Upbeat and positive is best.

Readers of self-help books want to know what works. They want to know what you prefer. They want to know what they should do. As much as possible, emphasize the positive, in word, phrase and general tone.

For example, “Every diet that has hit the market since diets were invented is a fraud, except mine,” is negative. Put the reader in a positive, more receptive frame of mind by saying: “My diet is clinically proven to melt the pounds away.”

Don’t waste time telling the reader how rotten, worthless and crooked everyone else is. Tell them how good you are. Say, “My approach gets results by emphasizing the behavioral aspects,” instead of “Everyone else fails because they don’t know what I know about the behavioral aspects.”

Say, “This was the only study approved by peer review,” instead of “Every other researcher faked the results and ought to be thrown in jail.”

Say, “Scientists now agree that meditation is as effective as, and less expensive then, psychiatry,” instead of “Psychiatry is a bunch of bull. It never helped anyone but the greedy doctors who refuse to admit that meditation is better and cheaper.”

Say, “This book goes beyond stress management to…” instead of “This book goes beyond stress management, ‘the very hip buzz phrase’ of the century.”

Readers don’t like sourpusses. Yes, sometimes you have to point out what’s wrong with the other ideas, programs, diets, etc. But in general, be positive. Inspire your readers.

Scientific journals are filled with sentences along the lines of this: “The authors have concluded that some authorities feel there might, upon further study, be a role for this procedure in carefully controlled settings under the guidance of those who have developed an expertise in its use.” That might be okay for a professional journal, but not a book written for the popular press.

Your article or book is supposed to persuade readers. So say what you want to say; don’t bury your message under a pile of “ifs” and “maybes” and “perhapses” and “occasionallys” and “some-have-reporteds.” Stick your neck out. Decide what you what the world to know, then write about it in specific, concrete, positive words and phrases. Use qualifiers when necessary, but not as a habit, and not as a way of covering your rear. If you want to say something, say it with confidence. If you’re not sure about something, don’t say it.

Writing, “The Smith Diet has had positive effects in some patients,” won’t inspire a lot of people to jump on your bandwagon. Instead, try, “Thirty-percent of the dieters lost ten pounds in two weeks,” if that is indeed the truth.

Instead of, “Thus, the studies seem to suggest that it would not be unreasonable to believe that my diet will result in a weight loss of up to two pounds per week,” write, “You can lose up to two pounds per week on my diet.”

Instead of, “It might be fair to conclude that pain is a major problem in the United States,” write, “Pain is a major problem in the United States.”

Instead of, “One can see why it has been suggested that such an exercise program could be considered to be beneficial,” write, “The exercise program will be beneficial.”

Don’t be afraid to say what you need to say.

It didn’t matter that I had to call and email her repeatedly after sending each invoice, requesting payment. It didn’t matter that at one point I refused to continue working until she wired all the overdue payments into my account. It didn’t even matter that I finally “fired” her and told her I would not turn over the remaining work in progress until I was paid in full. She kept insisting that she was absolutely honest and always paid on time. And, she added, I would not succeed in business until I learned how to trust people.

I had similar payment difficulties with another client, whom I also fired. This client was absolutely furious when I told him that I no longer trusted him to pay me. How dare I suggest he was untrustworthy, he practically shouted through the phone line. “Just look at my website,” he demanded. “You’ll see how trustworthy I am!”

I’m not sure how looking at someone’s website can prove he is trustworthy. After all, he created the website, so it probably wouldn’t contain anything that makes him look bad. (And besides, this very same client had tried to get me to stretch the truth about the benefits of his products in the copy I was creating for his new website.) Like the woman above, this client told me I wouldn’t succeed unless I learned to trust clients, with “trust” apparently meaning agreeing not to be paid for my work on time, if at all.

I’ve found that the clients who do their best not to pay you, who prod you to twist the truth on their behalf and otherwise misbehave are the most likely to tell you you’re a bad businessperson when you object.

Do they believe it, or is it just a tactic? And if it’s a tactic, does it work with most writers?

I can help you create your book and get it ready for publication. I’ve helped dozens of professionals achieve their goals, and some of their books have landed on bestseller lists. Let me help you! Call me at 818-594-0379.

I just received the contract, which faithfully incorporates my terms – with a little change that has made me wonder: when is after?

In my proposal, I had divided the total fee into five payments. The first payment was to be given to me upon signing of the contract; the second payment upon delivery of the first set of chapters; the third payment upon delivery of the second set of chapters; the fourth payment upon delivery of the final set of chapters, and the final payment when all the edits had been completed and the company had approved the final draft.

