it is), but I’ve got your book to complete, on time and beautifully written, and therefore up and at ’em is the order of the day. And here’s the music that will get us there. It’s “Hey, look me over” as sung by Lucille Ball from “Wildcat” (1960). Go to any search engine and play it now. The world is waiting to see this great e-book of yours, and here are 10 great ideas to help you create it faster, better, and something that’ll make you bucks every day of your life.
Get organized. Stay organized. Open a folder for every chapter. Save your chapters in two ways: first by printing each chapter as written and, of course, always on your computer. Saving is vital. Don’t use just one method or the other. Use both.
In each file keep all your notes and research data. Information to be used in Chapter 5 shouldn’t be mixed with research data from Chapter 8.
Write when your bio rhythm is at its highest. For most people that in early to mid-morning. If you are stronger, you will produce stronger, more persuasive prose.
When your energy begins to wane, stop writing. The worst thing you can do is to force yourself. When it’s time to stop, stop. Then work on tasks that do not require the intense concentration and focus of writing, tasks like proof reading. If you’re like me you will proof read chapters three, four, or even five times to make them as smooth and accurate as possible. “Damn, how did that typo get through anyway?)
Data collection particularly for your next chapter should be done when your energy is not tip top. Never use prime writing time to edit, look for data, etc.
Set a quota. Write that quota… no matter what. I know from not just years but decades of working with aspiring writers that excuses for non-performance are legion, and you must root them out immediately and keep valiant guard against their return. If you say you will write 250 words a day, then do it… It’s as simple — or as difficult — as that.
Master the Wikipedia. As far as I’m concerned one of the top five tools on the Internet is the astounding Wikipedia, which allows you to search and find up-to-date details on virtually any subject… and within seconds. I can tell you I am in “Wiki” every single day. Facts are what will give your prose heft and credibility. Wikipedia gives you the facts.
Keep a light, conversational touch in everything you impart. Your objective should be to make what you are teaching easy to absorb by those who are being taught.
If you are having trouble getting started, then write what you can in any chapter. Don’t sit there grumbling and anxious that you cannot write the next line in chapter 3. Write what you can write now. You can always put them together when able.
Add music. When I quote a couple of lines from the Broadway musical “Wildcat” (1960), you no doubt get the message:
“Hey, look me over, lend me an ear, Fresh out of clover and mortgaged up to here I’m a little bit short of the elbow room, But let me get me some, and look out world here I come”.
Good, aren’t they? But then words rendered by composer Miss Peggy Lee are words that work. However even Miss Lee’s sharp words are not as persuasive as they could be. For that we need music…
Now we have that music. “Hey, Look Me Over.” And immediately your words are fortified to create an experience that more than touches your brain; it goes right through to your heart. You are dancing! Your office a stage from whence your message goes forth to the millions worldwide who need it.
How will you reach and motivate them? For the concise answer — and a basket of proven methods -simply go to the next chapter!
P.S. And be SURE to attend my interactive programs at Writerssecrets.com Promotion and marketing are always at the top of the agenda, along with the friendly personal service we provide.
Chapter 5 Ninety five percent.
So far this volume has focused on developing superior copy in the form of e-books folks worldwide will want to read, retain, and read again. This is, of course, essential for developing content that people want to buy and recommend to others.
Now, however, it’s time to move to the next stage in the process of generating wealth from e-books. That stage is PROMOTION.
You may have wondered why I titled this chapter “95%”. That’s because the business of books is divided into two parts, 5% being product conception and creation; 95% being the amount of time and effort you need to put into promotion. Yes, 95% of your efforts must be in marketing… and this means every single day. This means you. This means your product. This means now.
Helpful e-book promotion materials.
What follows now is a listing of some of the most useful and responsive e-book promotion alternatives. Treat these promotion options like gold… for they are surely that.
Note, however, that I say these are just “some” of the available tools we use and recommend at Writerssecrets.com We become aware of and add to our money-making promotion lists every day. These gems come from several sources.
Our promotional whiz Patrice Porter is on a constant, 24-hours a day search which yields a steady stream of more promotional opportunities. Let me be very frank with you….
Keeping alert to these opportunities and learning how to use them to maximum advantage takes time, lots of time, and the technical expertise to squeeze what you need from all the options. Don’t try to kid yourself about all this. There is no fooling yourself in this department. When you’re a member of Writerssecrets.com all this information is made constantly available and understandable. We also have our interactive programs which enable you to ask the promotional and marketing queries you need answers.
Our members.
One of the benefits of belonging to a crackerjack organization like Writerssecrets is who else is a member and their willingness to share. Here we get top ratings. Our members share. It’s as simple as that.
Companies which have the ability are requested to share with us, with you. And they do. We always pass that information on to you. Just think of the ongoing advantages.
Let’s get started.
What follows below are some excellent e-book promotion alternatives. Use them and profit. Again, it’s simplicity itself.
Set up you website/blog – A word on Weebly.com. Weebly’s mission is to empower people (like you) to pursue their passion. They’ve made it very easy to build a personal website, monetize it and easily get into e-commerce with your own online store.
Set up you social media platforms and interconnect them. There’s lots of them so choose the ones that work for you, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter (connect to JustReTweet.com for more action on your account), Google Plus, Instagram, Pintrest, StumbledUpon and more. Start building a following with regular quality postings and links back to your site. Facebook will let you hold an event like a book launch or special promotion and invite your friends to come. Then there is Facebook ads which are great for getting specific targeting.
Start your own LinkedIn group. A great way to brand yourself, and let your message or vision be known.
Join groups and forums with a “pay it forward” attitude like Kboards.com, Amazon Author Discussions, Kindle Direct Publishing Community Forums. Search both LinkedIn and Facebook for Writers groups to participate in using terms like: “Indie Writers”, Self-published Writers” or even “EBooks”.
Take advantage of a Google account which gives you an email account, YouTube account, Google Plus account, Blogger and more. Google loves having fresh content put on their sites and they reward you for it in their rankings. They’ll even do some of the work for you. Do a simple Google Hangout On Air and Google loads it to your YouTube channel puts it up on Google Plus and makes it easier to share.
Another big player to broadcast your message is Apple’s iTunes. Set up a podcast station at apple.com/itunes/podcasts/ Take your podcasts and put them on your YouTube Channel. Add the PodPress plugin to your website, and play your podcasts right on your site.
Press Releases. Talk about everything you’re doing, and send out those press releases! An excellent free press release source is IBOToolbox.com. You even get credits for submitting a press release to use towards your advertising. A good paid press release service is Webwire.com. Let’s not forget about our local newspapers, radio and T.V. stations.
Join the ranks of authors at Amazon’s Author Central -AuthorCentral.Amazon.com. Create your very own author page complete with a detailed biography, blog and twitter feeds, event announcements and all your books right top and center.
Take advantage of the Amazon Associate program or try the Amazon Giveaway program to create a buzz and gain even more followers.
Get reviews. If you’ve truly engaged with your followers and participated in the forums and groups go ahead and ask for reviews.
A word on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).Using these big players like Facebook, Google and iTunes and linking back to your website boosts your ranking. Back linking to other posts on your site will help too. Use Keywords in your titles and headlines as well as in your permalinks to give a boost to your ranking in search engines.
Now it’s time to join so this stream of profit-making intelligence will regularly flow towards and enrich you.
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Batperson, riddle me just one question. If you walk from here, just how do you expect to profit?
You see, I have told you about how you can create e-books and have each such e-book you create work for you for years, even decades, to come.
I have told you why e-books make sense. I have told you how to create them. I have explained how to use them to grow a massive prospect list, and how to sell direct to those prospects.
Despite the overwhelming case for e-books and the fact that you have no constructive alternative in place, you are sitting there doing nothing, dreaming of alternatives when you don’t need alternatives but direct, immediate action.
Does sitting there make sense in any way, shape, or form?
If you are running a business large or small, in whatever field of endeavor, guaranteed riches, steadily growing riches can be yours. Walk, and you lose all that…
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—
About the Author
Dr. Jeffrey Lant is known worldwide. He started in the media business when he was 5 years old, a Kindergartner in Downers Grove, Illinois, publishing his first newspaper article. Since then Dr. Lant has earned four college degrees, including the PhD from Harvard. He has taught at over 40 colleges and universities, quite possibly the first to offer satellite courses. He has written over 30 books, thousands of articles and been a welcome guest on hundreds of radio and television programs. He has founded several successful corporations and businesses including his latest at…writerssecrets.com
His memoirs “A Connoisseur’s Journey” has garnered seven prizes that ensure its classic status. Its subtitle is “Being the artful memoirs of a man of wit, discernment, pluck, and joy.” A good read by this man of so many letters. Such a man can offer you thousands of insights into the business of becoming a successful writer. Be sure to sign up now at www.writerssecrets.com
Also by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
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==================================
It was a great honor to work with Dr. Jeffrey Lant during his tenure as CEO of Worldprofit. This
article was given to Daniel Fischer while Dr. Jeffrey Lant was at Worldprofit.
Yours In Success,
Daniel Fischer Dano Enterprises
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