As I eagerly flipped through the contract they sent, I saw that the Legal Department had changed “upon” to “after,” as in, the writer will be paid “after the first two chapters are submitted on…” and “after the final two chapters are submitted on…”

I’m not a lawyer, but I believe I know what “upon” means: It means as soon as I give them some chapters, they give me some money. Simultaneously. At the same time. Allow them a few days to locate their checkbook, a few more to write the check and still a few more to find an envelope and stamp, but otherwise, pay me now.

But after? What does that mean? That they pay me a few seconds after the chapters are submitted? A few weeks? Years? Presidential election cycles? If I agree to “after,” will I ever-after be wondering where my money is?

I can help you create your book and get it ready for publication. I’ve helped dozens of professionals achieve their goals, and some of their books have landed on bestseller lists. Let me help you! Call me at 818-594-0379.

Whoa! NATIONAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN! I salivated as I imaged myself being flown from Los Angeles to New York, Miami to Seattle, and all points in between. In each city I would, as was customary at the time, appear on a couple important local radio and television programs, then chat with a local newspaper reporter or columnist, with the “big” national media interviews and appearances to take place in the Big Apple itself!

But just to be sure – after all, my interpretation of “national media campaign” might not be the same as theirs – I asked what it meant. A 20-city tour? Twelve-city? Five?

I wanted them to reply, “Twenty-city, of course!” but would have been satisfied with the truncated five-city version. (You could still cover a fair amount of media in, say, New York, Boston, Chicago, Houston and Miami. Plus, I could get myself booked on shows in my hometown of Los Angeles, which would make it a six-city tour. Not bad.)

“Twenty-city” would have been great, “five-city” would have been acceptable, but instead I got a couple different answers, all of which can be boiled down to, “Don’t you worry about a thing; it’s going to be GREAT!”

I wondered: What is “great?” So I asked what “great” means, and this time I got several more responses which can be boiled down to “Well…you see…ummm…”

I’m not a great negotiator, but I can tell the difference between “national media campaign” and “Well…you see…ummm…” Again I asked, this time of the person higher-up, and was finally told that “national media campaign” meant that they would send press releases to “all major media outlets.”

“To specially selected media outlets you believe will really like my book, or to everyone on your standard list?” I asked.

“Well…you see…ummm…”

“To specific contacts at these media outlets, or just to ‘Dear Whoever Happens To Get This?’”

“Well…you see…ummm…”

“Just press releases? Not full-fledged press kits?”

“Well…you see…ummm…”

“Will you follow-up with phone calls to these media outlets?”

“Well…you see…ummm…”

”Will you assign one of your in-house PR people to my book to make sure it gets the best possible coverage?”

“Well…you see…ummm…”

“Will you hire local publicists in key cities to make sure I get on some important shows?”

“Well…you see…ummm…”

By now, I could definitely see that, ummm, their idea of a “national media campaign” was sending out a bunch of PR releases and hoping something good happened. Sure: Oprah would undoubtedly pick the PR release about my book out of the hernia-making stack she got every day.

And so, after numerous back-and-forths, the publisher gave me an ultimatum: Agree to the deal today, or it’s off the table.

I might have accepted a less-than-thrilling deal: after all, the book was out-of-print and just sitting there, not making any money for me. But I felt that if I had to keep asking, “But what does it mean?” and kept getting progressively less satisfying answers, there was something wrong. And so I walked away from the deal.

The experience was not a waste, however. I learned an important lesson: It never hurts to ask, “But what does that mean??!!”

I can help you create your book and get it ready for publication. I’ve helped dozens of professionals achieve their goals, and some of their books have landed on bestseller lists. Let me help you! Call me at 818-594-0379.

But every so often…HOLY COW!

I once ghosted a self-published book for a physician. She was very pleasant and cooperative, always asking for and then thanking me for my opinion. Unfortunately, she also solicited opinions from five of her friends and advisors, who all had different ideas about the book’s content and style…plus the organization, tone, use of adjectives, relative merits of italics versus underlining, the font size and just about everything else. My job was simple, the doctor reassured me after each round of critique: simply reconcile it all in the next draft. Right. It would have been easier to reconcile the Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

Another time I ghosted a book proposal for a VIP who seemed to think that the agent representing the book was a fool – and vice versa. The VIP and agent had completely different ideas as to how the book should be structured and written – and didn’t hesitate to tell me what to do. I felt like a ping pong ball being batted back and forth:

“Do it my way!”                                                “No, my way!”

“No, my way!”                                                  “No, my way!”

“No, my way!”                                                  “No, my way!”

Believe it or not, we finished the proposal and it was actually sold to a publisher. However, I was not asked by the VIP to write it. Darn.

Yet another time I ghosted a book proposal for a psychiatrist who wanted to write a book about…about…about…well, that was the problem. He began with one very strong idea, which evolved a bit, then a bit more, then a bit more, finally morphing into an entirely new book idea. And then another new book idea. And then another. I kept revising the proposal, frantically trying to keep up with his “morph-thought,” but before I could get a new draft in, his thoughts had already begun to wander down a new path. We never did finish that proposal.

Today, when I talk to prospective clients I verbally probe them to see if they are HOLY COW-types. Sometimes I recognize the danger signs and happily walk away from the deal. Unfortunately, I don’t always catch them in time.

When I’m caught in the clutches of a HOLY COW-type client, all I can do is give thanks to the makers of chocolate.

I can help you create your book and get it ready for publication. I’ve helped dozens of professionals achieve their goals, and some of their books have landed on bestseller lists. Let me help you! Call me at 818-594-0379.

1. Keep the pomposity factor low.

2. Toss extra words overboard.

3. Know that short sentences are sweet sentences.

4. Combine for clarity.

5. Favor the active voice.

6. Skip the jargon.

7. Leave the flowers in the garden.

8. Tell us what you’re talking about.

9. Organize your material logically.

10. Stick your neck out.

11. Accentuate the positive.

Your writing can be very readable and persuasive if you remember that you’re just talking to your readers. So use plain old English. Be brief and to the point, be clear and always be positive.

I can help you create your manuscript and get it ready for publication. I’ve helped dozens of professionals achieve their goals, and some of their books have landed on bestseller lists. Let me help you! Call me at 818-594-0379.

“We want high-quality writing,” he told me several times. “And we have lots of work.” And his definition of “lots” kept growing as we spoke, all the way from 30 articles to 300.

Three hundred articles! High-quality writing! Sounded like a dream job!

“What’s your budget?” I asked.

“We aren’t locked into anything,” he replied. “You tell us what you want to charge.”

Even dreamier!

But…well…it seemed a little too good to be true. And I had seen promises of “lots of work” at “great pay” evaporate before. The next day I e-mailed him: “I discussed your website idea with my team, and we believe we can deliver the high-quality articles you’re looking for. For articles of this nature – original, informative and sparkling, requiring research to ensure that they are absolutely up-to-date – we charge $1 per word.”

“That’s too much,” he e-mailed back. “Three hundred articles at 500 words apiece comes to 150,000 words, which means the fee would be $150,000. Since there will be a lot of work, can you give a volume discount?”

I replied: “Yes, that would add up to quite a bit of money and yes, we can give a discount on the per-word fee if we are guaranteed a large volume of work.”

“However, we find it difficult to work on the basis of ‘maybe money.’ We’ve seen the ‘maybe money’ scenario play out too many times: The client is given a lower per-word rate based on the expectation of a large volume of work. The initial round of work is performed. The client is happy with the results, but the additional work is not forthcoming.

“For that reason, we prefer to stick with our higher rate until we develop a relationship and the confidence that everything will play out exactly as expected.

“May I suggest a trial ‘get to know each other’ period?”

Suddenly the terms began to change. He asked for a lower quote on 150 articles. (What happened to the 300? And why would he expect me to lower the quote for fewer articles? Wouldn’t that be a reverse-volume discount? Or maybe an un-volume discount?)

Once again I probed. Without offering to change the per-word fee, I asked: “How strong is the assurance that there will indeed be 150 articles? Is your client willing to make a deal for all 150, complete with a down payment on the entire batch?”

“Yes,” he assured me. “The client is absolutely set on 150 articles and willing to make the down payment.”

I wasn’t so sure: “I’m delighted to hear that your client is willing to make a deal for all 150 articles, complete with a down payment on the entire batch. We generally ask for a down payment of 50% to lock in our time. Is that feasible?”

Apparently not, for he informed me, “The client has budgeted 7¢ per word, which comes to $35 for a 500 word article.”

Wow! What happened to “you tell us what you want to charge?” The all-original-content, high-quality articles he described to me could take several hours to write – but at $35 per article, I’d be better off serving lattés at Starbucks.

The lesson? Be wary when the deal seems too good to be true. Remember that talk is cheap, so it’s easy for potential clients to entice you with the prospect of lots of work and plenty of money to persuade you to drop your price way, way down. So keep talking, keep probing and trying to pin down the potential client. Find out what they are really willing to pay, and how much work is really offered, before offering a volume discount.

The lesson in brief? Better to probe than to get shafted.

I can help you create your book and get it ready for publication. I’ve helped dozens of professionals achieve their goals, and some of their books have landed on bestseller lists. Let me help you! Call me at 818-594-0379.

If you happen to have a choice spot in the front couple of rows, the buyers will see you and your book and, intrigued by your provocative title or colorful cover, purchase it. If you’re farther back, however, only a few sharp-eyed buyers will notice you. Most authors, unfortunately, are literally lost in the crowd.

Now suppose that you, standing way back in row 2,768, get some wood, nails and a hammer and build yourself a platform. Standing up on your platform, several feet above the others, you and you book can be seen by the mass of buyers.

In the real world, a platform is not built with wood and nails. Instead, it is made of materials such as, in no particular order:

• Television and radio appearances, or your own TV or radio show
• Articles and quotes by or about you in newspapers and magazines, whether actual or virtual
• Speeches, book signings and other public appearances
• Websites – whether belonging to you or others – that mention or feature you and/or your book
• “Look at me” pages about you on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking sites, as well as pages, groups and/or fan clubs for your books
• Your blog, as well as mentions of you on other blogs
• Comments you make on social networking sites, especially in groups dealing with the topic of your book
• Comments you make on other websites to display your expertise (and make people aware of you)
• Your Twitter tweets
• Press releases
• Your ads, in all forms
• Newsletter, whether physical or electronic
• Other people or organizations who want your book to succeed
• And many, many more

In short, your platform consists of all the ways you make people aware of you and your book – provided that these ways are legal, ethical and consistent with your image. If, for example, you’re writing a book on the stock market or vitamins, or penning a romantic novel or children’s story – or most other types of book – you probably don’t want to garner attention by crashing a White House reception or smashing your SUV into a tree while being chased by an angry, golf club wielding spouse.

In future posts I’ll look at some of the platform pieces in greater detail.

I can help you create your book and get it ready for publication. I’ve helped dozens of professionals achieve their goals, and some of their books have landed on bestseller lists. Let me help you! Call me at 818-594-0379.

There is no single thing you can do that will guarantee your platform is tall; neither is there a sure-fire package of items that will do the same. You will probably have to try different ways of reaching your audience, developing your “platform building package” through trial and error. You’ll undoubtedly find that a combination of items is required, each item reinforcing the others.

Getting started is, depending on the item, anywhere from easy to difficult.

“Look at me” pages about you and/or your book on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking sites are easy to set up and often absolutely free. (“Premium” memberships cost money, but you don’t need them to get started – a basic membership will do.) You can search for other authors and their books on these social networking sites, study their approaches and borrow the best ideas to develop your own page(s).

Once you belong to one of these social networking sites you can also set up a group, fan clubs or something similar for your book. See, for example, the group called “The 7 Habits” on LinkedIn. Created for “those who have been influenced by Stephen R. Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” this group has 1,052 members as of December 6, 2009. There are other LinkedIn groups dedicated to discussing specific books, including “Murder of Lehman Brother,” “Predictably Irrational,” “Blue Ocean Strategy” and “A Glove of Their Own.” (A Glove of Their Own also has a FaceBook page.)

Making comments on social networking sites, especially in groups dealing with the topic of your book, is also very easy once you join.Suppose you’re a doctor writing about cancer. If you type “cancer” into the Search Groups box on Linked in, you’ll get 815 results, ranging from the “Susan G. Komen (For the Cure)” group to “The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society” group, from the “Ride to Conquer Cancer” group to the “Avon Walk for Breast Cancer” group. Each group has a number of discussions, which you can join by offering insightful comments that demonstrate your knowledge and hint about you and your book. (Heavy handed promotion in discussion groups usually backfires. It’s best to be helpful and subtle.) You can move beyond these general social networking sites to find those specific to your topic, and comment there.

More to come in Part 3.

I can help you create your book and get it ready for publication. I’ve helped dozens of professionals achieve their goals, and some of their books have landed on bestseller lists. Let me help you! Call me at 818-594-0379.